Daniel Santiago talks about playing with Eric Clapton in SP and his re-recordings of the idol [ENTREVISTA]

Daniel Santiago has built with Eric Clapton a very rare relationship between a Brazilian artist and an established international rockstar. Although he has a strong CV for work with Milton Nascimento, John Bosco, Hamilton from Holland, Hermeto Pascoal, Your Jorge, Ivan Lins and Toninho Horta — just to mention a few — the musician from Brasília is not exactly a popular name. Even so, he managed to capture the attention of the Englishman, one of the greatest guitarists of all time, and carry out a series of collaborations.

The most recent took place in a double dose in the city of São Paulo. Santiago performed alongside Clapton in the two shows held by the guitarist in the capital of the homonymous state, more specifically at Vibra (September 28) and at Allianz Parque (September 29). Together they played “Lonely Stranger”, “Believe in Life” and “Tears in Heaven”.

In an interview with Rolling Stone BrazilDaniel remembers that the connection with Eric goes back a long time. The Brasiliense has had a years-long partnership with the musician Pedro Martinswho won a guitar competition in Montreux (Switzerland) in which the artist also Kurt Rosenwinkel was a juror. Kurt, who is a good friend of Eric, started working with Pedro. Thus, the author of hits such as “Layla” and “Tears in Heaven” had access to the work of Brazilians.

In 2019, Santiago and Martins performed at Crossroads Guitar Festivalpromoted by Clapton with proceeds going to his rehabilitation center in Antigua, Crossroads Center. Two years later, Daniel managed to bring the icon to participate in his solo album Song for Tomorrowin music “Open World”. Eric, in turn, featured the Brazilian duo on the single “Heart of a Child”.

In recent times, the bond has intensified through a common figure: Simon Climie. At the invitation of Clapton’s longtime producer, the Brasilia native participated in two more of the Brit’s songs: “One Woman” and “How Could We Know”. Both are in Meanwhilealbum released by the English artist in October.

Daniel returned to participate in the Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2023. Also through Simon, the idea for a project was born: re-recording Eric’s songs only on guitar. The album Daniel Santiago Plays… Clapton was made public in September, through Surfdog Recordsthe label responsible for distributing the guitar genius’ own work. Eleven tracks were chosen for the tribute, from classics such as “Cocaine” (original from JJ Cale) and “Wonderful Tonight” even lesser-known songs from his long discography.

These and other initiatives were commented by Santiago in an interview with Rolling Stone Brazil. Check it out!

The birth of the idea of Daniel Santiago Plays… Clapton:

Daniel Santiago:“The idea for this album happened at the last Crossroads festival (held in 2023 in Los Angeles). In 2019, at the invitation of Melia Clapton (Eric’s wife), I became an ambassador for Turn Up for Recoveryan institution part of Crossroads that helps people with chemical dependency. Then, on this opportunity in 2023, we did a pocket show on the festival’s external stage. I played a version of ‘Change the World’ and Simon listened. When I left, he praised it and suggested thinking about some versions. I recorded three at the end of 2023: ‘Change the World’, ‘My Father’s Eyes’ and ‘Wonderful Tonight’. In April, Simon said that the label wanted to release it and take advantage of the fact that Eric was coming to Brazil, but it would need to become an album, with more songs.”

The reasoning behind re-recording Eric’s songs in Daniel Santiago… Plays Clapton:

DS:“I tried to make them very natural, with an expression. They are songs originally with lyrics, with Eric singing. I tried to keep it intimate but still expressive. […] To select the repertoire, the criteria were the connection with the music and the possibility of it sounding good on the guitar.”

Eric Clapton’s invitation to participate in the shows in São Paulo — and what he thought of it Daniel Santiago Plays… Clapton:

DS:“Eric sent me an email saying he was coming to Brazil and asked if I would like to play. Because of Simon and the re-recordings he had been producing with me, my name was already circulating there. On the day of the first show, he had asked us to meet at the hotel and play a little before taking part. We talked, played the three songs and it clicked right away. After the rehearsal, I went back to the room and we talked via email as if it were WhatsApp. He told me that that was a magical moment, I said that I was speechless, but that ‘here is my little tribute’ and I sent the album for him to listen to. It was the ideal time for him to listen. He heard it and wrote that he loved the arrangements, that the songs even seemed new. The next day, before the second show, the Doyle (Bramhall IIClapton’s backing guitarist) arrived saying that Eric heard the album and really liked it. Then Eric came to the dressing room and said again that he liked it and that he even sent it to Melia to listen to.”

The reasoning behind participating in shows in São Paulo:

DS:“When we played together, I immediately saw that there was a cool connection, a flavor. As it would be something wonderful for my career, the thought was: just not getting in the way would be too much. Being there is not a simple challenge. You need to be calm and cold-blooded. I didn’t want to show my service: I played listening to what he played and trying to equalize myself within the music. In the spaces I needed to do something, I filled them with great subtlety.”

