Trama Virtual’s TrocaBrahma video

Many thanks to Dago at Sao Paolo’s Trama Virtual for this excellent feature on the TrocaBrahma musical exchanges. You’ll have to brush up on your Portuguese to understand it all.

Add comment June 28th, 2007 Posted by Tommy

A Gatorra, an animal helmet
and a box of bleeping toys

Gruff Rhys unhurriedly unpacks an assortment of strange toys and home-made signal generators and synthesisers while Tony Da Gatorra fastens a T star G headband around his forehead and straps on his creation: the Gatorra. Gruff is a Welsh song-writing legend. Tony is an incredible guy. We feel honoured to be able to spy on their rehearsal process.

Continue Reading 1 comment June 20th, 2007 Posted by Dougal

Together As One
(how to combine two rock bands)

“Girlfriend in a coma,” sings Romulo in a gentle bossa tenor. Kenny is learning lines in Portuguese while Romulo insists that Johnny Mar was a bossa nova player. The two singer-songwriters swap language and lyrics while their band, and the production crew, pause for a Brahma and an assortment of crisps. This is the biggest rehearsal studio I’ve seen so far. The space is certainly required.

Continue Reading Add comment June 14th, 2007 Posted by Dougal

Patrao, painting and poetic Portuguese

Romulo Froes met up with King Creosote and his band of merry men in our hotel. We’d met Kenny, Johnny, Gavin, Nathan and Christian the previous day just as they arrived. Ben went for food with them while we went to work. We didn’t see them for the jazz that night and only briefly at the Four Tet and Open Field Church gig so we took the band to the market during the day to gaze at offal and sample pure melted chocolate. We all decided to go out this evening. Bruno and Romulo took us to the football themed Sao Christavo bar and restaurant where Tiff had watched the Champions League final and we had all enjoyed some liver and jazz (and who wouldn’t?).

Continue Reading Add comment June 13th, 2007 Posted by Dougal

Four Tet meets Open Field Church, live

Studio SP, in Sao Paulo’s cool (or legal, as they say here) Villa Madalena district, is packed with exuberant Paulistas (and probably a few Paulistanos too). It’s barely even standing room only as Open Field Church start the ceremony, bawdy renditions of indie classics filling the room. It’s a daft idea but a great one. Eduardo, CSS’s manager and with his brother Bruno the man behind Slag Records, and Dago, from Trama Records and editor in cheif of the Trama Virtual website, came up with the idea to sing indie songs a capella, badly. It’s very funny and infectuously engaging. The crowd in Studio SP certainly agree.

Continue Reading Add comment June 10th, 2007 Posted by Dougal

Kenny teaches Romulo bossa

1 comment June 2nd, 2007 Posted by Tommy