Sun Glitters
Sun Glitters, oka Luxembourg by Portugal’s Victor Ferreira has been on the forefront of musical movements now for the better part of a decade plus. The artist who came of age during the 80s channels the lessons of no-wavers, new-romantics & no-romantics alike has continuously collaborated with nearly all of your favorite artists (or at least remixed at least five of your faves). Delivering news on the follow-up to Everything Could Be Fine—Sun Glitters has announced the forthcoming advent of the visual album It Will Be Forever available May 26 where Ferreira has applied his own creative focuses to traverse the parallel lines that exist along the sound & vision continuum of media. From watching his own progeny grow up alongside fascination with the Drive movie soundtrack; Victor has created a conceptual, multidisciplinary piece of work where the expanses of eternity & infinity run the way of the circle where the beginning & ends are seamlessly stitched together in a spiraling shape of unity that extends toward the depths of lesser known futures to follow.
Chapter “VIII” from Sun Glitters’ forthcoming visual album titled “Together” has already been making its way among the press channels this week. What we see here are a series of real life moments from work/play/home situations; the motif of hand & body held togetherness is animated over the captured film where everything from ennui to melancholia is met with avenues & opportunities of hope. Rapid flashes of on-screen text flash in front of the viewer like “donate,” “share,” “respect,” “faith”, “beautiful,” “breathe,” “equal,” “stop,” “no,” “yes” & more as everything from long walks in nature are juxtaposed by images of quarrels to folks putting their heads together. As animated illustrations of expressions & exchanges entertain across the visual screen, Victor manufactures a sound that is the very semblance of bonded affinities that pays homage to the conflicts, compromises & everything that celebrates the complicated intricacies that comprise the art of togetherness.
Exploring the visual album It Will Be Forever chapters I-XI; Sun Glitters offers up a wealth visual & auditory essence of constant intrigue. Traversing across the sound/visual scapes of modern day wildlife; Victor begins it with “Where the End Begins”, that dovetails neatly with the closer “It’s Ended Before It’s Begun” where a host of the previously enjoyed visual tropes all rapidly come together in a blend & brew of feeling where time becomes practically irrelevant. The weekend wonders of revelry & ecstatic indulgences are seen between night eyes, disco-balls & all the dalliances that we work entire weeks for. The introspective natures of life & matters collect on “(Some) Thoughts” where the spaces of inner reflection are seen soaring like gulls high over ahead as the mental spaces are brought out to the expansive surrounding physical environments. The demands & commencement of the day are heard, seen & felt on “Another, Another Time”, as sinewy & sensuous interludes are illustrated between lovers & scenes of late night freeway rides on “Deeper Inside”. That escapist instinct is observed & experienced on the mystic, mesmerizing number “What Are We Waiting For” that pits our holistic realms with the threat of nuclear level annhilation (which could not be more timely than these current times of unease), that descends into the margin-skipping “Walking Aside as You Drift Away” that discovers new natural playgrounds. The exuberant & hedonistic excesses shine in the twilight & night-lights on “Nightshift Ride” that cruises squarely into the hungover-helper of “Woke Up From the Weakness” that sashays between ballet moves and those inexplicable emotions & sentiments felt in that great morning after. In short, It Will Be Forever is a multimedia movement that offers up snapshots of our shared worlds that holds out for some sort of hope in the midst of an incomprehensible infinity.
Also experience Sun Glitters’ audio-only version of “Together” as well:
Join us now for an in-depth conversation with Sun Glitters’ own Victor Ferreira:
First describe the marriage of electro music & visual motions & notions that went into the making of It Will Be Forever.
It Will Be Forever is my biggest achievement as a producer. A lot of things, both negative and positive, took place before and during the recording process which made this album better than all my previous productions in the end. Of course, I consider Everything Could Be Fine a good album as well, but the whole process was completely different. Mirza from Arms and Sleepers was a very important person in the whole process by always giving me advice, especially when he told me to spend time with the Drive OST as he listened to the very first demo I made for the album. He told me the music I was making reminded him of the vibes of the soundtrack. So that pushed me to build the whole album as a soundtrack for an imaginary movie. Once the album was finished, I started to think about creating videos as I was fascinated by the vectorial and animation process. This was all very important for the whole identity of the album artwork as well.
Videos have always been a very important component for my music and especially my live shows. But it was different this time as I produced all the videos by myself. It was a hard and long process but I’m very happy about the end result because now there is one coherent visual direction that fits with the whole. It’s also the first time I made a video for every song, which really pushed me creatively.
As an artist known for working in a variety of disciplines, describe your own eclectic & collaborative pursuits further informed the process of making music for the ears, eyes, mind & spirit.
