…a garage-rock
band from Brazil, with two tunes on SoundCloud and no official release anywhere
else – YET - but more on that later. Read on...
They followed
me the other day (blogger’s dream to be found by a band), I had just woken up, having
the daily – do I get up or give up – conversation with myself – pressing play
on their first SoundCloud tune while all that is going on – and was met by a
barrage of fuzz I could not ignore (ps fuzz+me=love).
The decision
was made: get up.
 |
| Photo by Jai T Junior |
In the middle
of putting the finishing touches to their debut album, The Snow Twins found
time to speak to Indie Dunes: we chatted about what it is like to be a garage
rock band in the land known best for salsa, beaches, coffee and a certain style
of waxing (among other things) - thankfully, we both speak English since we
wouldn’t get very far on my nonexistent Portuguese or their Serbian.
Its 6:46am
here, so let’s start with the most important question: How are the preparations
for the World Cup going? ;)
Actually none of us enjoy watching soccer games,
but of course there is a national preparation to receive foreigners from all
around the world going on. As Brazilian citizens, we hope this makes the
government to have some kind of change because, as you may have noticed, there
was a lot going on around here about some weeks ago.
We also expect that the stereotypical view that
people outside Brazil have of our country changes, because our culture is not
made only of carnival, soccer and samba. We are a living proof that it's not
true.
yikes, I was
expecting an answer more on the lines of "all the roads are dug up,
construction cranes are blocking out the sun" (I was in Qatar while they
were preparing for Asian games in 2006, I feel for everyone living in a country
preparing for a major event!).
Living proof
you are not samba influenced is evident lol, I hear a lot of White Stripes
meets My Goodness maybe some She Keeps Bees with a wave at Guadalupe Plata -
tell me more about the music scene in Brazil
 |
| Photo by Gab Z |
Well, nowadays
in Brazil samba and funk carioca are the most popular music genres. Recently it
was added to the mainstream scene the "brand new" sertanejo
universitário, which is, basically, a fail copy of American country music with
empty lyrics that are catchy and a dancing rhythm so it fills the also empty
listeners' heads and so on.
The
underground scene however is very underrated and the authorial bands are not
treated as they should be.
Basically, or
you're a pop oriented band/artist produced by a commercial label (or by someone
who has lots of money) and then you get all the space you want, or you're an
independent artist who relies mainly on internet to spread the word about your
hard work trying to make yourself a name but unfortunately you have most of the
doors closed.
Sounds pretty much like the state of affairs of underground
/ independent scene everywhere else. In my country the alternative scene has
strong routes around universities/students, is it the same in Brazil? (I always
like to think of us as "enlightened" as opposed to sheep, with all
due respect to the sheep).
Anyway, enough about them, more about you - Who are
the Snow Twins?
 |
| Photo by Gab Z |
Yep, universities people/students are the ones who
still manage to keep it going over here.
The Snow Twins are Luan Machado and Helen Souza,
initially classmates during college who got to know each other better after
exchanging information about music. The friendship turned up into a
relationship and the duo itself was born after a random rehearsal made on a
friend's house unintentionally.
Before becoming The Snow Twins though, we had a
tribute band called The Red Stripes in which we learned a lot and build up
ourselves as musicians until we had enough experience and songs to quit playing
cover ones (and also we were getting tired of doing so).
Anyway, usually we just describe ourselves as
"a duo in which guitar and drums mix and oppose
themselves, summoning reminiscences that reverb crudely. The Snow Twins doesn’t
restrain to the modern musical archetype: metronimic rhythms, complex harmonies
and charming melodies. Binding the resources in order to drip the creativity
out is what results the band’s sound."
From the three band that we didn't know we liked
Guadalupe Plata the most!
It's weird when you realize you don't know about
good bands near you and get to know them talking to someone who lives overseas lol
(hi5!!)
You told me you are working on
a new album – is this your first as “The Snow Twins”? When do you plan to
release it?
Yep, we're currently finishing the physical production
of your debut album as The Snow Twins. This will be our first album ever
because the other band was just a tribute one with no recordings at all. Well,
since it's our first album ever it has been a very big thing for us and we're
experiencing a lot of new things during the process. The anxiety is building up
since we already know that in a week or two we'll have the album ready on our
hands.
The album is an homogeneous debut with
seven songs structured in a listen-to-all-in-a-row order that will be
reproduced on pocket gigs we're gonna perform around local cities with the
exact album tracks. Also, two songs that are part of the debut album, "Over
The Line" and "Amnesia (We Were Getting So Close)" will have an
exclusive digital release through a Greek experimental net label called SonicPlayground, they have a great catalog and a brilliant idea behind it.
Anyway, we have a fairly big repertory but
for those who don't know us personally or have never attended a gig we played
we're still a "two songs band" because there are only two songs
online on our Soundcloud and other band's page. Releasing "The Snow
Twins" will sure give us more opportunities and chances of having new
contacts as well as building up the band's name
As we talked about earlier on the
interview, we always aim on international goals because unfortunately there's
not a scene for a garage ish lo fi band around here. Also about that, the
recordings on this album are not a lo-fi garage mayhem, they're actually all
hi-fi clear and easy to listen and to understand "versions" of what
we usually do onstage. This makes our songs more acceptable between those who
are not used to it!
About the release date, we hope we can
make it until the end of this month (October). We're just gonna set a date
after the CD is 100% ready.
A Brazilian band about to
release an album through a Greek experimental net label interviewed by a Serb
currently in Abu Dhabi - no borders for indie. #spreadtheword
Support indie
bands and artists
Tatjana x
Update!!!
The Snow Twins have officially announced the release date of their debut album - November 11th!
More about the release HERE
Jet Set Go Tour - more info HERE
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