Coffin Joe—a.k.a. Zé do Caixão—is one of those villains that you’ve gotta know. Created in 1963 by the Brazilian filmmaker José Mojica Marins, an independent artist who has made more than 38 films, the character is best known for the trilogy At Midnight I will Take Your Soul (1963), This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse (1967) and Awakening of the Beast (1970). Beyond the black suit, the cape and the top hat, Coffin Joe has a unique trademark: long and disgusting finger nails. Add to this a mix of sense of humor and style described by Mojica (the name he is referred to in Brazil) as 100% Brazilian or—in his own words—tupiniquim. Raised in a movie theater, his knowledge of filmaking was raw and innocent, testing and failing with no money and a lot of confidence and weird ideas. Welcome to the strange world of Coffin Joe and Mojica, the damned Brazilian filmaker that scared the dictactorial government on the ‘70s who is being honoured this month with a program at the Cinefamily. This interview by Carol Ramos.

First of all—I have to admit that I had a crush on you when I first saw your movies. I always thought: ‘Look at those eyebrows!’
José Mojica Marins: Yeah, the girls really liked me. It’s probably because I had a lot of hair, a pompadour and those huge dark eyebrows.
What kind of kid were you?
José Mojica Marins: I was one of the most outgoing kids on the planet. My dad was a bullfighter, my mom was a tango dancer and I was their only child. We used to travel a lot until I was three years old, which is when my mom decided to quit and my dad started managing his cousin’s movie theater. I got to know the greatest names of terror like Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. I had a blast because only a few people had a TV and I spent all day watching great movies. I took advantage of it. Everybody wanted to be my friend and the girls wanted to hang out with me just to get free tickets.
When did you decide to become a filmmaker?
José Mojica Marins: When I was nine, we had a play at school. I was a hunter and I had to make this girl—who played Snow White—scream on scene, which she didn’t. I found out she was scared of lizards and I dropped one in the middle of her breasts. She freaked out, took all of her clothes off and the audience went wild. The priest punished me and I decided to make a movie to impress him. I was a huge fan of flying saucers and comics like Flash Gordon, and when I turned 10, instead of a bike I asked my dad for a Ciclope 16 mm manual camera. With it I made ‘Final Judgement,’ my first weird movie.
You called all of your friends to help you out with that, right?
José Mojica Marins: Yeah—I offered a movie ticket for each kilo of guava worm they brought to me. Then I glued the worms on their body with the same glue used to hang the movie posters. I learned how to make double exposures rolling the film backwards and shooting again over it so I made them look buried with worms all over. During the screening, I thought I would have my 15 minutes of fame. The theater was packed with choir boys and all of the church members. When the film ended, the priest stood up and I put my head down. He laid his hand on my little head, and while I was thinking ‘Fame time!’ he stared at my dad and said: ‘Mr Antonio, your son is a retarded.’ Thus, I started my weird career. I knew that things like that would call people’s attention.
I read an interview where you said you were so scared of flying on airplanes that you drank 52 bottles of wine on a single flight. What happened?
José Mojica Marins: When I was 10, I flew in a very small airplane—a teco-teco—and when it landed one of the wings broke. I was traumatized and during the ‘70s I had to travel a lot to countries that held tributes for me. This one time I went to France, and I was really scared, so during the flight I drank 52 small bottles of wine. I was still sober and I had to drink some whiskey and vodka to control my fear.
Are you still afraid of airplanes?
José Mojica Marins: Yes. We just got back from a trip and even my wife—who is young and doesn’t mind about airplanes—got scared because we had 30 minutes of violent turbulence. Everybody was praying and the flight attendants were curled up in their seats. It was the first time I saw my wife screaming. The pilot said it was the worst flight of his life.
What else scares you?
José Mojica Marins: My biggest fear is to live the present and the next day. The world is a violent place to be. Brasil in particular. You never know what is gonna happen next. I’ve been married several times and I have a big family with seven kids. It scares me to have so much to lose.
How do you face the violence in Brasil?
