Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Tiago Cardoso

Hello, my name is Tiago Cardoso, I’m a portuguese musician. I make Rock music and reliesed a record this year, 2025!

It’s a concept album about dead, depression, greed and that we can live better if we work toghether.

What is your earliest memory connected to music?

My mom used to put classic music for me to listen when I was very young. The first time that music made me feel something was at that time, being like 5 or 6 years old. Then I went to a music school and I got bored of classic music and years later, in military school, I fell in love with Pink Floyd and progressive rock!

How did your passion for creating music begin?

After discovering Pink Floyd, I understood that I could communicate my feelings and my vision with music. At the same time, seemed nice to have a bunch of people across a stage being in the moment, seeing a concert. I started to want that for me, and with 16th years, I decided to learn guitar, bass and strated trying to write my songs.

What’s the story behind your current music project?

I had a band before, called Vila Martel. When we were working on our second record, I had a bunch of ideas that didn’t fit the project. They were very long songs, and made with synths somethings. So, I started to work on my first solo record at the same time we were making that record. Then, the band broke up because it didn’t make sense financially for everyone, we weren’t making money with our music (we lost money through the years) and people grow up, want to build lifes with kids and all that, so breaking up was the most logucal thing. It was the five of us, or it wasn’t. We still are all friends 🙂

After that I focused on my things, and invited the drummer to play in my band with the rest of the crew I had reunited for the shows. And here we are!

A solo project gives me much more creative control and that’s really nice, but I have much more work too… And I miss the old group, it was challeging, made me grow up a lot as a musician . But it is what it is, maybe one day we do a few shows again, that would be fun!

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music

 before?

It goes well with a joint, I’ve been told… Accept the trip ahead and enjoy.

What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?

The history of Hip Hop in general.

I don’t like Rap music and the hole Hip Hop world in general. I never liked and when I was younger, I was arrongant enought to say that Rap wasn’t real music, and it’s easy to do and all that crap a lot of people say.

I was wrong. Go see the history of Hip Hop. Essencially, discriminated communities raising their voices through a for of art, a form of expression that they created!

Who the f*ck was I to say that Hip Hop wasn’t music and then praising rock music like if my hole genere didn’t came from the Blues, created by black slaves in Ameria? I was wrong, how can I praise blues and jazz and all the historic impact of those types of music and then say Hip Hop is bad?

Like I said, I don’t like Hip Hop in general, it’s not my thing, but once I got humble down I really understood the difference between saying “I don’t like it” and “This is bad”, and we should see music and art like that, and really respect our peers in this community.

That made me feel way less pressured about what I was going to put out. I didn’t care anymore if someone liked or not, because people could be as wrong as I was, just because they have some prejudice, for some reason. Made my creative process much more free and personal… And art is selfish, you can’t create thinking about what someone will eventually like, just create because you want, because you need!

What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?

Jesus, so many! The problem with producing rock music is that you want everything done with real instruments and you are always searching for new sounds.

In order to creat my demos, usually it starts with my computer, where I use Ableton live, and I try to record some idea with an instrument, usually the eletric black stratocaster that I have… Obviously a Squier because I’m a independent musician and can’t afford the real deal.

I have a couple acoustic guitars that I use too, my Fender Precision Bass (a gift from my late father) because I’m a bass player actually, and a mic to record some voice melodies… And a real wall piano that I bought in second hand. Was more expensive the transpor than the thing itself.

It was, supposedly, a simple question, but my method is hard apparently… These are all tools that I use most of the times and they give me a lot of options.Then, when it’s time to record a song or an album for real, I use my instruments and the resourses in the studio, or the resourses other musicians have. I work with a lot of people, so there’s always more than enought material to work with and we help each other all the time. It’s progressive rock, I mean, you always want something new, something different and an ideia can come from the most simple thing ever.

Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?

Trick question, because Pink Floyd just released a 50 years anniversary box of the Wish You Were Here album and obviously I’ve been listening to that.

Still, I can give you some indie artists, I will make the effort 😉

Parede- by Sea Angels

It’s a record from a group of four girls. It’s their first record and it’s a really nice debut album. Actually three of them sung in my solo record as backing vocalist and I’ve been following their work for a few years now. The record has some songs with a good feminist message that I support with all my heart and their shows are really crazy, with a punk vibe that is really nice. They are huge fans of the Parcels, so their songs have really nice voice harmonies too.

