Name: Cid Travaglia aka Napalma
Occupation: Producer, composer, percussionist, performer
Nationality: Brazilian
Recent release: Napalma's new single "Mbëguel", featuring Senegalese singer Abass Ndiaye, is out via Lona.
Recommendations: Drumming at the edge of the magic – book by Mickey Heart, drummer and percussionist from the Greateful Dead.
"Urban Art Tribute" by NAPALMA - Music Video recorded in twelve countries.

If you enjoyed this Napalma interview and would like to stay up to date with his music and current live dates, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, twitter, and Soundcloud.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I love this question, and I think that the emotions that I feel when I listen to music that touches me, was what made me chose to live from music, dedicate my life to the music sector, as a musician, booking agent, festival organizer, record label.

What were your very first steps in music like - and how do you rate gains made through experience versus the naiveté of those first steps?

I had the music in me before I even realized it.

Since a kid I was making drum sounds from all sorts of materials, and that’s actually what became one of my trademarks as a percussionist, using recycled or upcycled instruments. Then when I started playing the drum kit as a teenager, my childhood friends said: “Now we understand why you were always hitting everything and making beats.”

And I think that I continue carrying the same essence and passion for music. But with the experience of 40 years in the music business, learned a lot, but with so much ahead to learn.  

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music meant to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

That’s the age when I said, I will be a musician, and here I am. I made music my lifestyle, my reason to wake up in the morning and work hard for it.

But I keep the music naturally pulsing in my veins most of the time.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools and how have they shaped your perspective on music?

My development came from so many different experiences:

Going to workshops and listening to experienced artists, having drum lessons, going to drum circles, watching video lessons, practicing, reading some books that changed my life, and watching and performing amazing musicians on the streets, small stages, Festivals, and sharing life with them.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

Each song come from a different point, it could be from a beat, or a vocal idea, a piano line, a Mbira (African instrument), or a bass line.

I love the creative side of the music, rehearsing, composing, recording original material, and having the pleasure to perform this tunes live.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

I also have the first impression in the overall sound, and I define NAPALMA as an original and unique with an uplifting feeling, music to free the soul.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

I used to go to the junkyard to find instruments. My percussion set has recycled and unusual ‘instruments’, and I have an ‘anthem’ or sensibility that captures sounds from daily situations.

I am mind blown by them constantly.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

I am a very eclectic musically, there is the right time and moment for each kind of music, and each music style touches me in a different way.

But the drums have a spiritual power for me. When I hear the ‘drum calling’ I must go …

From symphonies and traditional verse/chorus-songs to linear techno tracks and free jazz, there are myriads ways to structure a piece of music. Which approaches work best for you – and why?

We look to create grooves and achieve a double trance created by the percussions and by the electronics

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

The song “Urban Art” was created for a video tribute to street art that I wanted to do.

I shot graffiti in twelve countries while touring with NAPALMA, then produced a tune that would fit the Urban atmosphere. What we came up with was a percussive and groovy kind of techno.

Sometimes, science and art converge in unexpected ways. Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

It is a mixture of lots of trials and instinctive moments in the studio and on stage, and it happens a lot when improvising.

When it does happen, there's a ‘click between all elements of the song’ and when the groove is right we feel it.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

Music is a powerful and spiritual force, touching people and influencing them every second. If you search deep, you'll find a lot of the magical in it. And yes, we learn a lot about life in music.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Sometimes I feel myself a shy person, and on stage I can’t be shy.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

I feel very touched by many pieces of my music, and they motivate me to  keep doing it.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

I would like to see a music business that worries about the creators, the musicians and producers, who bring the music to us.