José Mojica Marins: On my last movie, Embodiment of Evil (2008), I show downtown São Paulo for the first time. It’s violent and it’s been increased. A lot of drug dealers. Kids sniffing glue. It’s terrible. I try to bring a message in my movie towards fighting against this violence.
There’s a scene in Embodiment of Evil where you use 3,000 cockroaches. Was it hard for your crew shoot a scene like this?
José Mojica Marins: It’s my wife on that scene, OK? She had the courage to do it. I had different types of cockroaches from several providers that sell them to laboratories. My crew put so much clothing on, it seemed they were going to Mars! Everybody was freaking out. On the scene, it was only me and my wife and one cockroach crawled on my legs. It disturbed me a lot! It’s inoffensive, but so gross. My wife had some protection on her ears but at one point it fell and a cockroach was inside of her ear! I had to take her to the hospital and she was so disturbed. We took a cab during rush hour and she didn’t stop saying: ‘It’s inside my brain!’ When we arrived at the hospital I was carrying her and she had the make-up on. Everybody thought I had beaten her and I had a hard time explaining we were making a movie. They took it out of her ear, but I always think that with an animal like that inside of it you, you hear terrible things—like a volcano about to explode inside your head.
Awakening of the Beast (1970) was forbidden by the government and was never shown in a regular commercial movie theater. How do you feel about it?
José Mojica Marins: It was released on DVD but it was screened only in film festivals and it’s an award-winning film. It showed how I felt during that time and it made the politicians upset. When I say, ‘My world is strange. This world, my friend, is made of strange people, but there are none as strange as you!’ [during the first scene] I was talking about them! It was worth it though. My insolence encouraged younger filmmakers and I had huge support, later, from Luiz Sergio Person, Glauber Rocha and Rogerio Sganzerla. [Three of the most innovative and brillant Brazilian filmmakers. Their main productions were released during the ‘60s and ‘70s.]
Were you ever threatened or arrested by the Brazilian government? What kind of risks did you take to make your films? How did you escape imprisonment or danger?
José Mojica Marins: I was arrested several times and they always said that they would burn my negatives. But I was more victim of psychological torture than physical. One time they said they arrested my mom and I could hear a woman screaming next door. They asked me to confess, otherwise they would kill her. I still don’t know what they were talking about but they believed my films had a political message and wanted me to tell them what it was. Also I became very famous at that time so I guess they were afraid that I was supporting some terrorist group. People saw me on the street and blessed themselves because they were scared. I was on the cover of a lot of magazines. When the dictator government came, they put a lot of pressure on me. So everytime I had a new film I went to military parties and recruited generals and politicians’ sons and daughters for my cast. It was an indirect way to gain their support. That’s how I survived on those times. Like some critics used to say, I was 40 years ahead of my time. A lot of people began to understand my films later. Like Finis Hominis, a film about this crazy guy who escapes from a mental hospital and dresses weird. Glauber Rocha wanted to make a film with me where Finis joined Coffin Joe, but he died and it never happened.
What ideas did you have that you never even filmed because you knew they would be censored? What ideas did you have to wait longest to actually film and why?
José Mojica Marins: I took it easy in Embodiment of Evil after an actress lost her mind on the pig scene. She was crying and got really scared, which made the crew apprehensive. The rat scene was supposed to be more scary, same with the cockroach scene. A lot of people were curious to shoot with me because they knew that I don’t fake. My business is reality. Still, some of them got scared and I had to take it easy.
What’s next? Any particular projects?
José Mojica Marins: I’m looking for new producers. In 2010 I want to make a movie called Devorador de Olhos (Devourer of Eyes) and I want to have total freedom to do something stronger, more scary. Eyes are the most sensitive thing and I want to work with them, especially women’s eyes. There’s this scene where I take off an eye with a corkscrew. Then I can consider my work complete. I also wanna put some unfinished films together in one movie, from the ‘40s until now.
Have you ever considered a final chapter in the Coffin Joe story?
