Episode Details

Our guest for this week is Carlos Rodrigues aka Kabeção, a Portuguese multi-instrumentalist, composer, street busker and sound healer who creates his own unique approach to music and sound.

Originally studying to become a surgeon, Carlos discovered another, more fulfilling way of bringing joy and happiness to people. As he got more and more involved with music, he began to discover, explore and experiment with many different musical instruments. From a young age, he was familiar with percussion and rhythm, and then as the years went by he started to add other types of instruments, from strings to woodwinds, and his focus comes from the simple exploration of sound.

Under the pseudonym Kabeção, the origin and the meaning of which he explains in our podcast, he embarked on a journey of a professional musician. He is self-taught and has combined influences from different parts of the world, Africa, India, Brazil, Turkey, Spain, France, Australia. He has developed unique playing techniques on each of his instruments, including drums, darbuka, udu, tabla, djembe, frame drum, cajon, berimbau, bansuri, sansula, Tibetan bowls, gongs, didgeridoo, guitar, and handpan.

In 2015, he was a finalist on Portugal’s “Got Talent” and you can see one of his breathtaking live performances here!

He has produced several albums throughout his career. His latest one titled “Touching Souls” was released in September 2017 after being completely crowd-funded by music lovers and players from all around the world. About the album, Carlos has stated that it exceeded expectations and goals during its conception and the album holds true to its name.

Connect with Kabeção:

• Website: https://www.kabecao.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kabecao.handpan/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kabecaohandpan/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Kabexon/featured
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/kabzhandpan

Kabeção’s Story of Inspired Evolution

At a very early age, Carlos realized a deep desire to help others. He decided to study medicine, as he found that becoming a surgeon would be a very effective way of satisfying that desire and save lives in the process. While struggling with a few exams which proved to be challenging, he discovered a much more meaningful, engaging and fulfilling relationship with music. He decided to quit school and started teaching himself to play. As years went by and as he started sharing his music with the world, he came to the conclusion that there was an alternative way of bringing people joy.

“I started playing on the streets. Two years, every day, playing on the streets and exploring the sounds, exploring my emotions with the sounds analyzing how this reflects on people, how people receive this... And somehow I started to understand that music is such a powerful tool to heal people. To connect, to open hearts.” - Kabeção

As he further explored this emotional aspect of music and playing music, he focused more and more on this healing aspect of it, all the while trying to hit the right vibrations with his creations which will resonate with the listeners.

Emotional Aspect of Music

One of the main and recurring themes of our conversation is emotions and the different ways that the