David Fonseca

Source: FNAC

David Fonseca is one of the most charismatic voices in Portuguese music. Born in Leiria, his name is inseparable from that of the band he voiced, the group Silence 4.

Formed in 1998, the group quickly established itself as the biggest phenomenon in Portuguese music in recent times. In 2001, Silence 4 made their last tour, and in 2002 they ended their activity definitively.

They also released a DVD and a live double disc that records their last visit to the Lisbon Coliseum. In 2003, David Fonseca releases his first solo album, “Sing Me Something New”, where he explores new facets as a composer and performer: he plays practically all the instruments on this album, which premiered simultaneously on more than 150 radio stations across the country.

The first single “Someone That Cannot Love” reached number 1 in national airplay. To promote the album, David Fonseca held concerts at 20 universities in the country, an unprecedented action in Portugal. The second theme taken from the album, “The 80’s”, was chosen as the theme of Vodafone’s campaign, catapulting a highly successful tour across the country. alongside Manuela Azevedo and Camané.

The record’s success culminates in 3 memorable shows at the Lisbon and Porto Coliseums and a performance for 40,000 people at the Sudoeste festival. In 2005 comes the turn of “Our Hearts Will Beat As One”. As a result of a long period of composing, 11 themes are chosen among the dozens of songs that went into making this record.

The disc reached the 1st place in the national top right after its release and was considered by the media as the best pop album of the year. The singles taken from “Our Hearts Will Beat As One” quickly became emblematic themes of David Fonseca’s career: “Who Are U” topped the airplay charts throughout the summer of 2005; “Hold Still”, the ballad duet with Rita Redshoes, took him to London for the video shoot; “Our Hearts Will Beat As One”, the third single, was supported by one of the most successful music videos produced in Portugal, having topped the MTV audience preference chart and having been reinforced by the nomination for the 2006 MTV European Music Awards (appointment that succeeded those already received in 2003 and 2005).

The show based on this “Our Hearts Will Beat As One” had numerous presentations throughout the country, including the 2006 Sudoeste Festival, as well as the unforgettable show held in Lisbon, in November of the same year, before an Aula Magna sold out and which once again confirmed David Fonseca as an exceptional author, composer, interpreter and performer. In July 2007, David Fonseca published the song “Superstars II”, the lead single from “Dreams In Colour”, the third work of originals.

“Superstars II” was premiered online supported by a videoclip conceived and directed by himself. The reaction couldn’t have been better: the song is still in the Top Ten of Airplay on national radio stations 3 months after the release of “Dreams In Colour” (Golden Record), just like the last single “Kiss me, oh kiss me”. At the same time, the “Superstars” video, which marked David Fonseca’s directorial debut, quickly became the most watched music video ever on Sapo’s platform, with more than 49,000 views, to which more than 120,000 are added on You Tube platform. David Fonseca was considered Artist of the Year by readers of Blitz magazine. 2008 begins with the continuation of the Dreams in Color Live Tour, where David Fonseca travels through a series of auditoriums throughout the country, always sold out.

As in 2007, he is again invited to participate in the South By Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, where he presents his latest solo work, accompanied only by his guitar and a loop station. The culmination of this tour takes place in April, with a sold-out concert at the Coliseu dos Recreios, where he presents a production thought out in detail that confirms all his talent and creativity. 2008 was also a year of commitment to internationalization.

With the edition of the album “Dreams in Color” in Italy, Greece and Spain, and the subsequent live performances in Athens for the Greek MTV launch concert, in Milan with Gabriella Cilmi and One Republic, in her own name and as the opening Act of the British band Keane in Madrid and Barcelona, brought a new perspective of the European market. At the end of 2008, his first DVD was published – “12.04.08 COLISEU – DREAMS IN COLOR LIVE”, a memory of an unforgettable night spent at the Coliseu dos Recreios in April, which went straight to 1st place, and a week after its edition, received the Gold award.

