Unfiltered: Episode One with Luís Fernandes
On June 27th, Luís Fernandes released his latest single, Try Try Try, a classic indie-pop tale about trying your best to get someone out of your head.
Luís’ 11th single since his debut track, Let Me Take You Home was released in 2020, the 24-year-old singer-songwriter and producer from Madeira, Portugal has since gained over 72.5k TikTok followers and made a name for himself as the ultimate indie-pop machine.
Following on from the release of the new music video for his latest single Try, Try, Try, we had the chance to sit down in Battersea Park, London for an unfiltered chat with Luís about his life, music and love for theatre.
For those who don’t know you, describe yourself in four words.
“I would say chaotic, creative, trustworthy and silly.”
Now, describe your music in four words but you can't use the same words as before.
“Fun, personal, colourful and me.”
What made you first fall in love with music?
“I think my parents. I’m from this tiny island in Portugal and they were part of this traditional folk band. They would just go around to remote areas and gather traditional songs that were passed down from generations and record albums full of them. I would tour with them so I just remember always growing up with folk music around me.”
That sounds really cute! So, you write, play, sing and produce all of your own music, but what's your favourite part of the process?
“I would say writing just because it comes more naturally to me. Producing takes a lot of energy and effort and just sitting on your laptop for hours on end, whereas songwriting you can do for hours anywhere.”
Did you study producing or was it something you just learnt at home for fun?
“I started with YouTube tutorials - classic! Then I really fell in love with it so I came to London to study music production at university. It's a really fun part of the whole music experience just because you start with nothing and have to build songs out of thin air and when you finish you're like ‘I just did that out of nothing’.“
What comes first for you, music or lyrics?
“It's different every single time. Sometimes I have no idea what to write about so I just start a beat and make up the lyrics as I go, other times I just have something pressing on my mind so I’ll write a little poem in my notes app and then make a song out of it.”
Does that mean your notes app has thousands of draft songs? You must run out of storage!
“Yes! Like ten years of endless writing and it's really fun going back and looking through like ‘ew what was I doing?’ I have to keep buying more iCloud storage every year.”
Would you ever go back and turn an old note into a new song?
“I've thought about it. I have lots of voice memos of songs I wrote years back but when I try to do it I feel like I could write something better so they just get pushed back. One thing I like is writing for other artists so if I get a brief from someone else I'm like ‘oh maybe this song could be cute!’ just so they don't end up in this endless void of nothing.”
What is your favourite lyric you've written so far and why? It could be a lyric you wrote for someone else or even an unreleased lyric.
“I love the line, ‘Running in circles and chasing the stars because all of my life I've been covered in scars / letting go isn't as clear as it seems and that's what I get for believing in dreams’ from a song called Flickers in the Dark. I feel like it really represents what I was feeling at the time: feeling lost when you're in your first year out of uni and you're like’ what the hell am I doing now?!’. With this lyric specifically, I wrote it and instantly was like ‘That’s it! This is exactly what I wanted to say!’”
When you write a new song, who is the first person you share it with?
“I share it with my three best friends. We have a little WhatsApp group chat and I just trust their judgement so much. If they don’t reply like ‘this is the best song ever’ I know it's going to be scrapped.”
The music industry can be quite a daunting place to step into, so what would you say at the moment keeps you grounded and focused?
“Just the love for music, even when it gets really hard and you wonder if you should actually keep going. I just know the feeling of when I finish a song it just makes everything seem worth it.”
Do you think you would still be doing this even if you didn't have a platform to share it on?
“Yeah, that's how I started. I wasn't planning on putting songs out, I was just writing songs to make myself feel heard. You're basically just writing a diary in song form. I think I would still be writing even if I didn't want to pursue it as a professional career.”
You’ve performed now at a few festivals and gigs. What's been your favourite performance so far?
“I played a festival in Lisbon called Super Bock Super Rock, the previous year I went and saw Lana Del Rey and it was my favourite festival of all time. So, playing the same show two years after I was like ‘woah! last time I was watching one of my favourite artists and now I'm actually playing here’.”
Sounds like one of those ‘I made it’ moments: What was it like performing in front of a crowd like that?
“It was really fun! You go into gigs thinking ‘no one’s going to know, I’m just going to play for people standing there’ but it was cool seeing people actually sing along to my songs and asking for pictures after and it just makes you feel heard and like what you're writing is actually resonating with people.”
You have a series online called ‘what if?’ where you take trending songs and change it to a different genre. Within that series, what was your favourite genre to explore?
“My favourite so far was jazz. I did a cover of Olivia Rodrigo's Vampire as a jazz song and I've never played jazz before; I've listened to it randomly but I wouldn't say I'm a jazz fanatic. With that particular series it's just really fun diving into genres that I'm not familiar with and trying to replicate it while also covering songs. That one when I finished I was like ‘oo this sounds fire!’”
Following on from that, is there any song currently trending that you would want to do in a different genre?
