INTERVIEW WITH MUSIC BAND SOMOSHM

INTERVIEW WITH MUSIC BAND SOMOSHM

Music Band SomosHM

Today we have a special interview with the music band SomosHm, for me, this interview is really special, because Erick and I study together in the Friedman School of music, and we have been together since kindergarten, despite the fact that I change schools, now thanks to Facebook I could find some of my old friends back then.

When I found Erick on Facebook, we discover he was living in Madrid, and that I am living in Vienna, but more than that, I became a fan of his songs. He and his brother Richard create this great music band where both sing, write songs and of course play the instruments.

I know some of you don’t speak Spanish, but the songs are special, my favorite is Magia, but the debut is Manana es Tarde ( tomorrow is late), but to know more about Richard and Erick and how this journey started and where they are going, I made them an interview so you can also discover how great this band is.

Richard, Erick, tell us about yourselves (what did you study, where were you born, where are you now)

E: We are both Venezuelans currently living in Madrid. My brother Richard is BA in Mass Communication graduated in “Universidad Monte Ávila” (Venezuela), with extensive experience as a singer and host of major events in Venezuela, Panama, Dominican Republic, and the Caribbean Islands. He has been a singer in recognized bands such as SGrupo, sharing with National and International artists who have been part of his musical influence, such as Juan Luis Guerra, Chino y Nacho, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Guaco, Amigos Invisibles.

R: My eldest brother Erick is BSc in Business with a Master in Finance (Madrid - London). He has been involved in the production of musical and artistic events in Venezuela. He has dedicated his life to learning various musical instruments on his own since he was 14 years old. He applies all this background in song-writing, using the transverse flute, guitar, piano and Latin percussion which are his favorite instruments.

How did the idea of SomosHM start?

R: The idea came in 2011 when I was developing my final career project, and I was proposing to launch a musical artist through social networks. After discussing this idea with Erick, we decided that instead of promoting another artist, why not promoting ourselves... we began to develop this project that has slowly been grabbing force and today is a reality.

You both studied at the Emil Friedman (a musical school). Is that a big influence on your music now?

R: Indeed, we studied in Emil Friedman, we both practiced Transverse Flute and we were part of the ensemble of wind and school orchestras. Also, we had the opportunity to sing at the “Gaitas” Event that is the most important cultural event for the country, in which each school musically represents its institution. In addition to our family musical influence, we cannot deny that having studied at Emil Friedman gives us a significant competitive difference, because we have the background of classical music education with all the implications therein. All those hours of the conservatory, listening/playing music and that is ultimately what our fans may enjoy in our songs.

Who writes the songs?

R: My brother Erick is the composer of the songs.

E: I write songs based on the experiences in life, and always write the verses based on what each of us has to express... my brother Richi has a lot of vocal strength, and I focus on that quality when I write his verses ... on my part, I try to put phrases strongly representative for me, every word has a meaning to me...

What is your inspiration for the songs?

E: I am really inspired by many things. Mainly on things that I have lived in my love life and try to mix them with the common things that everyone lives in relationships... we all believe that what we experience is unique, but reality is that if we could tell everyone what we have experienced, for sure we would feel identified with 90% of the things... love is not all, I also write about family and try to motivate people to say what they feel, so either through our songs.

You are both from Venezuela, but at the moment you are living in Spain, what is the difference between the Spanish and the Venezuelan public?

R: Although in Spain and in Venezuela we speak the same language, cultural differences are definitely present ... especially when we refer to musical preferences. The Venezuelan public asks a lot of Caribbean rhythms, but there is also a strong public who likes the romantic move ... instead, in Spain, they focus more on the lyrics, songs with deeper content and not necessarily with dynamic rhythms.

Tell me about your single “Mañana es Tarde” (Tomorrow is late)

E: This song tells the story of a boy who has many things to tell someone he likes, but does not dare to express himself because every time he thinks about it his voice trembles with fear... But he uses the phrase "Tomorrow is Late" as a mantra that he repeats to grab forces, be brave and definitely tell her that he loves her... in the last part of the song you can feel that he finally managed to tell her about his love, and then is when the chorus starts to shout out with excitement...

Can we expect a video soon?

R: Yes, we just visited Venezuela on a media tour and recorded the video for "Mañana es Tarde" in our hometown ... mainly using the view of the mountain "El Avila" to show the beauty of our city Caracas. We wanted to give a different approach to the song, with the aim of expressing that "Tomorrow is too late" to SomosHM, to present our music and our project. In the video, we use scenes where we work in parallel in our daily work, looking for those moments of inspiration and search for the muse to compose, the contrast of two lives in parallel, professional and music, highlighting that the artistic life is our real passion...