Dancing Through My Tears- by Izzy Rebel

This on is very of caracter for me, because it’s more of a pop song and I don’t go there to often. 

Pink Floyd once shared a video from Izzy, singing Us and Them, and my thought was “I have to know who this person is, he has an amazing voice”. After that I found Izzy instagram, and he actually wasn’t a famous guy at all, just a small artist from Autralia. I sent him a message saying that he is amazing and the cover was great. He actually answered thanking me and we talked a bit more. After a few weeks, he released Dancing Through My Tears and I just wanted to support the guy, so listened to it and it’s really good piece of work. He has some real talent, and I hope he makes it big some day. It’s one those people that just seems nice and good, and not all of us will make it big, so I hope he reaches the stars, because that voice deserves to be heard.

How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?

It’s the main influence, really. I’ve been through some stuff during my little time in this planet and music was the way to express my feelings in a free way.

My reality shaped my vision of the world, and I became an activist, fighting for human rights, and that’s the end message of my work. I want to believe in a better and fair world, where all of us can be free, where children are fed, the sick are treated, where there’s no misogyny, where people can love who ever they like based on consent, where we don’t judge ourselves by race, religion, nationality, etc.

Obviously I’m not going to see this in my life time, but we have to keep fighting because the changes is for our kids and grand kids.

What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?

Hope.

I want people to feel they are NOT alone.

We all go through shit, and yes, there’s a lot of injustice… Do you know how we fight that? By being united. Go to your friends, go to your family, or, if you don’t have any of that, listen to a song that gives you hope, but keep fight because you are worth it.

We are all in this boat toghether, we are all the same. Let’s enjoy life, let’s be happy, let’s make one another happy too.

My songs are hard, are heavy in terms of lyrics (but thay are in portuguese, so most of you don’t know that), but I try to make them a jorney in terms of sound. Try to hear music like you see a movie, without doing anything else… And see where it takes you! Not my music, but music in general… But my music too, please… I’m alone and afraid.

What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?

There are a few, it’s difficult to choose just one. The one about Hip Hop that I talked before, was a strong one. Other is that we, artists, have to help each other. Or market is crazy, it’s very insecure, especially in Portugal, the big companies don’t respect our work. We have to help each other and don’t take advantage of someone, the success of him is my success too, if we all do things the right way.

Like, I’m writing this and after that I will go to a show of a friend of mine. I will pay my ticket, because he has to pay the venue and the musicians. So, it’s the minimum I can do, it costs like 8 bucks for a night of fun and it makes a difference for him.

What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?

The Sphere is a crazy place and I know that I will never play there. I like immersive shows, so it would be a nice place to do that, although I don’t really think it’s a real answer, because it’s not achievable. For now I just hope I can sell out the concerts I’m organizing with my money in Portugal (yes, I’m crazy enought for that shit…) and I hope one day I can have resourses to make a show with all the ideas that I have! Doesn’t mather where, the important is to be able to do whatever I want!

Also, an a idea from my drummer and long friend, a live stream show on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. That would be f*ing impactfull and unique.

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?

I would try to make something with Izzy, that I refered above. I just love his voice, but it would be difficult. I write in portuguese, he speaks english, and there’s a lot of factors in addition to that.

I have a few people that I want to work with in my next record, but nobody famous.

Famous people, I would love to work with David Gilmour from Pink Floyd (yeah, right…) and Leonard Cohen would be nice to, I think I could write some music with him.

Another thing, I would just like to be with famous musicians for past times, like Bach or Beethoven and show them different genres that we have today and record their reaction. That would be crazy and add Jesus Christ to that list, I want his reaction too!

Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)

Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?

Make my second solo record, work in a acoustic project with my best friend and sell shows. Simples as that!

What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?

I don’t konw… 

I hope they creat some crazy theories about me, like I fell into a cauldron of testosterone and that’s why I have to much body hair and I’m sleepy all the time.

If you want here you can add a representative Youtube video to insert below the interview 🙂

It’s from a live show!