by on

“One track. Two different vibes. The symbiotic contrast between the beautiful melodies and the darkness surrounding the synths and basslines. Mesmerizing vocals. Countless sensations.”

This is what defines my brand new single Honey Trap. With this track, my goal is to reinforce my artistic identity, in an attempt to enter another orbit of creativity and to break the rules that existed before, in order to elevate even more the Melodark – that many of you already know as my musical style.

Let’s dig into it so you can have a better understanding about the backgrounds of this song.

WHERE DOES THE TITLE AND ARTWORK COME FROM?

Inspiration can come literally from anywhere. I remember that the day before I started producing this track, I was watching a documentary series – Spycraft – that talked about a spy stratagem in which an attractive person entices another person into revealing information or doing something unwise, called “honey trap”. I guess I liked the term and said to myself that one day I would produce a track with that name, inspired by this spy technique. At some point, I say in the song “I surrendered to your beauty, in my naïveté. And I fell, on the honey trap”. That sentence is the literal explanation of this song’s artwork, where someone seduce me to get something from me. In this case, something very important like my mask. Therefore, I fell into the honey trap.

Hozho - Honey Trap GIF

PRODUCTION PROCESS

Honey Trap was one of those tracks that I didn’t need to think too much to put the idea into the DAW. It flowed very naturally. If I remember correctly, I was producing another track when I decided to take a break and I started playing some notes on the piano I had in my old apartment. Something sounded right in my head and I went to the studio to develop the melody. I felt the muse. Then I remembered the documentary I saw the night before and came up with the idea for the vocals. From there, I think it took me about a week to finish the song. Usually when I spend a long time producing one track, I start having doubts and second thoughts about whether the track is really good or not. For a perfectionist like me, finishing Honey Trap was one of those rare moments where I actually felt really happy with what I had created.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Despite Honey Trap only being released on February 25th, it’s been almost a year since I produced this track. To be honest, there’s no reason why it took so long to release it. Somehow, it was good because during this whole time, a huge hype was created around this song, since I first performed it on my Quarantine Mix 3 recorded in April of 2021. For that reason, I know that many of you already know the song very well. Now you will finally be able to listen to the full version on streaming platforms. I leave you the link below. Hear it, feel it, share it with your friends and on social media. In these times of chaos, pandemic and war that we are experiencing around the world, these small gestures of support, gratitude and love are more important than ever. Be the best & fuck help the rest!

listen honey trap

Subscribe, join our community and never miss a new post again!

by on

“If you’re going to try, go all the way. Otherwise don’t even start.”

This was the quote that inspired me to compose my latest single – Full Measures. This track had been in the making process for about 3 years. Back then, the structure of the track was already more or less assembled: the melodic idea, the bassline, the back vocals and the mood in general. But I felt that something was missing and as it often happens to me, I left the project on standby and I started producing other tracks, the same tracks that would later become part of my first album Yin Yang.

It turns out that I was almost to delete the project permanently. In fact, I deleted it but years later when I was organizing my stuff on Google Drive I saw that the project was still there and I decided to restore it again.

Almost every producer knows this cycle:
1. Start a new project
2. Spend some time and effort to build the first loop with the main elements of the track
3. Listen to this loop infinitely because it’s fucking awesome
4. Start developing the track
5. The song no longer makes sense because after all it doesn’t sound so fucking awesome
6. Back to step 1

And one day, maybe weeks, months or years later, we listen to this project again and we say “Hey, this shit is awesome”. And that’s what happened to me in this case.

So I decided to finish this track. I was developing the track very well, having good ideas but still I felt that the “story” of the song was missing. The name of the song was already defined by the time I started the project, three years ago (maybe more).

You probably know that I’m a big fan of Breaking Bad. The name “Full Measures” came from the name of one of the episodes. Basically, Mike tells Walter White (Heisenberg) a story in which the moral of the story is that he chose a half measure when he should have gone all the way. And he concludes the sentence by saying “No more half measures, Walter.”

So that was the story I wanted to tell in my track. We all want something, we have our goals, but for some reason we often don’t get what we really want. We only choose “half measures”. And I was angry because I wanted to change. I was sick and tired that the life and circumstances we are experiencing right now across the planet were dictating the direction of my life.

And when I was researching more about this kind of mindset, I discovered Bukowski. Charles Bukowski. A writer, a poet, an inspiration.

