Fabian Munoz Humeres
Hailing from the capital of Sweden, we chat about the all time greats, his journey and advice to those willing to find a rhythm!
Read the full interview below...
Where did your journey all begin with music?
Until I was about 19, I was really dedicated to sports, it was a big focus in my school... My main sport was soccer. And I was doing good, I was one of the best for my age bracket and we would train every single day, seven days a week, and be playing two games a week.
Completely took over my life, and I got fed with it haha. So eventually I quit, I also changed school, uh, and moved to a school that was a little more creative…
How was it going from playing soccer competitively to having nothing to play?
I kinda felt a little depressed and empty not having soccer anymore, I needed something new and that ended up being music… I saw some guys at school looking cool and playing some interesting stuff and I don't know what happened. I just went home, picked a guitar lying around the house, (mind you I’d never touched a guitar before) and then I was stuck into it.
Started learning basic songs to like hallelujah hahha…
To like all of a sudden, I was obsessed. Started playing, I think around 3 to 4 hours a day for at least two years… Learning a lot just off YouTube and other guitarist’s
Who’s your biggest Inspo’s?
I ended up getting pretty into blues, soul, jazz, maybe because of my parents. I grew up in a house where there was always music from the sixties and seventies.
At the start my main Inspiration was John Mayer and over time as I learned more about him, he always was talking about these legends such as B.B. King and Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.
So I started to dig more into that. And I just got completely hooked by B.B. King, the simplicity of playing the notes, but doing it with so much soul. And Jimi Hendrix with his rawness and just how he kind of like attacks the guitar haha.
I was obsessed and I was like, fuck, I just want to learn more and more. B.B. King licks B.B. King songs. I just want to learn more Jimi Hendrix, why he grips the guitar the way he does and how he's doing these kind of licks on the guitar and colouring the songs the way he does and so on.
But yeah I think like all the popular music and all rock and roll kind of comes from them, you know, So I think if you really want to become a good guitarist or really want to study music theory, you should study blues, jazz, the greats.
You also write a little and make your own stuff, what’s helped you grow or how do you get into a creative flow?
I think in terms of developing my music style and become a better musician or a guitarist, traveling has helped me a lot. And jamming with different people has helped me be a little more creative. Forces you to do things a little differently and that’s when the magic happens…
The whole concept of not trying to create from a blank canvas…
Exactly I’m the worst when I'm at home and just trying to come up with something. The music comes by itself or the lyrics come by themselves when you’re not trying to think of something but you’re just grooving. Like okay I’m going to sit down and create something… That doesn’t work for me haha. When it comes, it comes man.
So when you’re on the go, and I assume you’re on the go a little bit how do you come up with a lick, tune? How do you butter the buns and cook them to a crisp? Sorry getting a little off track.
Haha so I’ve been traveling a lot in the last ten years, and yeah I am always on the road. Over time I come up with lyrics here and there and write them all down in my notebook, slowly tuning them or try to come up with the chords to suit the lyrics.
It’s not usually till I’m back that I’ll record something though, I’ve got this girl I jam with in Sweden and when I’m back we usually go through what ever I’ve tried to pull together she’ll help add her flavour to it and then from there we’re off to the studio too bring it to life. That’s kind of my creative process at the moment.
Say someones been practicing guitar for a while, got a ton of cords down or scales, some different licks how do they take it to the next level? Or is there something you really dig about music that you haven’t shared?
Yeah. So I think, to take it to the next level, to really grow you need to jam, you need to understand the rhythms and when to do what on a guitar. So I figured out quite early that if you buy a loop station, you can basically jam with yourself. So I bought a small loop pedal, and I just started jamming with myself haha…
When ever I’m in Sweden I sit at my loop station for hours, jamming out just four cords and putting different favours on top of the cords. At the start I would just learn to colour those four cords with the pentatonic scale.
You can be playing for what felt like 5 minutes but 3 hours have wizzed by.
Was there a turning point when you really decided you wanted to be a musician?
Yeah man there was a point I was literally sitting down four to five hours a day, just jamming, jamming, jamming and jamming hahaha. I think I had my my peak when I was at the university. I didn't even go to class. I was just sitting in my student apartment that was super smelly, disgusting. And I was just jamming with myself on my loop station.
But hey man I was having an absolute ball!
Haha hell yeah.
If you could go back say 20 years ago and tell yourself something that would make your life a little easier or just a message you'd share with yourself what would it be?
I think I get if I could go back in time, I would meet myself when I was 18, 19, I would just say like just fucking go with the flow. I think, especially when your a teenager, You kind of feel you don’t have free will, you look to other people a lot, I know I was afraid of what everyone else would think about what I did and who I was…
So yeah just go with the flow and don't limit yourself and man try new stuff. Don't be afraid of trying something new. Go get out of the comfort zone. Everything will always workout somehow.
What's something you try to do a lot of day to day or week to week now, to make yourself feel good, to express yourself?
To me now, it's surfing. This is uh, kinda my new obsession. I started surfing for four years ago, and it's been my life on a daily basis every day for around three or four years now. Um, so, yeah, it’s to surf and it’s very similar to music and I still play a lot but surfing helps you to kind of clear your mind as well and yeah it’s probably just what’s fresh for me at the moment…
But yeah I’ll always play as well, playing the guitar for me, I think that it really allows me to be in the here and now, to be present, and that's why music and instruments will always be a big part of my life until the day I die.
