Good news! In a recent study conducted by the ‘Bureau of Labor Statistics’, employment for singers and musicians is scheduled to grow by an additional 10 percent between now and the year 2020 in Los Angeles. This is, no doubt, an encouraging projection. However, when you are moving to a city that has recently been touted as the epicenter of music in the U.S, where nearly 200,000 musicians are fighting for elbow room in a very small ‘fish bowl’ known as the music business, the view from the bottom can be daunting. So how does one soar above the rest? That’s My Gig asked pro L.A. guitarist, Rafael Moreira of Brazil, to share his success story on moving to L.A. and becoming a top touring guitarist for artists like Christina Aguilera and Pink, on creating and fronting his own band (Magnetico), as well as how he landed the gig as house guitarist for The Voice and American Idol. Check out this incredible interview to learn how Moreira ventured into versatility and became an L.A. virtuoso.
By: Derek Williams
TMG: Rafael, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to share your story and words of wisdom with the readers of That’s My Gig. We are thrilled to have you!
Let’s start from your musical genesis: I understand that you were born in Brazil and grew up in a musical family, with a mother that played classical/jazz piano and brothers that played bass and drums. Did your mother teach you and your brothers the fundamentals of music theory or were you self-taught at that young age?
RAFAEL: Our Mother was a huge musical influence on us, including my little sister. She taught us how to play our instruments, how to sing, and how to play together in a group. But most importantly she has been a great mother.
TMG: Tell us about life growing up in a house full of musicians. Was everyone practicing at different times, or did you practice cohesively like a band would?
RAFAEL: Just for your information, my father is not a musician and was never very musical, but he was always encouraging. It was great growing in a musical environment. My mom was always playing the piano in the house, and we all sang with her and her friends. My mother is a performer, singer/songwriter, and she has been teaching music for over 40 years. We were also fortunate enough to get instruments, like acoustic and electric guitars, electric bass, drums, and a PA system, at a very early age: credit to my dad. It was never about practicing in the traditional way, between my brothers and me. It was about the jam, writing our own songs, and playing live shows. Basically, we had the musical talent, but it was about the attitude and we wanted to live the rock & roll dream.
TMG: When your family began gigging together as a band, what style of music were you all rockin’?
RAFAEL: My brothers, our little sister, and I always participated in my mom’s school’s events or any concerts. My mother performed as much as she could. She always wrote her own tunes and was big into old jazz standards, classical and Brazilian music (like Jobim), and so many other great Brazilian songwriters. But back then, my two older brothers and I were into rock & roll and attitude. It was later when I started to get into Brazilian music, jazz, fusion, funk, and everything else.
TMG: At what age did you know that music was going to be your career? Tell us about your “aha” moment.
RAFAEL: I knew it since I was six years old. Our parents were super cool and let us listen to all kinds of music, especially rock. My favorite bands growing up were The Rolling Stones and Kiss, and I remember listening to a Kiss guitar riff and asking my mom, “Is this the electric guitar?” I only had played nylon acoustic guitar until then, and didn’t have an electric guitar yet. My mom said “yes”, so I knew then that I wanted to play the guitar and be a guitarist!
TMG: Why did you leave your hometown and moved to Curitiba, the capital of the state of Parana? Was it to study classical music, and what was your main goal at that time?
RAFAEL: Although I did take a year of classical guitar lessons, I didn’t leave my hometown to study classical music. I left my hometown to attend my last year of high school and go to college, but most importantly to follow my dreams as a musician!
TMG: What school did you attend in Curtiba? Describe your experience there.
RAFAEL: I graduated from high school and then took a year to prepare for college. Once I made it to college, I only lasted around 6 months. Regular school wasn’t very important to me, because I knew exactly what I wanted. But I did make it fun, because I enjoyed playing jokes on people, making funny drawings of them, and creating healthy chaos in the classroom. I also enjoyed playing sports a lot, which I do to this day. While I was in Curitiba I was in my own original rock bands and played gigs all the time!
TMG: When and why did you decide to make the move to L.A?