What is the next step?

E: The musical race is an endurance race... We have been preparing ourselves for this moment and "Tomorrow is too late" to share it with all the people who follow us. The next step will be the release of the video of our newest promotional, with the main goal of being known on digital platforms and take the video to the TV. So we can give the boost it deserves to end this first promotional period in Venezuela.

R: In the coming months, we plan to launch a second promotional and parallel recording of 3 songs, which is currently in its final stage. 2017 promises to be an important year in the launching of this project, with our first album "Se pronuncia Martó” (“it is pronounced as Martó” referring to our last name). It will be a unique project entirely composed by my brother Erick. We also want to promote “Mañana es Tarde” in Spain with the idea of live concerts, both in Madrid and in Caracas, to bring our music to all those people who gradually join the proposal SomosHM - Hermanos Marteau.

Where do you see yourselves in 10 years?

R: If we want to project SomosHM in the next 10 years, it is necessary to be planned in the short and medium-term. We would like to become a recognized duo in the music industry, we would like to produce music in other languages, presenting music tours, collaborating with influential artists and supporting emerging talents as well.

To be recognized as two brothers that make music, that their songs are sung and known all over the world. Fame is quite ethereal, and we are not after it as such.

What we can say for sure is that music accompanies us wherever we go and this is a project that will evolve at the same pace our feeling matures. In the future, we would like to be “Around the World, Where our music sounds".

To hear their songs please visit: SomosHM Soundcloud

To know more about them please visit: SomosHM

WEEKEND WISH LIST BOHO STYLE

WEEKEND WISH LIST BOHO STYLE

Weekend wish List

Throughout the weekend, C and I concluded our appointments for an extraordinary little escape this weekend. It appears to be insane even simply thinking of this out, however, this year we were both so busy with work that we barely made it to our holidays, after our 2 weeks away from civilization, we are back and we decide to take things slow and take advantage of any free time, so we choose to skip town and have our weekend away meanwhile is still summer here in Vienna. Austria is such a beautiful country, and we realize we have not dedicated that much time to discover more about this lovely country, so we will just pack our things and get in touch with nature every time we can.

That’s why I decide to put a little summer wish list, now that we have a super hot week, and who knows, we don’t know how long we will have this long summer and is our intention to take advantage of the heat as much as we can.

SWEET STRAWBERRY DUMPLINGS FOR SUNDAY

SWEET STRAWBERRY DUMPLINGS FOR SUNDAY

Sweet Strawberry Dumplings

Today's dessert recipe is one of my favorite sweet Strawberry Dumplings, not to mention the recipe came from my dearest friend Kerstin who is absolutely a terrific cooker! Kerstin and I are friends for almost 8 years, and over the years of practice, probably I am making strawberries dumplings as good as she. Sundays are my favorite day of the week; for us is the day where we get creative and we cook and cook. Although we try to eat healthy during the week, Sundays mean to us our cheat day. C and I love to cook together and get more creative and we always try new recipes. This Sunday we decide to prepare again strawberry dumplings, although you can fill them with chocolate (if it comes as a little ball) peaches and any other fruit you like.

Of course, you can find in Austria strawberry dumplings frozen at the supermarket, but it doesn’t taste the same as when you prepare it for yourself, and they are so easy to do, sometimes I make the double of the dough and I just froze them myself, if we have guests at home is an easy way to be prepared for this golden dumpling!

Sweet Strawberry Dumplings Recipe

Perfect Austrian Strawberry dumplings
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Resting time40 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Austrian
Keyword: Austrian dumplings, knoedel, strawberry
Servings: 6
Calories: 233kcal

Ingredients

  • 250 gr fresh cheese
  • 70 gr flour
  • 70 gr griess ( semolina)
  • 1 egg
  • salt
  • 70 gr butter
  • fresh strawberries

Instructions

  • Mix all the ingredients together and leave it for 40 min in the fridge, then you expand little pieces on the palm of your hand, put a piece of strawberry inside and close it and giving the form of a ball if the Doug is too soft use a little bit more flour, and more important it should be really close.
  • Boil the balls till then float aside warm a bit of butter with sugar, breadcrumbs, and cinnamon in a pan, add the dumplings when they are ready and be sure the dumpling is covered with the mix of sugar-breadcrumb-cinnamon.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 233kcal | Carbohydrates: 40.3g | Protein: 7.8g | Fat: 4g
TRAVEL POSTCARDS FROM GREECE

TRAVEL POSTCARDS FROM GREECE

Holiday Greece - Crete

Oh, beautiful Greece... We can't get enough from Crete, although we are back in Vienna, we would like to stay on this beautiful island a bit longer. Crete is a beautiful island with a lot of ancient places to discover, amazing people and of course extraordinary food.