José Mojica Marins: Yes—I wanna make the fourth film. It’s the final episode, when his son is born and continues in Coffin’s footsteps. I already have the screenplay—Sete Ventres para um Demônio. (Seven Bellies for a Devil.)
What is your own personal concept of hell? The Chinese have very specific hells – for instance, rich people who don’t help others are ground into fine powder. What do you think comes after death? What would Coffin Joe think?
José Mojica Marins: Hell does not exist in the way they say, with flames and so on. Man created hell. I made a hell with ice in This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse because ice burns as well. I don’t think you are punished going to hell. I think you die and your energy stays or goes to a parallel universe—another planet or dimension. Coffin Joe is an atheist. The only thing he believes is immortality through your own blood. That’s why he searches for the superior woman, able to give him the perfect son. He will protect the kids and not be afraid of death, just like his father. In Embodiment of Evil he made a son in seven different ladies. Let’s wait for next episode to find out who is gonna give him the perfect son.
You declared once that Rosemary’s Baby is the biggest horror movie of all time. What’s your opinion about Roman Polanski’s arrest?
José Mojica Marins: Yeah. I think it’s a great movie because it’s about real life. It’s not a fiction, like I make, which makes it even more scary. I send him my congratulations. Too bad he didn’t make something like that again. I heard he was arrested and I think he shouldn’t have molested that child, especially because he was famous and could have any woman he wanted. I support his arrest. Anyone who does that deserves jail time or even the death penalty.
Has anything ever happened to shake your confidence in your own ideas for Coffin Joe? And has anything happened to re-inspire you when you needed it?
José Mojica Marins: Never. Coffin Joe was created after a nightmare I had in October 11th, 1963. Someone dressed in black wanted to show me my birthdate and my death date, but I refused to see. Then I created the title At Midnight I Will Take Your Soul. I knew it would take some time for Coffin Joe be recognized as a great character. Last year I won 7 awards at Festival Paulinia de Cinema [a Brazilian film festival located in Paulinia, São Paulo]. This year I’m going to Colombia and next year they will be having a tribute to me in the U.S.
What advantages has being so independent given you? And what have you had to give up?
José Mojica Marins: The biggest advantage is no need to follow any rule. I have no rules on the set and if what I’m doing scares my crew and my technicians, it will scare the audience. I don’t like to tell lies. I’m writing my memoir to be released next year and it’s going to give you the chills. There are things the likes of which you’ve never heard, with witnesses to prove it. I never had to give up anything, but it bothers me, particularly being Catholic, that people think I am the devil. I can play Jesus in a movie—why not? I’m an actor.
Where do you feel Coffin Joe fits among the world’s great villains—Dr. Hyde, Dr. Frankenstein, and so on? Has he become a global figure yet?
José Mojica Marins: I think so. I don’t copy anybody. I created something authentic—tupiniquim. [Brazilian indigenous tribe, also means to be Brazilian]. Brazil is the biggest superstitious country, with the highest levels of folk culture. If I die tomorrow, I know everybody will be talking about Coffin Joe. In Bahia [Brazilian northeast state with a huge population of African descendants] there are religious places where Coffin Joe shows up, like a umbanda entity [Brazilian religion similar to santeria]. He’s a real entity.
At umbanda houses?
José Mojica Marins: Yes, but I’m against it. I have nothing to do with Pomba Gira [in umbanda religion, it’s the female version of the devil]. I have two girls that perform with me on stage and I call them guardians. Journalists called them Pomba Giras, but they are not. I explore the religious subject because the audience likes it, but I don’t belive in that.
Why is Brazilian culture so fascinating worldwide?
José Mojica Marins: It’s not only the folk culture but we also have the most beautiful beaches, the biggest forests in the world, fantastic stories of people from favelas [ghettos] who married politicians, rich ladies having affairs with bandits. We also have the most beautiful women in the world. Everywhere I go and find a beautiful woman, she’s a Brazilian student in Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal. It’s fascinating. We have the good stuff.
Is there any Brazilian filmmaker that could succeed you?
