Good morning and welcome back to Creative Parenting Club.
This week on CPC, we’re sharing a new episode of the Creative Parenting Podcast with Rodrigo da Matta, singer, musician, cultural producer, and founder of Bossa FM, a platform dedicated to promoting Brazilian music and culture across Europe.
Three years ago, Rodrigo became a father to his daughter Yasmin. Since then, his creative instincts have taken on a new form. Parenting, in his case, looks physical, playful, and improvisational. It’s about presence, movement, humor, and learning how to stay balanced while holding a lot at once.
In our conversation, Rodrigo speaks about becoming a parent, the shift in responsibility that comes with it, and the challenge of staying present as a partner and father while running a creative business. He talks openly about physical limits, time, money, therapy, and the difficulty of switching off in a world that never stops demanding attention.
Press play at the top of this page to listen to the full conversation. As always, a shortened written version can be found below.
In case you haven’t checked out our latest episode of the Creative Parenting Podcast with DJ Dmitry, co-creator of Deee-Lite, you can find it here:
Thank you for being here. We hope this week’s episode resonates with you as much as it did with us.
[Creative Parenting Club – Diego Ain]
And today we have my dear friend Rodrigo da Matta. Welcome, Rodrigo. How are you, my man?
[Rodrigo da Matta]
What’s up, Diego? Hello, everybody. It was a slightly tough night with the little one. But here we are.
[CPC]
Rodrigo, for people who don’t know you, where are you from and where do you live now?
[Rodrigo]
I’m from a city called Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It’s literally in Rio, but on the other side of the Guanabara Bay. For comparison, it’s like New Jersey, but much more beautiful. You have Rio in front of you.
I lived there for 25 years. Then I moved to the south of Brazil and stayed four years, living between Curitiba and Buenos Aires. Then I got transferred to Madrid, where you and I met years ago. I stayed there for five years and then came to Berlin. We are starting our 10th year here.
[CPC]
Rodrigo, how many kids do you have and how old are they?
[Rodrigo]
One kid. She’s almost three years old.
[CPC]
And what do you do professionally?
[Rodrigo]
I run a company called Bossa FM, an enterprise that has promoted Brazilian music in Europe since 2016. This is 90% of what I do and of the earnings that make my living possible.
The other 10% is music as a DJ, musician, singer, and percussionist. I have a project in Berlin called Roda de Feijoada. It’s a monthly samba project. We play samba like we do in Brazil, and we try to exchange this atmosphere with people.
I’m also part of a project called Jom Tobim with Ain TheMachine and other Brazilians in Berlin and Brazil. I’m excited about this one as we mix Brazilian music with electronic, navigating between downtempo and dance music. We are about to release a few compositions. I also have a carnival band.
So everything is going around Brazil.
[CPC]
Rodrigo, what’s creativity for you?
[Rodrigo]
Creativity is the freedom you have to express your very true self to the world.
[CPC]
Beautiful. And what role does creativity play in your life?
[Rodrigo]
Now it has a bigger role than before. When you start a business from scratch, you just dive deep into it. Nothing else exists. You get really practical and right to the point. You need to make money and grow the business.
Creativity was a bit apart from my life for a while. But now it’s getting back on track. I understood that what I do from a promoter and production standpoint can also carry creativity in it. How to deal with the crowd, how to approach a concert in a venue, and how to be more inclusive and family-friendly.
When it comes to music, that’s where my heart really explodes. When I’m composing my songs and singing with my pals and my band, this is where my true self comes to play.
I also believe parenting is all about creativity. If you have a kid, you need to be creative. Kids demand fast thoughts and fast reactions from parents. You’ve got to improvise.
Your kid needs to brush the teeth and she is not willing to. What are you going to do now? Sometimes you dance. Sometimes you sing. Sometimes you play dumb. And all of a sudden, she is brushing her teeth.
These small tasks demand the most creative reactions. Kids live in the now. Everything is play. Everything matters. The only thing they have is now.
Creativity also comes when art enters our lives. Going to dance classes, dancing together, spinning, being animals, giraffes, tigers, and snakes. These connections are beautiful.
[CPC]
I have a mantra: never kill the inner child of your child.
[Rodrigo]
Yeah, but I feel like Yasmin is getting more philosophical. She can articulate better what she’s feeling. Sometimes we have deep conversations. She’s two years old. This is the beauty.
[CPC]
And how do you find time for your creative passions while balancing family life?
[Rodrigo]
It’s very tough to get. As I dream of having at least two hours a day for sports and 30 minutes a day for sex, it’s a thing to achieve (laughs).
[CPC]
Did becoming a parent change your relationship with money?
[Rodrigo]
Yes. The moment I saw my daughter, I understood that I’m going to die one day. And she depends on me. My relationship with money became more serious. I started making plans five years in advance. I was never this kind of person.
I can see the day I’m leaving Germany. I don’t know where I’m going next. But I believe that Brazil is the most amazing country in the world, and it’s unbeatable. Of course, there are a lot of problems. But the quality of people in Brazil is the best. I’m sorry, guys.