I don’t have a particular way of doing things to be honest. My creativity seems to flow naturally from the inspiration of my everyday life, for which I’m very thankful. I truly feel very lucky that I always seem to find something that gets me going creatively for my own personal work or for my collaborations. My mother was a painter so I began drawing when I was young and it all sort of stemmed from there, one thing leading to the other—music came much later but art has always been a big part of my life. I enjoy starting things from scratch and while it often takes time to accomplish things by taking that route, I find that with dedication I can always reach a result I’m happy with and proud of.
Tell us too about the making of Mirza’s recent Arms & Sleepers release and what you two learned about each other & both of your respective approaches to the arts.
It’s been a beautiful collaboration and surely the best I’ve ever had. This connection did not happen out of the blue and it’s much deeper than just a professional collaboration. Our friendship started when we met each other for a show in Leipzig, Germany. We originally met in 2010 for an AAS show in Luxembourg but we didn’t really connect then – I was there just as a fan of AAS. But after this show in Germany where we shared the same stage and had a lot of fun together, we decided to keep in touch. Then during the Italian tour in 2015, we finally had a lot of time to talk, so we began sharing stories about past experiences we’ve had in the music industry. It was around that time that we also started brainstorming about potentially having our very own artist collective in the future. In one conversation, Mirza came to me with a very special question: he asked me if I would be interested in producing their new album. I was kind of surprised and at first I didn’t think he was serious, I thought he was just joking around. But no, he was serious! And of course I accepted the challenge. It was an honour for me to do it. I was extremely happy to be a part of that process because the collaboration went really well and the result was beautiful. They were really happy with my work and that experience, for me, was a very important milestone in my musical career. So our collaboration and now this artist collective all happened very naturally. Today, we are great friends who work together in every aspect and use this collective to drive our projects. We know what we want, where we are headed and what goals we want to reach in our careers. It works perfectly and it feels like the natural step for our evolution as artists—having complete control over our creative output.
Other artists that you’re collaborating with now or would like to work more with in the future?
For sure Arms and Sleepers, and I have been collaborating with Rome in Reverse for a while as well. I also started to produce a track for another artist from Brooklyn, Halley Hiatt. My past collaborations have been incredible and I’m certain we will also create something great together—there is a lot of potential here.
Other than that, I try to not focus too much on who I want to collaborate with. There are a lot of artists I’d love to work with but the best collaborations I’ve had until now have happened naturally and it has always worked out great that way. The most important thing for me right now is to be focused on my current projects and if a collaboration is meant to happen, it will happen because the universe decided that it should!
As someone who has worked with so many artists for so long, what are some of the biggest evolutions in the past 7/8 years of creative international cycles?
For me, every project or partnership is different. I always learn a lot from my collaborations and they help me evolve as an artist. I have also been able to reach a bigger audience because of them and that is truly incredible. But it’s difficult to say what the biggest evolution has been in the past 7/8 years because everything is changing so quickly all the time. I think every artist is unique by definition, which is what makes every collaboration such an amazing learning experience for me as well.
A lot of things have happened which have influenced my music but it’s often things not directly connected to my music world. It can feel very challenging to be innovative these days especially when it comes to music promotion. There is so much music coming out which I think is great but I also think people have become overwhelmed with this oversaturated market, which only makes our job more and more difficult. But that’s precisely why I have decided to stay in my own lane and make sure that I enjoy what I do, because the rest really doesn’t matter. I love music as it allows me to express what I can not put into words, and thankfully through this collective with Mirza and now also Lueda from Smoke & Mirrors on board, we all help each stay focused on what matters—being creative and loving every moment of this journey we’re on.
Here are some inquiries I have too, track for track, video for video, measure for measure:
Tell us about the omega and the alpha that informed the holiday tropics of “Where the End Begins”.
“Where the End Begins” is an expression I have always loved and it’s also the title of an album from one of my older projects. I like the play on words because the end of anything is really just the beginning of something new—there is never an ultimate end, so in a way, ‘Where the End Begins’ is really just a start.
What sorts of stylish & suave weekends contributed to “From Saturday to Sunday”?
Throughout the album, I have tried to touch on themes that we can all relate to in this human experience. For this particular song, I was inspired by the usual weekend we often find ourselves in when we’re young: we go out on Saturday and most of the time, what we experience during the evening will always carry onto the next day in the early morning. And repeat! It almost feels like a rite of passage in a way, as all of us—well, most of us go through this—it’s a cycle we all seem to repeat, some of us longer than others!
Describe the pensive sound/art-scapes of “(Some) Thoughts”.
I think we are always pensive, especially during quiet moments. When we stop acting on autopilot, there is always this one moment when we become pensive and listen to our internal voice—it can be positive or negative. Let’s just say that this track is reflecting that moment in the album: the stillness within as the world keeps moving at light speed.
Interested in hearing also about the day in, day out cycles that contributed to the audio/visual narratives of “Another Day, Another Time”.
