David Fonseca
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| David Fonseca | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Born | 1973 (age 36) | |
| Origin | Leiria, Portugal | |
| Genre(s) | Pop / Rock / Alternative | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter | |
| Years active | 1998-2002 (as Silence 4) 2003-present (Solo) | |
| Label(s) | Universal Records (2003-present) |
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| Associated acts |
Silence 4, Humanos | |
| Website | DavidFonseca.com | |
David Fonseca was born in Leiria, Portugal, in 1973. He studied Cinema at Escola Superior de Belas Artes de Lisboa between 1992 and 1994, where he obtained a degree. David first began his professional life as a photographer, working for various fashion catalogues. He participated in many exhibitions, both group and individual. He also worked in a radio station for a while. But he is mainly recognised because of his successful music career. Nowadays, David Fonseca has dedicated his life to his love of music choosing to become a Pop/Rock/Alternative singer. Besides playing various instruments and being the author of most of his own lyrics, he is also responsible for the graphic designs on his album covers. He has been influenced by famous musicians such as Jeff Buckley, B’52s, Pixies, Roy Orbison, Aphex Twin, Ryan Adams, all of whom play a huge role in his own musical creativity and individuality. He has also mentioned in a recent interview on “Antena 3” that he has an addiction to the group Yeah Yeah Yeahs. David is currently married and has one son.
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[edit] Silence 4
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It all started with a band called Silence 4, formed by a group of hometown friends. They first released the unpredictable Silence Becomes It, in 1998 that was a huge success at the time, selling almost 250 thousand copies (the equivalent to six platinum records). This was a remarkable achievement in the Portuguese musical scenario, which is usually considered as being fairly poor. The album has only two themes written in Portuguese. One of them is “Sexto Sentido”, featuring the popular Portuguese singer, Sérgio Godinho. To complete this great year for the band, which played at most of the Portuguese summer festivals, they closed the world famous exhibition Expo ’98 in Lisbon, playing for about 50 thousand people. Later the same year, in December, Silence 4 was the first national band to sell out at Pavilhão Atlântico, performing to an astonishing 18,000-strong crowd, only 6 months after the release of their first album. Two years after the “phenomenon” in 2000, the second album was released, Only Pain Is Real, selling approximately 100 thousand copies to this day. The respective tour ended in a double concert at the legendary stage in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, the Coliseu dos Recreios, which sold out completely and was released later on in CD and in DVD format. Throughout 2001, Silence 4 went on their last tour. In 2002, the band came to an unexpected and poignant end.
[edit] Solo career
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With the 21 st century, David’s solo career kicked off with a different sound from what it used to be while in Silence 4. Sing Me Something New was recorded in 2003. In this first solo work, along with his interpretation, he played nearly all instruments and thus, he could now explore a totally new environment of sounds all by himself. The album was recorded in the studios of producer Mário Barreiros, and later on in the Sterling Sound Studios (in New York), by the well-known sound engineer, George Marino, who is connected to some works of Coldplay, Rollins Band, The Dandy Warhols and Sepultura, among many others. The first single was Someone That Cannot Love which debuted on about 150 Portuguese radio stations in a unique way: they were all played on March 10th at midnight. And it soon reached #2 on the National Sales Chart and was certified Gold. The tour of this first record was extensive; it included many big music venues and large festivals across Portugal. Our Hearts Will Beat As One is said, by David himself, to be “scarily personal” and was only released in the fall of 2005, because of the other projects that David was involved in between his two solo works. The second album includes Who Are U? as the first single, described by David as “the song I always wanted to write”. It reached #3 on the Portuguese airplay charts. Our Hearts Will Beat As One was critically acclaimed by all media and was considered pop album of the year in Portugal, even before the year-end. The album went straight to #1 on National Sales Chart and reached Gold status on its first week of sales.
[edit] Live Concerts
David Fonseca is already known and characterised by his powerful dancing on stage, equipped with his pair of AllStars on. He plays different instruments during the show and he is accompanied by his band, which includes: Sérgio Nascimento (drummer), Ricardo Fiel (guitarist), Rita Pereira (ex-Atomic Bees in the piano and also voices; the second record single “Hold Still” it’s a David and Rita’s duet), Nuno Simões (bass player) and Paulo Pereira (hammond). David doesn’t just play his solo-career hits and the lesser-known tracks; he also plays (in most of his live concerts) “Angel Song”, the first music to be written by the artist, when he was only 18, which was included in Silence 4’s first album. This theme is perhaps the one most loved among fans, both of the group and of David. At the middle of the show, he usually leaves the stage to return wearing a white suit, to announce that the “dancing time” has begun and that the “moonwalk” move is near. While playing at big music venues and large festivals in Portugal, David Fonseca has shared stages with international names such as PJ Harvey, Portishead,Placebo, Tindersticks, Rufus Wainwright, Fatboy Slim, Beth Orton, and N.E.R.D.
