Growing up David Fonseca’s album collections were filled with artists far from Portugal, but he notes it was the local musicians that influenced him to chase the dream of having a musical career. Today he lives as a singer-songwriter who also does photography who is always on to something new.
Kendra: When did you first know you wanted to get into music?
David Fonseca: When I heard the Pixies. They sounded very different from everything else and they made it look pretty easy. So I thought, why not give it a shot? My first songs were heavily inspired by them, the whole calm verse/angry chorus thing. But then I go into R.E.M. and a lot of new wave bands like The Cars and I went to a different place musically.
Kendra: Is being a musician a commonality where you live?
David: Not exactly, specially if you want it to be a real job. Most musicians have second jobs and do a lot of different things so they can keep doing music, so it’s a hard choice. There are more musicians now than ever, but I feel that it’s still very difficult for most of them to keep this activity as their main job.
Kendra: Music stores here in the US are becoming less and less. What about in Portugal?
David: I guess it’s the same here. Truth be told, the numbers for sold records are at their lowest point ever, which probably indicates that streaming and digital music will conquer all and music stores will become a special place for a special product, like vinyl or special editions.
Kendra: Let us know what you’re up right now musically speaking. Are you writing, recording, touring?
David: Right now I’m still touring my last record, it has a little more than a year. I’m also producing a very special record that I still can’t speak of. And I’m always recording and searching for new ideas for a new album, it’s what happens when you own your own studio and play a lot of instruments. I’m always on to something.
