Nowhere To Be Found

Nowhere To Be Found (often abbreviated as NTBF) are an alternative metal band formed in Ericeira in 2018. The group consists of bassist Manel Gomes, drummer Miguel Rodrigues, lead vocalist Tiago Duarte and lead guitarist João Quintais. Nowhere To Be Found were created after the demise of post-grunge band "insch",[1] shortly before Quintais joined the three-piece as their new lead guitar and focusing on a heavier sound, often described as alternative metal, melodic metalcore or even post-hardcore.

Nowhere To Be Found
Nowhere To Be Found in a photoshoot, 2018. From left to right: Quintais, Migalhas, Tiago and Manel
Background information
Also known as	NTBF
Origin	Ericeira
Genres	Alternative metal Melodic metalcore Post-hardcore
Years active	2018 – present
Labels	Unsigned
Website	ntbfofficial.com
Members	Manel Gomes 'Migalhas' Rodrigues João Quintais Tiago Duarte

Nowhere To Be Found's debut album is expected for 2019, having already released two singles, 'Traverse feat. Matty Mullins', from metalcore icon band Memphis May Fire and 'Closer', a metal cover from The Chainsmokers' hit, featuring Emily Lazar from September Mourning.[2]

Yet unsigned by any record label, the band is working on its first album with Swedish producer Henrik Udd (Bring Me the Horizon, Architects), "2017 Producer of the Year" at the Heavy Music Awards, and Ted Jensen, known for having a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album and for having mastered 16 Grammy Award winners in other categories.[3][4][5][6]

History

Early years (2006–2011)

Manel, Miguel (mostly known as 'Migalhas') and Tiago are childhood friend, having all been born and raised in Torres Vedras, a small city not far from Ericeira, at the time known for having a cool and exciting rock and punk vibes. Mostly self-taught, they all played in small local bands throughout middle and high school (Synapse,[7] 4Kids, Orquidea,[8] etc.), having never played together up until 2006, when they formed the numetal band Metta Bhavana alongside with childhood friend and front man Ricardo Farinha. By now the quartet was already rehearsing in Ericeira, to where Migalhas had moved with his family. Although promising, the band lasted less than a year, as Ricardo moved to Adelaide, Australia, in early 2007.

Mid-2007 the band started auditioning for a new lead singer but, without creating a real connection with any candidate, they turned to high school friend Davide Silva, at the time front man for Alluminia, a local well-known hard-rock cover band. Alongside with Davide, they formed Project Drizza[9] (a cover band) and later Daydream, and split in 2011, following Davide's move to London, England, to pursue other professional endeavors. Dismayed with the loss of yet another close friend lead vocalist, the trio parted ways and did not play a single show from 2011 to 2013, having focused on other personal objectives, such as studying and travelling.

Tiago had in NTBF his first experience as lead vocals

insch (2014–2017)

Following the two-year hiatus, in November 2013 Manel, Migalhas and Tiago got together for a couple of unpretentious jam sessions with the sheer purpose of spending some time together. Having no obvious option for vocals, they agreed Tiago would add the singing to his lead guitar role. After only a couple of months of weekly rehearsals, the band had already created songs like Whenever You Call My Name, Home, It's Yours and Telesphorus, and so in early 2014 they decided to become a band, this time as a three-piece.[10] At the time they agreed on the name "insch", an old Scottish Gaelic term meaning "island, haven or sanctuary where you can be safe from your enemies" that caught the attention of Manel, and immediately was adopted by the trio, who viewed the band as their newly found safe place.[11]

The band's first ever live show would occur in June 2014, in their birth town Torres Vedras, a 35 minutes gig consisting of only seven songs, to an audience essentially of close friends. The next months would be filled with shows, mainly in the Lisbon area, starting to draw the industry's attention and a small but consistent crowd of followers.[12] In March 2015 they met Nuno Chanoca, a seasoned industry professional with experience in labels as PolyGram, BMG, Universal and Valentim de Carvalho[13] who managed and advised the band up until 2018.

By the end of 2015, insch took the spotlight by being considered "2015 band of the year" by BalconyTV,[14] a worldwide platform dedicated to showcase upcoming artists, and around the same time, New in Town (NiT) listed them as "one unknown artist you should start listening righ now".[15]

Manel, one of the three founding members of NTBF

Insch's only album, Safe Haven, was recorded during October 2015, in the band's rehearsal studio in Ericeira, where they felt the songs would be captured more honestly and in their true vibe.[16] With no label backing up the recording, the band turned to friend and mentor Wilson Silva, a versatile producer, audio engineer and musician, mostly known for his work as drummer for More Than a Thousand and The Last Internationale. They would record all 10 songs in only a couple of weeks, releasing the album on May 2016 and entering directly to national Top10 sales chart in its first week.[17]

Migalhas is known for his powerful stroke

Nowhere To Be Found (2018–present)

By the end of 2017 the band decided to assume a new identity, a new sound and a new formation, forming 'Nowhere To Be Found', now with Quintais as the lead guitarist, leaving Tiago more focused on vocal duties. They would go on to record with Swedish producer Henrik Udd, "2017 Producer of the Year" award winner at the Heavy Music Awards, who worked with bands such as Bring Me the Horizon and Architects, and would master new songs in New York with Grammy Award winner Ted Jensen[18] – the sound engineer known as the recurring choice of industry giants such as Metallica, Green Day, Muse, Deftones, Slipknot, Paul McCartney, Madonna and Coldplay.

Confirming the new songs’ potentials, there were collaborations with the likes of Memphis May Fire’s front man Matty Mullins in the song "Traverse"[19] and Emily Lazar from September Mourning in the song "Closer".

