Pop’s newest heartthrob on stepping out solo and writing whilst vulnerable.

Pedro Santos is next in line. If you’re a boyband fanatic, you might recognise him as one fifth of the popular pop outfit, Here At Last. With a sold out O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire show and a performance at BST in London, Santos had garnered an amass of experience on the biggest stages before he even entered the solo spotlight. 

Chiselling his craft and finding his feet within a collective, when the group recently parted ways to pursue differing creative outputs Santos kicked his own artistic vision into gear. Debut single “Someone I Don’t Know”, shared in early June, was an immediate hit, with its tender indie pop palette, dreamy vocals and bittersweet lyricism garnering huge streaming figures.  

Follow up cut “Lady In Red” has proven an even bigger moment for Santos. The cut, all cinematic charm and deft songwriting, Santos lays his feelings on the line for his enigmatic muse, made in a state of vulnerability, the lyricists enduring emotionality shining through atop the vibrance of the sonic backdrop. 

Freshly invigorated with plenty of music to come this year and next, Santos tells Man About Town about what his time in Here At Last taught him, his own artistic essence, and what he hopes to achieve in the industry.

You moved from Portugal to England at a young age — how was that transition? 

Having moved away so young I don’t think I really understood what was going on to be honest. At such a young age, you don’t get to grasp the concept of what it’s actually like to have to leave behind friends and family as such. There was still a lingering feeling of fear when I went to school and when trying to make friends because it was all so alien to me – the language, the culture, the humor. I was speaking Portuguese at home and then learning English as I went through school as my parents never got to fully learn the language. It was much harder on them, having to move to another country with a foreign language and having to restart their whole life in their 30s. 

Where did your love of music first stem from? 

Honestly, just listening to it. I would listen to Coldplay a whole bunch with my sister in the car and even though I would go through a few different phases over time listening to an eclectic range of genres, I’d always go back to the “stadium” sounding songs – they’re the ones that gave me goosebumps. The songs that really moved me were the ones that had a real energy in them; they would either dig right into your soul and rip it out or they would fill your whole body with adrenaline. As soon as my family started seeing that I would spend every second of the day listening to music or whistling and singing, they decided that for Christmas they would get me a Fender Guitar that IF I’M NOT WRONG, was bought from Argos for £80 because I may have circled it multiple times in the catalogue book… 

You are a member of boyband Here At Last — what has your endeavours with the group taught you about collectivity? What have you learnt about the industry? 

It’s heavily focused on how much you want it. We got to where we were because of the work we did – that we very much complained about all the time but we STILL DID IT. Social media is now also the most important thing in the industry. It’s where your art will get heard and recognized so if you want to spread your message, then your social media has to be at a level where it will compete with those who you look up to.

Do you feel your time in the group has prepped you for a career as a solo artist? If so, how? 

Yes because it’s given me the experience I need to be able to not be a completely lost puppy in all this. Also, the connections and friendships I’ve made with producers, writers and mentors will forever be something to cherish as I think it will shape how my future self develops as an artist. Whilst being in the band, we all realized how different our musical tastes were so it was exciting and eye opening to listen to new music every so often.

What provoked your decision to step out as a solo artist? 

Naturally, after years of living together and working together non-stop, you come to some disagreements and wants of change. Our time has simply felt like it was ready to end and we did. Unlike many breakups, we all left the band still extremely close to one another and available at any time of the day. 

How would you define your artistic essence? 

My music will always try to reach for the community feeling at live shows. I want people to feel united through my music. My social media presence is hopefully one that shows a good relationship with the people who have supported me and I’m hoping to translate this into real life. I am a very open person when it comes to being who you want to be. However, the problem we have isn’t that people aren’t who they wanna be, but that we have others that don’t let people be people. In the future if you ever come to a gig of mine, I hope you’d have good encounters with those sitting/standing next to you, and that the show makes you feel something. 

Why did “Someone I Don’t Know” feel like the right single to introduce your sound to the world? 

Coming from a boyband, I wanted people to really capture what I like listening to and making. It was almost a statement point as when in the band, no-one could ever really show themselves fully inside out. It’s the sound I always kept going back to when I was a kid which has that band sound in. When I wrote this song I pretty much knew there and then it was the first single. I also knew it wasn’t going to be a “social media” hit but it just felt right so I went with it. The support on it has already been incredible so I’m glad I stuck with my decision. 

You’re following it up with “Lady In Red” — talk us through the making and meaning of the new track? 

“Lady in Red” was written a year ago, just after the band had announced the end. As soon as I heard that the plug was being pulled I flew back home to Portugal to see my family to spend some much needed time with them. I fell into a rut for a long time with no way of understanding how to get out of it. Being back with my family made me realize how much I needed that break. With every hug, conversation and second spent with them I felt like I was slowly understanding the world and its doings after being so isolated in music for five years. So to sum it all up, Lady in Red was made in a state of vulnerability. 

You’ve played huge shows such as Shepherds Bush Empire and BST. Are you a natural performer or is it an aspect of your craft you’ve had to nurture? An aspect of your craft you’ve had to nurture? 

I’ve always had a sense of confidence but stepping up on stage to thousands of people like 

that definitely took a little bit of getting used to. In the earlier days doing 250 capacities, after the first two shows I felt like I ruled the world but as soon as you hit the thousands mark you realize how exposed and perfect everything needs to be. I’ve just done my very first support tour in Europe and thrown right into the deep end with a 1600 capacity venue in Germany, however after the first two songs I felt like I had gelled right back into the confidence. 

What are your plans for the rest of the year? 

For the rest of the year I’ll be locking myself in a studio and releasing more music. I want to expand my knowledge on some of the greatest hits and the writers behind them. I think it’s super important to know how some of my favourite songs were made and it’s generally quite interesting what the process was since we all have a different way of doing it

What are long-term goals as an artist? 

The only thing I want is to have tens of thousands of people leaving my gigs saying “Wow, that really made me feel something”. I’ll die happy knowing that when people came to my shows, they felt at one with the experience and felt like they weren’t alone.