David Fonseca Interview: SXSW 2010

Singer-songwriter David Fonseca has been one of the most popular recording artists in his native Portugal for more than a decade, dating back to his days as the singer of the multi-platinum Silence 4. His three solo albums, including 2009's 'Between Waves,' have brought him even more worldwide acclaim and packed concert halls in his home country, but he's still a relative unknown in the US. Fonseca will make his fourth trip to SXSW this year, and he recently chatted with Spinner about why he keeps coming back to Austin.

How would you describe your sound?

There's a little bit of the '60s or '70s in it. There's also a little Roxy Music in it, a little bit of Bryan Ferry and a little bit of Roy Orbison, who has a voice I admire. I can't really describe how I sound, but I definitely fit into the pop-rock sound.

How did your solo career get started?

I had this band that started 10 years ago. In 2003 or 2004, I started doing this as a solo act. I started playing different instruments, everything I could find, just trying things out and learning them. Slowly, I started building my songs, and my first album just kind of came out. That process really changed the way I make music, make these records, and play live.

I never studied music or wanted to be musician. I started playing guitar later, at 18 or 19 years old. Maybe it was because there weren't a lot of instruments around, and I didn't have a lot of friends interested in music, so I started very late. But I really quickly found it was an essential thing for me to do.

Your previous band was called Silence 4, and two of your singles -- 'Stop 4 a Minute' and 'A Cry 4 Love' -- have the number four in their titles. What's up with you and the number four?

There's nothing really special with it. Silence 4 was just a name. But the reason the number four comes up a lot in the song titles is because when you do a song here in Portugal, you have to submit it to the publisher, and we have a problem with songs with the same name. That's the way these numbers come along.

Who are your musical influences?

When I started playing music it was because of one band: Pixies. That was a band that showed me you didn't have to use 300 chords in a song. I just saw them live two years ago, and I thought it was amazing. I was really nervous going, because they were this really important band to me, but they were great.

A lot of other bands influenced me as well -- Jeff Buckley and his father, Tim Buckley. The entire catalog of [British indie label] 4AD from the '80s and the '90s. Some other songwriters have appealed to me, like Ryan Adams, but there are too many to mention.

What's your biggest vice?

Vinyl. I'm into music a lot, and I collect lots of records. I had to buy a bigger house to get all these records together. I'm trying to scale back a little so I can enjoy life in other ways. It's a bad habit of mine to hang around in shops and collect records, but that's one of my favorite things to do in Austin, because they have three or four great record shops. I don't have a clue how many records I have, maybe 5,000 or 6,000, but I try not to count them. If you count them, it turns into this monster that will eat you up.

You're a bit of a SXSW veteran at this point. Why do you keep going back to the festival?

This is my fourth time playing. When I played SXSW for the first time, three or four years ago, I didn't realize there were so many bands at the festival. I thought it was a different kind of festival. The great thing is you get to meet a lot of bands and meet a lot of people in the music industry. It really helps you better understand the industry and how it works by giving you a view of the inside.

What's in your festival survival kit?

I always take one thing with me: my camera. I was a photographer before all this started, and I still have this strange wish of doing photography the whole time, not as a hobby, but as a profession. In Austin you'll always find me with a camera -- an old Leika -- shooting everything around me. Photography connects me with people, and it's something creative to do as well, so you'll always find me with a camera.

Do you have any musical guilty pleasures?

Ha, I have a lot of them. I have a lot of interest in the songs from the '80s. They still make sense after all these years. There's this very lame song by Europe, this Swedish band. It's this song called 'The Final Countdown.' I think it's probably one of the worst songs ever written, but it's irresistible. I just have to listen to it until the end.

What's the craziest thing you've seen while touring?

I've seen some crazy things at festivals. I've seen people getting into the stage and stopping the show. I've seen people chasing my cars for two miles. I've seen a lot of nakedness around the stage. It's very difficult to point to one thing. Touring is probably one of the greatest things in life. If I had to tell you why I make music, it's because of touring. The greatest thing to do as a musician is to strap on your instrument and go out and tour.