Charles Bukowski

I don’t see myself in his behavior at all: he smoked a lot, drank a lot, he just wanted “putas e vinho verde” as we say in Portugal. In the end, he had self-destructive behaviors…

… but, his philosophy of life is simply fascinating. His poems “Roll The Dice” and “The Laughing Heart” are the most inspiring for me. In a shitty year like this, discovering Bukowski and especially these poems, was a breath of fresh air.

The voice you hear in “Full Measures” are excerpts from the poem “Roll The Dice” (click here to read the full poem).

“If you’re going to try, go all the way”, said Bukowski.

“No more half measures, Walter”, said Mike.

Different quotes but the same philosophy. As you can see, it’s not so much other songs or other producers that inspire me. Moments, quotes, moods, philosophies… These are the kind of things that inspire me. Melodark is simply the way I tell the story.

“Full Measures” is available on all major digital platforms and you can listen here:

stream / buy

Go all the way!

Subscribe, join our community and never miss a new post again!

Share this post:

by on

Yeah, yeah… You just started reading this post and you must probably be thinking “Why read books when Hozho’s tracks can tell whole stories in 7-8 minutes?” Well, probably you’re right. I like to think that I’m a storyteller, but I chose FL Studio instead of the pencil and paper to tell my stories.

In any case, much of the knowledge I acquired about music theory came from books: techniques, creating good habits, marketing, etc. He who does not neglect reading and learning will always be one step ahead.

But be careful! Don’t confuse knowledge with information. You should have the wisdom to distinguish what an author says is important from what is REALLY important. It’s all about putting it into practice, knowing what works for you.

The truth is… whenever I read a new book, I consider it an event in my life because, in one way or another, it changed me and I discovered a new way of looking at things, even if sometimes I disagree with them.

Following, I present 5 books that changed my paradigms, not only regarding my musical knowledge but also my life philosophies.

1. The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook, by Bobby Owsinski

For me, this book is the ultimate bible about the mixing process in music production. Regardless of the music style you produce, this book gives you fundamental tips about several mixing styles, rules about arrangement, some secrets about EQ, as well as tricks to add effects such as delay, reverb, compression, etc. You will realize that with the basic tools at your disposal in your music software you will be able to improve the quality of your songs, with the best quality for distribution on digital platforms and others. Definitely a “must” to have on your bookshelf or in PDF on your phone, whatever suits you better.

more info

2. The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne

If I had to go to a desert island and could only take one book, this would be undoubtedly my first option. The Secret was a life changer for me. Before reading it, I saw life in a completely different way. I lived according to the paradigm that I didn’t have much control over my life and that in order to have good opportunities, they would have to show up to me, not the way around, i.e. I HAVE to create the opportunities. Focusing essentially on the law of attraction, this book shows you that you can have whatever you want in your life, as long as you keep your thoughts and beliefs in the right frequency. You are no different from the best producers and DJ’s out there, you haven’t had less opportunities. They simply believed it was possible and succeeded. As Napoleon Hill said, “whatever the human mind can conceive, it can achieve.”

more info

3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey

Regarding to the mindset of creating good habits in your life, this book is one of the best, if not THE best. It’s not just a personal opinion. There are thousands of people around the world who share the same opinion, including the most brilliant minds, the most successful entrepreneurs and the top athletes. The author of this book – Stephen R. Covey – believes that winning or failing is the result of seven habits. They are the ones who distinguish happy and successful people from failures and those who sacrifice inner balance and happiness to achieve success. Good habits form our values and our values determine our destiny.

more info

4. Getting Things Done, by David Allen

Looking back on what I said in my last post about perfectionism, I felt the need to share this book with you. In fact, this was one of the books that introduced the motto “Done is better than perfect” in my life. David Allen’s premise is very simple: our productivity is directly proportional to our ability to relax. Only when our minds are clear and our thoughts are in the right place can we achieve good results and unlock our creative potential. For an overthinker and perfectionist artist like me, this book has helped me to overcome feelings of confusion, anxiety and being overwhelmed.

more info

5. Introdução à Engenharia de Som, by Nuno Fonseca

Like The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook, this book also gives you important tips on everything related to sound engineering, from effects, equipment, acoustics, terms and music theory, etc. The only problem is that it’s only available in Portuguese but since I found this book super important, I wanted to share it too. Who knows, maybe it’s an opportunity for you to learn this beautiful language spoken by about 250 million people worldwide.

