Scene Report: Brazil August 2008, w/ Astronautas
By: Eduardo Curi
André Frank is the one man band Brazil has for so long lacked. Coming from Recife, on the Northeast coast, André, under the name of Astronautas, hás been operating in the town's independent circuit since the early 90's.
During that decade, the city stormed Brazil with its own variation of rock and roll, called Mangue Beat. Distorted heavy guitars mixed with the regional Maracatu drum roll bred a number of bands that changed forever the face of rock music in Brazil. But, regardless of all this regionalism hype going on, André went on making music that little had to do with what anyone from elsewhere in Brazil would expect a band from Recife to be coming out with.
Sci-fi, technology and, most importantly, rock and roll, were what he'd been aiming for. Instead of the mud of the mangue (a type of swamp that surrounds coast areas - and where crabs come from!), the concrete of the city and its neon lights, instead of the harshness of the Maracatu drum roll, the technology and neatness from processed beats in the computer.
The Astronautas released recently their third album, O Amor Acabou. Other releases by the band have been Electro-cidade (2004) and ...de Algum Lugar do Sistema Solar (2003). In all three records, we can listen to a tight band, with crunchy guitars, traditional drum fills and also a lot of technology and audio processing. But it's all in the right place, clearly in tune with the band´s overriding concept.
André tells Rcokfeedback a bit about its enterprise:
Rockfeedback: Are you against the stream in Recife? I´m asking that because it seems like everyone that is not from over there expects that bands will play only Mangue Beat.
Andre Frank: "Recife has an incredible plurality and that is sensational. Bands that came after the mangue generation have their own personality and that's the differential. We are in this group. Artists trying to create their own musical, asthetical and attitude identities. We are proud of being a band doing something real and with artistic consistence. That is fundamental for us."
RFB: Your music flerts a lot with the digital and eletronic worlds. How do you cope with technology in a way that it doesn't overwhelm the music?
AF: "We take care so we don't let the machine overwhelm us. We overwhelm it. Music is still the basis of everything. The "spice" comes afterwards, and then the technology kicks in big time. Digital spice."
RFB: Where does the spatial aesthetic come from?
AF: "Sci-fi, literature, imagination and from the "aerospacialism"."
RFB: "Talking about Recife´s plurality, how is it the scene going on in town? Are there spaces for the bands to showcase their work, and are they being recgonized for it?"
AF: "As in 99% of Brazilian cities, we've got little space to make the bands' work circulate. It's a national rule. Now, the bands' scene is stronger than ever because there are always new bands coming up full of energy and willing to do something new. And that is, for sure, the most important part of it all."
RFB: Recife has two consolidated festivals in the national independent scene. How do they contribute, and help to consolidate the city's scene as a whole?
AF: "Especially in what concerns distinct bands crossing paths, exchanging information, and influencing each other, it's very precious indeed."
RFB: What strategies have you been using to get round the dificulties CDs are bringing nowadays?
AF: "Youtube, MySpace... there are all sort of means we can use to get music across to everyone. Nowadays we must work with music massification and do tighter gigs each time. And there we go - alive and kicking."
You can listen, see, download and talk to Astronautas at www.myspace.com/osastronautas, and at their official website: www.astronautas.org
· And just to keep you infromed, Recife is the capital of the state of Pernambuco in the Northeast of Brazil. Beatiful beaches, exciting cultural life and regional music (try some frevo and maracatu) and, most important of all: CARNAVAL!