Name: Valdir da Silva aka Toada

Nationality: Portuguese
Current release: The sophomore Toada album Acalenta is out via pluma.
Recommendations: I would recommend the album Memoria de los Sentidos by Vicente Amigo which is such an amazing Flamenco album.
As a second suggestion, I would recommend the live album Live at Funkhaus Berlin, 10th May 2018 from Four Tet. I was there and it’s a such masterful live performance which I get a lot inspiration from.

If you enjoyed this interview with Toada and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit him on Instagram, Facebook, and Soundcloud.



When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/ or sound that drew you to it?

I started being drawn to music when I was around 4 or 5 years old. I remember one of my older brothers used to show me a lot of music, I remember him showing me Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon and we’d be watching and talking about the stars while listening to it.

When I was 13 or 14 years old, I started playing guitar. I had guitar lessons and that lasted for a few more years. I think that has allowed me to this day to come up with melodies in a very instinctive way.

For me, making music is a necessity. It’s the best way I have to communicate as I tend be an introspective person.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening and how does it influence your approach to creativity?

Whenever I listen to music that I love, I tend to have a very visceral body experience. There’s this rush that tends to travel throughout my whole body.

Whenever I make music, there’s like this trance state mode where it seems something transcendent is taking over me and I completely loose any notion of time.

How would you describe your development as an artist in terms of interests and challenges, searching for a personal voice, as well as breakthroughs?

Since I created Toada I’ve been interested in pushing things forward but not in a completely alienating way.

Stylistically, there have been some nuanced changes since I started this project in 2015. I can say however that I’ve always tried to be true to myself, therefore there’s a line of progression but I think ever since my first EP Escapista I was able to create my own sound.



That has been challenging in a very exciting way, as I navigate the tension between staying true to my own sound and trying to explore new ideas.

Tell me a bit about your sense of identity and how it influences both your preferences as a listener and your creativity as an artist, please.

In many aspects of my life, I’ve always felt that I was “in between” and I guess it is there where my identity really is.

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

In my case, making music is all about emotion and expression, or evoking a certain mood or atmosphere. It’s the way I prefer to communicate and express my emotions. It’s a beautiful thing.

How would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

I have nothing against perfection, but that is simply far away from the way I make music or the music that I tend to be attracted to. I believe if we introduce imperfections into our music it will eventually become the music of the future.

And in relation to that, in my opinion the way to make original music is to let those imperfections come to the surface. This will give interesting and original qualities to music.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools - and what are the most promising strategies for working with them?

Like I mentioned before, having an early introduction to music theory and guitar playing allowed me to develop an adequate sense of melodic intuition. I stopped playing guitar a long time ago, which brings me to my main instrument since the last decade until nowadays, the computer. But one might say the computer is a tool and not an instrument.

So I think my main key instruments nowadays are synthesizers, drum machines and samplers. Overall, technology opened a universe of creation in front me, where in my mind there are no limits. I go where I dream.

Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work, please.

I tend to do some breath work in the morning, nothing spiritual. It just helps me to start the day. After getting ready, I usually go for a walk and see some life outside. Being a music producer can be a very lonely life in my opinion, so before being stuck alone in the studio it’s nice to see people outside, just to get a fresh perspective on things.

I then tend to work on some music throughout the day, either creating it, mixing it or learning some technical aspects of my electronic instruments.

That being said, I try to make breaks in between as much as I can. It’s important to give my ears a rest in order to make better decisions in the music creation process.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of a piece, live performance or album that's particularly dear to you, please?

With my new album  Acalenta and in general in my music, inspiration is always the starting point. I just want to express my emotions and that in turn evokes the inspiration to express them.

After that, comes the time to refine those raw ideas and arrange them in the best way possible. The final goal is always to make my creative vision a reality. So that means, the last step is to finish the music and share it in the real world.

Listening can be both a solitary and a communal activity. Likewise, creating music can be private or collaborative. Can you talk about your preferences in this regard and how these constellations influence creative results?

Honestly, I tend to work better in solitude because it gives me a better control over the creative process and allows me to fully express my vision. I find that very liberating.

That being said, collaborating with someone where the chemistry feels just right is very rewarding and I’m always open to that experience.

How do your work and your creativity relate to the world and what is the role of music in society?

I make music as a means of self-expression and it’s also therapeutic for me. I think music in general has an important role in society because it can bring people together, it has the power to unite people across linguistic, cultural and sometimes, even political borders.

Music also has an important role in keeping alive cultural heritage and identity through unique musical traditions experienced all over the world. And at the same time, music has the capability to shape the future through its influence in various aspects of our lives.

Art can be a way of dealing with the big topics in life: Life, loss, death, love, pain, and many more. In which way and on which occasions has music – both your own or that of others - contributed to your understanding of these questions?

For me, music has the power to evoke strong emotions and I hope I can connect to whomever is listening to music on a deep and personal level.

Personally, when I’m listening to my favourite music, it allows me to process complex emotions and experiences. And so, when I express those emotions through music I hope I can help listeners to understand and process their emotions in a meaningful way.

How do you see the connection between music and science and what can these two fields reveal about each other?

I think that music and science are connected, for example, through the study of sound and acoustics.

I’m really bad at math but I think the principles of mathematics and physics can be used to explain how sound is generated, how it travels through the air or water and how it’s perceived by the human ear. And this understanding has been used to improve the design of musical instruments, sound systems and recording technologies.

The way music intersects with technology is also another way, the development of synthesizers and computer-based music tools has had an impact on the way music is made, distributed and consumed.

These are just a few ways that music and science are connected. I’m pretty sure there are many more connections and many more ways in which these two fields can reveal information and perspectives about each other, such as areas of neuroscience, psychology and related fields.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. 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?

I love making a great cup of coffee but I see it more as a practical and functional task. Its purpose is focused on providing a satisfying and enjoyable experience for the person drinking it.

It can be a creative endeavour too but I think it serves a different purpose than music. With music you can evoke much more complex emotions. It communicates in a very powerful way that is unlike any other form of creative expression, in my opinion.

Music is vibration in the air, captured by our ear drums. From your perspective as a creator and listener, do you have an explanation how it able to transmit such diverse and potentially deep messages?

I think, because of the result of the human evolution, our brains are wired to process and respond to different sounds in unique ways and so, different aspects of music can elicit different emotional responses.