more info

BONUS BOOK – The 4-Hour Body, by Timothy Ferriss

Because a healthy mind in a healthy body is one of the fundamental rules for living a better life, I would also like to share with you a book about health and body physics. However, we know that the life of a music producer can be very busy and it’s sometimes difficult to find time and motivation to take care of our body. And this is a HUGE mistake! You see, our body is like a machine and if we don’t take care of it properly, how can we get the best results? In The 4-Hour Body, you will realize that with just a few minutes per week you can achieve good results and consequently feel healthier and happier, even more creative. Your life is your life, obviously, but you don’t have to be the typical music artist or DJ always smoking around, taking drugs, neglecting the body. Say yes to some pleasures, life is too short but try to keep your mind and your body in shape. Trust me, it’s a game changer.

more info

In the end, you can’t buy happiness but you can buy music and books, and that’s kind of the same thing. So… headphones on, listen to my new track Time To Move On that is OUT NOW and enjoy life, always with a book by your side.

stream / buy: time to move on

Subscribe, join our community and never miss a new post again!

Share this post:

by on

After a year without posting anything on my blog, I decided to start writing again. I felt the need to do it because there are things that you just can’t write on music. Some people say that when words fail, music speaks. But when there is no capacity to finish a new track, we need to go back to words – the basis of a communication that still manages to be objective.

Many of you wonder why I haven’t released new songs for more than a year since Yin Yang. The answer is in one word – perfectionism. And I’m not talking about the positive version of perfectionism. I’m talking about a version capable of causing chronic unhappiness and dissatisfaction.

We’ll return to this in a moment. First I want to share with you a brief summary of what was my experience before the pandemic.

My expectations were high after I released the album Yin Yang in June 2019. I believed that this was the “game changer” that I needed in my life to be able to achieve international recognition with my music. It took a while, but after a few months the email account started to fill up with booking offers and finally – my first world tour.

India, Russia, Egypt, South America… I was on fire! A guy from a small portuguese village called Rebordinho was touring around the world, make a living from music. What I always dreamed of when I started this project in 2015 was really happening. It’s impressive the support and love I received all over the world – fans who made thousands of miles to see me playing, who offered me gifts grateful for the impact that my music had on their lives… DAMN, fans who made tattoos with my logo and my mask. Unbelievable!

Hozho @ Montevideo, Uruguay
Hozho @ Montevideo, Uruguay

And yet, I thought the feeling was going to be different. I wanted it to be different, more intense, more lasting. I worked so hard to get here, it couldn’t be just that. I achieved so much and still it’s not enough. It reminds me the introduction song of the TV series Vikings:

This will never end ’cause I want more
More, give me more, give more…

I was on tour and I was just thinking about having a free week or two to be able to work on new tracks because I felt I was already being too repetitive on my sets, that the audience wanted to hear something new.

And then… the pandemic, the quarantine, the long days at home. I thought “Yes! Finally I have some time to produce new songs. When I get back to the gigs I will have a new set full of new music to present.”

“But not now. It looks like the pandemic is here to stay for a few months so I’m going to relax for a week and then I go back to the studio.”

A week has passed. Then two weeks. Then a month. No new songs were finished.

I felt inspired, I always did. My creativity has always been there, I can’t complain about that. The devil was in the details – the kick that didn’t sound right, the bassline that didn’t balance with the kick, the melody that didn’t have enough presence in the song, and when I realized I was clicking on the “Open New Project” button. It was easier to start a new project than to repair the old one. And then the cycle was repeated and I couldn’t get out of it. I was trapped.

Perfection – something that I had always seen as a good thing now wasn’t letting me finish a song. And I really believe that the song was good. You would probably hear it and say “Wow, this is great!”

But nooo! The kick wasn’t right and the bassline didn’t fit. At some point I thought “Am I getting commercial? Am I really good?”

Fucking stupid plague doctor…

Plague Doctor Quarantine

The great irony of perfectionism is that despite the characteristic of great motivation to achieve success, it can be exactly what prevents an artist from being successful. Perfectionism is strongly linked to the fear of making mistakes and self-sabotaging behaviors, such as excessive procrastination.

