“As a kid, I used to write.
Until I realized how vulnerable that would make me when showing what I had written to other people. As a self-defense mechanism, I stopped confessing myself and the page remained blank for a long time.
At 18, I moved to another country to pursue my musical education. When the words were stronger than the fear of being discovered, I took the chance and jotted verses and phrases in my notebook. They were, in their majority, loose scribbles and had no musical accompaniment; when they did, they abandoned without any conclusion.
In 2004 - almost ten years after my relocation -, I was working as a professional musician, playing with known artists, recording albums and film soundtracks. I had a very busy schedule and the stress from that - in addition to a few other factors - culminated in panic attack. I ended up in the hospital…
After this episode, I decided to make some changes in my life: I started to be more selective about the quantity and quality of work I took on and also experiment with things that I had not experienced during my adolescence be it for fear or guilt, anyway…”
Excerpt from Só Palavras
One of the most positive things to come out of this experience was reconnecting with the act of writing, something I had not done since my adolescence.
It was therapy, a cathartic process, during which I’d write every single day.
In the beginning, I made an effort as to not censor or doubt myself and simply write whatever came to mind. A couple months later, what I wrote began to take shape, to rhyme.
In 2016 I decided to select and edit the texts I felt, had kept a degree of honesty and still resonated with me.
After another four years of maturing, and with the world come to a stand still due to the pandemic, I began to post these texts. Not that the world needed them. I was the one needing to release them.
Three more years and here’s the result of this journey. Só Palavras!
Thanks to my friend Bruno Justi for the spark and feedback, to Bruna Ramos for your time, advice, suggestions and faith in these words.
Thanks to the wonderful team at Editora Versiprosa for your patience, dedication and beautiful work!
Thanks to Caro Pierotto for your love and daily lessons in the mirror that is our relationship.
Thanks to those who feel inspirited to share your time reading these portraits in text form. I hope they can bring you something positive.