José Mojica Marins: I think that too much technology brings complacency to people. Dennison Ramalho, who made Love From Mother Only (2003) just finished a short. He has followed me for more than 15 years and can succeed me, but it can happen to be a female filmmaker, too. I have a daughter who makes terror, too—vampire stuff. I don’t like vampire movies, though—it’s gringo’s stuff. It’s not Brazilian. We have to do what is our culture. I would like it if she made movie about a macumbeira (someone who makes spells). There’s too many vampire movies already!
Have you ever received any human body part as a gift?
José Mojica Marins: I receive a lot of weird things. Once a doctor sent me a fetus on Christmas. Damn! This other time, someone had the patience to collect someone else’s poop, extract the worms in it and send it to me. Those people are nuts. I can play crazy, but I’m not at all!
If it’s 24 hours of EXPLICIT sex and 48 hours of HALLUCINATORY sex, what can we expect at 72 hours?
José Mojica Marins: If I make 72 hours for sure I will go beyond everything. Nothing about sex that you can imagine will be left. If in 24 hours you have a woman having sex with dogs, on 48 I will have woman with a donkey and on 72 way more horrible things. I’m the kind of person who keeps a lot of stories. It’s going to be scary and hardcore. The audience will not even need to buy energy drinks. They will get completely stoned.

COFFIN JOE DOUBLE AND TRIPLE FEATURES EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT IN OCTOBER AT CINEFAMILY, 611 N. FAIRFAX AVE., LOS ANGELES. 8 PM / $12 / ALL AGES. CINEFAMILY.ORG. TONIGHT’S PROGRAM IS AT MIDNIGHT I’LL TAKE YOUR SOUL AND THIS NIGHT I WILL POSSESS YOUR CORPSE. CINEFAMILY.ORG FOR COMPLETE SCHEDULE. BUY TICKETS HERE.

Sérgio Mendes swept into America with “Mas Que Nada” in 1966 and went on to establish immortality among connoisseurs of both classy cocktails and bossa nova rhythms. He is working on his new album and still claims to be nervous before shows—especially if he’s playing at the Hollywood Bowl. He will play the Hollywood Bowl this Wednesday. This interview by Ayse Arf.

I read that you played for Richard Nixon. What was that like?
Yes. We did a couple of concerts at the White House. One was for Richard Nixon, for the visit of now the King of Spain—he was the Prince, Juan Carlos—then. Then we played for Reagan years later for the visit of the Brazilian president. We played twice at the White House.
How was Nixon as an audience?
He was great. I mean he introduced the band and he was very funny, and for me it was a very incredible experience to be here and to play at the White House, and the now King of Spain was the guest of honor. It was a wonderful experience for me.
You use the word ‘sensual’ a lot in describing your music. What does that mean to you?
Do I use it a lot?
According to my research, you do.
Well, that’s one of the components of Brazilian music. That’s one of the things. It’s about joy. It’s about sensuality. It’s about romance. It’s about dance. It’s about rhythm. It’s a happy music.
Was it a happy childhood growing up in Niterói?
It was a lot of fun. A lot of soccer on the beach and a lot of—you know. It was a wonderful time growing up there.
Antonio Carlos Jobim is often spoken of as a mentor to you. Do you consider him to be?
Yes. Great composer—maybe the most important composer in Brazilian music. He was a good friend and I’ve recorded many of his songs through the years.
What do you feel like he taught you?
Everything from arranging to composing and sounds and chords. A lot of stuff.
Why do you record so much material by other people? What do you find appealing about that?
I like songs from all over the world. I’ve recorded Beatles songs. I’ve recorded Burt Bacharach. I’ve recorded Cole Porter, Gershwin, Jobim. I’m an interpreter, and I love great songs.
Why piano?
Because that’s where it started. I was a kid and I loved the sound of it, and I still do. That’s what I play.
What did your parents think of you wanting to become a musician?
My parents? In those days in Brazil to become a pop musician—my father was a doctor—so it was kind of a surprise when I decided that I wanted to become a musician, but they were very happy after things started happening, and they realized I was very happy doing it when I was doing it. So they really became very happy about it, although the beginning was a little difficult.
You started off playing classical music. What drew you to bossa nova?
Well—I was there at the time, and this was like early ‘60s in Brazil and the movement was starting and there was great songs and I had a band and so I was part of that beginning. I took classical lessons—the whole training—and I started to really get into jazz, and then bossa nova came in, and it was something that interests me more.
Why?
The wonderful—are you familiar with it? Wonderful songs. It was a historical time during Brazilian music, and being there at the time and having a band, I was part of the movement. It’s like being around the be-bop era in New York.
What do you think of the Hollywood Bowl?
I’m looking forward to it. It’s one of my favorite places to play.
Why?
Because—I love it with the why. You’re funny!
No one cares why I like the Hollywood Bowl.
You’re funny. Anyway. Well it’s a very special… have you been there? So you know it’s a beautiful place. It’s unique. You don’t have many places like that in the world. It’s just the atmosphere, the people. Everything about it. It’s very romantic. It’s just a wonderful place. I’ve played there many many times and I really love very much playing there.
Do you feel like after so many years of performing you kind of have everything figured out?
I’m always a little nervous before a show—a show like that. We’re doing an hour so we have to come with what kind of songs we’re going to do. It’s always a new experience. I’ve played the Bowl many, many, many, many times and it’s always fascinating because you never know what’s going to happen at the last minute. It’s a nice thing.
Do you have any rituals?
No. We rehearse a lot. That’s the ritual. We practice a lot.
But you’ve been playing with the same people for a very long time, correct?
No. It changes, you know. My drummer’s been with me for over twenty years. I have a singer that’s been with me for a year. A lot of the band members have been with me for a long time. One’s been ten years, one’s been five years. It’s a great band. They come from different places. I have people from Brazil. My bass player is from Sri Lanka, and you just meet them, and you know, whatever—‘I need a new member of the band.’ Somebody leaves or gets married so I start looking for a new one.
You’ve put out an astonishing number of albums—almost one a year for a really long time. How did you work so quickly?
I don’t think I put once a year—well, in the early days you used to do that. One album a year was the norm. Everybody used to do that. Now I would say every two, every three years.
You also took a really long break. There wasn’t really much coming out between 1996 and Timeless. What were you doing?
I was touring. I was doing concerts all over the world. I felt like it was the right time to take a break, which I did. I decided to record again when I met Will.i.am and came up with Timeless, which was a big success all over the world. And then I did another album, Encanto, and now I’m working on a new one. I just started last week. We’re going through pre-production—looking at what songs to do and who’s going to be in it. So this is pre-production time.
I know you worked with Will.i.am on the Be Cool soundtrack.
We did one number, actually—it came out great. It’s the number where Travolta dances with Thurman. What’s her name? Uma. That’s the number that I recorded with the Black Eyed Peas that they decided they wanted to use as the dance number. It was a wonderful experience. I met Will much before when he invited me to play on his album—it was Elephunk. So the movie came after the album was out and Will asked me if I wanted to be in it because that’s what this song that I played on it. It was great.
Why did you take Will.i.am to Brazil to work on Encanto?
We decided we gotta cut a few things down there, and he wanted to go, so we went. It was something that we thought was going to be a different thing, because we did Timeless all here in L.A. and to go to Bahia—to go to Rio de Janeiro to capture some of the rhythms and some of the things that you can only do when you’re down there. He liked it very much and it was wonderful to have him down there with me.
How do you keep track of what’s fresh in Brazil?
I’m always receiving new records and people always send me stuff, and you know—today with the internet. I have Brazilian television, satellite—so yes, I am very aware of what’s happening musically.
Who are some artists or movements that you find particularly exciting?
There’s a lot of things happening down there. Brazil is such a multicultural place. There’s such a diversity in Brazilian music. It’s impossible to describe just one element. I suggest that you go down there and experience it.
What do you think are five essential artists that people who want to get to know Brazilian music should explore?
