Hailing from Angola, a professional model, photographer & I.T Technician with musicianship ranging from Soul, Afro-beat, Semba, Jazz, Trap Soul & House Music – Francis Carcassi studied music in SDA Central of Luanda specializing on how to read notes, chords and rhythm.
DHLA chats to Francis Carcassi...
DHLA: Ever since your early childhood, you’ve been making & playing music with a unique sense of soul, jazz. Has that in anyway shaped your music focus?
Francis Carcassi: Yes it has, I grew up with an influence of jazz and soul music at the music school I was enrolled at and the church introduced me to a different environment as well, was motivated by the technic of jazz music and the melody of soul music, and also the motivation from acapella music, Lounge, and classic music helped me to grow as a musician.
DHLA: You were born in a musical family, with your dad being a music director and your mom a chorister: Did their preferences in anyway contribute to your passion for music?
Francis Carcassi: Yes, not just them, the church itself was a big music school for me, I started to understand what's music, what's harmony, what's vocal within the church and with my parents motivation as well.
DHLA: Your first gig with your music teacher, must’ve been a great experience, more especially having to play live. What has been your greatest lesson?
Francis Carcassi: Working with my music teacher was one of the biggest music experiences I have ever had in my music career and it was also my first gig.
My greatest lesson working with him was learning the fundamentals of being a musician – learning how to express myself through music and learning how to engage with the crowd through songs. He also taught me the importance of working hard, understanding different music cultures. Some of the best advices I got from him was to be disciplined and to stay humble at all times.
DHLA: Having to relocate to South Africa, How did you manage to sustain your passion for music – more especially the Jazz. How did you adapt to the new environment, I mean, the Jazz scene in Angola must be different to the one we having in South Africa.
Francis Carcassi: To be honest it was difficult to understand South African music and the culture. I mean I grew up in a different culture with different music background, in my point of view Angolan jazz is more harmonic and South African jazz is more melodic, the good thing is that it's all African music: African music and the culture are all similar, I just thank God for making me understand more & more about the South African and the Angolan music.
DHLA: Let’s talk a bit about your collaboration with The Heavy Quarterz on their debut album – KOSHA. How did you find this relatively tight knit group to complement your own creative approach?
Francis Carcassi: The Heavy Quarterz is talented group and one thing I noticed during the recording sessions was that we have alot in common musically, their particular way to perform House Music is really awesome and different, I love House music and their production combined really well with my creativity.
DHLA: Did you feel pressure in anyway when the mighty Heavy Quarterz requested you to work with them on Moferefere, which was to be listed on their debut album – KOSHA?
Francis Carcassi: Not at all, I was excited when they requested me to work with them on “Moferefere” and I would like to take this opportunity to thank The Heavy Quarterz for believing in my music skills. I haven’t met them in person yet, but I have a good relationship with them.
DHLA: Did the guys explain to you what Moferefere means?
Francis Carcassi: Yes they did, it means “chaos” they said, I think the good thing about music is that you work with any language and any culture, I mean music is music the theory are the same the only difference is the way we execute (perform) that theory.
DHLA: Between you and The Heavy Quarterz – who came up with the “Moferefere” concept?
Francis Carcassi: They approached me and presented the concept to me, and then they shared the music beat, and I started conceptualizing the guitar ideas on top of that beat, I recorded all the ideas that I had and then I sent it back to them to finalise the song.
DHLA: How does the song writing process work for you?
Francis Carcassi: It was natural and not so difficult to develop the song, the beat was already done so I just had to develop a guitar melody, so I listened to the beat for several time to develop a good melody for that particular song. (Referring to Moferefere)
Francis Carcassi: It has been a bit challenging especially now that I'm promoting my brand and developing my studio, I rely hugely on preparations and a disciplined schedule. Time management is key. We ought to make the most of it.
DHLA: Tell us a bit about the EP you working on. What should we expect?
Francis Carcassi: About my EP, it will about soul and joy music, it’s a 5 set EP: 2 Trap soul, 2 Deep house music, and one Kizomba (from Angola), it is being produced here in SA and in Angola as well.
The EP is currently in recording process, it is expected to be realised this year.
DHLA: Which other instruments do you play?
Francis Carcassi: Unfortunately I only play the guitar and I do back vocals, I am currently learning keyboard and music production.
DHLA: Any other artists you would love to work with?
Francis Carcassi: Black Coffee, Black Motion, Mi Casa, Jimmy Dludlu from SA
C4 Pedro, Djeff Afrozila and Anselmo Ralph from Angola
Raul Midon, Bryson Tiller, Norman Brown from USA
And many more.
DHLA: Do you give much thought to where you want to see your brand go?
Francis Carcassi: Yes, definitely I think all artists see their brands evolving into something big, so I am not different; I see my brand doing great as an artist. Looking forward to featuring other artists who compliment my style, gigs to introduce my music to the outer world and learning more within the industry.
DHLA: In conclusion - have you developed any tricks to maintain your (mental) health and mindfulness whilst balancing being a model, photographer, I.T Technician & musician?
Francis Carcassi: Yes, I have my personal list to maintain my mental, physical and spiritual health:
1. God
2. Have a new goal every day
3. Do physical exercise
4. Eat healthy
Those are some of the main tools to maintain my health.
DHLA: Thank you for your time, looking forward to hearing some of your stuff in future..
Francis Carcassi: My pleasure, thanks for the interview
Music Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNO1E1yAL9o - Better Days - Prince Kaybee feat.Audrey (Francis Carcassi Cover)
The Heavy Quarterz, Francis Carcassi
https://soundcloud.com/francisco-carcasse
https://soundcloud.com/user9082525/thankful-for-life Feat. Francis Carcassi
Social Media Links:
Facebook: Francis CarcassiTwitter: @FrancisCarcassi
Instagram: @fcarcassi
Youtube: Francis Carcassi Music
#ItsAWrap
Post a Comment