Crete is the largest and the most populous of the Greek islands, and it was once the center of the Minoan Civilization, which is currently the earliest recorded civilization in Europe, not only was the Minoan civilization flourished in the bronze age on the Mediterranean, but also the Minoans made a significant contribution to the development of Western European civilization as it is known today.

Minoan settlements, tombs and burial grounds have been discovered all over Crete yet the four important royal residence locales (altogether of size) were at Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, and Zakros.

In the past, we had the opportunity to be in Zakros, and it was remarkable, although this time we were close to Heraklion the capital, it was too hot to visit Knossos, and maybe this would be the perfect excuse to come back…

Nevertheless, this was the second time in Greece, not to mention we can never get enough from this beautiful island, and we are planning to come back again.

For me, Greece is like to come back to my country the cultural similarities are amazing, and for me is just refreshing to be in place with so many warm people, with great food, and just laid down on the beach have a great view and no phones.

We live today in a time that our phones are part of our lives 24/7, and to have the possibility to disconnect completely and leave the phone on the side and just be present in the moment in such a beautiful and historical environment is just priceless.

This time, we were on the Westside on the island and give us the opportunity to visit also the South, where I must say were the most beautiful beaches at least for us.

Although the time was not enough to see all that we wanted to see, we really enjoy our trip, and we make amazing memories there!

Stay tuned, to discover the secret places we visit!

TOP FASHION PHOTOGRAPHERS

TOP FASHION PHOTOGRAPHERS

Top Fashion Photographers

Today I have for you a special post, our top Photographers. Over the last 2 year we had the opportunity to make interviews with many different artists behind the fashion world, and bring you guys their story. For this reason, I prepare today my top beloved photographer interview we have done till now.

It is amazing for us, to have the opportunity to get in touch with this entire creative people and let ourselves be inspired and move by the different perspectives and points of view.

Philip Volkers:

Philip is an amazing photographer with beautiful aesthetics, we had the opportunity to meet Philip through our friend Louis Mariette, and without losing time we skype with Philip and to discover that his first job in the fashion world was by assisting Robert Fairer for US Vogue.

Over the years, he made campaigns with apple, BBC, The Independent, Vogue Uk, Louis Mariette, between others, and this is the reason why he is one of our favorite photographers.

Nancy Fina:

Nancy Fina, is a remarkable American photographer, she traveled the world thanks to her father's job, choose the wrong career (politics! come on..) till she discovers her true passion was behind the lens, so she decided to give it a try and turns not to just be a photographer, but one of the very first female photographer’s In Italy in a business traditionally dominated by men.

Her pictures are just a fantasy world, where everything is possible, and just remained me to Alice in wonderland.

Verena Mandragora:

I had the opportunity to meet Verena by assisting a couple of photoshoots in Vienna, one of them was the spring collection of Maurizio Giambra in the butterfly museum in Vienna, let me tell you it was just amazing.

Verena starts in the world of photography in 2007. Originally she was the editor at some magazines here in Austria. The editor-in-chief asked me to take some snapshots of an event just for our archives – nothing serious, but he encouraged me to try something else than my small pocket camera. Three weeks later she bought her first single-lens reflex.

Camille Sanson:

Camille is originally from New Zeeland. Far from aggressive by nature, she has a devastatingly soft side to her with soul to match. Camille looks through her lens; the world to her is upside down, inside out, horizontal, a glowing oblate spheroid of a stunning planet.

Her aesthetics are amazing, and that’s the reason why she has built an international name in the world of photography.

Zena Holloway:

But not least, Lena has to be the top of our list, why? Just because, she is certainly not a normal photographer, but an underwater photographer, which is more demanded than a normal photographer.

If mermaids exist then I can assure you I have met the real deal! She comes in the form of a photographer, her first skin a rather curvaceous, revealing wetsuit that puts Ursula Andress on hold! She takes her talents to new “depths”