A while back I wrote about the piece The brightest point of light by Christopher Colaço & Philipp Schaeper. I had a talk with the pianist of the duo. Here it is!
What´s your name?
Christopher Colaço
Where are you from? And where do you live?
I’m from Bavaria in southern Germany, where life is good and easy and now living in Berlin since 10 years.
How long have you been playing the piano, and do you play other instruments as well?
I´m playing the piano since I was 5 years old and I sometimes play the clarinet, which I started quite the same age, but I had to focus on one instrument. That’s what my piano teacher told me back in the days.
Tell us about how you started playing music?
I basically started with straight forward piano lessons in my village and quite quickly got into a music based college, where I had the opportunity to meet a lot of like minded people. My teacher there, was a Jazz enthusiast and that’s how my love for Jazz music started. Therefore I founded some local jazz bands but even reached my hand out to funk and reggae music. I decided to dedicate my life to music and applied for music studies at the university of arts in Berlin.
How long have you been making piano music?
Since the age of 5 where I started playing. By the end of my jazz studies I focused more on neo-classical piano tunes combined with strings.
Tell us something about the moment you realized that you could make songs yourself!
It was pretty romantic, haha. At the age of 16 I composed some piano pieces for a girl to like me, which worked out pretty well 🙂
What are you favorite piano artists in this piano genre?
Of course I’m influenced by the great jazz masters like Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly but as well as modern classical piano pianists such as Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds and all these beautiful players out there.
Is there one song which you play over and over again as soon as you sit down by a piano?
Usually Chopin brings me in the mood.
What rules (in making music) needs to be broken?
What, are there any rules?
How do you record your music?
I have a basic setup to catch some ideas in my home studio. When it comes to music production I choose one of the great studios Berlin has to offer.
What´s your take on sampled instruments?
I think there is a hugh variety out there which sound beautiful, but I think mixing them with real instruments is the way to do it.
And the last question from my 5 year old son:
Where do all your songs come from?
Your son seems to be a philosopher. If I only could answer this question!
Thank you very much for this Christopher!
For more information about Christopher and the music he makes (together with Philipp Schaeper) please check out these following links:
Facebook / Instagram / Website / Spotify