[CPC]
It’s true. The last time I was in Brazil, I had this vision that the real working class in Brazil is the kindest and nicest people on the planet.
[Rodrigo]
Exactly. Berlin is a tough city. With a child, it feels even tougher. Don’t get me wrong, there are lovely people around me. But society is difficult for an immigrant. Brazilians didn’t learn to be like this. We learned to be happy, smile, party, and celebrate.
[CPC]
Rodrigo, how do you incorporate Yasmin into your creative life?
[Rodrigo]
I incorporated her even before she was born. I made a song about a dream to be a dad and how that would change our lives. It came deeply from my heart.
[CPC]
What is one regret you have about having kids?
[Rodrigo]
Not being physically ready. That’s the only regret I have. I tell my friends, you’re going to have a baby? Go to the fucking gym now. Later it’s tougher.
It’s not about having a kid younger. It’s about being fit, strong enough to carry a baby, and deliver what being a dad demands. Now I go to the gym. After three years, here we are. Much better. That’s my recommendation to everyone.
I hate people, as we say in Portuguese, cagando regra, throwing rules at you about how babies should be. That’s bullshit. Every person is different. Every baby is different.
People say, you’re going to be a dad, you won’t have time. Dude, I didn’t ask.
The only thing I say is, be strong. Do yoga, swim, play soccer. You need to be ready to carry a baby for years. If you don’t, you’re ambulance-level fucked.
[CPC]
Rodrigo, what is the biggest challenge you face as a creative parent?
[Rodrigo]
For me, it’s always about time. Spending time with my daughter and her mother, my partner in crime. That’s the thing I’ve been trying to achieve the most. When Yasmin was born, the sense of responsibility increased.
The biggest challenge is to be a present father. Not only to my kid, but also to a partner. Finding this balance is hard because it’s easy to get lost. And I got lost a few times.
I connect that with the fact that I wasn’t mentally and physically well enough to absorb the impact. Being physically well also means having more capacity to deal with the deep changes your life goes through.
What I want most is more time with my kid. Time to share things, to see her growing, to be present as a strong parent, just like her mother is.
[CPC]
How can you solve that? Imagine you have a magic wand.
[Rodrigo]
If I had the capacity to have a moment where no one could touch me except her, and no one could talk to me. I’m going to get there. I promise.
[CPC]
So you’re saying the solution would be to turn the phone off?
[Rodrigo]
Yes. Fucking phone off. Everything somehow connects to the phone. Being reachable comes from work. People need to reach you, and you reach the world. So the solution is to turn the phone off. Which is difficult by the nature of the work I do. Being an entrepreneur means your business depends on you. Until you leave the CEO role, it’s impossible.
[CPC]
Tell me one thing you hated when your parents told you and now you say the same.
[Rodrigo]
“You’re gonna see.” I can’t say I hate it, but it’s the first thing that comes to my mind.
Speaking about parents, becoming a parent myself has given me a new relationship with my mom and dad. I started thinking how much they should love me. What I feel for my daughter is bigger than what I feel for anybody, so I developed greater respect for them.
Once you become a parent, you realize your parents did the best they could. And if you’re here now, it’s because of that.
[CPC]
What is something you need to work on in yourself in the context of family life?
[Rodrigo]
The care for the other. When I was younger, I was connected to my community and friends. Then I realized I forgot about myself. Once I realized this, I shifted to a more selfish approach, focusing on what I wanted.
Now my daughter comes first. She needs care. That’s the shift.
And the relationship with your partner changes substantially. You say goodbye to an old way of living, old codes. Now there are two people taking care of one child. There’s a lot of love, but also different ways of seeing life.
Most parents get divorced after having a baby. It’s easy to be home and not be connected, to lose love when your head is full of shit and things you need to do. This is when love gets questioned. You lose sight of it, even though it’s there.
Understanding that everything is connected is key to creating a healthy environment for a family to exist. The balance between these worlds is the beauty.
[CPC]
If you had to guarantee your kid learned one thing, what would that be?
[Rodrigo]
Portuguese. But in terms of values, what we always try to approach is her freedom to speak to us and discuss whatever she wants.
I would love her to learn to say, “I’m sorry.” Recognizing that she was wrong. Sometimes, of course, I do bad things, and I need to look at her and say, “Hey, I’m sorry. I was nervous. I didn’t have the best attitude.”
[CPC]
Yeah, for sure. Rodrigo, to end on a high note, what’s something you’re proud of in the family context?
[Rodrigo]
I have the most amazing daughter I could ever imagine. That’s what makes me proud.
[CPC]
I love it. Rodrigo, it was a huge pleasure having this conversation. Thank you very much for your time.
[Rodrigo]
Thanks for inviting me. Thanks for inviting me. I like it when conversations access some sort of truth. And a big hug to all the listeners and parents. Go to the gym!
A big thanks again to Rodrigo da Matta for joining us for this conversation.
If you’d like to learn more about Rodrigo’s work, check out Bossa FM, or catch him live through his music projects in Berlin and beyond.
As always, thank you for being here and for being part of the Creative Parenting Club community.
We’ll be back soon with the next conversation.
