DeezMag #4

High Flying Bird

Wako

RadioFlot

Anarchicks

and many others

Klondike

Deez nr 4 EditorialDigital Rights Mangling

DRM. Meaning, Digital Rights Management, or as it's detractors prefer to call it, Digital Restrictions Management. What is DRM? It's a technology that "manages" what we can do with our digital media and digital devices. It was originally created to prevent copyrighted material from being copied. Online music, DVD's and CD's are among the most common clients. When the whole CD revolution began companies started to worry about copies. But it wasn't until the internet came into it's own that they really started to worry. Peer-to-Peer became as common as chips, and the download mania began. Billions were lost. Of course I have nothing against protecting authors rights, but this all DRM thing is getting out of hand. As much as the problem it was intended to solve.

The problem with DRM it's not only that it prevents copies of digital media. Right now it allows companies to control where you use it, how you use it and how often. They can force you to constantly identify yourself or pay each time you want to use media that's already yours. They can track your usage. Some software won't even work if you're not connected to the internet. And they can even delete files remotely if they want to. Yes, you heard me right: take away from you something you've already paid for. And you know what? We are agreeing to all of this in EULA's.

In 2012 Amazon deleted the entire content of a customers Kindle because apparently she tried to buy a book using an Amazon from a different country from her own. The action is irreversible. Already in 2009 they had deleted from Kindle's all copies of George Orwell 's "1984" (amazing choice!), because THEY allowed a third party to sell it without permission. You wake up, and the book you just bought and started reading last night is gone. There was a refund in this case, but they didn't have to. And that's the thing. You are not actually buying them. According to the EULA it's more like a rental. They still belong to Amazon. Other's are doing it as well, I've used this examples because they perfectly exemplify my point.

Not long ago DRM still permitted you to do a certain number of copies of your files. You could store one on your computer and another on your MP3 player for instance. I have CD's that are protected in such a way. Now, they are not even bothering with that. These policies are not stopping big time piracy, they are creating unnecessary problems to end consumers. They are turning consumers to piracy.

I have said time and again. The internet is turning into a very ugly and fascist place. And we don't care because it's all masked in a facade of freedom and accessibility. We are wrapping ourselves in yards of rope just because, right now, it's all fluffy and comfy. But soon enough all that fluffyness is going to turn into hardcore nylon nautical rope. And believe you me, it's going hurt like hell as it tightens around your pretty digital neck.

IVO CAIRES BELLO

Editor

“Music . . . can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.”

Deezmag

Leonard Bernstein

1. Tell us a little about yourself and what you’ve been doing.I was born in Dinan, Brittany. This gave me the opportunity to learn music (clarinet and flutes) both from classical and traditional approach: reading and hearing tunes. I traveled a lot since, studied in Brussels, Lille, Ireland, and from trad musicians all over Europe. It is only recently that I began to have support from organisations in Brittany, I am very lucky this year to have support by ‘Paotred An Dreujenn Goal’ (Friends of clarinet) who organises a residency and concerts with Martin Tourish, Matt Griffin and Stella Rodrigues, to launch a project where clarinet meets the world of Irish trad music.

2. Do you have any other hobbies besides, obviously, making music?Yes. I spend a lot of time traveling, walking in nature, I love sciences, arts. I discover spirituality, and my main hobby is to understand how all this works, affects me and the world around me, how everything is connected, and build bridges between those different worlds. I have studied Music Technology as to bridge music and science worlds, learning to develop interactive systems, effects, algorithms for compositions. Last year I studied Social Entrepreneurship, to bridge my passion for music and the need to be part of the change in society – One long term project I have is to build a platform to help musicians touring. In music I have often been part

of ‘Fusion/World music projects: Tarab Med bridging Mediterranean musics, Lazik bridging Balkan and European traditional music, Txütxükan and Za Ucha bridging Balkan with rock, Latin or surf music, etc. In sciences I am very interested in Integral theories ... and especially Ervin Laszlo’s work. So music is part is probably part of my main hobby: understand and build bridges, or as Hermann Hess writes in a more poetic way: to play the Glass Bead Game.

3. So, tell me, how do you create your songs?I experienced different process of arrangements in various projects. What I like the most is the creative process where musicians just play until the

Dylan Gully

music resonates in our hearts... because this is most of the time where it will resonate with everybody’s heart. This is how I worked in Txütxükan, who’s 2nd album will be released next summer.

4. Can you survive on music alone or do you have other work?This is not an easy thing, to live on music, to find the balance between doing what we really like and earning money. I think capitalism is very efficient in destroying culture as well as environment and people’s souls around the world. I have chosen to do only what I like, which is sometimes difficult financially (laughs) but it really is important for my heart, and creativity. I am lucky I don’t need to ‘have another job’, neither to rely on social welfare (many musicians do), but I am considering now earning some money from other creative projects than music to have more resources to invest in albums and tour production.

5. Have you taken your music abroad yet?I am usually playing abroad. It is important for me to collaborate with people from various cultures, to play in places where people like to listen to music. So I need to travel, and luckily, I love it! The response abroad is usually amazing because we bring freshness, and the magic of traveling adds positive vibes to this! I spent a month in Istanbul to launch a new project: Żetadâm Trio (Gadulka, Accordion, Clarinet), met musicians and immersed myself in the Maqams culture. Istanbul, like Cork in Ireland, is a city I love to be and spend time as the music there is part of daily life, very rich in influences, (crossroad of Arabic/Asian/European/Balkan

cultures) and the response to music is amazing.