The band remains yet to be signed by a record label.

Artistry

Musical style and influences

Nowhere To Be Found have always claimed influences from numerous genres, with musical references diversifying immensely within the band members. Their sound has been described as alternative metal, melodic metalcore or post-hardcore.[20] Mainstream music critics Happy People Music wrote "Have you been wondering what’s been happening on the alternative metal scene these days? To be honest I think there’s a lack of new bands in this genre. ‘Nowhere To Be Found’ are about to change that [...]"[21] and Bloggers Gamut added "For some bands, coming to terms with the fact you need to change your whole identity can be a make or break situation. A name change, lineup change and sound change can be too much to tackle for most, but for Nowhere to Be Found, it seems to be the beginning of something beautiful.[22]"

Quintais joined the band in early 2018

Vocals and lyrics

NTBF's lyrics are mostly personal and biographical, having been described by the band as "inspired in specific events[23]" in the band's life and growth experiences, although not intended to be descriptive but merely emotionally suggestive.

Songwriting and recording process

All of Nowhere To Be Found's lyrics are said to be written by lead vocalist Tiago Duarte while all four members – as a band – were credited with writing the music.

Gear

Tiago uses PRS guitars, Seymour Duncan pickups and Marshall amps. Being an effects pedals enthusiast, he uses a Pedaltrain pedalboard with a vary of effects from Boss, Morley, Electro Harmonix, Ibanez, Artec, Dunlop, MXR, DigiTech, TC_Helicon and Voodoo Lab. Manel plays mostly with Fender and Ibanez basses, although one of his favorites is a Fernandes, a 90's japanese Fender replica. He uses Orange amp-heads with Ashdown cabs and a set of pedal effects from Boss, RAT, Electro Harmonix, TC Electronic, Ashdown and Artec. Miguel plays on a Taye drum set, with Remo drum heads and Zildjian A-Custom cymbals, being a Remo and Zildjian formal endorser. He also uses Zildjian drums sticks, mostly 5A. João is a metal enthusiast and his weapons of choice are Schecter and Gibson guitars, with Seymour Duncan pickups, and Orange amps. Also an effects pedal addict, he uses mainly units from Boss, Dunlop, Electro Harmonix and DigiTech.

Both Tiago and Manel use SM58 Shure microphones, and all three play with Dunlop Tortex picks.

Band members

Nowhere To Be Found's current band members

Current members (considering insch and NTBF)

• Tiago Duarte – lead vocals (2014–present); lead guitar (2014–2017); rhythm guitar (2018–present)
• Manel Gomes – bass (2014–present), backing vocals (2017–present)
• 'Migalhas' Rodrigues – drums, percussion (2014–present)
• João Quintais – lead guitar (2018–present)

Timeline

Awards

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2015	"Home"	Band of the Year (Balcony TV)	Won

Discography

Studio albums

• Safe Haven (2016) - as 'insch'

References

1. "Insch, ondas da ericeira trazem uma nova vibração". Música em DX (in Portuguese). 20 April 2015.
2. HM Magazine: Nowhere to Be Found drops new music video for ‘Traverse’ featuring Matty Mullins of Memphis May Fire
3. Allmusic credit for Henrik Udd
4. "NTBF will record with Henrik Udd – Música em DX". Música em DX (in Portuguese). Retrieved 18 January 2017.
5. "Producer Henrik Udd Discusses Recording Architects' 'All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us' – Heavy Music Awards". www.heavymusicawards.com. 14 February 2018.
6. "GRAMMY Award Results for Ted Jensen – Grammy". www.grammy.com. 10 May 2018.
7. "Synapse move on to the New Talents' final – CM Torres Vedras". CM Torres Vedras (in Portuguese). 18 August 2003.
8. "Orquidea on the New Talents' final – CM Torres Vedras". CM Torres Vedras (in Portuguese). 9 May 2005.
9. "Project Drizza win New Talents 2007". CM Torres Vedras (in Portuguese).
10. "Nowhere To Be Found – Happy Family". Música em DX (in Portuguese). 25 June 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
11. "NTBF Som Direto Interview". www.som-direto.com (in Portuguese). Retrieved 15 April 2018.
12. "Talking with Nowhere To Be Found". marta-omeucanto.blogs.sapo.pt. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
13. "Nuno Chanoca – Linkedin". www.linkedin.com.
14. "Insch, 2015 band of the year for BalconyTV Lisbon – Balcony TV". Balcony TV (in Portuguese). 7 January 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
15. "8 unknown artists you really should start listening – NiT". New in Town.
16. "[Entrevista] Insch "A nossa preocupação sempre foi fazer música com qualidade" | Made in Portugal". madeinportugalmusica.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 14 April 2018.
17. "Insch – "Safe Haven" Review". www.metalimperium.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
18. Group, Global Media (22 April 2017). "▶ Vídeo: insch, do desconhecido para as mãos de um Grammy". JN (in Portuguese).
19. Denwood, Amber (10 January 2019). "INTERVIEW: Nowhere To Be Found to release 'Traverse'". Bloggers Gamut. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
20. "Insch – Safe Haven". Depth Magazine. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
21. Blackman, Georgia (16 January 2019). "Nowhere To Be Found are "destined to do well" with their latest single 'Transverse'". HAPPY PEOPLE BLOG. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
22. Denwood, Amber (10 January 2019). "INTERVIEW: Nowhere To Be Found to release 'Traverse'". Bloggers Gamut. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
23. "insch sobre como se veem na música: "Nunca deixará de ser o nosso lugar seguro" – DanielaPress". danielapress.eu (in Portuguese). Retrieved 15 April 2018.