In fact, perfectionists usually perform very well. But in my case, there was a price to pay. In a way to try to reach the stars, I ended up chasing the wind.

And I know that I’m not the only one. Unfortunately, we are no longer a minority in today’s society that demands the best; we need to be number one in everything. The problem is that perfectionism can lead to much more complex mental problems and it’s sometimes difficult to get out of them.

If you are a music artist, or simply a perfectionist, you probably should be identifying yourself with everything I’m saying. And I’m not writing this post with the aim of saying that perfectionism is a bad thing. But it can immobilize you. In the end, done is better than perfect.

Which brings me to the last topic of this post – the release of my new single Time To Move On. Finally!

Inspired by everything I said so far, I decided to create and FINISH this song, regardless of the final result. Good reviews, bad reviews… it doesn’t matter! I just composed this track in a positive way of getting around the situation because there is no point in focusing on the doubts. It’s time to look forward. It’s Time To Move On.

Hozho - Time To Move On

Many emotions on this track, beautiful melodies, different beats, intelligent construction and mesmerizing vocals. In the end, it reflects the true concept of Melodark – the mix between light and darkness! You know… for me, music is not just music. It’s a story.

There is a female vocal during the song that says some of the following quotes:

  • You cannot get out of this.
  • Nothing is wrong with you.
  • Accept the situation and move on.
  • Guilt can only truly come from within.

All of these quotes are wake up calls for me. This is a song that motivates me and I hope it motivates you too during this atypical times.

Time To Move On is OUT NOW and you can stream or buy it here:

stream / buy

Subscribe, join our community and never miss a new post again!

Share this post:

by on

Thank God (and thanks to my hard work, of course) I have been rewarded with a lot of luck in my artistic life. Apparently, the Universe has insisted on giving me the best fans in the world and there is nothing that makes me happier to know that I am an inspiration to some producers, DJ’s and other musicians out there. A lot of people ask me questions about my adventure in music production. Here are some of them:

Well, this won’t be a tutorial post but all of these questions made me think about what is essential and not essential in what we are doing here. For that reason, I want to share with you my opinion as a music producer on the million dollar question:

What is the hardware gear required to produce minimal/techno music? (more…)

by on

I decided to write this post after seeing a TEDx Talks session from one of my favorite speakers that has inspired me throughout my artistic journey. His name is Simon Sinek and in this session he presents his speech called Start With Why – How Great Leaders Inspire Action (you can watch it on YouTube). If you are a music artist, I believe this post will help you how to get more fans and inspire other artists. (more…)

by on

“Getting what you want is simple, but it’s not easy.” This quote by Mel Robbins represents one of my life mottos. In fact, if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. We all know what it takes to achieve our goals but in practice things are more complicated than they are in theory and sometimes we feel lost and many artists cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel because they give up. The truth is, if we don’t act we will always be in the same place. And this path was never easy. Simple but not easy. And it all boils down to one word – persistence. (more…)

by on

Another post, another dose of motivation! This time I will talk about a rule that I think is key to the growth of any music artist. This rule, in practice, doesn’t exist. It was created by me and therefore, it may not be consensual. It has been appearing over the years since I created my project Hozho and so far, it has worked quite well for me. One day I woke up and I thought that made perfect sense. In the future, I would like to develop even more this rule. Maybe even write a book. But until then, I leave you here the basics of the 3P Rule: Psychology, Production and Promotion. (more…)

by on

“Done is better than perfect” – A quote from Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer (COO) of Facebook. I learned this lesson when I was studying Marketing at the University of Aveiro and since then it has been one of my life mottos, especially at an artistic level. And it’s around this sentence that this Blog Post #5 is going to be based because I believe it’s a plus for all people who want to achieve their goals. However, as would be expected, I will address this theme by focusing primarily on electronic music and more specifically, the production process that all music artists love. But of course, this learning can be applied to any area, you can get the idea. I sincerely hope that this post will help you to find the light that you need to take a step forward towards your dreams.

(more…)

by on

Being my first post of this electronic music blog, I think it makes sense to tell, in first place, a little bit of my story. Despite having created Hozho only in 2015, my path through electronic music production had begun a few years ago. However, I will try to summarize everything that happened until the day I decided to create this project that today is an integral part of my life. (more…)