We were lucky to catch up with Diego Duarte Gomes recently and have shared our conversation below.

Diego, appreciate you joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

When you fully rely on your art to pay all of your bills, and put food on the table, as your sole source of income, failure is not an option. Booking ahead, and handling it yourself are both imperative, in my circumstance.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Music- Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I moved to the U.S. in July, 1997. I was 14, spoke zero English, and went straight into a standard, American high school.
At 18, Beyond, my very first band, played its first show in Virginia Beach, VA.
I stuck around for the entirety of its 5-year run. Learned so much and made life-long friends.
After playing in a few different local bands, whilst still working a “regular job”, some friends and I started Borderline Crazy, which was my first profitable cover band, in June 2006. Playing in 2-3 bands, simultaneously, allowed me the opportunity to end my career in the “family business”, and become a full time musician. Needless to say, I’ve never looked back.
After BC, I joined a band called Rich Whiskey and within a year, I was asked to run the band. From booking, to payroll, taxes, website, social media, etc… I dove head first, and, quite literally taught myself how to run a successful cover band, at which point I was invited by Brian Grilli to join his traveling, country band. I immediately accepted, as I had all but “given-up” on the lifelong dream of touring with an original band, now in my 30s, and raising my daughter.
We played mostly weekends, mostly of town, with the occasional 1-2 week-long tours throughout the midwest; sometimes Florida, Nashville, etc… Played some really cool, big shows, such as Sturgis Rally, in South Dakota, with Styx, The Guess Who, 38 Special, Brantley Gilbert, and many other huge names.
During the week, and weekends at home, I started booking shows around town and while playing a college gig, in 2016, all the kids wanted to hear 90’s tunes… so, on the way home, I came up with the name, created facebook and Instagram pages, and WOAH! was born, as a Show Band, playing a few times a year, including opening spots for national acts from the decade, such as Gin Blossoms, Sister Hazel, LIT, and others.
In 2021, after the 2020 COVID shutdowns, I decided to turn WOAH! into my full time music venture.
In 2022, WOAH! started the year with an entirely new line-up. Revamped; rejuvenated; refreshed; reinvigorated; and motivated to keep growing. Over the last couple of years, we’ve regularly added new songs; new equipment; new rooms; and more importantly, rehearsed and tightened up the show exponentially. After playing a handful of out-of-state shows in 2022, my goal was to book 12 or so those runs for 2023, and we had about 20, including a few overnighters, which have been fantastic for bonding as bandmates and as friends. By January 1st, 2024 we closed the books for the year, as we had every available date filled! With a solid raise for each and every room we’d played in the past. You can be certain we’ll continue on our upward movement to further improve our brand of entertainment.

Photography-
Although I’d always been into taking pictures, as well as capturing and editing video my whole life, it was in 2018 that I started learning proper photography.
I shadowed a mentor for a couple of years and in late 2020, I started DoArt Photography, as a means to explore my creative side, within the medium as well as supplement my income, considering most of my shows had been cancelled due to the pandemic.
I would say my income is split about 70/30, music and photography respectively.
As a photographer, I specialize in business headshots, family photos, maternity photos, engagement sessions, weddings stateside and abroad, aerial photography as well as videography, and so much more. So far, I’ve had the exquisite opportunity to photograph international weddings in Greece, Hawai’i, Jamaica, and Mexico.
Being a musician first, allows me an extra set of skills at capturing live performances as well, having been on the other side of the lens, the entirety of my adult life. I’ve been honored to capture nationally acclaimed artists such as Morgan Wade, Tropildelic, Hed PE, Lucero, as well as countless loca and regional fellow musicians.

My goal is to eventually be at the 50/50 mark. Doing professional photography during the week, and playing live music on the weekends, with the occasional paradisiacal, international wedding of course. I’m so close I can taste it.

Although I have ventured into advertising DoArt Photography on Hulu, my next move will likely be a push for the aforementioned international weddings, likely with a video ad, devoted to those, in affluent areas, such as NoVA. I know 2024 has just started, but my sights are set on 2025 and beyond.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As a band leader, you rarely if ever, truly consider replacing every member of your full-time, working band and sole source of income, at the beginning of a year. But although I’m forever grateful to all of my previous band mates, it was the unequivocal best decision I’ve ever made, for the band, myself, and even the musicians of whom I had to let go. Success is built on the heels of difficult decisions. (Dang…. I should ™ that one.)

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Reaching people. As a musician, having a room, chuck full of people, sing along, to the point where you can just stop singing and let them go, there’s absolutely nothing in this world like it.

As a photographer, it’s the happy tears. When clients tell me they “can’t pick a favorite”, and they’ve been happy-crying, as they have their first peek at your work.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.doartphotos.com & www.woah90s.com
• Instagram: @woah90s & @doartphotos
• Facebook: @doartphotos & @woah90s

Image Credits
The main photo was captured by Brian Brough of EyeCaptures. The others are watermarked with their info, when applicable.