Portugal. The Man Take Their Lead From David Bowie -- Top Acts at SXSW 2011

Posted on Mar 15th 2011 3:30PM by Joe Tacopino

Emily Dyan Ibarra

They may be from Wasilla, but Portugal. The Man are not fond of fellow Alaskan Sarah Palin. Could that be why the psychedelic rock band behind 'American Ghetto' relocated to Oregon? We wonder. Spinner talked to bassist Zachary Carothers about SXSW, common Alaskan stereotypes, and the story behind the band's unique moniker.

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Download Portugal. The Man's 'People Say' (MP3) off 'The Satanic Satanist' Free

What are the biggest misconceptions people have about Alaska?

You cannot see Russia from our town. The summers are actually quite nice and warm, and we do not live in igloos. But I did build one this winter for fun.

How do you feel about being associated with Sarah Palin (via Wasilla)?

I think we're used to it by now. It was pretty strange at first, having everyone know of your hometown. We're not extremely outspoken when it comes to our political beliefs, but I think we've done a pretty good job on letting everyone know we don't really agree with her views and don't believe she represents Alaska properly.

The band has been called experimental, maybe a bit psychedelic. What are some of your influences?

Well, like most rock bands will tell you, we were raised on the music our parents provided to us: the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Neil Young, to name a few. I was always very fond of music. Bands like Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine and the Beastie Boys were some of the first bands I found on my own and really inspired me to start playing rock 'n' roll.

Can you give us a little background on the name: Portugal. The Man?

Portugal was intended to be an alter ego, a fictional character that wrote all the songs and we would play live, much like how David Bowie created Ziggy Stardust. When thinking what to name this person, we wanted the one name to represent our whole group of people. We figured a country is one name for a group of people with one voice in the world, and we randomly picked Portugal -- thought it would be a good name for a man.

There is some great photography on your blog. Is there one member who takes these pictures? Is it a side hobby?

Thank you very much. I'm the photo guy in the band. I've always loved to take pictures and with all the social networking sites available these days, it's a good way to keep our fans informed on what we're up to, and have a little fun with it. I just love taking photos and would be doing it all day long whether it was for our site or just for myself.

Are you looking forward to the SXSW festival?

We're very excited. We've played SXSW twice before and had a blast. Always pretty busy, but it's so much fun. The shows we landed this year are better than we've ever had before, so everyone is pumped. There are some rad bands playing this year, so we'll be out and about all day every day when we have time off. In general, we are doing a lot less shows. I think the last time we were here we did three shows each day.

Catch Portugal. The Man Peform at AOL Music and Spinner's SXSW showcase on Thursday, March 17 at Stubb's (801 Red River St.) 10:30PM.

Watch Portugal. The Man's Video for 'People Say'