Tiago Iorczeski is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and record producer. As a child he lived in England and in the United States, fact that later determined his choice of singing and writing in English. Despite having no musical background in his family, Tiago started playing the acoustic guitar at age 8,. In 2007 his single "Nothing but a Song" gained popularity and led to the release of his debut albumLet Yourself In, which gained notoriety after several of Tiago's songs were featured on major Brazilian primetime soap operas, TV ads and films. Tiago soon started touring across the country and in 2009 was Jason Mraz's Brazilian Tour opening act. Let Yourself In was also released in Japan, where "Nothing But a Song" peaked at number 11 on Billboard's Japan HOT 100 Chart, and in South Korea, where the public granted Tiago a Best Foreign Artist Award for his performance at the 2010 Grand Mint Festival. On that same year, another single — "Fine" — featured on the popular South Korean TV series Personal Taste. His second studio albumUmbilical had New York-based Andy Chase as producer and was simultaneously released in Brazil, South Korea and Portugal on October 2011. Digital releases in the United States and Japan followed shortly after. The Umbilical Tour had its debut on March 14 at the 2012 South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, and up until now has included performances in Portugal and over 20 sold out dates in Brazil.
Background
Tiago's family moved to Cambridge, England, when he was just 10 months old, and Britain became his home for the first years of his life. He was 8 – and already back to his native country – when he touched the acoustic guitar for the first time,. He learned the basics to the instrument having lessons with the mother of a neighbor of his who, in exchange, had English lessons with Tiago's mother. Despite having no musical background in his family, Tiago showed increasing interest towards music. At age 10, while living in the States – Raleigh, NC – his father agreed on giving him his first acoustic guitar,.
2001–2012: ''Umbilical''
Tiago spent little over five months gathering thoughts and musical ideas before teaming up with New York-based Andy Chase for the production of Umbilical. Chase—who had previously worked with groups such as The Smashing Pumpkins, Tahiti 80, and The Divine Comedy—pre-produced Tiago's album over the internet before actually meeting with him in Rio de Janeiro for recording sessions. After two weeks finishing basic tracks with the band, they both headed back to New York City for final recording and mixing at Stratosphere Sound—recording studio Chase co-owns with former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha and Fountains Of Wayne band member Adam Schlesinger.
"It was Tiago's voice that first drew me in. I had only heard a few songs from his debut album but there was a fragility and honesty in his voice that I connected with. I intentionally didn't study that album too much once I knew we were going to work together because I didn't want to feel I had rules about what genre to keep him in, or what production constraints we had to adhere to based on that first effort. I could sense there was immense potential in Tiago and his band, but I wanted to move them away from that clean, careful sound and see the music evolve towards something darker, grittier and more complex, which I felt would make his unusual voice stand out even that much more. Tiago is both a classic and a contemporary soul – combining the best of singers like Nick Drake and bands like Radiohead. I hope people can enjoy getting as caught up in the mastery of his lyrics and his beautiful, textural voice as I have". — Andy Chase
Umbilical was mastered at Sterling Sound by Ted Jensen and released on October 2011.
