Composer, beatmaker, music producer and digital influencer, Levi Avelino was raised in Aparecida de Goiânia, Goiás, the same city where great artists like Marília Mendonça and Zé Felipe were born. His story began when he was only 10 years old, at the time, close friends praised the boy for his talent, when he decided to create a YouTube channel, gaining a lot of followers right from the start. So Levi created a Facebook profile, which was also recognized on the social network.
Over the years, gaining some partnerships with clothing websites, he developed and improved his knowledge in the music business, releasing several songs on digital platforms such as “O Tempo é Valioso: Avengers Endgame”, inspired by the movie Avengers: Endgame by Marvel Studios . He learned from a friend how to edit the videos, giving them better quality, which attracted even more followers to their platforms. With the dream of becoming famous one day, he found himself fulfilled when he began to receive several awards and medals throughout his career.
He did a project alongside great artists like Metturo, Osl Beats, Biel tvz and Victor Kahnwald, a project that took about one to two months of planning. By having the video published, he gained more than 150,000 players on the song ‘Woke UP Like This’, released last year.
Inspired by artists like Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Marília Mendonça, Zé Felipe, among others, the 16-year-old artist also produced the song Late Fabulous Drive, inspired by racing cars, winning over the public. Currently, he has been producing new songs that will be released in March and May. His goal with these new songs is to change his style a bit. In addition, Levi intends to take English courses to fulfill his dream of living in the United States. Check out the full interview:
At just 16 years old, you’ve already built a career by sharing some releases on your social networks. How do you assess the importance of social networks in the music industry today?
Social networks, more and more, are growing and becoming an extremely important means of dissemination. Before making a song, there is a whole process of recording, remastering, sound and video editing, and finally, music distribution. Social networks can help a lot any artist who has a fan base, from my point of view, I believe that all artists who really want to grow, have to have a profile on social networks, because before any musical release, they can share with your fan base.
It is extremely important to have a profile where people can find you and connect with you, whether in any artistic medium. I myself use Instagram and Facebook a lot, whenever I release a song, I already run there and share a preview of the song, this is very important to stir up the fans, they are curious, and this is a way to gain a lot of plays on their songs.
His last release of last year was the song “Late Fabulous Drive”, inspired by racing cars. What is your creative process like when composing?
Yes, this song was created by me last year, when I had watched a movie on my TV, it was something related to Formula 1 cars. To make this song, I sat in a chair and sat there thinking for a few hours, when I decided to do it and like, it was an idea that came to my mind out of nowhere, then I remembered that I had watched this movie and decided to make this song, which, by the way, the next day, I almost thought about not publishing it.
However, I received many motivations from my friends, because they knew that I was already doing some sound editing and also some songs, but I didn’t publish them. My sister also encouraged me a lot, so I decided to distribute her, it was a remarkable song for me. This song will be etched in my life forever, because when I released it, I told myself that even when I’m older, at about 40/50 years old, whenever I hear that same song, I’ll be able to remember what it made me become today.
According to your biography, you started investing in music at the age of 10 through a YouTube channel. In that case, how were your first contacts with music in life?
Well, before I was 10 years old, I already really liked singing and dancing, so much so that when I went to my aunt’s house, I sang and recorded videos on her computer. So, when I was 10 years old, my sister opened a YouTube channel to post my singing videos that I did at that time, as I didn’t know anything about editing, I didn’t even have a cell phone, she was the one who recorded my videos and uploaded them to my channel. .
One of my first songs that made me really like music and that made me decide to pursue a career as an artist was Ana Vilela’s song “Trem Bala”. I really liked the song so much that I decided to make a video singing it, I posted it on my YouTube channel and on my Facebook profile.
In my opinion, this song was like a change inside my head, I really liked the lyrics, because it was calm, sweet and different from the others, like funk or heavy songs. I liked the genre of music and then, over the years, I went deeper and fell in love with the musical world.
After I sang this song and posted it on my channel, I didn’t want to stop, it’s like a graph going up and not falling anymore. My video generated many shares for a long time, which helped to never give up. What motivated me to continue with the songs was precisely some people who accompanied me, family and friends around who gave me a lot of support, this made me who I am today.
Levi, after some time performing, you started to win several prizes in contests and public competitions. What are your short and long term career plans?
Yes, back in school I won a song presentation competition, I remember that day like it was today. The teacher gave us an activity to choose a song and perform in front of the whole school and I was very nervous, because it scratched a little. However, at the end of the presentation, I was surprised to receive a gold-plated medal. I was super happy, my colleague won a bronze, he called me to participate in this presentation.
At my other school, in 7th grade, I won another medal when my class put on a theatrical performance in the schoolyard. It was these and other awards that I won throughout my life, but it’s like I always say, what really matters are the moments we live, if you’re happy. These awards are received on merit.