RAFAEL: It was pretty obvious to me, I always knew what I wanted, so I just had to convince my parents that I wanted to attend music school in the US.
TMG: Did you have connections in the states or were you taking a blind “leap of faith”?
RAFAEL: I had zero connections and barely spoke English. My parents agreed to pay for music school and my stay, so how hard could it really be? It took me a little while to catch up with the language but for the most part, I just let my playing do the talking.
TMG: When and why did you decide to enroll in The Musician’s Institute of Hollywood?
RAFAEL: I was about eighteen or nineteen, and was very unhappy going to college in Brazil. I knew it wasn’t for me. I had to drive my entire band to rehearsals, and I knew I wanted way more than anyone else that I played music with. So I decided that I wanted to attend music school in the US, and The Musicians Institute suited my personality the best.
TMG: What was that experience like?
RAFAEL: My experience at MI was great, all of the sudden I felt like I belonged somewhere for a change. Kudos to MI, which allowed me to meet so many great students from all over the world that I’m still friends with. They provided a great roster of teachers and most importantly they were also great players, including Allan Hinds, Joe Diorio, Scott Henderson, Steve Trovato, Ron Eschete, Carl Shroeder, Ralf Humphrey, Joe Elliot, Scott Fin, Bruce Buckingham, Jean Marc Belkadi, Paul Hanson, and so many others. Plus they brought in great visitors that would come to school from time to time to perform, like Steve Vai, Dennis Chambers, Marcus Miller, Tribal Tech, John Scofield, and more. What a joy that was, and all for free. What I liked the most about MI was that you could play all day. Music to me is about playing your instrument to the best of your ability. Having the theory, ear training, and sight-reading classes, helped me to prepare for jobs I never really thought about or wanted to do. Again, I was all about writing tunes and being the best rocking guitarist I could be. So being in school helped me see, appreciate, and respect other musicians’, styles and goals, and to become a much more versatile musician and human being.
TMG: How do you feel like your music education in Brazil and Hollywood has helped you in your music career the most?
RAFAEL: It has helped me a lot. Being from Brazil, exposed to so many types of rhythms, and being a rock guitarist first, has definitely set me a part. And I’m thankful I didn’t have parents, teachers and the music school I attended, telling me what I should or shouldn’t listen to.
TMG: How has your classical foundation been a part of your journey as a professional rocker?
RAFAEL: As I mentioned before I don’t have a classical foundation, since I only studied classical guitar for a year. I remember being sixteen years old and developing my own style of tapping, while listening to all the great 80′s shredder guitar players, like Marty Friedman, Jason Becker, Ritchie Kotzen, Greg Howe, and many others. While taking classical guitar lessons, my teacher told me I should let my nails grow on my right hand. But it didn’t help my tapping, so I thought to myself “Am I trying to be a classical guitarist?” The answer was no, so I dropped the classes.
TMG: If we could watch “The Rafael Moreira Movie”, what would those first months of L.A. living look like? Describe how you found housing, began networking, any day jobs you had to take to pay the bills, etc.
RAFAEL: I was always a good kid, basically a dreamer, but I learned a lot early on by hanging out with my older brothers, musicians, and their friends. I basically got introduced to a lot of things at a very young age. So being in L.A. wasn’t that complicated. I had signed up for school and my parents paid for music school just as if I went to a college or music school in Brazil. Our first week at MI was to get familiar with the school and all the teachers, and also to help the students find roommates. My first roommate was a Brazilian bass player and it was an easy choice because the guy had an apartment already. I thought he could be of help because of my English. It turned out to be bad. The guy was a terrible musician, super opinionated, way more talking than playing, and had zero interest in partying and meeting girls. I broke all the rules he imposed on me in those three months. I brought women over. I had friends come by to hang out, jam, and party… After three months, he had enough and moved out. I got a new roommate and never had a problem again after that. Things were just getting better by then. A good thing was that I didn’t have to work for a while since my parents were covering the bills, since it was part of my education. But an American friend of mine, at the time, invited me to work with him in Malibu, doing valet parking. I never had a job before, so I wanted to experience life and went along with him. The first car I parked was Ringo Star’s, and I told him with my broken English, “I love you.” He replied, “I love you too.” And he gave me ten bucks.
