Interview with Odeith
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Odeith was born in 1976, in Damaia (Portugal). He held a spray can for the first time in the mid 1980s, but it was in the 1990s, when graffiti began its dissemination throughout Portugal and began to leave its Portuguese birthplace, Carcavelos, that the artist had his first contact with graffiti and its movement. His first experiences were sketched on street walls and train tracks and so the passion he had always shown for drawing had a newly found purpose and began evolving. Not long after, came the opportunity to paint large scale murals in Damaia, Carcavelos and in many social housing neighbourhoods, such as Cova da Moura, 6 de Maio and Santa Filomena. Early on, the artist showed a special interest in perspective and shading, in an obscure style, which he later called “sombre 3D”, where the compositions, landscapes or portraits, messages or homages, stood out for their realism and technique.
Hi Odeith, today you selected for Music On Walls several of your artworks inspired by music.
Can you tell MoW why you chose to create artworks inspired by music? And the reason why you chose these singers/musicians for your artworks?
The main reason is that I love music! These singers/musicians were and will still be a huge part of our music history worldwide, not only by the music they have created, but also for what they did as human beings.
What are your favorites songs of theses four musicians?
Beastie Boys - Sabotage Bob Marley - Burnin and Lootin John Lennon: Imagine Louis Armstrong - What a wonderful world
The murals of Paredes, Zeca Afonso and Amália Rodrigues are part of a project in Amadora. Could you tell us more about this project and the tributes you did for these musicians?
This project was made with Amadora Council, I've choose to make these three Portuguese symbols, because they are part of our history. They are a huge inspiration for what they did in their past, from the music to the singers.
What are your favorites songs of theses three musicians?
Carlos Paredes - Movimento Perpétuo Zeca Afonso - Grândola Vila Morena Amália Rodrigues - Estranha forma de vida
Do you have a favorite piece between the ones presented today?
I think my favorite pieces are the Beastie Boys and Zeca Afonso.
Is there any other specific words you’d like to say about the artworks presented today?
One thing that I tried to do was to paint the pieces to match with the color of the buildings, not make something that has nothing to do with the with the landscape and the colors of the environment around.
Why is music important to you, in your life and in your art?
I think depending of the inspiration I use some type of music, depending what I'm going to paint or how I'm feeling ,on the days that I'm going to paint if I'm going to do something maybe big or exciting, maybe I listen to some more rhythm music, more aggressive, if I'm doing like something chill probably I will hear something more calm and quiet and I have to hear always music when I paint.
Do you have plans on creating new artworks inspired by music/musicians ?
Definitely yes, because most of the times I paint old musicians and old actors so probably I will paint some others in the future, like I did before, like Louis Armstrong, Mary J Blige and many more.
Can you tell Mow more about your techniques and how long does it takes you to make an artwork?
Well there's no special techniques, most of the times I use like some kind of grid, I normally just use spray paints, I don't use any kind of projection or whatever so I think there's no special tricks, just like a normal painting.
Do you listen to music when your working ?
I'm always listening something with my headphones, most of the times Hip-hop, trap music, rock, I don't have like a specific type of music, I hear all kind of songs.
What is the song you liked the most lately?
Nowadays I'm listening most of the time to Tory Lanez.
What was the last gig you went to ?
I think the last thing that I heard live was Mos Def and Machine Head.
Are you a musician yourself?
There was a time that I was producing hip hop Instrumentals with a MPC akai , sampling from vinyls, I was inspired by some music producers like DJ Premiere, Dr. Dre and many many more.
THANK YOU SO MUCH ODEITH !
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