Formula Indie Sessions – Interview with Artur Wais
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
Probably something related to my mother’s vinyls collection. There were some great records there. Some of my favourites were Moraes Moreira’s “Bazar Brasileiro”, James Taylor’s “Greatest Hits” and Saracura’s “Saracura”. There was a lot of brazilian music over there and some great music from Porto Alegre, my hometown, or cities nearby. My parents had a broken acoustic guitar also, I remember that as a kid I loved to play with it, but no one in the house actually knew how to play it properly.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
I guess it was around my 15’s. I started to realise that I liked writing. But at the same time, the format that I wanted and was able to was writing sort of short texts, sometimes with rhymes. I didn’t see that as poetry properly, and with some time that seemed to me that I was writing song letters. The problem at time was that I didn’t know how to play any instrument or sing. Some people might feel that I still can’t, but I’ve been practicing since then. I swear I’m better now.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
Artur Wais as a musical project itself started in 2023. Even that I had collaborated with other artists before already using this name, it was when I travelled to Italy and Portugal that it started to take form as a project. In Italy I’ve been a part of an artistic residence in Bologna for something like two months, where I’ve recorded the first release of this musical project, a song called “Sobreviver aos 30”, that was born from a collaborative project that involved almost 20 people on its making. There is a choir of a lot of brazilian friends and from people that I’ve met during the trip to Europe. In Portugal I have played some concerts and lived some experiences that were fundamental for me to understanding what I wanted this project to be.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
Even though I feel more comfortable with writing lyrics than writing music, I always struggle when it comes to describe my own music with words. The album that I’m releasing now was built together with Marcelo Corsetti, a genius guitarist here from the south of Brazil. I think the sound we made was sort of an alternative pop. Something like an indie-hi-fi record. As I said, it’s hard for me to precisely describe it. I hope the words sound like an invitation to listen.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
I guess that there were some artist that played an important role in my comprehension of what kind of music I like doing. The first time I saw a Vitor Ramil’s concert was a great moment, he was alone at the stage with his acoustic guitar with steel strings playing his milongas, something that could be described as a folk-like song here from the south of Brazil. Vitor has also translated some Bob Dylan’s songs during his career, he has some great moments of dialogue with the folk style of making music in the USA. Ben Gibbard’s songs at Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service also mean a lot to me. As well as James Taylor’s songs, as I commented before. There are also some other brazilian artists like Paola Kirst, Juçara Marçal, Marisa Monte, Luizga, Teago Oliveira Juliano Guerra, Pedro Cassel, Helio Flanders, Selton and some others. I probably don’t know what would be the one thing that changed me, but I would say that being open to discover new things in music is always good to us, and the most important is being open to the future changes that we don’t even know that are coming.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
Somehow the acoustic guitar, since I’ve learned how to play it, it has been the main instrument that I use while creating music. But in the latest times, songs usually have been starting from musical and textual ideas that come without the use of an instrument besides my voice.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
I’ve been listening a lot of the latest albums of Selton, a group of guys from Porto Alegre that lives in Italy it’s been some years. I also have been listening a lot of Guto Leite, Juliano Guerra, Cecília Tres and Rômulo Fróes.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
Much more than they should. Hehe. I have the terrible habit to write chronicles with a lot of true facts in song lyrics. It’s tough dealing with that, because art is always about an interpretation of a moment, not about truth precisely. And for trying to make good art you shouldn’t be caring about what the truth is. But then you make a song that you like and you have to remember that, even if it has some references on personal experiences, it’s a fictional story from a predetermined point of view. It’s easy to get confused with it. I do it all the time and love doing it, hehe.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
That’s a hard question to answer. I don’t think that I know how to. I think that I don’t want to control that or even have an opinion on it. I hope people listen to the songs and feel something. No more than that.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
A good song might last less than five minutes, but you’ll remember it for the rest of your life.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
I would love to play someday in Beira Rio, the stadium of Sport Club Internacional, here in Porto Alegre. But, of course, there are a lot of festivals I would love to play, from Morrostock to Planeta Atlântida to Lollapalooza.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
I don’t know, I’ve had the opportunity of collaborating with a lot of people I like in the latest year, making concerts, making songs. I’d say that the most important from now on to me is to make art with people that are resonating in the same vibe. Even that it happens for a moment only. It’s less about searching for idols and more about feeling together with the people.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)
People can find me here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arturwais/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/intl-pt/artist/184Ys0QKQNoWGyYysbmevt?si=sU7i9vLDQdGLC6UOQs1JTA
Or as @arturwais in any social media.
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
In the beginning of 2026 I’m releasing my first solo album. I hope that I can take it to the most places an indie artist can. Travel to play shows and all of this. And record more and more music. I guess that my dream is to be able to keep making music for the rest of my life.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
I’d say them to go listen to the songs, they’re much more interesting than my personal life. (An important disclaimer for the answers here, many of them would be followed by laughter, as this one for example. Maybe trying to make jokes writing in foreign language wasn’t my best idea ever).