“Probably a Sabrina Carpenter song! I’m obsessed with her new album so maybe Taste and I’d create something jazzy with that.”
You’re a big Swiftie and you’ve even performed at some Taylor Swift-inspired shows. Are there any other artists who inspire your music?
“Lately, Lizzie McAlpine - so sad I didn't get to go to her London concert. I just love her songwriting so much! I feel like her songs sound really natural; it feels like you're in the room with the artist when you listen to the recordings. That's something I want to add into my own songwriting and production style - making it feel more natural to the listener instead of being overly produced.”
Going back to Taylor Swift, what era would you put your latest single Try, Try, Try in?
“I would put it in Red (Taylor’s Version) just because that album is all about breakups and moving on and that's what that songs about.”
Would you say Red is your favourite era?
“Yes! leaves start falling down and I’m like ‘time to press play on that album’!”
If you could give Try, Try, Try to another artist, who do you think would do your music justice?
“I would give it to Conan Gray just because I feel he would kill that song.”
Is there a music video from your childhood that stands out as iconic for you?
“Toxic by Britney Spears. I used to be obsessed with her when I was a little boy and I have such a clear vision in my head of watching the Toxic music video on MTV.”
Would you ever do a video inspired by the Toxic music video?
“Maybe not, I don't see it for me but who knows maybe a little homage.”
This is your first official studio recorded music video, so why now? Why Try, Try, Try?
“As soon as I finished the song I could already see it. I’m not a particularly visual person so I haven't done lots of music videos before; I find it hard picturing visuals for songs. With this song it clicked immediately as soon as I finished recording I knew exactly what I wanted to portray.”
What was the process like of making the music video?
“So, I did a little PowerPoint of what I wanted to do for the music video and pitched it to different directors and production companies - I came across a director called Tyler Richards who's fantastic. We went back and forth bouncing ideas for what to do, but my plan was just all over the place and particularly with music videos you need to be quite distinct with what you want to do.
We then came up with this concept of having actors play out the narrative of the song. It's all set in one room that just keeps being pushed far, far away; insinuating this cycle of breaking up with the person, trying to date around to get over them but it never actually works. We shot at Garden Studios in North West London - it was like a 12-hour shoot. It was really fun seeing people come together to try and make it come to life. It made me feel really professional!”
What was your favourite part of the process?
“I think it was setting up the bedroom set - just because I’ve never seen a studio set before. It was really fun trying to decorate it and make it seem like it was my own personal space. I even took posters from my actual bedroom and put them on the set just so it gives that little touch of me to the video.”
If you could hire any big name actor for your next music video who would you want to feature?
“Paul Mescal. I love anything that man does and he did a Phoebe Bridgers music video so let's get him on a Luís Fernandes video.”
Paul Mescal, if you’re reading this - give Luís a DM.
Would you have Mescal running around to go alongside the rumours?
“Yes. Just running. That's the whole music video.”
So, what is next for you? What's on your vision board?
“One of my dreams is to write a musical, but who knows. I've basically spent the past year and a half writing as much as I could so that I have like fifty songs and about thirty songs fully produced ready to go. Now, it's just picking apart what I want to say and portray. That's the fun part of releasing music - picking apart songs and releasing them! I want to post little snippets of what I have and just see what my audience connects with and what they want to hear. Hopefully, what’s next is some more gigs and making as much music as I can!”
What would be your dream venue to play?
“I would love to play The Lafayette here in London. I just think it's a gorgeous venue and really homey.”
Testing your knowledge here… is there a dream venue not in London?
“Madison Square Garden. That's a classic, iconic venue and apparently it's a really nice venue to play because of the acoustics; every artist sounds good there.”
What else is on the vision board that's not necessarily music related?
“I want to travel, even just in the UK because I feel like since I've moved here I've just been stuck in London. I need to get a railcard and go around so I can feel like I'm actually exploring and that I actually live here. You can feel a bit suffocated in London - I would like to do a little writing retreat.”
You currently also work as a Front of House staff in a West End theatre, so we must know: what is your favourite musical?
“Spring Awakening. I even bought the actual book - I love it so much. I really like musicals that don't necessarily stick to the musical theatre genre, and I like that it's rocky and rough around the edges. It tackles issues that you wouldn't normally see in the theatre.”
Would you ever want to be in a musical?
“I've never done theatre before. I like watching it but I can hardly remember my own lyrics let alone a whole musical!”
Something we want to start in these interviews is a question chain, so what would you like to ask the next artist?
“I would ask.. ‘Have you ever written a song so personal that you thought I probably shouldn't release this or I probably shouldn't show this to anyone else?’.”
That sounds juicy! What would your answer to that be?
“I would say yes. Period. No comment.”
If you want to see Luís Fernandes go to Madison Square Garden with Paul Mescal in tow then make sure to follow him on Instagram and, as always, stream the rest of his music on Spotify: