Conversations with Rogerio Peixoto

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rogerio Peixoto.

Hi Rogerio, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born in inland Brazil, and had an innate inclination for visual arts from before I can remember. Any blank spots on my school textbook pages were usually filled with drawings, and that was the first language or means of expression I developed.

As I was growing up, I noticed the existence of a certain aesthetic movement that appealed to me, and it was the (then) fresh development of heavy metal music. The artwork on the record covers drew my attention, and I think I was ten or so when I was walking with my mother around a department store and, as we cruised by the music section, my eye got caught by an Iron Maiden album, Piece of Mind. The logo, the character on the cover, the colors, it all made me ask for it, and she bought it for me.

When I came home and put the music on, I was hypnotized by it, and that record became my best friend. I would spend my free time listening to it from beginning to end, several times in a row. I even drew a copy of the cover, and I still have both that drawing and the original record (one of the few objects from my childhood that I kept forever).

Thinking in retrospect, the very fact that I am here in Los Angeles and having this interview in English is due to that process because I loved it so much that I asked for an English dictionary and slowly tried to make sense of the lyrics, and that was how I ended up learning the language: it was that motivation.

Despite how much I loved that music, it wasn’t until I was twelve that my older brother asked to join guitar lessons, and as I was offered the same, I went in for my first time, and my teacher showed me the basics, giving me a sheet with a simplified arrangement of a TV show theme: “The Lonely Man” from The Incredible Hulk series from the late seventies.

When I managed to play the first phrase, I was struck with such force by it that I knew, right there and with no degree of doubt, that I had found what I needed to do with my life. I was so attached to my guitar that I would use any fragments of time in the day to play it, be it a few seconds as I waited to go to school or any spec of opportunity I’d have to do it. My progress was fast, not necessarily because of talent but definitely because of obsession.

My teacher would give me things to work on every week, and I was eager to practice that material, but it wasn’t the music that inspired me from earlier on, which led me to try and learn it on my own, by ear. This was indeed a great blessing because I was inadvertently working on ear training from that very early age, and as I have never stopped doing that, it grew to become perhaps my strongest skill in what I do today as a musician and a teacher.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Having been from an inland state made my obsession for music a hard career choice at that time. I don’t come from a family of musicians, and even my teacher discouraged me from choosing guitar as a college choice. I was really young, and though there was no doubt in my mind that this was my purpose in life, I gave in to pressure and studied Architecture in college since I had the visual arts skills innately developed.

That’s when I realized that the blessing of having certainty of purpose quickly becomes a curse if you don’t follow it.

I was a very good Architecture student, and my work ethic made me successful in that, to the point where I was offered a Teacher’s Assistant position in the technical disciplines (and later would be invited to become a Professor, which I did). All the while, however, I was going to the State Conservatory for Classical Guitar, and that’s where my heart truly was.

After graduating and becoming a Professor, I kept going into higher education and scored high in a national selection process for a government position in Architecture. I took that job as it had tenure, a much higher salary, and great benefits; however, being full-time took me away from teaching, which I really enjoyed, and I started resenting the successes I had in that path.

At that point, playing and teaching guitar for a living had become a distant dream, but the obsession with it wouldn’t leave me, even though I tried to have it go away. I had a somewhat enviable life to the standards of that society, but in my heart I felt like the whole of it was a huge betrayal.

It took me breaking up an engagement and moving away from the country to come to Los Angeles and retake the path of Music – a change I have never regretted. Sure, it was very difficult, and it took a long time to establish myself here, but I can say the reward of doing what I always knew was my true vocation far exceeds the sacrifices I had to make.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a guitarist, composer, and Music instructor. I have an extensive background in Classical Guitar, but from the very beginning, I was passionate about electric styles as well. For the last few years, I have focused more on teaching than performing, and I find great pleasure in helping an interested person achieve what she or he wants on the instrument.

My lessons are held either in person, in Thousand Oaks, or online, which is a medium that grew exponentially during the pandemic years and never really left after that.

I believe that the fact that I have taught different disciplines and lived in several other countries, thus speaking other languages, has helped me develop an adaptive approach to teaching, tailored to one’s needs and preferences rather than my own opinions on what should be. I am glad that I have that facility, as no two lessons are the same, thus making every interaction unique and never dull.

What makes you happy?
Music makes me happy, guitar makes me happy, and teaching makes me happy. The satisfaction I get from it goes beyond my ability to verbalize. Somehow, life makes sense when I am doing those things, and having that is a true blessing.

The fact that in the past, I had lived for years wishing I could do this while having to do something else allows me to appreciate the difference, so I am thankful for every day I dedicate to my craft.

On another note, my wife and I are definitely into our dogs and our cats, and doing things that make them happy makes me happy, too.

Pricing:

• Free initial consultation.
• Hourly lessons $80 to $90 depending on form of payment.
• 45 minute lessons $60 to $65.
• 30 minute lessons $45.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rogeriopeixoto.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rogerio_guitarist/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GuitaristRogerioPeixoto
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@rogerio_guitarist

Image Credits
Alexandra Bilham