D.A.M.A (acronym for the expression Deixa-me Aclarar-te a Mente Amigo stylized as D.Δ.M.A or DAMA) is a Portuguese pop band, from Lisbon.
The band, officially formed in 2008, achieved success in 2013/14, and can be considered one of the most successful Portuguese pop music projects of the 2010s. Currently, the members of D.A.M.A. are Francisco Maria Pereira (better known as Kasha), Miguel Coimbra and Miguel Cristovinho.
Formation of the band (2006 – 2014)
Francisco Maria Pereira and Miguel Coimbra have known each other since they were six years old, having been classmates at school. In Portuguese class they began to write their compositions in verse, resulting in a healthy competition between the two. In 2008 they had the idea of combining their rhymes with an instrumental, thus creating D.A.M.A, initially composed by the two of them and their friend Filipa (Pipa).
The band’s first concert was at Colégio de São João de Brito, in Lisbon. Several performances followed in clubs in the capital and Estoril. In 2011, GNR’s version of the song Popless played for the first time on the radio.
In 2011 they invited their friend Miguel Cristovinho to compose a song together, Quer. Cristovinho would end up joining the collective later that year at approximately the same time as Pipa’s departure.
Francisco Maria Pereira studied law and Miguel Coimbra and Miguel Cristovinho studied Management. With the band’s success, they dropped everything to dedicate themselves 100% to music. Cristovinho dedicates himself more to the melody while Kasha to composing the lyrics and Coimbra to production.
In 2013 they performed live in two of their first major concerts. The first was on the secondary stage of MEO Sudoeste (Zambujeira do Mar). The second took place at the Festas do Mar in Cascais.
A Question of Principle (2014 – 2015)
In March 2014, they became part of the MTV channel and became an MTV Linked artist for Talento. On July 13, 2014, they performed the first part of the One Direction concert at Estádio do Dragão, in Porto, where they performed in front of 65 thousand people.
They signed with the publisher Sony Music in 2014. Their first album, Uma Questão de Princípio, was released on September 29, 2014. The album features the participation of Salvador Seixas in Balada do Desajeitado (version of a Quadrilha theme), Mia Rose in The Secrets in Silence and Brazilian singer Gabi Luthai in Só Quero Você.
The album debuted at third place on the national sales chart and was at number one for 19 weeks. Having spent 54 weeks in the national top 10, it was certified double platinum by the AFP and has sold more than 30 thousand copies to date.
The unreleased theme O Maior received, in March 2015, the Much More Than a Music award at the O que de Verdade Importa conference, held at Campo Pequeno in Lisbon.
On May 6, 2015, they participated in the program Manhãs da Comercial on Rádio Comercial, where they marked International Portuguese Language Day with a parody of the song Às Vezes – Escuto e Observo Erros de Português (in collaboration with Vasco Palmeirim).
Sometimes he was nominated at the SIC Golden Globes for Best Music. They were also nominated in the Best Group and Newcomer of the Year categories (the only category voted on by the public), despite not having won in either category.
In June 2015 they received the José da Ponte Prize awarded by the Portuguese Society of Authors with the aim of distinguishing “new musical authors who have recently established themselves”.
The debut album was reissued on June 2, 2015 with the tracks Quer and O Maior. After a year of sales, the album was always in the national top and was one of the best-selling albums during that period. After 48 consecutive weeks in the national top 10, the album moved to 18th place.
In September 2015 they were nominated in the Best Portuguese Act category at the MTV Europe Music Awards. The band lost to Agir who represented Portugal at the awards.
Give Me A Second (2015 – 2016)
On June 16, 2015, a new single was released: Não Dá. On September 22, 2015, the single Não Faço Questão was released with the participation of the Brazilian Gabriel o Pensador. The song reached number 1 on iTunes in Portugal.
The album Dá-me Um Segundo was released on October 23rd. The album reached number one on the national sales chart. In the second and third weeks of sales it remained the best seller. In the first 55 weeks, it spent 40 of them in the top 10.
On the 13th and 14th of November 2015 they worked at Campo Pequeno in Lisbon. These special concerts featured appearances by Mia Rose, Salvador Seixas, João Pequeno, Player, João Só and the Spaniard Abraham Mateo.
With more than 180 thousand followers on Facebook, the band has accumulated 32 million views on YouTube, having the most viewed Portuguese videos on YouTube in 2015.
On November 23, 2015, they presented a new song entitled Miúdos, a version of the song Garotos II – O Outro Lado by the Brazilian Leoni.
In 2015, they were the most listened to Portuguese band on Spotify, in Portugal, ranking 6th among the most listened to artists nationally and the album Uma Questão de Princípio being the most listened to. They were also the most listened to band on the MEO Music service in 2015.
The version of the song Às Vezes, sung with Vasco Palmeirim in the Rádio Comercial studios, was the 6th most viewed video by the Portuguese in 2015.
On January 2, 2016, they performed in Lisbon, in a concert at Terreiro do Paço.
Later that month, after 4 months of sales, the band’s second album was certified platinum by the AFP for sales exceeding 15,000 units.
On March 2, 2016, they won the Band of the Year and Best Album of the Year categories with Dá-me Um Segundo at the Portuguese gala Trend Music Awards. They had also been nominated for Collaboration of the Year with Eu Não Faço Questão (with Gabriel O Pensador), Best Performance and Song of the Year with Não Dá.
On March 12, 2016, they won in the Favorite Portuguese Musician category at the international Kids’ Choice Awards gala on the Nickelodeon channel against Agir, Carlão and Filipe Gonçalves.
On April 11th they released a song called Joni (Lagostim) for the Portuguese League Against Cancer’s sun prevention campaign.
The theme Não Faço Questão (with Gabriel o Pensador) was nominated for Best Song at the SIC Golden Globes. They were also nominated in the Best Group category which they won.
In April 2016 they participated in a song commemorating Canal Panda’s 20th anniversary, together with Mia Rose, D8, Carolina Deslandes, Ruben Madeira, Miguel Gameiro, Diogo Piçarra, Sara Mestre, Cláudia Semedo, Maria Vasconcelos, Isabel Figueira, Sara Esteves Cardoso and the ATOA.
On May 13, 2016, they released a Spanish version of the song Às Vezes titled A Veces featuring Andrés Ceballos.
On May 28, 2016, they performed at Rock in Rio, with the participation of Gabriel o Pensador as a special guest to an audience of close to 85 thousand spectators.
In June 2015, they participated in the solidarity project Passa a Outro e Não ao Same on Rádio Comercial where they composed and recorded a song in just 24 hours for a solidarity album called Sinto.
On July 14, 2016, they performed at the MEO Marés Vivas festival for around 25 thousand people.
In September 2016, they were nominated again in the Best Portuguese Act category at the MTV Europe Music Awards, having lost to David Carreira.
On October 21st they performed at the MEO Arena in Lisbon, “the biggest venue in the country”, with a full house.
