Based in UK for the past 21 years, Matias Sequeira from Divar is a self-taught drummer and much is most-sought after for his unique style at tiatrs and musical shows staged in Europe occasionally.
Hailing from a family of musicians, Matias, since childhood, was always passionate about music. His keen interest in learning the nuances of drums prompted his elder brothers, Frank and Derick, to send him a drum kit from Bahrain.
Excited about drumming, at the tender age of 19, Matias took the lead on his own to learn the basics. It was rigorous practice for merely a month and soon thereafter in 1984 he joined the band ‘Chords’ and a while later git the opportunity to join the Indian band called ‘Trimurthi’.
In 1986, Matias joined the cultural troupe ‘Alegria’ led by Messias Tavares and was fortunate to perform for the troupe with triple congo and ‘ghumot’ for almost eight years and travelled to countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and Colombo. Simultaneously, he also served as a second drummer for the famed band ‘Purple Rain’ as the main drummer Tony had to work on shifts.
Seeking greener pastures, in 1997 Matias decided to put down his drum sticks and proceed to UK. Within two months, he managed to get a job for himself and simultaneously found an entry in a band ‘Mustang’.
Thereafter, it was Matias’ entry into tiatrs and musical shows staged and presented by Goan tiatrists in UK. When Lawrence Mascarenhas, Zeferino, Jose I Rod staged their tiatrs, he was part of the dramatic troupe as a drummer.
In 2004 when Tony Gonsalves decided to put up a musical show with Lorna, roping in noted comedians like Dominic and Ben Evangelisto and Norman Cardozo on the keyboard, Matias received a special invitation for his drumming skills. Since then, he gained recognition and fame and started performing for tiatrs staged by Goan directors like Roseferns, late Anil Kumar, Milagres de Chandor and several others.
In 2011 when Lorna was brought to UK by Goa for the UK Goan Festival, Matias performed for the musical, mesmerizing the audience with his drumming. In the same year in December US-based Agnelo Fernandes, who rendered late Alfred Rose’s songs, took him to Canada to perform for Lorna’s musical show in Toronto.
“When a musical show from Kuwait came to UK,” reveals Matias, “I met noted keyboardist Shahu Almeida and he was impressed by my drumming.” “Thereafter Shahu decided to employ me as a drummer for all his musical shows, be it in Kuwait or UK,” he added.
In 2012 Matias made his first trip to Kuwait for musical shows and tiatrs. His second trip was in 2015, followed by 2017 and 2018. “All trips to Kuwait were made possible by Shahu and I’m grateful to him,” he acknowledges.
When asked about the musical background in the family, Matias revealed that his grandfather (maternal), late Matias Francisco Menezes was a great musician. “He was a great musician and could play all the instruments, being a maestro by his own accord,” he noted.
Matias said that his grandfather used to play for the British in Madras and one year after his death, he was born and named after him. His mom, Santaninha Sequeira’s uncles—Johnny Gomes and Joe Gomes—used to play in the Bollywood films and the former was assistant to music director C Ramachandran in Mumbai.
With musicians in the family, their presence and contribution might have created an impact on Matias’ life. “My mom’s brother, late Joe Menezes, was a great drummer,” he conceals. Besides her other brother Tommy Menezes, used to play keyboard for Jazz Yatra and another brother, late John Menezes used to play the saxophone for Tamil films.
After recollecting, Matias revealed that in 1986 during the course of his performances in various bands in Goa, he joined Kala Academy’s music school where he tried to learn the Indian rhythms, with enrollment for a crash course.
“Today interest to learn the drums might be on the decline,” states Matias, “it could be due to better scope in one-man band and it has been noticed that many musicians have shifted from drums to the keyboard.” “But drumming will never fade away as many prefer listening and enjoying the sound of live drums than sequencing,” he smiles.