Every day, I feel like I’m experiencing what I did the previous day, with a few minor changes here and there, and it’s always like, Wow life is a loop! A loop with just a different sound. And this is what I tried to show people via the video: the everyday life of a girl who is waking up, drinking coffee, working and going back to bed…just to start the same process another day, and another time. It’s not a very inspiring existence and it’s easy to see in that narrative. The way I’m personally able to break this monotony of life is through music—creating a different sound for each day of my life, if you will—and continuing to express myself artistically in whatever way I can.
Give us the inside deep scoops on the nocturnal adventure, “Deeper Inside”.
This is the track most influenced by the Drive OST. It’s funny that you caught the nocturnal adventure aspect of it because the track was also inspired by an experience I had when I was literally driving on the highway at midnight after leaving a friend’s house. As I focused on what was in front of me in a sea of darkness in complete quietness, I had this moment of stillness and feeling pensive, which I mentioned before. I just sat driving and listened to this voice within—it was a very powerful experience as many thoughts were running through my head; in that moment, what I felt inside seemed to capture every spectrum of the human emotion, both good and bad. It was unlike anything I could describe in words, hence the title “Deeper Inside”—an experience I could only express via music.
Tell us about the ‘seize the day’ aesthetic of “What Are We Waiting for?”.
This one is about the current state of our world. Everything feels grim but it doesn’t have to be, because we have the power to enact the change we want to see in the world. We all want to be happy and enjoy the beauty available to us, for there is an abundance of it on this planet. But we, humans, keep destroying it all because of selfishness and greed; we gravitate toward our desires at the expenses of all else, especially when our biggest enemy is concerned—money! If we want to see the world change then we must start with ourselves for real change begins within. If we could get our act together on a personal level, I truly believe that the world would reflect that back to us too.
Tell us about the shifting tides of “Walking Aside as You Drift Away”.
On this song, I wanted to touch on another experience we all seem to go through when we fall victim to our own learned patterns. It’s that moment in time when you connect beautifully with someone who seems to be on the same wavelength, only to find the situation unfold the same way as previous ones have in your life up until that point. So there you are, alone again as they, and your life together, drift away from you. I find that we go through these experiences because we make the same mistakes by unconsciously following steps that repeat self-destructive cycles…ruining everything we hold dear.
What sorts of unity inspired the make ups & breaks ups of “Together”?
As much as we like to focus on the differences between ourselves and others, especially those of different backgrounds or cultures, the truth is that we are all in this planet together. There is no escape and no easy way to turn things around, especially at this point in time. In order for there to be peace and joy, we have to literally be “Together” on this journey, which can be very difficult in a day and age when egos rule the world. But that’s the only hope we have—that people will put their differences aside and come together to try make change happen. That’s what I’m trying to express with the track and the video which deals with various make ups and break ups; for there to be a solution, in personal or global matters, we have to work together in compassion and love, for happiness is a universal desire.
Also want to hear about the nocturnal rides informed “Nightshift Ride”.
You’re having good time. It’s a great night. Everything is moving quickly and it feels great…but before you know it, it’s the next day and you find that the life you once loved has now turned into a nightmare because you got carried away. I wanted to tap into that common experience, where everything can literally turn upside down very quickly because of dangers we don’t handle appropriately—we’re not able to see clearly when we’re on that ride in the darkness (i.e. substances).
Give us the take about the processes of healing & awakening behind “Woke Up from the Weakness”.
The title is self-explanatory in many ways…so I used a happier sound process for the song to actually sound different and more hopeful—to highlight the stark contrast. On the video I depicted the painful experience of someone who is destroying life with drugs while on the other side, there is someone more zen who is actually enjoying life while dancing ballet. I mean, we could use many examples to show this contrast in life and I found these two particularly powerful. The song is meant to describe the journey of people who are totally lost in the world, unable to face the reality of life in the best way. But thankfully, it is always possible to wake up from the weakness if you choose to do so—we have the ability to heal so there are always means to turn your life around even when all feels bleak.
Lastly, what types of day break feelings informed “It’s Ended Before It’s Begun”?
I wanted to sort of connect this song to the very first song of the album, but I also wanted to describe those experiences in our lives that happen faster than we can make sense of them. When we’re driven by our desires, we get lost and that’s when things happen so quickly that we can’t see clearly how badly we’re messing up—it can be family affairs, friendships, fame, etc. It’s those situations we just don’t care to sit down and think about until it’s too late, when we realize just what has happened and feel regret toward it all.
Meditations & benediction about the future of our worlds?
I hope for the best, of course. I’m always thinking positively even if it’s not easy as several things don’t just depend on us. But it’s important to enjoy every second in our lives because that’s something nobody can take from us!
Sun Glitters’ upcoming visual album It Will Be Forever will be available May 26.
