Shaels

Meet the Artist

How it all started

Since I was a 4 year-old, music has felt like this very dense and fluid substance that is so satisfying to swim in and that exalts the experience of being alive. So, as a teenager I figured that the most exciting thing I could do would be to generate this substance on my own! First learning guitar, probably inspired by the rock stars and anime intros that I admired and sang along to as a kid, and then learning how to sing.

My dad seeded in me his constant awe for tech: I remember sneaking into his room to use garageband only available on his computer, and thinking: this is so cool! Since then, electronics and laptops have always been around me to make music. In my early 20s, my fascination to learn music got me to learn piano, djembe, and some bass, and it was in my late 20s when I realized that I was becoming a songwriter and producer, happy to inhabit many different musical spaceships with a diverse arrange of music “machines”.

I always craved the feeling of creating something out of nothing. Of knowing that it was up to me to tap into my potential. Making music is an exciting journey of self-discovery, and I see it as an opportunity to express the most refined version of myself. Music is the bed where I rest, the stage where I express myself, the circle where we celebrate, the doorways to a higher reality, and the continuous opportunity to get everybody together… How was I not going to devote my life to it?

My music profile

Traveling is like making music. I do my best to soak in my environment, so I remain a new white canvas every time I arrive at a new place, and take the opportunity to learn from new people. My work is only to put these new flavours together. It’s about mixing my influences, and finding ways of crafting music that feels like a new, inspiring, and joyful experience.

I find endless fun in learning about different music genres, witnessing their evolution and learning why they make me feel a particular way. I started out playing acoustic rock and folk covers. At some point, I wanted to get more serious about singing which led me to soul. Then I got deeper into guitar playing and started studying bossa nova and some jazz standards. All along, I’ve always been drawn to psychedelic, circle-medicine and evocative music. I’m constantly dreaming about creating this cohesive wall of sound where instruments seamlessly blend with one another. Kind of like an orchestra, but with organic, processed, and synthetic contemporary sounds.

I wish that someday my music makes people feel what I have felt so many times: when a new song hits you, telling you something you had been waiting to hear for the longest time, but somehow, also coming to you at just the right moment.

Witnessing how art always progresses, no matter the many mistakes and left turns humanity makes, is the thing that allows me to sleep at night. So, I strive to make music that leaves a mark. Music that feels real. That pushes artistry forwards, only if it also makes the people involved feel happy, inspired, and left with a sense of newness after collaborating.

The Jamhouse Connection

I heard about Jamhouse Records thanks to AZUR, who’s also an artist on the label. We met in Montreal, a city I’ve lived in during different moments in my life and that I feel deeply connected to. The way art is seen, shared, and lived in Montreal really spoke to me.

Also, before thinking about a record label as a way to promote my music, what I was really looking for was a collective, a place where art is made with intention, and where my music could be part of a network of like-minded people. Jamhouse feels artist and message centered in all the best ways. They work with folk music and meaningful, message-driven projects, and they really value community, co-creation, and expression.

I dig many of the artists they’re already working with, and there’s a sense of care and authenticity that’s rare to find. So this feels like the perfect match. It’s not just about releasing songs, but also about being part of something that feels alive and rooted in the same values we hold.

Aside from music

People who just meet me often say I’m a Nomad, but I love the stability and roots of staying in one community. I rather say I’m a Seeker. I’m in the constant search of fresh perspectives, new movements, and novel expressions. Season after season, I keep asking myself, what’s the environment that will fulfill my quest, and oftentimes, that means going somewhere else!

I’m a firm believer that I’m able to imagine only so many things, and that, maybe, just maybe, what’s out there, difficult for me to envision now, may be greater than any of my dreams. I’m talking about the beautiful gifts, the amazing surprises that this world has to offer.

One recent example of this was how I found surfing, by coincidence while staying at a hostel on a Caribbean Colombian beach. They were offering classes next to my stay, and I had some spare money and time to take a class while spending time there. So I gave it a shot and, oh my days… I will never forget the moment my board started gaining speed with some short-lived white wash hitting me from behind. I instantly knew that, at that moment, my life had changed forever.

Nowadays, I do everything it takes to continue living on the coastline. I feel like surfing and the sea are endless sources of life energy. It’s all about its flow. It’s all about evolving. It’s all about movement. It’s about being like water, and your best shot at it is being in it!

I’m working on a photography side project with the many colors the sea can take, and the many realizations I gathered after long conversations with the waves. I’ve shot over 200 videos of these waters, and I’m getting things set up to share this work with the world.

We know it feels good to be fully engaged with what we do. But how can we navigate the many demanding scenarios our contemporary lifestyles entail?

Time and time again I find both in water and music the inspiration to continue, to cleanse the mess I’ve burned through, and to be able to just… yeah, wash away whatever’s left, so that we keep on becoming.

And “becoming” may be the most exciting thing to me.

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