Meet Mikael Mutti | Piano / keyboard player & Music Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mikael Mutti and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mikael, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I think an artist doesn’t have a super solid thought process behind starting a professional career. In my opinion, the Art is an essential part of the artist’s life, in a way that it would be impossible to be happy working with something else. I started my music life playing with friends, and suddenly it turned into something more serious professionally. Then it was the period that I had to start to make solid plans to my career. My first thought was to try to get a unique way of play My instrument, write my songs and write my arrangements. It was more important for me to find these personal aesthetic than to practice over and over to turn myself into an excellent piano player. Also, I tried to find spots on the music business, where I could work as composer, producer, arranger, Editor and musician at the same time, trying to expand my scope as much as possible.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My name is Mikael Mutti, I am a musician/Composer/Producer from Brazil living in California since 2017. My main instrument is Piano and Keyboard but I also play acoustic guitar and Percussion. I’ve developed a technic off playing Digital Percussion through video game and digital controllers and I love to mix my arrangements with some flavor from the brazilian percussive universe. I grew up in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil and it’s not easy to get access to music education and high-quality instruments down there, but the cultural environment is amazing. Our African heritage brought to my hometown one of the most special cultural environments of Brazil and I’m proud to be a son of that culture. I started to play professionally when I was 12 years old, playing at bars and small venues, always supported by my parents. In my opinion this support is essential to overcome the challenges, besides believing in yourself and trying to develop as much as possible your unique sound language as a musician. Listen is as much important as playing when you are formatting your music career. Keep in mind that your dedication to your art will take you much further than you think, which happened to me after 38 years dedicated to music, I’ve played in the most iconic music festivals around the world, a couple of Grammy nominations and an Oscar nomination for the soundtrack of the movie Rio.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
At Los Angeles area I love the gardens of Getty Center, The Griffith observatory, Malibu beach, the Hollywood bowl concerts, the Jam sessions at the World Stage and the Brazilian Churrasco at “Fogo de Chão”! I also love the hiking and springs at the high desert area. Disney and six flags are definitely good options if we have kids or teenagers hanging out.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
In Brazil there are a couple artists that were important in my music career: Daniela Mercury, which was the first artist that gave me the credits off music producer and Carlinhos Brown, an amazing musician, singer, and composer from Brazil that took me to play on them, most iconic music festivals around the world during nine years. He introduced me to Sergio Mendes, which is one of the most important artist in my whole career. We’ve met in Brazil and we connected as friends right away. He always recognized me as an important piece co producing his albums since 2009. He was one of the greatest pushers for me to move to California and was the kind of friendship that changed my life in a very positive way. I can also mention Ana Carolina, an outstanding Singer / composer from Brazil, one of the greatest singers / songwriters of all time. I connect to her in 2013 through my dear friend, legendary Brazilian producer Alê Siqueira and after recording her album, she called me to tour with her, which I did for 3 years until I’ve decided to move to California.

Instagram: @mikamuttimusic

Facebook: Mika Mutti

Youtube: @mikaelmutti