Wow. I haven’t thought about that. It’s more than five, but I will give you Antonio Carlos Jobim, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, Toninho Horta, Zeca Pagodinho and Marcelo D2.
I read that you recorded a bunch of escolas de samba in a parking lot.
This was an album that I did years ago called Brasileiro—that won a Grammy. I think Brasileiro represents the best the diversity that I told you about Brazilian music—the rhythms, the songs, the different styles. It’s about that, you know. You have Carlinhos Brown and his sound. You have all the artists that were part of that. It represented at the time of the best of Brazilian music. It’s a great album and I’m very proud of it.

SÉRGIO MENDES WITH EDDIE PALMIERI AND PONCHO SANCHEZ ON WED., JULY 8, AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N. HIGHLAND AVE., HOLLYWOOD. 8 PM / $1-$96 / ALL AGES. HOLLYWOODBOWL.COM. SÉRGIO MENDES’ ENCANTO IS OUT NOW ON CONCORD. VISIT SÉRGIO MENDES AT SERGIOMENDESMUSIC.COM OR MYSPACE.COM/SERGIOMENDES.

Download: Garotas Suecas “Bugalu”

(from Garotas Suecas’ self-titled full-length)

Lips all over New York’s underground still struggle to pronounce ‘Garotas Suecas,’ long after this Brazilian sextet wrapped up their month-long tour of Williamsburg and the Lower East Side. The band’s fuzzy 60s-ish garage pop and soul—combined with Portuguese lyrics and an Os Mutantes cover here and there—prompted many to reference Tropicalia. I too was guilty! But Garotas Suecas’ uniquely dynamic yet casual approach to rock ‘n’ roll took everyone by surprise—definitely one of the most refreshing sounds heard here in some time. This interview by Jonathan Toubin.

Are you from the slums of Sao Paulo or the Amazonian jungle?
Irina (keyboards/vocals): I’m from the jungle. Some of us are from the ghetto. We’re all from Sao Paulo.
Thomaz (guitar/vocals): Sao Paulo ghetto.
Guilherme (vocals/harmonica): The jungle. We wear no shoes. Not too different than New York. Coffee’s different though.
Nico (drums): We eat a lot of tropical fruits.
T: And we hunt everything we eat. That takes a lot of our time. We keep practicing and hunting.
Sesa (guitar): I guess hunting and playing rock ‘n’ roll are a similar high-energy experience—so that’s where all things meet.
What does the name mean?
G: Swedish Girls.
N: Because in 2002, there were a lot of students from Sweden at Sao Paulo’s public university and they started this band called Swedish Girls. It was actually three girls and two guys—kind of similar to Abba. They were doing pretty well but all the drugs and all the music business stress did them in. And then we replaced them—and all of a sudden it was a band of crazy monkeys playing and hunting.
What’s going on in Sao Paulo’s underground music scene?
N: Tropicalia.
I: We have a music scene in Sao Paulo. We have many specific scenes. Punk rock is strong and into itself. We have some garage bands that are happening. And we have some folk as well—Portuguese related.
T: I think the big thing with indie bands is that folk rock stuff. I don’t know if that’s what’s happening here as well.
I: We have some really good folk and some freak-folk. Some really good and some people who can’t play anything.
T: Like everybody trying to be Dylan in Brazil.
I: There are very specific bands that mimic the American garage bands and exactly what they did without any Brazilian influence at all. And all the clothing—and look mod. We kind of have a mod scene in certain cities. They kind of do exactly as they did in their time and wish they were born then and not now. We are not like that at all—we take the influences but we are a band who’s been together sense 2005 and not 1965. So all the other stuff that happened in the end of the ‘60s and ‘70s in New York—more noisy kind of music—we’ve listened to all of that as well along with Brazilian music. So we don’t want to repeat a garage band or even a soul band—we can’t do that.
T: One thing we’re very serious about is researching—we’re all always buying records and downloading stuff. We’re always hungry for more. Whereas some other bands decide what their influences are going to be and stick to that.
