The IMC Magazine Issue 8/October 2015 | Page 36

On a personal level, Wisnia said he identified with the music. “As I dove deeper into bossa nova – the composers, singers, and players – I became really inspired and it started to influence the music I made and continued to shape the artist I wanted to become.”

Speaking of Rabbit Hole, his award winning video by the same name was a collaboration between himself and two of his childhood friends who ended up directing the music video: Seth Kroll and Alan Cohen.

“We had always been involved in each others film and music projects. Seth had been experimenting with some green screen technology, and after hearing Rabbit Hole performed live, Seth and Alan came to me and presented me with this totally alternative interpretation to the song.

I loved that they took my idea of the song: being ambivalently stuck with someone in a romantic relationship – where familiarity and comfort can turn into boredom and contempt, and rather than stick to a literal depiction, they took it to the next level to explore what it’s like to feel that ambivalence about yourself.”

Wisnia recalled his parents telling him that, at the age of three, he was using chopsticks as drumsticks – drumming on any and every surface around the house and being drawn to the keyboard where he would pick out melodies and compose his own little songs. After his older brother and sister began taking piano lessons, Wisnia wanted to do it as well and ended up being the only one who stuck with it. His brother Dov picked up the guitar and became the first person Wisnia played with.

“He introduced me to many of my favorite bands,” Wisnia said. “He taught me musical integrity, and taught me what it means to jam, and to create community through music.”

Family is important to Wisnia and play a part in everything he does. His first album, ‘Avi Wisnia Presents’ was recorded in the New Jersey synagogue where his father serves as Rabbi. Over two days, Wisnia and several of his band members recorded seven songs. After its release, they went on to perform at sold-out shows in Philadelphia (where he is from) and New York City.

“Because I fell in love with Bossa Nova so early on, I knew that travelling to Brazil was always on the horizon,” Wisnia said. In 2011 he was invited to tour Rio de Janeiro with Brazilian artist Denise Reis. He spent a week performing in Sao Paulo before joining Reis and her band for three weeks in Brazil’s capital.

“I made so many wonderful personal and professional connections during that trip,” Wisnia said. “And I felt so welcome by the Brazilian community.” One relationship in particular was the bond he forged with bassist and producer Bruno Migliari. After they were finished performing together in Brazil they stayed in contact with the intention of performing together one day.

The opportunity to collaborate again came about when Wisnia was ready to record his new song, ‘Sky Blue Sky.’ That song was recorded remotely between Philadelphia and Rio de Janeiro which was a completely new experience for Wisnia.

“The internet has really made it possible to work with anyone, anywhere, at any time,” he said. “It was an exciting challenge to work with musicians who were not in the same country, let alone the same room as me – there had to be a lot of trust there, a ton of communication, and a fair amount of letting the process play itself out.”

Wisnia put all of his trust in Migliari’s hands, allowing him to line up the musicians for the recording. Living in the Cosmo Velho neighborhood of Rio gave Migliari ready access to so many great Brazilian artists. He brought in Marco Lobo on percussion, and Bernardo Bosisio on guitar.

“They enjoyed Facetiming me in Philadelphia and while I was on the road, because they got to see the United States as I was travelling it in real time,” Wisnia said. “It was like I took them on tour with me.

It was an honor to get to know and work with these accomplished musicians.”

36