Sonic identities born in a film world

11 MP3 Songs
EASY LISTENING: Lounge, WORLD: World Fusion



Details:
Music was pretty much always present, but Miguelâs path has been an unusual one, to say the least.
During Med. School at University of Coimbra, he played in several ensembles. Ranging from orchestra to Ethnic and Jazz to Folk. Instruments played varied almost as much as the ensembles, keyboards, guitar, bass guitar, cavaquinho (the original ukulele) and later tenor sax.
After graduation and the odd job as cartoonist and scuba diver instructor in Lisbon, he decided to resurface in London.
A quick stop in New York â no direct flights to London Iâm afraid - allowed him to get acquainted with a country band, with whom he played (cavaquinho) briefly in Manhattan. He was then invited to join and tour the US by an ethnic-fusion band. Butâ¦no green card in his wallet. Wellâ¦back on that plane.
In London, at last, Miguel started to study Audio Engineering and orchestration by himself.
A few months later, Indie rock band Lapland invited him to join their ensemble playing keyboards and trumpet. For two years they toured the UK and recorded a couple of albums.
One day he was asked to score a student graduation film and that was it. They kept coming back for more.
Always self taught and with a passion for playing and collecting every musical instrument known to man â a collection that has now gone beyond two dozens â Miguel started to score more and more projects, from TV commercials to feature films and from documentaries to installations. Instruments played and included in his scores now also include trumpet, low whistle, accordion, bongos and mandolin.
Around 2004, one of the main UK film and TV magazines (now US as well) â Showreel - invited him to start writing for them about music and film and he is now Audio Editor of the magazine. So, every full moon, out comes an article on soundtracks or music software. Well, kind of.
In 2005 he was accepted for the MA in composition at the prestigious National Film and Television School. An opportunity given to only 3 composers every year. Two scholarships meant he was able to stay afloat during this fulltime tour-de-force. With this journey nearly completed, Miguel is set to score a feature length documentary and a big installation for the beginning of 2007.
He has also joined forces with two other talented composers, Kylie Earl and Gary Sanctuary, and formed the Coffeehouse Orchestra. Album âOpen All Nightâ will be out late 2007.