Hi, I am Diego Campos, and I am a Brazilian-American who has been residing in Utah for the last 12 years. I am a father, a nerd, a musician, and a martial artist. I am also a Senior QA engineer and have been in the industry for almost a decade.
I have always had a huge passion for technology. During my college years I started a YouTube Channel called “BrazucaGamer” to talk about retro games in Portuguese. I was fortunate to be one of the pioneers in the retro game scene in Brazil and ended up acquiring a decent following from Portuguese speakers in other countries. A friend of mine found out about my channel and my video game collection and offered me a 2-week contract job to test a mobile app. I ended up staying in the company for almost 4 years.
Outside of my work, I love music and sports. I played soccer in college and have competed in Martial Arts since childhood. I am still active as a pro Muay Thai/MMA fighter, but I only compete once a year since it takes a lot of preparation. Music on the other hand has always been a part of my life. My uncle was part of a rock band in BraziI, and when I was younger, and he used to let me play the drums after their practice and music was always natural to me.
I started writing songs when I was 7 (not great ones haha) and had my first song recorded and eventually playing on the radio when I was 16. I ended up playing in several Samba bands at the time and eventually got a job writing jingles for commercials as well. I love writing songs for other artists, and recently I finished my first solo album.
I play several instruments, but the guitar and an instrument called Cavaquinho (Brazilian instrument shaped like a ukulele) are the ones I play more often. I have a very diverse taste in music. It goes from Bossa Nova to Heavy Rock. I love the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam, as well as the Brazilian Samba “gods” like Arlindo Cruz e Cartola as well.
I think music is a higher power that just needs a channel to materialize. My advice to aspiring musicians is that you need to enjoy the journey because you will never be “good enough”. You must enjoy every new chord you learn otherwise it can be very discouraging. It is a myth that all the great musicians were born playing.
I do not have a process for writing my music, and I love to challenge myself when it comes to composing. Some of my songs were done in hours and some took me years to finish. Sometimes lyrics come first and sometimes just a sound can spark an idea. I have a song called “Receita de Família” (family recipe) that was inspired by the noise of my grandma’s pressure cooker. I believe all songs already exist on a different plane; we simply transfer them to our own.
I think all my passions are connected somehow. They all require learning, focus and a huge amount of creative thinking. I’m constantly finding myself using my experiences in music and martial arts to solve problems in tech and vice versa. Computer languages and technology are constantly changing and I enjoy being up to date. Recently, I started my own independent record label to help unknown artist expose their music. Ultimately they all need a certain level of getting out of your comfort zone in order to achieve goals and evolve. It is a constant learning experience.
You can find Diego’s new single on Spotify/iTunes and other digital streaming platforms under “Diego Brazuca”.
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