Name: Raquel Martins

Nationality: Portuguese
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, guitarist
Current release: Raquel Martins's Empty Flower EP is out via Bridge The Gap.
Recommendations: In connection by Kae Tempest and Brazil (Joao Gilberto, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethania).

If you enjoyed this interview with Raquel Martins and would like to stay up to date with her music, visit her on Instagram, and Facebook.



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?

Both my mom and dad are very into music, but it was through my grandpa (who played a bit of keys and guitar) that I picked up the guitar. He had this very old guitar from the 20s in his house lying around so I started playing with it when I was like 7 or 8.

I guess growing up as an only child, the guitar allowed me to create this little world for myself and I would just get lost playing for hours. I remember when I was maybe 10, I installed a music software that I saw my music teacher using and started recording myself playing and adding layers to the recordings and that was kinda my way into producing.

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?

I always see colours, not in a particular conscious way but they’re always in the back of my head.

Lately I’ve been trying to find out the link between the songs and the colours I see. If two songs have the same colour for me, I think this means they create a similar emotional response in my brain.

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

I moved from Portugal to London when I was 17. When I first got here I was practising a lot to try to get really good at guitar, but when I started meeting other musicians I realised that being amazing technically at their instruments didn’t make me feel anything or impress me. The ones who made me feel something were the ones that had their own individual sound.

This made me realise how important identity is for me both on a personal and musical level, and led me to reconnect with a lot of the music I grew up listening to.

I think moving away from your country that young and no longer having your childhood environment defining you forces you to find identity and comfort internally, and this definitely made me realise that I just want to tell my story and not pretend to be anyone else.

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.

I’m very much into music that surprises me and that brings something different to my ears that I’ve never heard before, that you can’t quite work out what it is or define.

And I guess that fluidity also reflects itself in the way I am as a person. I like being open to change, even though it can also make us feel uncomfortable.

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

I wanna be able to create something new and make people feel something, and in that process to try to understand myself a bit better.

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”?

Innovation always, but you can’t do that without being aware of the tradition and studying it. Creating something new comes from mixing elements that already exist but in a way that hasn’t been done yet and that is unique to you.

I think everyone can bring something unique to the table, because no one has the exact same influences as you. I love that about art.

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?

I would say being surrounded by really open-minded artists and musicians since I moved to London has been crucial to my development and I find it a really inspiring place to live in.

Also trying to learn something new everyday and approaching music with a curiosity driven mindset allows me to have a lot of fun with the entire process.

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

I love mornings. I tend to wake up quite early, work out a bit, meditate, have breakfast and do all the work/admin bits that need to be done and whenever I’m done with that I will make music.

I try to see my friends as much as possible too although that is quite a challenge in a big city like London where everyone is always busy.

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

I started writing my song “Empty Flower” when I was going through a very confusing and difficult situation in my life last year and it helped me figure out what I was truly feeling towards it.

I love it when this happens, it’s such an interesting process. Sometimes you are mumbling and singing little melodies to yourself and you end up singing a few words that describe exactly what you feel before you even figure it out yourself. It’s like the words come straight out of your subconscious.

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?

The first glimpse of a song usually comes to me when I’m on my own because that’s when I feel like I can be the most vulnerable and honest. I find it hard to get to that place emotionally with other people unless I know them quite well.

I love collaborating with musicians and to have their input after the songs are written and when I already have an idea of what I’m feeling production / arrangement wise.

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

I think music (and art in general) is one of the most powerful ways of communicating. When you go at a gig or listen to an album, you are fully receptive and listening to what the artist is saying and there’s nothing in between you, which creates room for deep connection and for powerful messages to get to people.

I think it’s such an empathetic art form. The more honest you are in your writing the more people can relate to your experience, which will then make them feel less isolated.

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?

Muisc has always been a way for me to try and understand and process big emotions or sides of myself that I’m still figuring out. Whenever I feel a bit heavy or disconnected form myself, I grab the guitar because it calms my mind down and is able to offer me clarity to whatever I’m feeling.

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

I think you can analyse music from a scientific and mathematical way and find out formulas and patterns that help explain some emotional reactions.

But I think music is everything but rational so I choose not to see it from that perspective.

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?

By making a great cup of coffee you are in a way expressing yourself and what is a great cup of coffee is also a subjective concept. So maybe they are more similar than we think.

Plus you can create a shared experience then by sharing it with someone else, which will make you both feel similar things. I definitely feel like you can approach mundane tasks with a creative mindset.

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?

Music is all about expectation, tension and resolution, which I guess life is too. And by relating to someone else’s experience through their art we feel more connected which makes the world seem like a less of a lonely place.

So I definitely feel like a lot of it comes from it being such an empathetic experience.