1. History
     Early years (2006–2011)    insch (2014–2016)    Safe Haven (2016–2017)    New album (2018–present)  

2. Artistry
     Musical style and influences    Vocals and lyrics    Songwriting and recording process    Gear  

3. Band members
     Timeline  

4. Awards

5. Discography

6. References

Nowhere To Be Found, often known by the acronym NTBF, are an alternative metal band from Ericeira, Portugal. Formed in 2014 by high school friends Manel Gomes (bass, backing vocals), Miguel Rodrigues (drums) and Tiago Duarte (lead vocals, guitar), this was their first band as a three-piece, and Tiago's first experience as lead singer^[1]. They were initially called "insch"^[2] but in 2017, when João Quintais joined the group as their new lead guitar, the band decided to assume a new identity as Nowhere To Be Found.

Nowhere To Be Found's debut album, Safe Haven, was released in May 2016 and it peaked national top 10 in its first week of sales. As yet to be signed by any record label, the band is currently working on the follow up album^[3] with Swedish producer Henrik Udd (Bring Me the Horizon, Architects), "2017 Producer of the Year" at the Heavy Music Awards^[4], and Ted Jensen, known for having received a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album and for having mastered 16 Grammy Award winners in other categories^[5].

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 city about 30 km north 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^[6], 4Kids, Orquidea^[7], Skaes e Gatos, etc.), having never played together up until 2006, when they formed the cover 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.

In mid-2007 the band started auditioning to find 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^[8] (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 college and travelling.

insch (2014–2016)

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 formally become a band, this time as a three-piece^[9]. At the time they agreed upon 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.^[10]

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 were filled with shows, mainly in the Lisbon area, starting to draw the industry's attention and a small but consistent crowd of eager followers^[11]. In March 2015 they met Nuno Chanoca, in a weekend described by the band as "the single most important couple of days" of their career. Nuno, a seasoned industry professional with experience in labels as PolyGram, BMG, Universal and Valentim de Carvalho^[12] had previously been involved in launching some of Portugal's biggest bands and by then was out of the music scene, but agreed to spend a weekend in Ericeira for a "music industry crash course". By the end of it, Nuno had fell in love with the project and the trio saw in him the very much needed guidance to take the band to the next level, and so Nuno became NTBF's manager and a close friend of the trio. The following year, under Nuno's wing, NTBF would play every major stage in Lisbon and Porto, as well as a live DVD and the video for "Bring Me Back", the band's first single^[13]. Bring Me Back was also NTBF's first song to hit the local radios, such as rock reference Super FM Radio, and to be featured in a national television ad for TVI^[14].

By the end of 2015, NTBF took the spotlight by being considered "2015 band of the year" by BalconyTV Lisbon^[15], a worldwide platform dedicated to showcase upcoming artists, after performing "Home". Around the same time, New in Town (NiT) listed the band as one of the "8 unknown artists you really should start listening"^[16].

Safe Haven (2016–2017)

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^[17]. With no label backing up the recording, the band turned to friend Wilson Silva, an incredibly versatile producer, audio engineer and musician, mostly known for his work as drummer for More Than a Thousand and for The Last Internationale. They would record all 10 songs in only a couple of weeks and after a couple months of mixing and contract negotiation, the band would sign Safe Havens's digital distribution to Farol Música^[18] and publishing to Media Capital Entertainment, having opted for an author's edition for its physical distribution. The album was officially released on 6 May and entered directly to national Top10 sales chart in its first week^[19].

New album (2018–present)

By the end of 2017 the band would achieve what no other Portuguese band had ever done. They would go on to record with Swedish producer Henrik Udd, "2017 Producer of the Year" 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^[20] – the sound engineer known for being the 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"^[21] and Emily Lazar from September Mourning in the song "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AByS0w__97w Closer]".

The rumor has that Nowhere To Be Found are looking for a record label and international booking agency to support the recording and launch of their new album.

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, alternative rock and post-grunge^[22]. NTBF's main musical background spans from indie to alternative rock, ska punk, pop, grunge and metal. Manel has stated among his main influences bands like Nine Inch Nails, Tool and Architects, for Migalhas it's Jamiroquai, Dave Matthews Band and Foo Fighters, Tiago has claimed deep references in Nirvana, Deftones and Incubus, and Quintais in Slipknot, Avenged Sevenfold and Alter Bridge, just to name a few.

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 [...]"^[23] 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.^[24]"

Nowhere To Be Found have attempted to grow and change from the first to the second album, believing they should be different, moving away from their early alternative rock and post grunge - their new sound is much closer to the metal genre.

Vocals and lyrics

NTBF's lyrics are mostly personal and biographical, having been described by the band as "inspired in specific events^[25]" 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 Fender and PRS guitars, Seymour Duncan pickups and Orange amps. Being an effects pedals enthusiast, Tiago 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 replic. 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

• 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

PlotArea = left:110 bottom:95 top:05 right:10

Alignbars = justify

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy

Period = from:01/01/2014 till:{{#time: d/m/Y }}

TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4

ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:2014

ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:2015

Colors =

 id:Vocals     value:red               legend:Lead_vocals id:LGuitar    value:green              legend:Lead_guitar id:RGuitar    value:yellow       legend:Rhythm_guitar id:Bass       value:teal              legend:Bass id:Drums      value:blue            legend:Drums id:BVocals    value:pink              legend:Backing_vocals id:album      value:black             legend:Studio_albums id:Bars       value:gray(0.95)

Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

LineData =

BarData =

 bar:Tiago      text:"Tiago Duarte" bar:João   text:"João Quintais" bar:Miguel      text:"Miguel Rodrigues" bar:Manel       text:"Manel Gomes"

PlotData=

 width:11  bar:Tiago      from:01/01/2014 till:end        color:Vocals  bar:João   from:01/01/2018 till:end        color:LGuitar  bar:Miguel      from:01/01/2014 till:end color:Bass  bar:Miguel      from:01/01/2014 till:end color:Drums  bar:Manel       from:01/01/2014 till:end color:Bass

 width:3  bar:Tiago      from:01/01/2014 till:01/01/2018        color:LGuitar  bar:Manel       from:01/01/2017 till:end color:BVocals  bar:Tiago      from:01/01/2018 till:end        color:RGuitar}}

Awards

Discography

Studio albums

* Safe Haven (2016)

References

• Orange Sky Golden Harvest Entertainment
• Orange Sky Golden Harvest Entertainment Co.
• Orange Sky Golden Harvest Entertainment Co. Ltd.
• Orange slice
• Orange slices
• Oranges & Maplewood Area Council
• Orange Snake eel
• Orange snake eel
• Orange Snake Eel
• Orange snake Eel
• Orange Soda
• OrangeSoda
• OrangeSoda, Inc
• OrangeSoda Internet Marketing
• Orange Spider Wasp
• Orange-spined Hairy Dwarf Porcupine
• Orangespine unicorn fish
• Orange sponge polypore
• Orange Sport
• Orange Sport Info (Poland)
• Orange Sport (Poland)
• Orangespot sardine
• Orange-spotted Bulbul
• Orange spotted catshark
• Orange-spotted Cockroach