The NAS 10 Questions

For this week’s 10 Questions we catch up with Joao Aranha

It’s been more that 3 years since his first 10 Questions interview, so we asked him 10 brand new questions.

Lets dive in!

For those that aren’t already familiar, tell us about the music of Joao Aranha

I’m a singer song writer from Brazil releasing songs for the last 5 years and my sincere wish is to make this world a better place one song at time!

Tell us about your recent releases

2025 were an year of an amazing release of “Be you Be free” with the great William Lovitt ! A bossa nova kinda style with a great history in the lyrics.

Which of your songs are you most proud of and why?

All of them, i love them all since the process is always the best to be honest ! The anger sometimes cause is not getting in the point I want, the joy when something that was not working go to place, the tears thinking this will never going to be good to release ! It’s the process always !

Do you come from a musical family?

Yes, mom had an amazing collection of vinyl and always took me to shows since a kid. She dont play or sing, but always added music to our life ! Grandma was a singer and had chance to sing in local radio at her home town.

Do you prefer performing live or recording and releasing music?

Sadly there are many years that i dont perform live. I used to attend all friday’s for years at two mental / addiction recovery clinics here in Rio de Janeiro to try to give back to places that were helping people. I miss this a lot.

Tell us about the best gig you ever went to?

James Taylor in rock in rio 4 in Rio de Janeiro. The feeling of 100K of people that embraced each other when he singed ” You got a friend” is something that i’ll never forget… Still give me goosebumps

What is your all-time favourite song by an NAS artist?

Because – since for me it’s the song that lead me to the community spirit of NAS

If you could collaborate with any NAS artist who would it be?

I would love to make anything with everyone that feel that i can fit in ! Not polite answer, just call me!

How many instruments do you play and which instrument(s) would you like to learn?

I sing, play guitar and bass. Would love to play violin ! I do well programming drums.

Do you have any pets? Tell us about them

Dita is our daughter (12 years old shih-tzu )! Even having pets for all live long, i think that i never loved anything in my life as i love this puppy!

In this week’s 10 questions we do things a bit differently and catch up with none other than New Artist Spotlight founder Ed Eagle.

It’s been a long time since his original 10 Questions interview, so we asked him 10 brand new questions about his music, NAS and more.

Lets get into it!

(more…)

In this week’s 10 Questions we get to know Mega Snupe, an RnB artist from South Africa

Their song ‘Bossed Up‘ is currently featured on the NAS Spotify playlists

You can follow Mega Snupe on Instagram, Facebook and X

(more…)

In this week’s 10 Questions we get to know King Jerris Eleazer, a multi-genre artist from Nigeria

Their song ‘Ice Cream Love (Refix) – Extended Version’ is currently featured on the NAS Spotify playlists

You can follow King Jerris Eleazer on Instagram

(more…)

In this week’s 10 Questions we get to know Denyx, a singer-songwriter from Finland.

Their song ‘Simply Fantasy‘ is currently featured on the NAS Spotify playlists

You can follow Denyx on YouTube

(more…)

In this week’s 10 Questions we get to know Gail Vogel, a singer-songwriter from Baltimore, USA.

Their song ‘Leave ’em Alone‘ is currently featured on the NAS Spotify playlists

You can follow Gail Vogel on Facebook

(more…)

In this week’s 10 Questions we get to know Teddy Head, a rock artist from the UK

Their song Out Of Control is currently featured on the NAS Spotify playlists

You can follow Teddy Head on X (formerly Twitter)

(more…)

In this week’s 10 Questions we get to know Captain Chemical, a rock band from Arizona

Their song Drive Into The Ocean is currently featured on the NAS Spotify playlists

You can follow Captain Chemical on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and on their website

(more…)

In this week’s 10 Questions we get to know Toxic Garden Gnomes, a pop-rock band from Brisbane, Australia.

Their song ‘Out Of It‘ is currently featured on the NAS Spotify playlists

You can follow Toxic Garden Gnomes on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube

(more…)

This time, we get to know Colleen Kitchen. The track “Back Porch People” is featured in the New Artist Spotlight Family of Playlists. Link To New Artist Spotlight Playlists:

https://www.newartistspotlight.org/playlists 𝟭. Where are you from and what are your hobbies? I am originally from the USA midwest but I have lived on both coasts, Europe, and Mexico. My hobby is visual art, and sometimes it is copacetic with music. I am especially fond of making partially 3-D fish and animals out of junk such as tin cans and bottlecaps in a modified steampunk style. 𝟮. How did your get into music? I’ve done music one way or another since I can remember. Piano lessons as a kid, picking up guitar and other instruments on my own, some formal vocal training, and jamming with friends. I have been in over a dozen bands, from traditional Celtic, to eclectic pop, to R & B, eventually leading my own four piece Latin Brazilian jazz cover band “Chuva Boa.” (Chuva Boa has an album on Spotify if you’re interested.) All that worked until it didn’t. When you write original songs that are not formulaic and don’t conform to the latest trend, AND it’s in the middle of a pandemic, most of your musical colleagues evaporate. But being first a bandleader, and now a solo artist has forced me to deal with many aspects of the biz I never worried about before. I am happiest when I’m learning new things, and so it suits me. 𝟯. Who are your biggest influences? Being classically trained in piano, of course i was trained in the dead white men repertoire, and of those, Debussy and Chopin (who anticipated and helped shape jazz) are my favorites. Then we have the jazzers, of course: Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk are faves. As for singers, I look to Ella. In the romance languages singers department I am very influenced by Gal Costa, Flora Purim, and Violeta Parra. I also count Joni Mitchell, Grace Slick, Joan Baez, Gretchen Parlato, Dar Williams and Brandi Carlile among my early influences. For harmonies I’m mad about the Beach Boys and CSNY I especially like Joni & Joan, because they wrote on a lot of topics, and not just “love,” which IMO is overdone.

(more…)