6. What are your hopes for the near future?I have generally no expectations. For the last 5 years, living as a musician, I experienced I had to make things happen, not wait or expect help from other people. The good thing about being ‘DIY’ is that it makes us being very creative to find our ways, which also makes us more creative in the music itself and increase

the quality and freshness of concerts ! I am now in a turning point in my life, building the foundations for a new page. So my main hope is to keep the energy to finish this transition time soon, turn the page, and see and enjoy what comes up in the new one !

JOANNE COLLINS & JOHN HOUGH

www.myspace.com/dylangully Email: [email protected]

DM – High Flying Bird is Bruno Lopes´s band. Tell us how this all began. BL – I started to play some things in the guitar; I wanted to compose music, do a little bit of art, something different from the daily routine life. It all started with a band that I had for a while, more in the alternative rock style, heavy rock you know. We recorded two albums and we actually played in the old Hard Club. We had some success back

then. After that, I created this solo project which is not exactly a band but it´s more like a concept. A freedom´s concept. The idea was to create a solo project where I could play wherever I wanted to with or without a band. Without any sort of bonds.

DM- The name of the new EP, Desassossego, refers us to Fernando Pessoa. Was the poet an influence in

Bruno Lopes is the mentor of the High Flying Bird project. He has just released the album, Desassossego, his

sixth work in his long discography. The musician from Northern Portugal talked to Deezmag about his latest work, Fernando

Pessoa and more.

this new work?BL- Yes, it is an author that I admire because of the strength that he uses on words. But in this record, the uneasiness was actually an inner question: “What makes me want to do records in this complicated situation that we´re living in? What makes me want to do a huge investment…why I´m going to record a sixth album?” It´s the unrest. But I think it is an artistic and spiritual unrest. And it also came into the idea of the producer Paulo Branco…When I told him I wanted to record an album called Desassossego (Uneasiness) he immediately though of Fernando Pessoa as well. Curiously the album was not supposed to be recorded…

DM- How come? BL- Well, I started by taping down demos of some songs at my home. I sent them to the producer and he told me those songs deserved to be recorded. I thought and told him “Do you think? Record this, why? Making the ordinary music tours in Portugal? And he replied “No, let’s make a real album”. I didn´t want to stand still…so that´s what happened.

DM- Besides singer and instrumentalist, you are also the lyric´s composer. Do your literary influences have some relevance on you composition process? BL- Yes they have. It is unconscious. I try not to think too

much on that matter…because sometimes it´s a very fast process and sometimes it´s slow. The style is a little bit maverick; the lyrics are not properly accessible ones. The Beat Generation influences are there in this aspect, in the rage, in the rebellion. The Beat Generation itself was connected to music so it´s all related somehow. Those literary heroes of mine are related with my music heroes.

DM- Which are?BL – Bob Dylan, Joan Baez…my influences are American roots music, very old stuff. I like Robert Johnson for example, and Delta Blues, who a kind of aggressive, direct blues than normal. I listen to Tom Waits…people who give a lot of value to the word. Curiously I have a song that I wrote in the day that Fado was considered into the Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage list. I had this blues song in my mind, and I started to mix it with some Fado chords, and found the two styles to be similar. If you notice, blues is a melancholic spirit state…But we are not Americans so what is the style connected to sorrow for us? It´s Fado. The instruments are different but it follows a pattern like Blues do.

ANA FILIPA CARVALHO

http://www.facebook.com/pages/High-Flying-Bird/175302932527520?fref=ts

I feel a very peculiar pleasure when, after many years, I bump against a piece of art that at some point of my existence took me by storm or surprised me, but that, because of the relentless march of time, slowly faded from my presence and from my memory. Like old friends that, after a long time apart, meet again by chance at a street corner, and with a shrug of their shoulders and a look of amusement, pretend they never got angry, and happily chat their way into the pleasure of each others company, I find myself rediscovering all sort of small pearls that once seduced me and that now come back rejuvenated, to my collection of delights.One such case, that I would like to share with the reader, is an exemplar work that merges two of my passions: music and astrology.The work in question is titled “The Planets (Op.32)” and it was composed in the second decade of the 20th century by Gustav Holst. Holst not being a composer widely known to the general public, was saved by the great genius with which he composed this work, without a doubt the most celebrated of his career. This delicious musical work is composed of seven pieces: Mars, the Bringer of War; Venus, the Bringer of Peace; Mercury, the Winged Messenger; Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity; Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age; Uranus, the Magician e Neptune, the Mystic. Without being a piece of extraordinary originality in what concerns the resources of composition (the influences, more or less explicit, of Debussy, Stravinsky or Schoenberg, are often recognized and criticized) or of deep metaphysical concept (the planetary archetypes indicated in the titles can be borderline loutish, although it is known that Holst did in fact study astrology), there is in the final result something profoundly inspired and genial. From the baffling and majestic Mars, to the harmonic disquiet of Mercury and the mysterious and wavering cadency of Neptune, its possible to seize in an almost iniciatory way, the energetic characteristics of each of the planets. And that may be the greatest asset of Holst's work - the sensory, even sensitive, experience of the values compiled by Ptolemy in his Tetrabiblos. Knowledge turned music, initiation turned art But no esoteric schooling is necessary to enjoy this sublime piece - I would dare to say that even the most brutish of creatures will not escape unscathed to the vibratory effect of this Suite of Planets. The most common of mortals will recognize in it most of the elements that would later make the aural delight of fans of science fiction , suspense and horror soundtracks.Directly or indirectly, its relevance, its subtle importance and influence is manifest and is sure to have made it's mark amongst a significant part of contemporary composers. It will, without a doubt, provide an extraordinary soundtrack at a certain point of the readers life. It certainly did for me.

The Sublime Comfort of the Unknown

DM - You all come from different projects, from hardcore to indie. The idea to create this band came from a facebook talk between Helena and Pris, right?A - We knew each others work and decided to create this all girl band. We brought Catarina in because we already knew her work. Then we did some auditions for a guitar player, until we found Ana. When she came in the circle was complete and perfect.

DM - And the influences you brought from the bands you played in had an

important role in the sound you are making now?A - Our sound is born from there, from that large spectrum of knowledge each one of us brings in. Each one of us has a diferent musical identity.When you mixed it up it comes out like this (laughs).

DM - And exactly because of that it's a little difficult to define.A - We don't like to define, to put our sound into a drawer. But if you have to find one it would be Rock which is a big drawer. It's more like a closet, or a whole

room. Hell, make it a house (laughs). Rock, more than music, is an attitude, a way of life, and that's what Anarchicks are all about.

DM - You have just released your album Really?!. What changed since your first EP "Look What You Made Me Do"?A - We matured. It's normal that there was an evolution in composition and execution. And not only that, we were looking for something different, a different sound.

Anarchicks are, well...chicks. Four of them. If that looks like a lot to handle, it is. But they do laugh a lot, which makes it easier. And they play their ass’s off on

stage, which makes it great.

Anarchicks©Copyrigth - Vanda Noronha

DM - But did that happen because of the time you spent together?A - Well the tools were different, and so were the people we worked with. We are still working with Makoto, but this time around we worked with Pedro Chamorra in the mixing and mastering, and that alone made all the diferent. And the whole concept of the sound is different. The other work was like a calling card, this one in more faithful to what we are live, to our essence. It has a lot of our live feeling. And that's why we never really wanted it to be over produced, or very clean. Some people can find that odd, think that there's some kind of technical flaw, but it was a choice. Our music is very in-your-face, and it didn't make sense to record something that wasn't in sync with what people see live. It doesn't mean that in the future we can't do something else.

DM - Like what?A - I don't know. Sing in Portuguese, or do a Fado. Or even go electronic. We don't have to justify ourselves to anyone. Our thing is musical anarchy. We have our ideas, but music is our weapon. It speaks for itself. That doesn't mean we are the Portuguese Pussy Riot (laughs). We are not politic. Although we are sympathetic with their cause. Free the girls already! The whole thing is just stupid.

DM - And your live performances are always something special. You have even played inside a moving bus! How was that like?A - It was a very fun experience, but very exhausting. It really took a lot out of us. We will never forget it, but I don't think we would like to do it again (laughs). It's a good thing none of us gets car sick.

DM - And the versatility that you have as musicians is very important live. You switch instruments a lot.

A - Yes, it's important because we all have different approaches to the instruments, and that helps us look for new ways to compose. The same guitar can sound very different in Pris's hands than in Ana's hands.

DM - And that's an option you use from song to song?A - It depends on the song, or the mood. Songs usually start with one of us doing something. And then another one comes and says "this would sound great there", and picks up the instrument with which she can best express the idea she came up with.

DM - Is that hard to manage, specially live?A - It's not a peaceful process. Mics are usually the biggest hassle, and we have to choose the line up very carefully, so there are no dead times between songs, when we change the instruments. But it's doable. And it's something that comes out naturally, so we have to go with it.

DM - You've been in other bands in the past, and you still get around with other projects...A - This is our steady relationship (laughs). We have an open relationship, but are married to each other.

DM - You're going to Super Bock Super Rock this year. And in the main stage.

A - Yess!!! (cheer). It's wonderful, I don't think we are going to sleep 'till July! (laughs). We are very lucky, and it's a great opportunity. And we are going to do our best. And we get to play with bands we love, which is beyond wonderful.

DM - And for the immediate future, any plans?A - A lot of gigs and a lot of music. We have some new stuff in the oven, and we are eager to record. Maybe make some video clips. Keep following the 'chicks, cause we are working hard to make you happy. And girls: pick up those guitars, we don't want to be the only chick's band

around.

(The interview ended as it started. With all out laughter. And with the band chanting one of their new compositions. I promised the band I would try to transcribe it. Get in a stoner mood here. Are you there? Ok, here it goes: Ta na na nan ta na na nan na na nan nananananana. Well, I tried girls...)

IVO BELLO

www.anarchicks.pthttp://www.facebook.com/AnarChicks

©Copyrigth - Marina Guerreiro

Cais de Gaiafacebook.com/lovebarcas

Where are you from? And do people support you there?We’re all from different parts of the world, Sean’s from Clare, Alec’s from Arkansas, US and Ciaran’s from Westmeath, but as a band we’re based in Limerick. Yeah, most of our Limerick friends would support us at our home gigs and we’re extremely thankful for this!

What's the feeling of being a professional band?It’s very exciting because although we’ve

been professional musicians individually for a while, we’re still new to the scene as a professional band. It’s great!

What artists do you feel inspire you?We all have a background in different types of traditional music, but we’re also influenced by many other genres. Artists such as Paolo Nutini, Ray Charles, Wallis Bird, Foy Vance, Tornado Ryder, Crooked Still, Natalie Haas, The Gorillaz, Dire Straits, Fleetwood Mac and Bon Iver.

If you were to describe yourself as a band, what would you say?I suppose we could describe ourselves as a fun and energetic trio. We like to try new things. With our unique instrumentation we are able to fill out the sound and we’re not lacking in what we don’t have.

So tell me, how do you create your songs? And what was your first arrangement? Generally, Sean approaches us with his idea for a song, and then we tackle it as a group and see what works from there. We like to try different things and combinations and try to explore the capabilities of our instruments until we find something that suits our sound. The first song we arranged was ‘Your Voice’ and ever since then we have just gelled as a group.

You are working on your first album at the moment, how is that coming along?Well we’ve just recorded an EP which we haven’t released yet. We’re planning on recording a full album very soon. We still have a lot of planning to do with regards to which songs we want to record.

What are your hopes for the near future?Firstly, we’re constantly working on recording the album. Other than that we’re trying to broaden where we perform to reach a wider audience and to develop as a band. We’re trying to get our sound out across the rest of Ireland and also the world! The likes of Balcony TV, Soundcloud and Facebook as well as all the support from other artists such as Paddy Casey, Hermitage Green, Kila and The Outside Track have helped us along this journey and we’re really grateful for it. We can always depend on our friends and family for support and we look forward to continuing to entertain them at every gig.

JOANNE COLLINS & JOHN HOUGH

http://www.facebook.com/SeansWalk

Sean’s WalkSean’s WalkSean’s WalkSean’s WalkSean’s Walk

We Are Killing Ourselves (a.k.a. WAKO), believe in taking risks. And it has paid off. They were hailed as one of the

most promising bands in the Metal scene, and they've shared stages with some of the greatest metal bands in the world, like Megadeth, Paradise Lost, Slayer, Soulfly, Moonspell and Sepultura. I talked with

lead singer Nuno Rodrigues to know more about the band.

©Copyrigth - BALCONYTV

DM - You guys have been around for 10 years, but your sound has been very solid since your first EP. How did that happen? What was your idea for the band in the beginning? NR - It's mostly the band's synergy. And also when you start performing, you learn, you become musically richer, and you try to polish your sound to better suit your objectives. In the beginning the idea was to do a kind of modern power-groove metal. We started when nu-metal started, although you can't hear it in our sound. Then we reached further back, to Pantera, the first Machine Head records. But as you become more demanding with your music, your ear also becomes more demanding. When I was younger my bands of reference were things like Alice in Chains, Faith No More, Pantera. Right now my favorite band is Meshuggah, a type of sound I really didn't pay much attention to when I was younger. We didn't have a set plan, but we looked at bands like Pantera and Meshuggah and thought "this is the level we want to reach". Now we have no limits.

DM - So those bands pushed you to improve yourselves technically so you could be able to do the sound you wanted?NR - Without question. Our guitar player has strong jazz roots and right now he is studying composition and musical structure. Right after the first album I started singing lessons in the Conservatory, so I could learn the basics that I lacked, breathing techniques. And also to find my voice. Because WAKO have more guttural parts, but also more melodic ones, highs and lows. In order to master that you need to learn, to practice. You don't just jump around screaming and call it metal. That's something we are trying to get away from. Metal isn't just aggressiveness and heavy riffs.

DM - And does that use of your voice really shape WAKO's songs?NR - It's almost a guiding line. I make a point of putting the voice in very early in the composition process. To try and create the choruses and the melodies

right from the get go. It makes it easier for the band to be more melodic, if you invest on the voice from the beginning.

DM - And you've said in the past that you feel that lyrics have to be socially relevant. Not necessarily in a political way, but more in a literary, metaphysical way. Even your name seems to hint to the human condition.NR - Yes it does. It has to do with the way this society works, but also how man lives inside it. How the paths he takes seem to lead to his own destruction. I personally love cinema, literature, painting. And I try to bring that into our music. My objective as an artist and musician, is to one day be able to say that WAKO, more than a musical expression, are an artistic expression. That people say that it's not just our music that's great but also our artwork, our lyrics, our attitude.

DM - You've worked with Daniel Cardoso for many years, and in many ways he helped shape your sound, your identity. But in this latest wo r k y o u handed over mix ing and mastering to Josh Wilbur. That changed the sound a bit. Was that the intention?NR - Yes. The record is perhaps more generic and crystalline. I t h i n k i n many ways he simplified our sound. I think Dan ie l is as good has Josh, and he probably could do a lot of great things with our sound, because h e knows it much b e t t e r. B u t WAKO being a

Portuguese band, we were always looked abroad as having "limitations". Working with Josh changed that a little. I mean, we are being produced by a Grammy award winner, that has worked with great bands, like Gojira and Lamb of God. We must be worth something. Promoters look at us with other eyes, even if we are as good as we've always been. It takes down the barriers a little, and allows us to grow. They also have hardware and software there that we don't have here. And that also makes a difference.

DM - Tell me a little about your latest record "The Road of Awareness".NR - "The Road of Awareness" represents the story of the band, which was a dark one, full of set-backs, pits and abysses. But also good things. A mix between the dark and the beautiful. It has a more progressive side, a more industrial side, with nuances that are almost obscure. The polyrhythm thing, the jazz influences, are more visible. The first record was more direct and rude, more

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slamming. This one is more of a creative explosion, which makes it harder to digest.

DM - Does that have to do with you using more diverse influences?NR - In metal, the bands with the more direct, easy-listening sound, tend to be successful faster. And it works. Kids love it. But we don't do records thinking about what's going to work. Sometimes you have to dig deeper, go back to the roots. And not just the metal roots, like Black Sabbath, King Crimson, Cream or even Jimi Hendrix or B.B.King. But go way back, to classical music, to Wagner. That was the metal of that age. The more music you absorb, the more you understand the origins of metal. Many people prefer the first record, but as an artist I prefer this one. But I understand what's going on. People liked it because it was a more direct work, it even had a ballad. But this latest work is more complete, it has a lot more vocal melodies. It has a greater melodic sense, it's more technical. But it's an album that needs to be discovered, and some times people don't have the patience for that.

