Created entirely by one super human artist named Sam Fonseca, released as a complimentary content to the comic book “Shadow Play: Midnight School”
Sam Fonseca is a visual artist with an established career in the field of television entertainment. For some years he has been working as a creative director for cartoon productions on broadcasters such as Disney Channel and Fox. In heavy metal, he became known for being responsible for the animations and illustrations for the video clip “Insania” by Angra.
Heavy metal, by the way, has always been a passion for the artist, according to Sam Fonseca himself. Heavy metal and comics, of course.
The passion for comics came first. I have been drawing since I was a child and even today, in my work, I make storyboards that are sequential arts for all cartoon productions. But since I was a kid, I made my own comics printed on bond paper and used to hum the characters’ musical themes. I also loved watching anime and music was always a very important element, when I first met metal. Anyway, even today, in parallel with my work, I still make my comics and continue to create the musical themes of the characters. ”
“ShadowPlay: Midnight School” is the latest comic created by Sam Fonseca. This time he took the process of musicizing the themes of the characters so seriously that, as a final result, a complete heavy metal album was created: “Ignite Me”.
“Ignite Me” is being released as a complementary content to the comic book “ShadowPlay: Midnight School” and comprises ten tracks: “Agonizing Melancholy”, “Ignite Me”, “Weak Nature”, “Laser Punch”, “I Lie In Shadows “,” An Ominous Feeling “,” Boundaries Down “,” Shadow Play “,” God Of Fire “and” Dream Logic “.
All of the tracks on “Ignite Me” are authorial compositions, written especially for comics and explore various sound aesthetics within metal. But the most impressive thing is that Sam Fonseca not only recorded everything himself – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards and drums – but also mixed and mastered the album.
I am not a musician” , reveals the artist. “I never dedicated myself to studying music or any instrument. I can barely remember the musical notes on the neck of a guitar or on the piano. But people have always told me that I have a good ear for music. So I committed myself to the idea. I bought some equipment and started to learn on the internet. I tried to learn how to sing properly, since I was never a vocalist, and also how to play the instruments. But, mainly, I dedicated myself to learn how to mix and master. And that was my real nightmare. I had never done that before. But the result was interesting and became an important part of ShadowPlay: Midnight School ”.
Still according to Sam Fonseca, the works are complementary, and although the comics could exist without the album, “Ignite Me” would not be possible without “ShadowPlay: Midnight School”. “It was a fun process. With the exception of the mixing and mastering part. But I really enjoyed learning how to compose, play, sing, record and release an album. In fact, it is not a rule, but people need to read the comics to understand the album. ”
The comic book “ShadowPlay: Midnight School” and the album “Ignite Me” by Sam Fonseca were officially released on May 1st.
“ShadowPlay: Midnight School” will be available for free download at http://samfonseca.com/ . Three pages a week are being made available, always on Thursdays.
“Ignite Me” is available on Bandcamp, including a put option, at https://samfonseca.bandcamp.com/releases
