Fabio Ari is a young local musician who started his career really young. Fabio talk a little bit about how he writes his lyrics, about social relationships, discrimination and racism in music and try to inspire more young people to pursue their own dreams. ‘’The more sincere I am, If I really write for what I feel the impact on people will happen’’, declares Fabio Ari Calangi, a 33 year old musician in Macau.
Fabio Ari was born and raised in Macau. ‘’Until I was nineteen years old everything was self learning’’, shares the musician that comes from ‘’a very musical family’’. ‘’Apart from CDs and vinyls, we had a guitar, a piano and from a very young age that were my toys.’’ Since he was a kid he liked to write songs ‘it ’was a natural thing’’. At fourteen years old Fabio started his own school band. At that time he already knew how to play the guitar, piano and drums. Two years later he started to earn money with music. ‘’It was quite easy at the beginning’’, says Fabio. But he felt he needed music education to pursue sustainable career, so he went to the United States, where he studied in Berklee College of Music.
Lyrics about social relationships, discrimination and racism
‘’I’ve never written a love song’’ Fabio says, ‘’maybe because I don’t feel that way’’. The young musician likes to write about real ‘’problems between people, society, discrimination and racism’’. One of the songs that he likes is one called ‘Just drive’’, which is inspired in a friend that committed suicide. The main message is to tell people to continue the path of life that is this car. ‘“We need to write something that brings all the experiences together’’, he states also emphasizing how he tries to see the deep meaning of life with the power of music.
One thing about music that Fabio mentions is that ‘“music needs to be authentic to who you are’, as’ many musicians ‘’talk against a life which they never lived’’ and is not authentic to who they are’. He advocates that music needs to be ‘’authentic’’ Following this leading thread, he criticizes some musicians that started to sound ‘’fake’’ because they are not talking about an experience that they lived. “ Music needs to be a part of what you are”. So he always talks about an environment where he ‘was raised’. ‘’Everything that you do represents who you are’’
Pursuing the dream
Fabio does not remember a time that he wanted to give up music. Since his first band many people inside that band changed their dreams. But Fabio continued carried on with it‘’I succeeded in many of the dreams that I had had, but I still have more dreams to succeed’’, postulates Fabio. In ten years he sees himself as ‘’an important figure in the western and asian market’.’In his point of view, there is a ‘’fusion’’ happening between the Asian market and the Western market. And Fabio hopes to be one of those important artists for this market.
‘’One of the main difficulties is that your income is never stable’’ Fabio says, pointing out the risks of being an independent artist when it comes to music as a sustainable way of living. ‘’That’s the most difficult part, because you still have to do a show in February and they may pay you earlier or pay you late, in March the same thing. So overall the year that’s one of the biggest challenges, that you don’t have a fix income and the income is not certain when you receive.’’ Fabio highlights how hard it is to have a ‘’financial security’’.
Throughout his career, this musician from Macau has had many experiences when it comes to business relationships.
‘’One of the most important lessons that I’ve learnt is to know the difference between friendship and business’’, affirms Fabio. “Many people can see your value, and not everybody wants to support that value”, he adds.“Many people want to use that value to enhance what they have. But there is nothing wrong with that’’.
For him, “emotions have a big impact in our lives’’, once ‘’ “ we put ourselves in the train of love, but the train moves so fast”, so,in order to understand it, he continues,“we need to put ourselves so far to understand the things’’.