[edit] Humanos
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In 2004, David entered a new project called Humanos. The idea behind it was to bring to light some unedited songs by a great Portuguese artist, a singer-songwriter, from the 80’s, António Variações. David Fonseca, Manuela Azevedo (the lead singer of another Portuguese music group, Clã), Camané (one of the most famous Portuguese “fadistas”), Sérgio Nascimento (a member of Sérgio Godinho’s band), Hélder Gonçalves (also from Clã), Nuno Rafael and João Cardoso are the seven members of a group responsible for what would become a huge success, something unedited in the Portuguese music scene. The homonymous album scored impressive quintuple platinum, staying for weeks in #1. “Muda de Vida”, “Maria Albertina” and “Rugas” are just some of the group hits. All this culminated in three sold out concerts, two of them in “Coliseu dos Recreios” (Lisbon) and the other in Porto. There was also another memorable performance, in front of a crowd of 40 000 people, at the “Sudoeste” Portuguese Festival, in the year 2005. This is supposed to be a short period of time project, because the unedited Antonio Variações’ songs were very few in number. Thus, it was released on November of 2006 on CD and DVD with the recorded Coliseums’ live concerts, which marked the end of the Humanos project.
[edit] Publicity/Advertising
“The 80’s” was the second single of Sing Me Something New. Due to its powerful and vibrant sound, a catchy chorus (“Dance, dance, dance, like I was sixteen/ dance, dance, dance, you know what I mean”) and some clapping along, it was chosen to be the theme of the next Vodafone’s summer advertisement campaign, rendering it a huge hit. It could be heard on the many dance floors of Portugal (special and limited edition remixes of the song). The issue of “Quality vs. Profit” remains controversial. But, the respective album, which the single was taken from, besides being a success when it comes to sales, it’s also respected by critics.
David also posed as a model for BPI’s advertisement campaign, appearing in several TV commercials and street posters, along with many other known people such as José Mourinho, Fernanda Serrano, etc. These individuals were chosen to serve as a role model as they are all successful, good-looking, famous people.
[edit] Trivia
- David Fonseca loves cats; he has three, but one of them ran away and it hasn’t come back yet.
- When he was young, he used to break-dance, but he wasn’t that good at it.
- David Fonseca’s pseudonym is Little David Boy.
- Some of David’s theme titles have “II” after words because the Portuguese authors’ society doesn’t allow its repetition.
- He collaborated with Sérgio Godinho, Humanos, Trovante and Phase.
- David was a guest on the TV successful comedy show “Gato Fedorento – Diz É Uma Espécie de Magazine”, which airs on the Portuguese channel "RTP 1". He sang a cover version of a song by popular Portuguese singer, Mónica Sintra, but this time in English. A funny way of responding to the usual criticism of media or the common opinion, which usually attacks him for writing most of his own lyrics in English, being himself Portuguese.
- There are many covers in David’s repertoire, some of them being hits from the 80s, such as: “Take on me” (A-ha), “My Sharona” (The Knack), “Like a Virgin” (Madonna), “Last Christmas” (Wham!) and “Purple Rain” (Prince); and even more recent hits such as: “Hey Ya” (Outkast) and “How Do You Keep Love Alive” (Ryan Adams).
- David Fonseca was twice nominated for the Best Portuguese Act MTV award.
- David was the responsible for the Metro newspaper edition (portuguese) for one day. It was the first time something alike happened. Beside choosing the news, he had to justify his choices and also give some tips for Christmas gifts.
[edit] Discography
Albums
- Solo
- 2003 - Sing Me Something New
- 2005 - Our Hearts Will Beat As One
Singles (solo)
- 2003 - Someone that cannot love (Sing me something new)
- 2003 - The 80's (Sing me something new)
- 2005 - Who Are U? (Our Hearts Will Beat As One)
- 2006 - Hold Still (Our Hearts Will Beat As One)
- 2006 - Our Hearts Will Beat As One (Our Hearts Will Beat As One)
