With a remarkable and distinctive voice timbre, ZEK is the definition of a new generation of Brazilian singers. Performing in the biggest electronic parties in the country and collecting several singles, the artist has over 60 thousand monthly listeners on Spotify and millions of streams on digital platforms.
Earlier this year, ZEK took an important step in his career by releasing his first audiovisual. Entitled “Decolagem”, the DVD features new tracks and re-recordings of big hits, such as “Evidências”, by the iconic duo Chitãozinho & Xororó, and “Fazer Falta”, by MC Livinho. Check out a complete interview about the project:
At what point in your life did you realise you wanted to pursue a singing career?
Good. Music has been present in my life since I was very young, when my family used to get together to sing at karaoke. It was at this time that I discovered that there was a talent that I could develop, but for a good part of my life I considered music as a plan B, so I went to business school and intended to work in that area. When I finished college, I was very unsure of what I was going to do, because I knew I really liked music, but I was afraid to pursue the career because I knew it was too difficult and so on.
From then on, I went to study music in the United States to open my mind a little and see things a little further away. When I came back to Brazil, I came back sure that I wanted to take a risk and I was going to try and pursue a career in music.
What are your main musical inspirations?
My main inspirations in music for a long time were always foreign artists and, mainly, those who could combine the vocal issue with the performance issue, which is something I value a lot and always try to bring to my shows. And then artists like Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars, Michael Jackson, in short, all these artists who had a very strong vocal, but at the same time danced and opted for a more performatic show. Then I started to get more involved with Brazilian music and today I also have some inspirations from Brazilian artists who are also performance artists, like Gloria Groove, Iza and Jão.
Your project “Decolagem” was recently released and marks a new phase in your career, as it is your first audiovisual. How was the production of this show?
Because it was my first audiovisual project, everything had to be well thought out. And we thought as a team, because it is important to hear different opinions and different points of view, but we managed to come up with a style that had the elements that I value. So, there was the. We also chose cover songs that were in line with the styles of my own songs, but I didn’t want to sing the covers exactly as they are. We also chose cover songs that were in line with the styles of my own songs, but I didn’t want to sing the covers exactly as they are. So, we looked for arrangements to reflect my identity and I was really happy with the result. I can see that this project is being very well received.
Some artists seek to show and portray something through a project. What is the concept of “Take- off”? What do you want to get across to the listeners?
The process of creating my artistic identity was long and went through various phases until I came up with songs that I really identified with. I felt that I had this more commercial potential to reach more people. And in “Decolagem” I think I got very close to that.
It’s hard to say that I got exactly where I wanted to be, because I think the process continues, but I got very close to it a in terms of music. So it has that aspect of a watershed in the compositions and in my songs. It also embodies an important moment in my career where I believe it’s a take-off, right? The beginning of something that can only grow.
Besides your own songs, you also do covers of some songs that marked generations. What was your criteria for choosing these songs?
In the covers, we tried to choose songs that were different from each other and that brought different genres to be eclectic choices, but that talked among themselves and mainly with the authorial songs of the rest of the album. From there, we started to think about the arrangements that, firstly, would bring my identity with the artist and secondly would have to do with my authorial songs.
Even if they were authorial or covers, they needed to speak the same language. So there was this process of putting my identity in the covers and at the same time looking for songs that were different from each other in terms of genre.
What are you still preparing for this year?
We are finishing the production of an EP, which will have 3 or 4 songs. They are tracks that I am very happy with the result and I believe that these songs I can say that I really feel 100% within my artistic identity. I think I managed to transmit this through these songs and, if everything goes right, this release will happen in the middle of this year. Efforts will be made for these songs to reach as many people as possible.