DM - How do you compare your first tour in the States with your first tour in England?NR - The first American tour was a complicated one, full of hiccups. But there where good things. We played in some great venues and made some great contacts. Like the one with Dean Guitars,

which turned into a 7 year contract. The England tour was different. We had just signed with Copro Records, and they did a great work promoting us. We were talked about all over Europe, and were considered one of the most promising bands around. We were feature in many of the major metal magazines like Kerrang! and Terrorizer. When we got there, we had a good foundation waiting for us. I remember a gig where people showed up from all over England, with our record in their hands for us to sign, saying "Dude this was the first record I ever bought at Virgin" (laughs). First tours in a country tend to be a bit of a let down because nobody knows you. You get there and there's two people looking at you, and you are like "well we have to do this anyway". And I thought it was brutal that we were getting all this feedback.

DM - Did you feel a difference in this latest tour you just did there?NR - Yeah, we did. I really felt that the crisis that is affecting Portugal, is also affecting the rest of Europe. You notice that it's getting harder for people to go to concerts. And it's the same for the bands that played with us, and some of them are great bands, with great booking agents. Going there as the main band had its risks, but it had to be done. There were things that didn't go so well, like one of our support bands canceling, and since we were going to use their backline, we had to cancel the gig. We lost some money there. But since WAKO

are already know there we were able to find another venue and backline, and make it up to the fans. But all-in-all it was great. There were bookers with their eyes on us, and we are probably going back there in September, for a tour with some amazing international bands.

DM - And your live performances, although very energetic, are always very professional.NR - Well, we have a lot of years on the road and hundreds of gigs under our belt. It gives us a certain confidence, that allows us to play and interact intensively with the audience, without ever loosing track of what's going on on stage. We're starting a new thing live with video jamming, which will take things to another level. We are getting into a Tool kind of metal, but the problem is that there's not a lot of venues in Portugal that allow that kind of performance. But we'll be at Cine Incrivél 18th of May an then in the 15th of June at Ritz Clube for our ten year anniversary, which are venues where we can recreate that idea. Maybe people won't want to stage-dive then, but just stand there and watch (laughs). We will be rocking out as ever, but this is a way of doing things that better conveys the feeling of this album, because this work is a voyage. And it's not has hard to digest live as you might think. Yes, it may be a little harder to fit in when we play with other bands, but it does have it's own path. And we invite people to come to the gigs and see that for themselves.

DM - What about your next record? What path will it take, and who will be producing it?NR - I can't tell you that just yet (laughs). But we have a lot of good options. As for the sound, it's all still under construction, but we are trying things in a more polyrhythmic metal with stoner vocals. And choruses. A sort of Devin Townsend, Mike Patton vibe. It may not even be an album in the true sense of the word. We believe in taking chances. That's the way you evolve.

IVO BELLO

WWW.BALCONYTV.COM

Rui Pedro Silva is a world renowned Portuguese investigator of the Doors band. So far, he wrote two books about the American band, both very successful:

“You Make Me Real / Contigo Torno-me Real” and the latest “Caravana Doors- Uma Viagem Luso-Americana”. DeezMag talked to him about his latest work and about

Jim Morrison´s mythic band.

Rui Pedro Silva

LA WOMAN Restroom

DM - The Doors’s music can be defined as “music for the different…for the excluded ones”. What s your opinion on that matter?RPS - The excluded are part of the whole so if the Doors s music is for the whole its for the excluded as well. I believe music should not be catalogued. I think you like the music or you don’t. And about the music made by the Doors, some people say they don t like it because they actually don t understand what the band really means on the lyrics. The Doors are not like The Beatles, which is that kind of love love love thing, I love you, give me your hand and let s go outside…The Doors are not like that, The Doors are another thing. It s

Rimbaud, it s Nietzsche, It s William Blake, Aldous Huxley, It s Beat Generation…they are an amalgam of cultural, literary, theatrical references that Jim Morrison used. That s the reason why the lyrics may not seem very clear.

DM - Your academic thesis is based on the antinomy between Jim Morrison as a poet\man and Jim Morrison the Rock Star\ Lizard King. What major lessons did you get from that investigation?RPS - Jim Morrison was essentially a poet and he used to see himself as a poet. But as a rock star he reached millions and millions of people, as a poet maybe hundreds or even

Rui Pedro Silva

dozens. And that was the biggest frustration of his life. He used the music as a trampoline to reach poetry but when he wanted to revert the process it was too late, people would look at him merely as a rock star. He started to enter in a state of depression precisely because almost all the fans would only look at him as a rock star. So he went to Paris trying to rehabilitate the poetry and to refuge himself from the problems he had in Miami s Court, but he never managed to rehabilitate the poetry in the way he wanted. Therefore, even today when we talk about Jim Morrison we talk about the rock star\ lizard king, the poet is underrated but fortunately nowadays is much more appreciated that it was in those days.

DM - The investigation for your latest book, “Caravana Doors”, was made fundamentally in the UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles). What were the major difficulties you ve found to make this book?RPS - All. Nothing was really facilitated. I thought I would get there and have assets waiting for me but it was the other way around. UCLA is a huge campus, people travel on bus in there, is an authentic city. The American campus have their own police, they are little cities and in the North Camp, where the Film School was, there were some libraries where I started. I quickly found out how little information there was available, and well...nobody knew where it was. So I had to search out everything, watch kilometers of microfilms. I spent weeks and weeks secluded in the microfilm s room looking for something. We ve got to be aware of this, in that time Jim Morrison was not the Jim Morrison we know, he was simply an anonymous film student like Ray Manzarek or Francis Ford Copolla, today three big artists in their respective artistic areas, in music and cinema, but in those days they were students like everyone else. That was the biggest difficulty I had.

DM – You wrote the book “ Contigo Torno-me Real ” which was published on 2003 and now this “ Caravana Doors ”. Is it an extension of de first book or does it differ in many aspects? RPS - They are completely different books. “Contigo Torno-

me Real” goes beyond the spectrum of a biography. It s about the biography of Doors but also introduces some rare and unpublished material from the time they were on the top of their career to the final. And it makes a picture of the Doors s influence onto international artists, not only in music but in poetry too and of course onto the Portuguese artists. What’s their artistic opinion about the Doors. For example, Rui Veloso s connection to music has a lot to do with the Doors. And in the book I also talk about the pilgrimages to Jim Morrison s grave, in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. The book “Caravana Doors” is more focused on an universitarian literary investigation about the roots of the Doors. How the

Doors were born in the UCLA and how Jim Morrison as a student developed to music. It s all factually proved.

DM - The music allied to Jim Morrison´s poetry ev o k e s a n a l m ost hypnotic seduction in whomappreciates it totally. This explosive mixture is the main reason why that seduction remains intact in our days?RPS - The music and poetry in the Doors has to be seen as a whole, they are not separated areas. Jim Morrison s writing is a visual one. And his visual writing comes very much from the visionary and damned poets, like Rimbaud…They were a literary band. They got together with that idea: to marry music with poetry. And they have to be understood from that point of view. Their

art lasts in time because there is no band like them. They showed up in 65, started in 66 in Los Angeles clubs, in 67 they went number one on the tops with Light My Fire…they ve showed up in that time but they could have showed up in the 70 s, in the 80 s, now or in 30 years’ time. Their sound is always fresh, the ideas are always on time. The idea of appealing to the young people about being different, being yourself in way of getting you to think by yourself. It’s not that idea of anarchism… When Jim Morrison speaks in chaos, he s not referring to the destructive chaos, it s the destruction of preconceptions. The Doors are a complex band. They are truly unique.

ANA FILIPA CARVALHO

Downtown (Morrison Hotel)

“Music touches us emotionally, where words alone can’t.”

Johnny Depp Deezmag

When I first heard them, they were named Vremena Goda (Year Seasons). And I thought “ sounds nice, good, but nothing special. Nothing that I haven’t heard before”… Well, it all changed when I heard them for the second time. It was RadioFlot now and it was their rehearsal and they asked me to fill in for their drummer just for one gig. And this is, probably, something every music critic has to experience – try to play the music they are criticizing… We became close friends and whenever they ask

me to play a gig with them – I jump in without hesitation!We sat down with Roman Berezovskiy (lead vocals, guitar – and no ties to the late oligarch) and Sergei Karaev (vocals, guitar) to talk about changing band names, remembering last year’s songs and Saint Petersburg… And, of course, we are in a

bar… Of course we are!

by Boris Borski

BB – How did Vremena Goda turned into RadioFlot? Did you get bored and felt you needed a change?(Sergei is shaking his head and pointing finger towards

Roman)

RB – Ok, short version. It was pretty simple, we found out

that there was a band with the same name in St.Petersburg

and they were playing some psychedelic experimental stuff.

And, of course, we didn’t want to fight with them over the

name and decided to let it go. And I was always fond of short

band names, so we started looking for something else and

all the credit goes to our bass player, really. We were just

walking and talking and all of a sudden he goes “how about

we combine Radio and Flot (“fleet”, in Russian – BB)?”. And

that’s how we got our name. There’s no hidden meaning, it

just sounds good. And at least it’s something our bass player

can always be proud of! (they both laugh)

BB – Do you write songs together? RB – Well, sure. But it’s the usual collaboration, I guess. I

bring songs and we don’t really spend too much time thinking

about arrangements. It’s like people get it right away and

simply play their part.

SK – You should see Roman’s face when some riff changes

here or there and he really likes it! He is the driving force

here and we are the wheels. (he chuckles) As long as he

remembers what he wrote the other day…

RB – He talks about some songs that we abandon for some

reason and later on it comes back to mind and we decide to

work on them some more. And then… I’m trying really, really

hard to remember what the lyrics were…

BB – Pens, paper, computer, Word – you know those things exist, right? But, anyway, tell me about what is it about St.Petersburg that makes it some sort of source of endless inspiration for your songs?RB – Oh, God, where do I begin! Petersburg for me is like this

energy blob, where all the creativity and inspiration just

piled up and then it only depends on you, on how receptive

you are to those waves. Because, ideally, my perfect day

on the streets of St.Pete is when I walk and it’s sunny and I

got my backpack and a phone never leaves my hand, but not

because I’m checking my email or social network statuses,

but I’m constantly writing something down. The melody

is already there, but I got no guitar, but then again – who

cares! I’M ON THE ROLL!! And so far, I don’t know any other

city which has this atmosphere…

All of a sudden we are interrupted by loud noises calling

our names… We are on the ground floor of the bar, where it

is rather quiet to talk. On the second floor is the stage and

that’s where the music happens and tonight it is Linii Zhizni’s

gig (read DEEZ #2). They just finished first half of the gig and

came down for a couple of drinks… Ironically enough, both

Alexander Mihalchuk and Ilia Chistyakov are active session

musicians for RadioFlot when they are not busy with Linii

Zhizni… And… There’s no way we gonna decline the offered

drink from them…

http://radioflot.com/

So, where are you from?Lahinch Co. Clare. North West Clare is a series of small towns which are all linked together. You might be brought up in Lahinch, go to school in Ennistymon, work in Liscannor Etc…

Do you have a lot of support there?I’d say I’ve received great support from my home town and community, from the local art gallery funding our first album to lots of locals coming to our concerts and buying our albums. I think locally if you are making an effort to do good stuff, folks will see that and get behind you.

