Created by Portuguese drummer and composer Miguel Sampaio, ANTI_MEDO is a sonic manifesto, a raw and honest search for creative freedom, with no filters or concessions. In this solo project, acoustic drums, synthesizers and samples coexist in direct dialogue between human and machine, instinct and technology.

More than an aesthetic exercise, ANTI_MEDO is a provocation for anyone who has ever felt unable to express themselves freely. It is a call for authenticity, a journey built from fragments of memory, desire and identity, from what we were, what we wished to be, and what we can still become. Sound and rhythm become tools to reclaim what time, fear and external impositions have tried to erase.

Miguel built ANTI_MEDO as a confrontation with himself, lowering the armor of beliefs and protections built up over years on stage, facing his own vulnerabilities to find himself again and step forward as a new version. Every performance comes from that same place, somewhere between strength and doubt, and from the belief that there is always more to discover.

Live, the project becomes physical and intense. Miguel plays drums, synthesizers and sequencers at once, pushing close to the limit of what he can execute, absorbed in the instruments rather than performing for an audience. The result sits closer to a functional trance than a show, club, afro, jungle and dub beats merging with psychedelic atmospheres, improvisation and a constant tension between control and surprise.

Musically, ANTI_MEDO moves from punk to jazz, from African percussion to contemporary electronica, but shaped, above all, by Miguel’s own twenty five years as a drummer.

Along the way the work has found recognition. Miguel was selected for the Eurotoire programme, chosen by Impala as one of its artists to watch in 2026, and supported by the GDA Foundation touring programme in 2025. He also recorded drums for excerpts of the Netflix series Rabo de Peixe, and since 2025 he has been recording one shot samples for Steven Slate Audio with Alex Semichev.

Miguel Sampaio: Composition, Drums, Synthesizers & Sequencers