About my plans for the future, I intend to pursue a musical career, composing my own music independently, this year I intend to release many songs, both instrumental and sung. I’m going to change the genres of my songs and do more vocals now, giving priority to my voice. I’m taking some guitar lessons and I’m already at the beginner’s level, maybe next month there’ll be new music coming out, who knows.
I also intend to expand my social networks, seeking to deepen my knowledge of the artistic environment, using social networks to always stay close to my fans, and that’s it, in the short term, I believe that I will stay in music for another year, because, when i start working i will have almost no time to make my songs, however, even if i stop releasing songs, which i find almost impossible, i will never stop writing my songs, i always do my best when i make songs.
At the moment, you announced that you are working on some launches that should hit the market between March and May. Are there already plans for a future EP?
Yes, yes, I have plans for a next EP, I’m already working on writing it. In fact, two vocal songs, I will exclusively spoiler, one is about the story of a boy who fell in love with a girl in high school and the other is about friendship. These new songs I’m writing were inspired by a girl and my true friends who are always by my side, even in difficulties, they help me, so it’s going to be something related to them.
This year I intend to make a song a month, with my guitar and my voice, I believe that the basis for a good song consists of love, how it is made and how it is written by the composer, how each word is formed, so that when people listen, feel immersed in the music. A good song can be able to make a person listen all day, not only that, but it can also give motivation to the person depending on the situation he is going through.
Sometimes, people just need to hear loving words to feel like themselves, this year, I want to make more songs and put inside each one of them a little bit of true stories lived by me throughout my life. It’s like that old phrase “without music, life wouldn’t be funny, it would be as if it were in black and white”.
A curiosity about their songs is that some of them are directly inspired by movies and series. What made you want to risk being inspired by these segments?
Well, as I’m a big fan of movies and series, mainly from the cinematographic world of Marvel and DC, I thought: ‘why not make music that I can draw inspiration from what I love the most?’. I really like superhero movies, so much so that, last year, I released an album with several instrumental songs, in which one of these songs was inspired by the movie Avengers Ultimatum. To be more specific, I was inspired by the character of Iron Man, because anyone who watched the movie knows that he sacrifices himself to save all humanity from the titan Thanos and as I had already watched that movie, I was very emotional in this scene and I cried a lot. . So I decided to make a song inspired by him for having saved everyone without thinking twice, in my opinion, it was an act of bravery, courage and heroism on the part of the character. Today, the song has more than 14,000 views on YouTube and now, in all other films, I am inspired by a very important part of every cinematographic work to make these incredible songs.
So far, most of your songs have been instrumental, however, it has been said that in 2023, you intend to redesign the style. What are your expectations and which rhythms do you intend to explore?
As in other years I released several instrumental songs, this year I decided to change my musical style a little and try new things with different genres. I want to be able to learn and get to know other rhythms, I intend to release vocal songs and I’m going to change to a more romantic style, something calm, that can make more people know this other romantic part of me, you know.
I intend to make calm music with more engaging stories within each one of them, because this year I want to delve into slightly different genres, I’m going to do a lot of research and see one that suits me and my unique style. In the next few months I want to release a song I made for a very special person, I can’t mention the name, however, that person is unforgettable to me and was part of my life, so I decided to make a song for her.
How do you evaluate the meaning of music in your life and what would you be doing today if you hadn’t met her?
Music for me is like experiencing stories, because behind each one of them, there is something to tell. Music made me open my mind, it made me discover new things, new phrases, new languages, peculiar styles, rhythms… It made me get involved with dance and made me a person more loved by myself with music present in my life. When I heard music for the first time, it was like being under the rain for the first time, something unforgettable and unique. Music today for me represents many things.
I started with an interest in this artistic medium some time ago, and since then, I haven’t stopped loving the art that each song represents, because each song has its meaning and its own unique essence, regardless of its style. If I hadn’t known about music, I wouldn’t have become the person I am today, I wouldn’t have met amazing people who also make music and who are independent, I wouldn’t have explored the internet and social networks in depth, because today, my networks social and everything that I know a little bit, at least, is related or connected with music.
One of the projects that took off the most in his career was the partnership with singers Metturo, Osl Beats, Biel Tvz and Victor Kahnwald, “I Woke Up Like This”, which was aired last year and soon reached more than 150,000 listeners. . What was it like to participate in this launch?
Wow, it was a unique and special feeling for me, we initially made a project for this song, and little did we know that the song would be a blast on digital platforms. We spent months planning this song, there were several exchanges of ideas between our group, many suggestions, and finally, we decided to do it.
When we released it, a week went by and the music boomed, it exploded with listeners. I was very happy with the news, because we did something and I did not expect such a great result, we had not even imagined it, but it was very gratifying to be part of and to be able to collaborate with this group, which today are my friends. It was an honor to be a part of this song.
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