Musical Heirs

At the core of the word, Tropicália represents to me a gutter pipe. A gutter piper collects rain from the roof, creeks of rain go through it.

Tropicália is much more than an affirmation. It was the access for us, post-tropicalists, to make our socio-cultural approximation movement that developed into axé-music and so many other things. Tropicália is a cradle; it informed us about Brazil and we learned a great deal.

From Chacrinha and Elke Maravilha I inherited a way of dressing, or rather, a way of assuming my clothes, of assuming the posture of my clothes. So, I love dressing myself in a strange way that you don’t know if it is Carmen Miranda, if it is Chacrinha, if it is from the circus. I look for identification in my garments, particularly when I’m in action on stage, that is different from the usual. That is to be a tropicalist.

Clothes are in me a complement that was encouraged by these personalities. It is the extension to that which words can not reach. It is the extension of what melody doesn’t provide, so we look for it in the visual.

A doctor, or someone who works as a hotel reception clerk doesn’t accept to see an artist dressed as a doctor or as a doorman. He wants to see the difference so that, at those moments when he is not indoctrinated by the uniform, he too may lavish his freedom and transcend.

Tropicalists’ literary and musical freedom has influenced me greatly. I don’t have Caetano or Gil’s education level, but I add to it. My thoughts add to it. In me, this freedom derives more from ignorance than from knowledge. So, the fact that I didn’t have the necessary access to study gave me a bit of freedom with the Portuguese language. For example, I don’t know what a semi-colon is. But I do know when a sound pushes a sentence forward.

I am a carnavalesco. I’m not an assiduous part of Tropicália, but I belong to what I call carnavália, which is the value of Tropicalism within Carnaval. Because I make carnival-like music, I am forcefully a musician inspired by the movement.

I make carnival music, but I also make songs. I use Timbalada as a carnival-like way-out, but I can’t throw away other types of inspiration. That I learned from Tropicalism. It’s as if there was a fast moment to live and a laid-back moment to live. