Fri, Oct 30, 2009

We talk to Forró in the Dark

Before their show at Guanabara: November 10th (Tuesday) 2009

1. What are your expectations for the gig at Guanabara on November 10th?
We hope that a lot of people will come and that they are ready to dance and have a good time.

2. How did Forró in the Dark start?
It started off in a very informal setting. We were playing at Nublu, a club in the East Village, every week. Just an excuse to play and party. Different people would come and play, basically whoever was in town and available. When it became time to record the first album, Bonfires of São João, we had to think and define who were the musicians that were important for the sound of the band and which direction we wanted to take. From there, we started touring and that’s when you really see who wants to be on the boat and who wants to jump off.

3. Did you start to work together with a music destination in mind or did the sound simply come by itself?
Because we played (and still play) every week when we are in NY, the music developed naturally, with not many preconceived ideas apart from having the artistic freedom to experiment with different sounds if we felt like it, without loosing site of the roots and the tradition of the music played.

4. How do you keep the energy of Forró being away from Brazil for such a long time?
Well, being in NY, you have to have a lot of energy in your playing in the first place, because the music there has a level of intensity that I haven’t found in other places. As for the Forro energy, the way I hear, we were actually able to connect the more sensual, relaxed energy of the Forro with the Edgy Rock energy that we always had more and more in the last two years. We will always be Brazilian and we go back often, to work or vacation. I always spend a long time in places where the only thing to do at night is to dance Forró. The best trios play. I think once you understand what the dancer wants to hear, you understand how to make the feel of what you play move the entire room. That’s what we do.

5. How does New York influence the band’s sound?
The artistic freedom that we have in mixing up whatever musical genres we hear in our heads or matching sounds that you wouldn’t have thought would fit well with one another at first is something that would only be possible on the environment that we have in Lower Manhattan/Brooklyn. Of course the same idea can be developed in other places but the things we hear, the bands that are playing on that scene have a specific way of looking at things that resonates with things that are being done by our generation in other parts of the World. The underground is becoming more and more the norm.

6. What is the difference between the gigs in Brazil and the ones in United States or England?
In Brasil when people go hear a Forró band, they go to dance. Traditionally we dance in couples and don’t really watch the band, just hear it while dancing but playing in other parts of the World it’s more like playing a concert. People watch our performance while dancing by themselves. These are two different kinds of interactions we have with the audience. I love both.

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