MAR&ILHA's debut album is yours too!

We are MAR&ILHA, a group that celebrates the Azorean viola da terra and wants to record their debut album after a 2021 full of opportunities and public affection. Your support is essential to take our music further!

We can confidently tell you that supporting this campaign will be very worthwhile if you like our work! We have eight beautiful songs composed or written especially for us by names of the brilliant musical generation of the eighties, the new generation of insular music and also of Azorean literature - Sara Cruz, Zeca Medeiros, João da Ilha, Urbano Bettencourt, António Bulcão, Isabel Mesquita , Rafael Carvalho and Aníbal Raposo are the names that entrusted us with their talent to give them sound with our very own voice. What can you expect? A trip around the world through rhythms and sounds as we love to do so much, but with the motto in the strings of the viola da terra, in the words, in the messages and in the heart of the songs - the meaning of the Azorean feeling and its search anywhere, at different times and for all people.

2020 and 2021 were very challenging years for everyone in general and for artists in particular, especially if we talk about independent artists who were left in an even more precarious situation due to the pandemic. This reality has made it more difficult for musical groups like us to invest privately to record records and book concerts and tours because we are left without a financial safety net (if we ever really had one!). Even so, assuming that after such a great cultural slowdown we have to move forward and do our part in the movement to return to normality as possible, in 2021 we bet strongly on rehearsing, putting together a repertoire, looking for concerts and this effort has paid off, bringing several opportunities to give concerts online, live and on TV and to create a safe network of virtual and in-person fans who admire our work.

Our followers started asking us frequently when they could hear something original or when we would record an album, and with time and the evolution of the project it started to make sense for us to plan the debut album as an obvious and fundamental next step to reach more stages, platforms and audiences. It is in the meeting of these two circumstances that this crowdfunding campaign arises - from the desire to record an album and the need for financial support to achieve this objective. In order to avoid long, uncertain and bureaucratic application processes, and since our objective is a desirable object for many, we thought that people who appreciate our music could be our most direct supporters - basically, they will help us by advancing the amount they would end up giving to buy our record later on, thus ensuring that it happens.

It's really simple - you just need to see in the rewards table what you want to receive (if only one disc, if you want to add merchandising or if you really feel generous and would like to help more and guarantee you a private concert from us), do transfer the corresponding amount to this platform and then wait a few months for the completion of the recording, manufacturing and distribution process to be able to receive at home the reward sent by us with all the affection! For us, even more important than the reward itself and even being able to show you our music, will be knowing that each of our supporters was the reason why this record came into existence - they will be part of the realization of a dream and the way to access our future as a Mar&Ilha. And we will be forever grateful!

Support us - be patrons of arts and culture and show that together we achieve more and that generosity and a sense of community make everything possible and more enjoyable!

About the author

Mar&Ilha is a musical project conceived by Sara Miguel to celebrate Viola da Terra in all its versatility, from traditional legacy to future potential and venturing into various world music sounds. This project was created in 2019 at the invitation of Miratecarts to celebrate the first Viola da Terra in concert at the Madalena do Pico Auditorium – the public’s enthusiasm was so great that the concert was repeated in the same Auditorium the following January and, After the stoppage phase forced by the pandemic, it was rethought to be a continuity project, moving in 2021 from trio to quartet. It includes, in addition to the Porto singer Sara Miguel, the Galician guitarist Marcos Fernandez, the viola da terra player Jorge 'Canarinho' Silva and the percussionist and adufes artisan Rui Silva, all residents of the mountain island.

In their first concert program, Mar&Ilha celebrated the Viola da Terra not only as a primordial instrument of the insular imagination, but also as a vehicle for connecting the history of the Azorean diaspora – the music takes the audience on a journey through time and across the globe from the settlement from the Azores to the great wave of emigration of the mid-twentieth century, passing through the main migration destinations that were, in the meantime, spreading Azorean communities a little throughout the American continent. From the past to the present, in various rhythms, approaches and languages, the future of the viola is built in the diversity of hands and peoples, without ever losing the fundamental identity strength of its roots.

In 2021, the group took this program to various stages on three islands - Pico, Faial and Terceira - and also to the online edition of the I Festival de Viola da Terra and to the television program 'Regresso ao Palco' promoted by the Regional Directorate for Culture and the RTP Azores.

IN 2022, the first objective is to record the debut album with the support of this crowdfunding campaign, a work that will bring together some versions of frequent themes from the group's repertoire and also 8 original songs written by Azorean authors of reference especially for this Mar&Ilha album. The second objective will be to present this album in Azorean, Madeiran and Portuguese mainland stages.

Budget and due dates

The total budget amount we calculated includes:

* fees for the technicians who will record the disc

* fees for the photographer/videographer who will document the recording process so they can accompany you

* fees of the videographer who will make the video clip of the album presentation single

* design of the graphic part of the disc

* manufacture of discs

* album licenses and registrations

* distribution of the album on digital platforms

* merchandising and rewards manufacturing and rewards shipping costs

* commissions from PPL and its payment partners

The recording of our album will be done between March 9th and 14th at LAVA Homes on Pico Island. We estimate about a month and a half for mixing and mastering, so this process should be completed by the end of April. In May, the disc will go into production, which should make it possible for us to have the discs in our possession by the beginning of June and to be able to start sending out rewards to all our supporters. We hope to ensure that all rewards are sent/accomplished by the end of August.

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