And how does it feel to be a professional musician?Ha! I don’t know if I always feel like a professional, but I think it’s like having mood swings. From the high of a great concert, a perfect moment and everything coming together, to the lows of trying to keep things together and on the road.

Do you have any interesting hobbies?Science fiction and video games, I’m a huge Star trek and Street Fighter Fan.

Tell me a bit about the band you're playing with now.The band I’m mainly playing with now is a Latin Irish Fusion band with a strong historical and anthropological theme. We are finding these common themes and musical styles and mixing them up to try and create something new. For example playing a classical South American song with very Irish instrumentation or arrangements. Doing songs with common threads and using those threads to tie the culture and sound together, the Irish in South America, South Americans in Ireland, stories where we share common ground, resistance against oppressors or invaders, forced emigration etc…

And how do you create your songs?For my own music I’ve always started with the lyrics and worked backwards. The words of songs were always my favourite part. For my current band “Los Paddys de Las Pampas”, it’s more musically challenging as I’m collaborating with very versatile musicians while constantly learning new styles. We spent last night

learning a song from Mexico with a new rhythm that we all were learning for the first time. Lots of hard work but very rewarding and we are all learning new skills out of it.

What about the arrangements? Is it a group effort?On my own album, me and the bass player and producer arranged everything, I like to give the musicians freedom to write the parts for their own instruments themselves and then use them if I like them, and if I don’t say "go write something else". The odd time I will request a particular melody or give a root idea.

Do you remember your f irst arrangement? Yes, it was a song I wrote in Buenos Aires called “The day after the revolution failed”. Just 3 chords over and over on the guitar but something really nice clicked with it and I still play it today. (There’s a recorded version on my album.) As it’s so simple it’s great to play in sessions as its easy for other musicians to play along with.

Wh at wa s yo u r funniest b i g experience?

Improvising a live music video in a toilet in Paris using the hair drier as a wind machine.

You are working on your first album at the moment, how is that coming along?It’s getting there bit by bit, there’s still an awful lot of work to be done. It's going to be recorded with Los Paddys de las Pampas in July and released in September.

Have you taken your music abroad yet? If yes, what was the feedback?Due to the nature of my music (kind of world music) I probably have better success abroad than at home. I’ve played north and South America and all over Europe, and I did a two week tour of France this March.

What are your hopes for the near future?For the very near future I want to return to the world singing and dancing. I’ve been in hibernation the last 3 months, so I will be very happy to be back on the road.

JOANNE COLLINS & JOHN HOUGH

http://www.facebook.com/paddy.mulcahy

Paddy MulcahyPaddy MulcahyPaddy Mulcahy

Once upon a time… I remember asking Dmitri Ksenofontov if he ever heard people talking about him saying that he IS a “father of Kostroma’s rock music scene”. His reply to that was “Who? Me? A father? No way. Am not a father. I’m a freaking Patriarch!”. He was joking, of course, and meant his age and that both him and his band’s been around for ages. But, jokes aside, the official band’s web page claims that the main 4 characters formed a band called Klondike in 1998, but they played music together long before that. And maybe they never got big, maybe they released just one or two albums (DIY, of course), but if you ask around K-town and (especially many young) musicians will without a doubt say that it was (and is) the band that had the most influence and is respected

by many for their input into local music.Now they don’t appear in public as often as they used to, so I found them, well, two out of four Klondikers, Dmitri Ksenofontov (guitar, vocals) and Aleksei

“Sergeich” Sergeev (lead guitar), at their own newly built garage studio…

KLONDIKE

http://klondikeband.ru/

B.B. – This (studio) looks like a sanctuary, like something a middle-aged musician builds for himself as if to say “I’m done with all these big stage performances, leave me alone!”D.K. – There’s no secret meaning or any sort of statement here. The reason for building our own studio and rehearsal space was quite simple: after so many years of playing we’re tired of looking and asking others for a place to rehearse and play our music. And so Sergeich went nuts with this idea of totally rebuilding his garage and turning it into a functional recording studio.

B.B. – But isn’t it a bit… I dunno… too late? You’ve been playing together for more than 15 years, so isn’t it time to just relax and, who knows, go gardening or spend more time with your family or something?

D.K. – Music has to break out. You can’t keep it inside forever, no matter how hard you try. Besides, look at the recent concerts and gigs: people still sort of dig new material we come up with as well as old songs. And you even hear them saying “oh, no. not these old farts again”. Then they all end up dancing to the songs and they seem to know every piece of lyrics!

B.B. - …and it’s mostly your old songs you are locally famous for…D.K. – I can quote Margulis(1) here: ”New songs are written by those whose old songs are crap” (laughs) There’s no way we can bring out a hit song every day! You gotta sleep with a song, make it grow, allow it to mature with time. And this will be a song that people will request at every gig again and again…

B.B. – So why would you need a new studio if you can just keep playing old stuff, that’s been rehearsed and performed so many times?A.S. – Well, it’s not only for our own use. Many of our friends use this space to play their music. They have to pay some, of course, but every coin is put back into

development of this place and everyone is aware of that. Personally, I spent a lot more money building this thing and I honestly don’t expect it to pay off any time soon or at all, as a matter of fact! There’s always something you need to fix, something to make better. And now we are experimenting with recording bands “live” here with a certain garage feel to it, well, just because this is what we can offer them. It’s not Abbey Road, after all! (laughs)

B.B. – Ok, you’ll have to give me your most famous quote, Dmitri. I heard many versions of it,

but this is my chance to hear it firsthand.D.K. – Music has to get into your brain. If it only gets into your ass, then you must be l i s ten ing to some techno music and it’s not what we at Klondike are about…

BORIS BORSKI

(1) Evgeniy Margulis, famous Russian guitarist/songwriter, member of Mashina Vremeni/Time Machine

I met Bruno Pernadas and João Correia, the core of the Julie & the Carjackers, to talk about their project. Live music played in the background and

in our table. Nice.

