Biography
Wilson Cruz has organized his existence around a trio of enduring elements: music, command of the English language, and technology. He pursued English fluency specifically to grasp the words John Lennon delivered in “Imagine” and those Robert Plant sang in “Stairway to Heaven.” His initial venture online sought the printed lyrics of Rush’s 1976 album “2112,” which had appeared in Brazil without any booklet. The next online effort aimed at purchasing compact discs unavailable in his home country.
A degree in Naval Engineering from Escola Politecnica da Universidade de São Paulo opened doors into technological fields. Computing captured his attention from the first days of the program. His earliest professional role, as an analyst at a bank, supplied the groundwork for a subsequent career as a consultant advising on computing strategies; that path led to his current position managing internet marketing at IBM. Music played a supporting role throughout these developments.
Although music no longer serves chiefly as an aid to language study, it now provides daily respite after ten-hour stretches spent on technology. Technology in turn keeps his English proficiency several notches above average, and the combination of the two pursuits allows him to engage fully with his primary devotion: music itself.
That devotion reaches back to childhood. His mother, the daughter of Italian immigrants and possessor of an untested voice together with a keen rhythmic sense, regularly tuned the household radio to AM stations. He recalls hearing “Skyline Pigeon” for the first time at age seven in 1970. In 1975 an aunt presented him and his two brothers with a record player. One brother guided him toward Rush, Led Zeppelin, and the progressive-rock groups of the era. The siblings began acquiring LPs and assembled a substantial rock collection.
In 1983 the same brother sold the entire collection to purchase a guitar. Since that time Cruz has made a hobby of replacing the lost titles on compact disc, a task complicated by the scarcity of certain obscure pressings. This experience, combined with his habit of tracing connections among facts, sparked his work as an amateur researcher. Early investigations focused on the essential bands of the 1970s. The influence those groups and their 1960s predecessors exerted on Brazil’s emerging rock scene soon became evident. Although Brazilian music encompasses far more than rock and pop, Cruz’s interest settled on this strand because it unites every quality he values in sound within one continuous thread. The knowledge gathered in these studies may constitute his contribution to music and its listeners.
A degree in Naval Engineering from Escola Politecnica da Universidade de São Paulo opened doors into technological fields. Computing captured his attention from the first days of the program. His earliest professional role, as an analyst at a bank, supplied the groundwork for a subsequent career as a consultant advising on computing strategies; that path led to his current position managing internet marketing at IBM. Music played a supporting role throughout these developments.
Although music no longer serves chiefly as an aid to language study, it now provides daily respite after ten-hour stretches spent on technology. Technology in turn keeps his English proficiency several notches above average, and the combination of the two pursuits allows him to engage fully with his primary devotion: music itself.
That devotion reaches back to childhood. His mother, the daughter of Italian immigrants and possessor of an untested voice together with a keen rhythmic sense, regularly tuned the household radio to AM stations. He recalls hearing “Skyline Pigeon” for the first time at age seven in 1970. In 1975 an aunt presented him and his two brothers with a record player. One brother guided him toward Rush, Led Zeppelin, and the progressive-rock groups of the era. The siblings began acquiring LPs and assembled a substantial rock collection.
In 1983 the same brother sold the entire collection to purchase a guitar. Since that time Cruz has made a hobby of replacing the lost titles on compact disc, a task complicated by the scarcity of certain obscure pressings. This experience, combined with his habit of tracing connections among facts, sparked his work as an amateur researcher. Early investigations focused on the essential bands of the 1970s. The influence those groups and their 1960s predecessors exerted on Brazil’s emerging rock scene soon became evident. Although Brazilian music encompasses far more than rock and pop, Cruz’s interest settled on this strand because it unites every quality he values in sound within one continuous thread. The knowledge gathered in these studies may constitute his contribution to music and its listeners.