From Brazilian Beaches to Brooklyn Bedrooms: An Interview with Late Again, the Project of Rafael Melo

Born in Brazil and now based in Brooklyn, Rafael Melo creates music under the monicker as Late Again. True to his stage name, he was late with this interview, which I found oddly charming. However, not as charming as the delicious sounds he creates. Blending bossa nova warmth, indie pop buzz, and hazy cinematic textures, Late Again weaves a sound that feels nostalgic yet quietly restless.

In a recent interview with Grimy Goods, Melo spoke about his Brazilian roots, discovering creative salvation through music, navigating the evolving relationship between art and AI, “selling his soul for a few years,” and what’s next for Late Again in 2026.

Tell me about growing up in Brazil and the path that led you to New York?

Late Again: I grew up in a small beach town called Camburi, in the southeast of Brazil. It’s a pretty special place (come visit sometime!). I slowly jumped to bigger and bigger places. First to a proper city called Santos when I was 8, then to the massive city that is São Paulo when I was 17, then finally to Greenpoint in Brooklyn when I was 26. I think I came here for the same reason most people come to NYC. Nowhere else felt like enough.

What inspired you to make music?

Late Again: It started when I was dumped for the first time at age 13. I inherited my late uncle’s old nylon string guitar and was amused by the idea of making melodies with my hands. No one else in my family made music and I didn’t realize it was something anyone was capable of. Let alone that it’d help me survive those teenage years and everything that came after that. It saved me a lot of therapy money.

Art inspires art. Which artists have inspired you throughout your career?

Late Again: It’s tough to name names here. Every single piece of media I’ve ever consumed inspired me in one way or another. Even the ones I hate. But from Brazilian Tropicalia artists, to Japanese City Pop, NY jazz, British indie rock, anything old school MTV shoved down my throat, to my dad’s corny country songs… they are all meaningful to me. And sure, I was always inspired by work beyond music. Film, videogames, even advertising. Working in all these fields was crazy important to help me shape Late Again and in a way it is the only way my ADHD brain could make this thing work. But I really want to spare you from a 5000-word answer here.

What’s in your studio?

Late Again: Right now there’s a Fender Mustang, and I just got myself a Supro Ozark I found while thrifting. There’s a Hoffman bass. My laptop, an Arturia controller and interface, a couple of old synths, random shakers and percussive stuff, my cheap AKG condenser… I’m literally typing this while looking around. Hang on. My monitors, a small soundboard, good headphones. A lot of messy cables. A lot of plugins in Logic and Ableton. My peace lily for vibes. And there’s my old nylon guitar. A lot of my songs start on the old nylon guitar.

What are your thoughts on AI in music? When and how is it okay to use AI, and when is AI destroying art and the music industry?

Late Again: That’s a long one. At this point, it feels like common ground that AI should be focusing on mankind’s painful or unattainable tasks before getting into art. I’m not saying you can’t use tools to quantize your drums, etc, but I strongly believe that a song that comes solely from a prompt has no soul, and it (still) shows.

Valley folks will tell you humans are copying each other all the time, but machine learning and human learning are not equivalent experiences, in my opinion. One is mechanical and the other is cathartic. Those are two completely different driving forces when it comes to any form of expression. I naively think that people will still crave that soul regardless of how advanced AI gets.

Now, I’d be hypocritical if I said I don’t benefit from GPT every now and then. As a foreigner, it made grammar reviews so much easier, and it also helped me gain a lot of mechanical knowledge I needed for my art. It also helps me do my taxes. But, you know, I’m talking about annoying tasks people just want to get done with, unlike actual music making. I don’t think anyone who dislikes the process of making music should be making music.

I also really hope we start seriously discussing UBI soon.

Your EPK bio mentions you sold your “soul to advertising to pay the bills”? Tell me more about this nefarious past career or job.

Late Again: Back in Brazil, the art world is very narrow, and a lot of artists resort to advertising as a way to pay the bills. I found a job as a writer when I was 17, and I was very lucky in that career. It was never the end goal, but it gave me great opportunities, made me meet a lot of talented people, collaborate with very cool artists, gave me some awards, and allowed me to write stuff for all kinds of massive companies (from the evil ones to the very evil ones). Having a day job that’s not that far from what you love teaches you a lot about stability, resilience, rejection. All those things made pursuing my music possible today. TL;DR: I had to sell my soul for a few years, but I’m buying it back now.

What plans do you have in 2026? Full-length album, tour, collabs?

Late Again: All of the above. Can’t wait to share!

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At its core, Late Again isn’t about landing somewhere; it’s about learning how to live in motion, and if there’s a sound for that, it’s Late Again. Melo’s journey from Camburi to Brooklyn, from advertising copy to DIY songwriting, mirrors the emotional push and pull embedded in his music: longing, humor, discomfort, and hope, all coexisting without neat resolution. Looking ahead to new releases, collaborations, and a full-length album, Late Again remains a reminder that human experience is the heartbeat of music.

Press play on Late Again.