In addition to having won the Platinum Award for the first time with “Dreams In Colour”, David Fonseca saw two singles – “Superstars” and “Kiss Me, Oh Kiss Me” – reach 1st place in the National Airplay Top and toured the entire the country in the space of 1 year with presences in the main festivals.

2009 is the year of a new work of originals, new songs, new concerts… but not before, in addition to shows in Portugal, going to the South by Southwest Festival for the 3rd consecutive time and returning to Spain for presentations in Madrid (Sala Heineken), Barcelona (Bikini) and Terrassa (Faktoria D’Arts).

In July, the release of “A Cry 4 Love”, the advance single from the new album, confirms an excellent return from David Fonseca: “Between Waves”, his 4th solo album, was released on 2 November. This new work was entirely composed and written by David Fonseca, similarly to what happened on the first solo album “Sing Me Something New”, it marks the return to the performance of practically all the instruments included in the album: electric and acoustic guitar, piano , drums, bass, synthesizers, percussion, among others.

David Fonseca continues to innovate… this time with the creation of an online community, based at www.davidfonseca.com, which he called “Amazing Cats Club”, named after his label and studio “The Castle of Amazing Cats” and which intends to group around itself enthusiasts of the artistic work of David Fonseca. 2010 began with a presentation tour of “Between Waves” through auditoriums from north to south of the country and culminated in two great concerts in April: Coliseu de Lisboa and Coliseu do Porto, both sold out, where once again, David Fonseca managed to exceed all expectations in a production of high artistic and plastic care. After traveling the whole country and returning to Spain, passing through Pontevedra, Santiago de Compostela, Madrid and Barcelona – thus confirming its internationalization in Spanish lands.

Meanwhile, in December 2010, David Fonseca conceived the show “U Know Who I Am – one man, a thousand instruments and a Polaroid” based on the song “U Know Who I Am”, the third single to be taken from “Between Waves”, his latest album of originals and whose video surpassed 215,000 views on YouTube alone. As the subtitle indicates, David was on stage only accompanied by his instruments and a camera. Surprise was an element present in all these presentations: with variations in the lineups from concert to concert, with the use of instruments that we are not used to seeing in David, with the emblematic songs but also with the less played ones, with themes of his and of others, with conversation and silence, acoustic and electric, with music and images.

The Between Waves tour continued on the road with concerts across the country and across borders: David Fonseca performed for the first time in Brazil – at the prestigious Rock in Rio Festival, and also in São Paulo and at Teatro Odisseia (Rio de Janeiro). He was also in Carballeira de Caldas de Reis – at the Cultura Quente Festival, and also in Cáceres, where he received the “Pop-Eye Artista Revelación Europeo” award. David Fonseca reserved for 2012 one of the great artistic challenges of his career – telling us about a year of his life through songs.

The result is “Seasons”, a work that is divided into two discs: “Rising”, the first volume, published on March 21st, and “Falling”, the second, on September 21st. “Seasons – Rising : Falling” is then complete, becoming the fifth album of David Fonseca’s solo career, revealing us an artist at his creative peak, deepening sounds that he had already approached in his last albums, although never in a way so striking. If in “Seasons – Rising:” he reinforced this idea by integrating electronics and rock into his musical universe, with themes such as “What Life Is For” or “Armageddon”; in “Seasons – Falling”, David explores, as never before, the essence of songwriting, providing us with songs of unusual emotion as witnessed by “All That I Wanted”, the first single from the second part of this musical adventure. Keeping the partnership with Nelson Carvalho in the production, David Fonseca had some new collaborations in these new songs, obligatory highlights in the history of “Seasons – Rising: Falling” – Luísa Sobral in “It Shall Pass” and the Brazilian Mallu Magalhães in the theme “Monday , Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday”.

Also noteworthy was the reunion with Mário Barreiros, an exceptional musician, longtime friend and producer of the first two solo albums by David Fonseca, responsible for the drums on “At Your Door” and “Heartbroken”.