TMG: Was L.A. everything you thought it would be? Were there any major surprises that caught you off guard?
RAFAEL: My first few years of L.A. were a bit strange, it was very different than Brazil. The separation created between people of ages 18 and 21 was hard to understand, and that certainly applied to me then. I never understood why people were sent to war at 18 but were denied adulthood back home. That for sure has had an impact on how messed up young adults are in this country. Basically, because they have to hide drinking and everything else and they end up overindulging on drugs and alcohol: it’s pretty obvious to me. I also didn’t understand why the entertainment capital of the world, “Los Angeles”, would be such a boring and strict city, like closing bars at 2am. Unless you know somebody or an after hour, the party ends pretty soon over here. But, L.A. has provided me with so many professional opportunities, great friendships, and it fits my lifestyle. I love surfing and the mountains. It’s always sunny, and although I miss playing soccer during tropical rains, L.A. is my home. My thing is, have no expectations of anything, create your own scenarios, and make the most of it. I love L.A!
TMG: Tell us about your first L.A. gig? Who was it with and how did it come together?
RAFAEL: My first gig in L.A. was at the old Palace, which is now called The Avalon. As soon as I got to L.A., some of the older MI students invited me to attend their graduation party, and I thought the venue, the performances, and the party, all together, were amazing. So while going to MI, I put together a rock trio called Strange Sum, and one of my goals throughout the year was to be selected to play at our graduation. So it felt good when we got selected to play at our graduation, which led me and the whole band to be awarded with a scholarship for our songwriting and performance chops!
TMG: How did L.A. gigging compare to Brazil gigging?
RAFAEL: It’s hard to compare. I was playing night gigs in Brazil when I was sixteen years old, while going to high school. I was having a hell of a good time. I could never get in a club in the U.S, play all night, have drinks, and chat with girls when I was sixteen: at least not in L.A.. I also couldn’t compare the level of touring I do in the U.S. today versus my experience in Brazil then. Basically my experience as a professional musician in this country has been beyond words.
TMG: And how long was it between that very first L.A. gig and your first “dream gig”? Describe that journey and who the dream gig was with.
RAFAEL: Christina Aguilera might be considered my first “major” gig. But I wouldn’t necessarily call that my dream gig, because I didn’t grow up listening to her music and didn’t own her records. Of course Christina is an incredible singer and probably one of the best ever, so I feel fortunate to have played with her so many times. I also feel like life has surprised me in so many ways and forced me to adapt to anything: basically, to “be like water”, to quote Bruce Lee. It was a huge gig indeed, and to start off the tour we did SNL with Christopher Walken, which is one of my favorite actors. Not bad at all!
TMG: I love your story of auditioning for Pink. She was looking to hire a female guitarist and you were the only male that was at the audition. How did you get called to the audition for her if she was looking for a female, and what was that audition experience really like?
RAFAEL: Alex Alessandroni was Christina Aguilera’s Musical Director when I got that gig. So after the Christina tour was over he called me up and asked me if I’d be into auditioning for Pink, even though I’d probably be the only dude trying out for the gig. I had just quit another gig and was available, so I just went down to S.I.R in Hollywood and played her songs for her with the band. I had gotten her music a couple of days before, and thought, “Geez, she can sing! But what’s with all this horrible keyboard guitars on the record?” It sounded awful to me. So instead of trying to be all nice, and recreate all those awful keyboard guitar tracks, I just brought real rock with attitude to her music, and just played like myself: switching between rhythm parts and my leads. I remember finishing the first songs, and the guys in the band looked at Pink and said, “That’s it, we got our guy.” It felt good. She’s an amazing performer and I enjoyed that gig and her friendship for many years!
