Luca Argel was born in 1988 in Rio de Janeiro and settled in Portugal, where he has been living for over 10 years. He holds a degree in Music from UNIRIO and a master’s degree in Literature from the University of Porto. The artistic journey of the singer, songwriter, and writer began in 2012 with the release of his first book “esqueci de fixar o grafite” (I forgot to fix the graphite). Soon after, a sudden move to Portugal led to the exploration of new musical and poetic paths.
He is the singer and songwriter of the groups Samba Sem Fronteiras, Orquestra Bamba Social, and, with Ana Deus, the Ruído Vário project, based on the poetry of Fernando Pessoa. As an author, he has poetry books published in Brazil, Spain, and Portugal, one of which was a semifinalist for the Oceanos Prize 2017. For two years, he hosted the daily column “Boi com Abóbora” on Rádio Nova (Porto). He regularly works on creating soundtracks for cinema and dance, and under his own name, he has released 5 albums.
In 2016, he released his debut album “Tipos que tendem para o silêncio” (Types that tend towards silence), followed by “Bandeira” in 2017, and “Conversa de Fila” (Queue Talk) in 2019, all highly praised for the intelligence of the lyrics and the sweetness of the voice. In 2021, he returned with the acclaimed “Samba de Guerrilha”(Guerrilla Samba), a conceptual album highlighted as one of the best releases of the year in Portugal, where Luca Argel rescues the memory and recreates old sambas with an inventive and radically transformed musicality.
As the creator of projects and deeply involved in the research and dissemination of samba in Portugal in recent years, he stands out with the recently released album ‘SABINA’, with references to candomblé and the history of Brazil.