Name: Pedro da Linha
Nationality: Portuguese
Occupation: Producer, musician, DJ
Current release: Pedro da Linha's Dicas EP, featuring Mu540, Branko, Lapili and Dianka, is out via Enchufada.

[Read our Branko interview]

If you enjoyed this interview with Pedro Da Linha and would like to know more about his work, visit him on Instagram, twitter, and Soundcloud. For a deeper dive, read our earlier Pedro da Linha interview.

Over the course of his career, Pedro Da Linha has worked with a wide range of artists, including Ana Moura, Batida, and Branko.

[Read our Ana Moura interview]
[Rread our Batida interview]



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 usually use music as some sort of "therapy" for different moments throughout the day, with specific genres for each of those moments.

I never had the habit of listening to anything with my eyes closed but I really enjoy fixing my eyes on a wall or towards the sky.

How do listening with headphones and listening through a stereo system change your experience of sound and music?

Listening to music through big sound systems is my least favourite way to experience it. Whenever I can, I prefer using headphones, with the car stereo coming in as a close second.

These are habits I’ve had since day one, and it's really hard for me to break away from that way of hearing sounds and music.

Tell me about some of the albums or artists that you love specifically for their sound, please.

The two bands that, to this day, I still listen to almost every day are Muse and Radiohead, for various reasons - one of them being the way their music makes me feel. Sonically, they’re perhaps two of the most powerful forces when it comes to evoking any emotion I can imagine.

Other than that, I’d say classical music and piano-based artists like Sofiane Pamart and Fabrizio Paterlini, as well as others artists like Bonobo, The Blaze, Justice.



There can be sounds which feel highly irritating to us and then there are others we could gladly listen to for hours. Do you have examples for either one or both of these?

Yes, I do, especially when I’m listening to these classic compositions that feel like a comfort zone for me.

Like if I’m hearing something by Edith Piaf or Cesária Évora, their music always disarms me in a way that makes me question myself and everything I’m doing and have done so far.



But then, at the same time, it gives me such a rush, pushing me to pursue that kind of musical greatness in my own productions or in anything I’m working on for another artist.

There can be sounds which feel highly irritating to us and then there are others we could gladly listen to for hours. Do you have examples for either one or both of these?

I don’t have any particular style of music that annoys me.

But I have to say that, nowadays, anything overly high-pitched and aggressively loud really bothers me. I understand that, at the end of the day, it’s an aesthetic choice, but I can’t handle it anymore and that keeps me away from certain genres.

As for music I can listen to for hours, I’d say classical, ambient, and downtempo are my go-to choices.

Are there everyday places, spaces, or devices which intrigue you by the way they sound? Which are these?

I can’t recall anything specific. But when it comes to devices, I have to say that almost everything from Roland amazes me every time.

Have you ever been in spaces with extreme sonic characteristics, such as anechoic chambers or caves? What was the experience like?

No, I haven’t! Other than specific museums that are designed to create authentic experiences, which can cause some specific emotions, I haven’t been to a place like that yet.

What are among your favourite spaces to record and play your music?

When it comes to my DJ and club side, I have to say small venues. I’m not sure if it’s just about nostalgia and the memories I’ve collected growing up, or if they just happen to sound better every time.

On the other hand, when I’m producing or recording, I find the perfect scenario to be a house in the middle of nowhere, just a perfect place of quiet.

Do music and sound feel “material” to you? Does working with sound feel like you're sculpting or shaping something?

Yes, totally! I think it’s almost impossible not to feel like you’re shaping something, even though you can’t physically touch it.

You’re creating an emotion, something that you carry with you forever.

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?

I’m pretty sure it’s something almost everyone loves, but for me, it has to be the ocean and silence.