Antonio Carvalho, just making music

Antonio Carvalho

Musician

Stage name: Chilly Boy

Genre: jazz, soul, RnB, Blues, Movie Clips.

Antonio was born in Nairobi, Kenya, the youngest of five brothers. He learnt to play the guitar at the age of four and made his public debut in a music show, playing the drums, at the age of 6 in a neighbourhood venue named  Malaika Bar.

At the age of 10, he played the drums for a Christmas Show which was aired on Voice of Kenya Television.

He is a self-taught musician who learnt to play the drums by experimenting on tins and tin lids.

At 14 he got regular gig playing guitar with a Goan band called the Hotspots and played in venues like the Goan Institute Nairobi and the Goan Gymkhana. He also played in various Nairobi clubs and pubs. Played in street clubs and pubs.

He played the drums in many hotels and other clubs like the Mt Kenya Safari Club, Hilton Hotel, and Cavour Hotel and at weddings and parties.

In 1990, he went to the UK to join his mother and got a job working in a factory. He says: “My music never left me and although I was not able to find a big band, I was happy to play with local bands in the London pub and club scene.”

“Music is my hobby; I never took it any further. My music idols were  Earl Klugh is an American jazz guitarist, well known in the 80s and 90 for playing acoustic guitar. Bob James is a jazz piano player well known in the 70s and 80 for his much appreciated in Japan and America and Africa specially Kenya , Nat King Cole well he is a legend in music from playing the piano and writing classic song,  James Ingram well known singer and music writer who worked with Quincy Jones .”

“These days I play the keyboards at home. I have been writing and producing my own music. My favourite songs are 100 ways, Mona Lisa by Nat King Cole and Malaika by Fadhili Williams.”

He uses simple instruments, the personal computer. He plays the lead guitar, the bass guitar, drums, and the keyboards. He mixes and edits his own recordings.

He wrote and produced most of the music for the Goan Cultural society for the 10 years.

What of his Kenya heritage? “Conventional Kenya music Is exceptional and diverse,so many styles and systems that makes it all great to listen as well, 

“With respect to the Coast side, there had dependably been the blend of Arabic, In Indian and Bantu, that made all the delightful Swahili tunes that we as a whole cherished , like Mama Sofia, Jambo Bwana, Karibuni Kenya, all sweet solid from the drift. 

“I have not been an awesome fanatic of Kenyan Pop as it reflects American Street Culture, I dependably imagined that Kenya had a special way and taste of its on sort of music, being American or Jamaican is not Kenyan to me. 

“I am still with Fadhili Williams and Daudi Kabaka, they are to me the genuine craftsman of East African music.

I am based in the UK Lived in London for some years, then moved to Reading a much quite area where I can write and produce music much better.

"My father was Jose Francisco Carvalho, who worked for the Radiant Health Clinic in Pangani, Nairobi. He passed away in 1978 when I was 13, and my mother is Dorothy Carvalho who was a housewife. She was good in making embroidery and knitting. She is in London with my brothers.

"I have 4 brothers: The eldest is Camilo, who lives in Wood Green. A second brother is Gregg   lives in Harrow.

"I am blessed with two wonderful girls 19 and 11 years old, it is a shame they never had interest in music as I did. I was born 11^th March 1966."