Banda Desenhada Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Feb 15th 2010 2:20PM by Preston Jones
Comments

Most people associate Brazilian musically with sultry sambas or the festive forro. The Fortaleza, Brazil duo Banda Desenhada makes music that defies expectations, referencing its geographic roots even as it incorporates a startling array of sounds more familiar to American ears. The pair, as part of quartet Telerama, first gained attention for a cover of Guided by Voices' 'Game of Pricks,' which appeared on last year's compilation 'Don't Stop Now: A Tribute to Guided by Voices.' As part of Telerama, multi-instrumentalist Igor Mina and vocalist-guitarist Alinne Rodrigues were the first from their state of Ceara to perform at SXSW. Spinner caught up with Mina as the new group prepared for its Stateside debut.

How did your band form?

Banda Desenhada formed from the breakup of our previous band, Telerama. Under that name, we released a couple of EPs [2006's 'Para Recordar' and 2008's 'Arsenal'], toured across Brazil and played at SXSW. After SXSW, we kind of felt like our mission was accomplished. We even applied to SXSW 2009 [and] were invited, but didn't travel. We felt we really needed to do something new, artistically. Then we spent ten months under some kind of conceptual pause -- completely away from music, concerts, instruments, everything -- to come back as Banda Desenhada. From a quartet, we turned into a duo. We can play live as a duo, but we still like to have more people on stage.

How did you come up with your band name?

In Portugal, banda desenhada means "comics," but in Brazil it's literally understood as "drawn band," as if we were a band from the comic strips. And we couldn't miss the opportunity to make a pun, could we?

How would you describe your sound?

Unashamed pop with that tropical twist.

What are your musical influences?

Some Brazilian music, of course. Mostly things from the '60s, like Chico Buarque, Elis Regina, Os Mutantes and Ronnie Von. On different levels, these artists, and many more we like, combined good lyrics with innovative music, like, for example, an annoying fuzzy guitar jamming along with a basic bossa nova drum beat. But [also] pop and rock bands from everywhere, such as the Cardigans, Blur, Blondie and ABBA.

What's your biggest vice?

Making puns. Along with the band duties, I work as a copywriter at an advertising agency, so trying to find multiple meanings for words or expressions -- or merely playing with it for fun -- is always part of my day. And, one way or another, it leaks into my social and artistic life. Too bad the puns related to the band name only work in Portuguese. But I'm working on it!

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Having enjoyed Weezer's latest album, 'Raditude.' We love Weezer! For years we've been listening to their albums, and we see the latest one as a guilty pleasure because the critics and the hardcore fans hated it.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

Hitting my head against an air conditioner outside the motel we stayed in. Fortunately, 350 bucks, four surgical staples and an anti-tetanus shot later, I was able to perform as though nothing had happened. We were in Miami, during our first US tour, back in 2008. It was our first morning there. Due to this incident, we missed our flight to Austin, had to sleep in the airport and got to Texas right in time to perform.

Who was your first celebrity crush?

Jewel. By that time, I was a teenager and she was some sort of country girl playing folk songs with a little of weirdness on them. And we like everything weird.

Are you working on new material?

Yes. We're recording a bunch of new songs to be released as an EP at SXSW. It will be called 'Banda Sonora.' All right, I admit -- it's a pun again, meaning "soundtrack." Got it?

Preston Jones is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.