TMG: You were touring with Pink in Europe when Paul Mirkovich, the bandleader for Cher and Janet Jackson, noticed you and asked you to audition with him for the Rock Star: INXS TV show. Since then you have been in the house band for several hit TV shows, like The Voice and American Idol. How does playing on TV compare to touring, and which do you prefer?
RAFAEL: I enjoy both, as long as the people I’m working with are cool. If they are idiots, I’ll certainly let them know since I’m very unafraid. I consider myself a true performer, and if you look at the Rockstar TV Show, the two seasons of The Voice I did, or the last season of American Idol, you’ll see and hear that I don’t play by the rules, and always bring a live concert/improvisational edge to my performances. But I have had an amazing run in the TV world, and have made myself heard, even though we’re talking about singing shows.
TMG: We enjoyed watching your performances on Idol this last season. Describe the evolution of each show. How much time do you have to prepare before rehearsal, how much time do you have to rehearse with the contestant and band, etc?
RAFAEL: Thank you! The good part of been featured on Idol this last season, was how great the energy was. I was called every week, over and over again, to bring some attitude to the show through my playing, sound, and performance chops: and I did just that. Not a lot of time to prepare at all. They’d call me the night before sometimes and would just throw it down with no fear of making mistakes. I got to improvise a ton and play off the singers! I enjoyed working with the judges, the band, and the contestants. And most importantly, the producers of the show would tell me how much they appreciate me being on the show and that they totally “got me”. Trust me, just that made me want to be there that much more!
TMG: Most of the contestants were new to performing “live” in any capacity. So what does the band do when the contestant gets off track? Do you have a band rule, like ‘everyone follow the singer no matter what’?
RAFAEL: The rule is simple, you follow the singer. Unless you’re playing with a 100 Pro Tools tracks, which is never my choice, and then you have no choice but allow the singer to bomb.
TMG: Any funny stories or embarrassing moments you can share relating to your live television performance experiences?
RAFAEL: I don’t know why, but there were some really memorable moments on Idol this last season. The one performance with the winner, Caleb Johnson, where we played a Black Crows tune, he falls down and doesn’t miss the next verse: that was one of my favorites. And all the other performances with him, which included Zeppelin’s “Dazed And Confused” and Whitesnake’s “Still Of The Night”, were crazy too. I also enjoyed playing with Jessica Meuse as well. She was great!
TMG: You are the epitome of a versatile musician: having toured as a side musician for major artists, you front your own band, Magnetico, you write, and you produce. At what point in your life & career did you add writing and producing to your resume?
RAFAEL: FYI, I do have a solo record called “Acid Guitar”, and have performed that material around the world, and also have done many clinics! I never thought about being a side musician. Sometimes folks would ask me about gigs as soon as I would step off of a tour or a TV gig. But to me that was always the chance to finally go and play music that I created and loved. To answer your question, I’ve always written my own songs and I was always dreaming to be on the big stage, and there’s nothing wrong with that. So I guess I always felt a bit out of balance. Being a side musician has been an option to explore different things and make a living, and I’m grateful for that. But it’s not always been a passion of mine unless I was playing music I like! That’s why I felt conflicted sometimes being on certain shows, or touring with certain artists. Only because I want to always love the music I’m playing, and that’s basically impossible when you have to learn and perform hundreds of different songs! So I continue to push towards writing / recording / producing / performing my own material because that is truly my passion above all. You only live once and I would like to live doing what I do best!
TMG: How did Magnetico come together? Did you hand select each member?