DM - You started this band in 2009, but you were already playing together in other projects, from jazz, to folk, to bossanova. Were Julie & the Carjackers born to explore other sounds?BP - The band was born because we had a lot of songs at home, in a more folk-rock style, that didn't fit in the other projects we had, namely the jazz ones. So we decided to make use of them, but always in an informal way, because we had other more professional projects.

JC - The first EP was all recorded in my house, and it was initially intended to be only a demo, until Henrique Amaro suggested a release through Optimus Discos.

DM - And although your sound veers more to the folk side, it has a distinct tropical feel to it, especially in "PARASOL".BP - That tropical influence started with a song called "Mr. Williams" which had a bossanova style, and ended up contaminating all the songs. Like many others, this was a song that I had put aside, and had no intention of recording. But João insisted. After that we started to let this Brazilian influence seep into the rest of the work.

DM - Names like the Eels come up regularly as possible influences to

your sound. Do you agree with it?BP - I understand where it comes from, but not really. I don't own a single Eels record. I would better agree with a name like Beck. But in reality our influences are more underground, and they are very diluted. I played jazz and bossanova for many years, so I haven't played the type of sound we are doing now since I was a teenager. So the influences I might have come from bands that I listened at that time. Think of things like Sebadoh, Folk Implosion and Built to Spill.

DM - The album PARASOL seems to be a little more lively than your first EP. "Wait By The Telephone" is a good example of this.BP - Funny you should say that, because that song was another one that wasn't supposed to be recorded. It's a very basic song compared to others in the record. I

Julie & the Carjackers©Copyrigth - Pedro Gaspar, Nuno Sousa Dias & João Paulo Feliciano

wrote in like 3 minutes. But I thought it was nice, in a Beck kind of way. It was cheery and dance like, and I thought it would fit the record very well. As soon as I did it I had this feeling it was going to be a hit. I was wrong. (laughs)JC - I first heard the song at Bruno's house, we were already in the process of recording our album. He didn't have a full song, just a recording done with acoustic guitar. We headed for the studio, and this was the first day of recordings, and finished it that day. We started with the drum line, and we built it from there. The last song of the record "The Chain On My Swing", was also recorded on that first day. We had no real idea how the songs would turn out when we went in.

DM - Tell me a bit about your writing process.JC - In Bruno's songs, he usually sends me an audio file with the song, and I write the lyrics based on some imperceptible whisperings of his.(laughs) But there is always a key sentence there to get me started. Mine are always a bit more personal, but in PARASOL, although I used that, I tried to create a new set of characters and stories around it. The way we make songs, is by taking the story, and arranging the song around the lyrics. The more interesting the story, the more fun it is to write the music. But they're mostly very simple love songs.

DM - The mastering was done by Rafael Toral. How was it like to work with him? And with Walter Benjamin aswell?JC - It was great. Rafael was a great help, and gave us very good advise. Not only in terms of mastering, but in general musical terms aswell. You see, when you are recording and producing everything by yourself, like Bruno and I were, you think you want to listen to things as you are used to, how you want them to sound, like they sound inside your head. And it's best that the mixing and mastering is done by someone else, with a different view, that busts your chops and forces you to change things. And he gave us very good input. One of

the things he suggested is that we got rid of the first song in the line-up, and that did make the record more objective. As for Walter, we've worked and played with him for many years. That's the funny thing, all the people that participated in this project have been playing with each other in other projects for years. Walter was sort of the link between all of us.

DM - That's something you see a lot in Portuguese music in the past years. That collaboration between musicians to create interesting new projects.JC - There's a good and a bad about that. The bad thing, and I'm guilty of that aswell, is that when you have musicians that play in a lot of different projects, the band loses a bit of personality. That garage feel to it. But the plus side that

makes up for that, is that a certain sense of family and friendship develops between us, a wish to get together and make good music.

DM - What about plans for the future?JC- In this last year the band became very strong, with all the gigs that we ended up giving. Right now we are finishing the work we have on our other projects, and once that's done we are going to start working on new material for Julie & the Carjackers. And I'm hoping that we'll have a single out later this year. It's going to be very different from the last work I'm sure.

IVO BELLO

h t t p : / / w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m /julieandthecarjackerspage

©Copyrigth - Pedro Gaspar, Nuno Sousa Dias & João Paulo Feliciano

TECHNICAL SHEET

FOUNDERMIGUEL TEIXEIRA

EDITORIAL COORDINATIONIVO BELLO

ART DIRECTION / PAGINATIONSÓNIA FERRO

LISBON OFFICEIVO BELLO | INÊS GALVÃO TELES

PORTO OFFICEANA FILIPA CARVALHO

FOREIGN OFFICES

INDIA

POLAND

USA

SPAIN

LITHUANIA

IRELAND

TURKEY

RUSSIAOIJO! MEDIA

MARCIN GRZESZAK | PIOTR WIŚNIEWSKI

REBECCA FINLEY

GERO COSTAS | ROMINA DOCESUNNY AGGARVAL

JO COLL | JOHN HOUGH

CENK HASDAL | KUBILAY ÖZLER

BORIS BORSKI

Deezmag