Since releasing his debut single “Over It” last year, Brazilian Leo Varella has already earned himself a growing following of loyal listeners and has gained airplay from not just radio stations in his home country, but international ones too. His latest single “Cold Sweats” is seeing interest in Leo and his talents seemingly grow with every week/month that passes and PopWrapped caught up with him to talk song-writing inspiration and get his thoughts on the power and influence of social media.  

Has music always been the goal for you or, prior to heading out on this journey in 2019, did you have other career plans? Who or what most inspired or pushed you towards this industry?

I’ve been a musician for as long as I can remember, and also have been writing songs for a very long time. I spent the majority of my career focusing on being a session guitarist, playing for other artists and acting more of a support role. For my entire life, I always heard a lot from my peers, suggesting that I should take more of a main role as an artist, but I always had trouble understanding that, I feel like an impostor all the time. However, that changed when my friend, producer and collaborator JIM ALXNDR showed interest in producing my music. He’s always been a musician and person I looked up to in every regard – I knew I must have had something special for him to show that interest, so I went for it and I haven’t looked back ever since. I feel like this is what I was born to do.

Which two bands or artists might you say most influence or inspire the music you make? Which album(s) did you grow up listening to that made you go “I wanna make a record like that”?

Nowadays, I think of Nirvana and Prince. I always loved unapologetic and “in your face” type of artists. But I think that I owe a lot to my rock/guitar player background as far as inspiration to make records. I grew up watching guitarists perform and was always very drawn to guitar music, so I think of the best guitarist-writers. Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix are probably the biggest. I think of Led Zeppelin’s “Physical Grafitti” and Jimi Hendrix Experience’s “Are You Experienced”.

Who or what most inspires your song-writing and is such a process that comes easily to you?

It depends, there are definitely some constants. The “music” part of things comes quite easy nowadays and it is very spontaneous. I always feel like I’m channeling something from thin air. I just need to sit around for enough time and it kind of just comes. You can’t force it, but you can definitely “prepare” yourself for whenever it comes to you, in order to take full advantage of that “flowstate”. So I like to get into it through some little rituals, I like to drink coffee and watch inspiring videos from artists and producers I love. It always gets my sensibility tingling. As far as lyrics, I don’t feel like I’m a “storyteller” type of lyricist. I am a huge fan of songwriters that are able to make a story of the most mundane interactions, but I feel like I am only able to write about things I lived through. It’s always incredibly therapeutic, but it also takes a lot of time and experiencing life enough to have something to say. And that’s okay.

Is there a particular story behind your latest track “Cold Sweats” and what made you think it was the right choice for release as a single?

Firstly, I believe that this song is the most different of all the songs I released so far. It definitely feels like its own thing and deserves its own space and existence. I also feel like it’s a strong wind towards the direction I’m heading towards in my current unreleased material. 

There is a pretty specific and scarring story behind this song, but in truth, we all went through difficult relationships and dealt with difficult people. And it is about going through it. Sometimes we get closure, sometimes we don’t. But most of the time, in toxic relationships, we try to pretend the house ain’t on fire and things are under control. Cold Sweats is the representation of a fever dream: the denial of an illness until you’re forced to combat its symptoms. It’s how you cope with the aftermath of the inevitable end of a toxic relationship. You deny it, you combat it and you try to keep things under control but eventually you’re forced to heal from what makes you sick. You sweat, you hallucinate, you have withdrawals while stuck on some sort of trance that won’t allow you to see things how they are. This song is whatever remained.

Is there an EP or album in the works?

What I’m able to say is that I am sitting on over a dozen new songs, but I’m not too sure on the release plan so far for 2021. At the moment, I’ve been in a really good writing phase, so I want to keep writing as much as I can until I drop my next project. We’ll see, whatever feels right. 

Finally then, as a fairly new artist, how has social media helped get the word out to music fans about you and your music? Would you agree that social media is a necessary tool for bands and artists today?

I think that it is quite impossible to not be part of the social media model when you are an upcoming artist nowadays. It became a necessary tool, but like any tool, it should only be used for certain things. You don’t hit a nail with a screwdriver and you don’t tighten a screw with a hammer. I think that it has become overused and has been used incorrectly for a lot of things, and we are reaping what we sow. It is getting in the way of genuine art, and trends are dictating the market more than ever. I’m definitely part of the problem too, and it became a problem that we are not able to detach from in order to fix it.

Give “Cold Sweats” a listen below and for more information and to keep up to date with Leo Varella, follow him on Instagram.