S: They’d rather call a band a project rather than a band. They say ‘OK. This is my project where I focus on folk.’ ‘This is my project where I concentrate on ‘70s funk. And from now on I’m gonna play this.’ We’re a band and we started playing, playing, playing until we became ourselves. The references in our music come from American, Brazilian and British music in the 1960s and people seem to get us better in the U.S.—an immediate understanding. You play, you get the crowd—they get excited…
N: We were born in Brazil and we listened to this stuff since we were kids and then we started listening to a lot of American stuff and we began to see that there was a lot of Brazilian with a lot to offer that we weren’t listening to—so we started researching Brazilian music.
S: Because ‘60s and ‘70s Brazilian music isn’t mainstream culture in Brazil. It’s not like you walk in a record shop and you find lots of awesome ‘60s music.
T: There are reissue CDs here of Brazilian music that I can’t find back in Brazil. Like Gal Costa records and other things
S: Not only Tropicalia stuff—1970s funk and film stuff.
G: American music is very rich and very diverse. You were mentioning harmonic elements. We love for example the Beach Boys. We got this book and began practicing all of the voices in their songs. And in terms of rhythms, you have all of these black artists. I think American bands don’t listen to this music much. I think they’re more influenced by Velvet Underground and this more noisy aspect of music.
I: They’re into a noisier sound with dirtier guitars and all of that. In the beginning of the band we were listening to more garage stuff and then we tried to listen more to what they were listening to back then—which was a lot of black music and all of that. The rhythm and all of that is familiar to us because it’s similar to Brazilian music.
T: Being Brazilian has something to do with that flexibility. We can get to garage from that and mix it with different music and nice vocals. That’s what Brazilian pop music has been all about.
I: Taking the influences and making it your own.
T: Especially American music—transforming it by filtering it through Brazilian music and maybe it’s our main influence that we take from the Brazilian pop scene in general.
What were you trying to do when you started out?
N: We’d play Nuggets covers and all of that.
I: We’ve been together for four years. And we grew into our own sound. We’d play Velvet Underground and David Bowie covers along with MC5 and Nuggets.
T: We weren’t all that different from other bands like the Centurys.
S: Or the Stones.
Do you tour in Brazil? Is there a circuit for indie touring bands?
T: If you are an independent band in Brazil its difficult to make a successful tour. We played in Rio once but it was a long time ago.
G: Actually this is our first tour.
What’s most different between the music scene in the US and Brazil?
T: It looks like things really happen here. When somebody tells you he will contact you by Myspace or email here, he really makes this contact. In Brazil things are far from each other—I don’t really understand how things work in Brazil.
I: We don’t have an all-over underground music scene in Brazil. It’s only in certain cities and its only beginning to make sense as a scene. Each city works independently.
T: After getting to know the American independent scene, I realize that in Brazil they’re kind of immature about it. The people don’t understand that they need to support the bands—they only want to go to free shows.
N: And ask for your drumstick
T: And get as much as they can from you. It’s hard to make the public guilty. They’re getting what they can. But I think we have a long way to go.
I: It’s really hard for example to sell merch—even really cheap CDs—in Brazil. Here our CDs were sold out when we weren’t even halfway through. It’s very different the way that kind of support works here.
T: We’re still figuring out how the thing works here and in Brazil it’s so different. We can take five CDs to each gig and we won’t sell them.
What do you like best about being in America so far?
T: Being part of this rock ‘n’ roll scene—we read about it and fantasize about it and now we’re kind of part of it.
G: D.C. girls. They’re awesome.
I: That they have chai everywhere.
N: I was just gonna say that I like Starbucks.
S: I like the gear. Really old and huge amplifiers. It’s really cool to see a band with some old shit that’s really loud.
And what bums you out most?
N: You can’t drink outside the places.
Over there you can drink wherever you want?
I: On a beach. On a tree. Everywhere!
Do you have any plans to return to the United States in the near future?
T: We’re coming back to play the South by Southwest festival in Austin. Then East Coast shows again.
I: And we’re going to Chicago. And Detroit.
T: But we really want to go to L.A. right? As soon as possible!

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