The Brazilian musician that Eric Clapton most admires:

DS:“In the dressing room before one of the shows, Eric asked: ‘Daniel, do you know João Gilberto?’. I said yes, he asked if I knew how to play ‘Estate’. I knew and played. Then he asked ‘Out of tune’I played. He loves João Gilberto, he said that to me in so many words. The wife, the daughters… the whole family really likes it. He told me that he watched João Gilberto in London, with Simon Climie included. I think they even asked for his participation in some edition of the Crossroads Guitar Festival, but I think João Gilberto was not someone so easy to access and it may have been at a time when he was already more reclusive.”

What most attracted the attention of Eric Clapton and Simon Climie in their work:

DS:“The nylon guitar is a differentiator. Simon, who also knows my side as a guitarist, already told me this; It’s what he wants from me, because there’s nothing out there. This joins the background of João Gilberto, Toninho Horta, on Brazilian guitar with a more Latin pulse. But there’s also the fact that my deepest passion has always been rock’n’roll. I even had a metal band, but in the late 1990s I immersed myself in the guitar as a music student because I was in the world of jazz and Brazilian music. Even so, I never stopped listening to rock’n’roll, it’s what I listen to most. So, I can create a mix that isn’t forced between Brazilian guitar and rock.”

What Daniel Santiago discovered when exploring Eric Clapton’s work:

DS:“Eric has all the great qualities of a musician. He’s a creative guy, who never stands still, who has great musical openness. His music is rich in harmony and melody. He has a relationship with music to the point of understanding that music is bigger than the musician. He has strength without needing to exaggerate. More recently I was listening ‘Badge’from Creamand he was playing his ass off, but it’s never over the top. And besides all that, there’s still an advantage: he’s a great singer. Being 79 years old, he puts on a show like the one we saw in Brazil. All of this without in-ear feedback: it uses feedback speakers in the sound and still manages to have a wonderful tuning. He brings all the elements of a great musician.”

Some highlights from the repertoire Daniel Santiago Plays… Claptoncommented by Daniel himself (click on the song names to listen to them):

— “Change the World” | DS:“I listened to this song a lot during the pandemic, as it conveyed a feeling of hope. I tried to play the melody in a way that could be understood, but I took advantage of something that Simon and even Eric highlight, which is my Brazilian guitar background with this rhythm that doesn’t stop. It’s like having a percussion instrument together. So I tried to bring a very rhythmic guitar, with a pulse, to this side.”

— “My Father’s Eyes” | DS:“I love this song, which takes me back to a time when I reacquainted myself with Eric’s work, in the late 1990s. It also has a rhythm, as if it had an implicit drum, but the harmonic and melodic aspect of it is bigger than the ‘ Change the World’. It also has a lot to do with my background in Minas Gerais music, influenced by Toninho Horta. So, I went to one side of a Minas Gerais guitar. Someone even commented: ‘you took a dig at Eric’, but that information belongs to the song. I only opened a little drawer of it.”

— “Cocaine” | DS:“This was one of the most experimental ones. Simon suggested ‘Cocaine’ and I sent him a version playing the guitar riff and melody together. But he said: ‘I don’t think it’s that, he doesn’t look like Daniel Santiago’. So, he sent me a recording, just so I could understand the concept, Eric Gales playing the end of ‘Layla’where he improvises over that melody. So I understood and did a kind of deconstruction of ‘Cocaine’. It didn’t need to be faithful to the original version, which is iconic. A friend commented that it looked like an afrosamba. As it is a very modal song, it almost becomes a mantra, so I tried to deconstruct and intersperse its melody with some phrasing and used a lot of open strings.”

— “Circus” | DS:“I’m going to make a crazy parallel, but this song has a rural element, you know? Maybe even a rural blues, or a Brazilian rural, with viola. That interior sound, you know? So I went a little towards that side, with a lot of arpeggio, sometimes thirds and sixths. There’s still an element of drama when you remember the lyrics. I tried to get to the essence of the music, as if it were the ‘rough stone’ of the composition.”

— “Wonderful Tonight” | DS:“The fact that it’s such a famous song wasn’t something that intimidated anyone to change it. It’s a very beautiful song and also very simple. It’s like the great culinary chefs say: if you have a good ingredient, you just need to let it appear in the right place. I didn’t change the harmony, I just added the sound of the nylon guitar, which brings this almost rural feeling.”

Daniel Santiago’s next projects:

DS:“I released the single at the beginning of the year ‘It’s Time to Follow’ (partnership with singer Marina Marchi), where I play guitar, with a very synth feel, from the 1980s. On guitar, in November, I’m going to make an album there in Berlin with Kurt Rosenwinkel, just with his songs. Then he goes to another universe, of jazz, but with an almost solo, classical guitar. In Brazil, I have been doing shows, like in the last edition of C6 Fest in São Paulo and at Blue Note in both São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.”

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