RAFAEL: As I mentioned, I had a rock trio when I was at MI called Strange Sum. Then I started to play solo shows around 1999 at the Baked Potato in L.A. with my Brazilian/Rock/Fusion material that I had written a few years earlier, which later would become my first solo album titled “Acid Guitar”. Creating Magnetico was natural for me because I was a band guy and always in a band, so I wanted to have a rock band again. I needed to write and perform my own rock songs. At the time, I met a drummer that I felt very connected to. His name was Joey K. and he was a very musical drummer. He could sing and play anything, and the most important thing for me was that he loved my music. Trust me, you don’t want to have a selfish drummer with an agenda playing with you. He needs to be a part of it or love your music. Otherwise he’ll ridicule you on stage and ruin your gig. So, Joey was awesome and he soon brought his better half, bass player extraordinaire, Corey McCormick, into the picture. Those two guys were my family for a while and I even helped them get some huge gigs, like Pink, Chris Cornel, etc. They recorded my first solo record, “Acid Guitar”, and Magnetico’s first record “Songs About The World”. I’m very proud of those records and I’m working on Magnetico’s 2nd record as we speak, which has an amazing rhythm section as well, with Ben White on bass and Jerry Roe out of Nashville (legendary Guitarist, Singer/Songwriter and actor Jerry Read’s grandson) on drums. These two guys are great players and have added a lot to this new upcoming record!
TMG: What are some of the difficulties of leading a band, both as the front man and the lead guitarist?
RAFAEL: It’s difficult to wear a lot of hats, being a front man, guitarist, songwriter, producer, side man, and trying to get rehearsal times, shows, magazine interviews, and coordinate it all, is definitely hard… But, I think the hardest thing is to find great musicians now days. Most R&B drummers don’t listen to rock and most rock drummers didn’t grow up in church. It’s hard to find musicians that can actually groove and also improvise at the same time. If I meet some great jazz/fusion guys that hate rock, then I don’t wanna’ ever talk to them again. Then I talk to rock guys that never learned the word “dynamics”, it’s difficult, trust me.
TMG: What is a “sure way” to burn a bridge in L.A. or get black listed?
RAFAEL: Sometimes it’s tough to avoid burning a bridge if you’re willing to say what you’re thinking. I’ve chosen to live my life not being afraid to be honest, while trying not to be hurtful, and I always speak my mind. And maybe speaking your mind will close some doors, but being real and true to who you are helps open other ones.
TMG: What is your “starving artist” moment?
RAFAEL: This is totally connected with your question before. After music school, I auditioned for a disco cover band. I always liked that guitar playing style, and thought it would be great for me not only musically, but also I would be able to get by and enjoy the fun girls that would come to the club to dance. But the people in the band wanted nothing to do with fun, and they were not cool for the most part. They were much older than me at the time, and didn’t enjoy having fun on the gig. So they eventually fired me and a few days later I got the Christina Aguilera gig.
TMG: If you ever had any moment of doubt in your music journey, what snapped you out of that moment and gave you energy to push forward?
RAFAEL: There’s never been any doubts on my musical journey. Yes, I had to overcome tough times, a lot of disappointments with some musician friends that I thought had my back. I had to take gigs for the money. But what makes me want to keep going is the gift I have been given and the necessity to share it with everyone.
TMG: You have mentioned that being versatile is the most important element in ‘making it’ as a pro musician in today’s music business. Besides being versatile, what advice do you have for the talented and hungry musicians reading this from their L.A, Nashville, or NY apartments? What can set them apart: is it personality, is it tone, is it a look?
RAFAEL: Don’t be a copycat. That said, I’ve been copied many times by fans & friends. I appreciate their efforts, and I always give them good advice. I understand doing this while learning, and that shows me that they are humble and actually want to learn! But as you develop professionally, then you have to find your own style, something that’s authentic. While I learned from others growing up, I’ve never been a copycat as a professional, and I’m very proud of it. In my book, if you want to be great you have to find your own voice, so when people hear your playing, they know it’s you! That’s for sure the best compliment I have ever been given, when someone knows it’s you playing, or if someone tells you that they felt your playing and it was because you meant every note.
TMG: And tell us, what happens in the last half of “The Rafael Moreira Rockumentary”? What are your 5, 10, 20 year goals?
RAFAEL: I’m a firm believer that you can shape your future by living in the moment. But I do imagine myself continuing to tour the world, trying to improve my singing, playing, songwriting and production chops, and most importantly I imagine myself being a better human being.
Check out more Rafael, here…
www.rafaelmoreira.com
www.magneticomusic.com
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- Forward written and interview edited by Bri Blaire