A bit of Lou's history in music, in his own words

"During my childhood, influenced by the first Rock in Rio Festival in Brazil (in 1985), I started to have an interest in listening to music, heavily influenced by 80's techno-pop by artists like Erasure, Depeche Mode, A-ha, and many others.

Soon after, I started studying classical piano when I was ten and was immediately hooked by music, even composing some little pieces at that age.

A little later, at 13, I started playing classical and electric guitar and formed my first bands, performing at my school festivals.

I can say the electric guitar is my main instrument because I spent my entire teenage years studying 80s shred guitar (Van Halen, Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, among others).

When I was 18, I enrolled in music university, initially for classical guitar, but later switched to composition, where I had lessons in composing and formal orchestration. I learned a lot of valuable things during my time there and had lessons with maestro Antonio Carlos Borges Cunha.

At the same time, I was experimenting with MIDI and home recording on my Roland JV90, sequencing via Encore software, recording to a Sony Minidisc, and trying to make a living through my music by playing gigs and teaching electric guitar.

After many trials and errors, I began working as an intern in a small music house in Porto Alegre (my hometown in the south of Brazil), where I created radio jingles and soundtracks and learned recording and mixing. During that time, I kept playing in bands and composing my solo material. My band, Aqua-Play, was signed to a record label and enjoyed some local success doing many shows in the south of Brazil.

After seven years of working in Porto Alegre, I was recommended to a music house in São Paulo, and in 2007, I moved to Brazil's biggest city.

While working for music houses such as Comando S and Menina, I started creating soundtracks for major brands in Brazil. Five years later, I met my current partners at Antfood. We opened a studio in São Paulo as a branch of the original NY company, and we've been creating a lot of cool advertising work since 2012. We've been awarded in various creative festivals worldwide, including Cannes Lions, Ciclope, One Show, and others.

Over the years, I’ve released many solo albums, composed for feature films, shorts, series, and video games, and produced albums for other artists. My solo project is a mix of electronic, rock, industrial, cinematic with some Brazilian influence.

Thanks to my studio work, I’ve learned to play many instruments. I typically record electric guitar, acoustic guitar, ukulele, glockenspiel, toy piano, percussion, bass, acoustic piano, synths, and vocals. I also have a collection of analog synths, guitar amps, microphones, preamps, and acoustic instruments.

I handle my own mixing and mastering because I believe it’s a deeply personal part of the artistic process. In specific cases, I use external mastering services, as I did for my 2016 album, which was sent to Joe La Porta at Sterling Sound in NYC, but 90% of the time, the process is my own.

My favorite DAW to compose is Ableton, though I’ve been proficient in Pro Tools since 2000 and in Logic Pro (though it’s not my preferred choice) since 2008. I’m also proud to be the first Waves Audio Ambassador in Brazil."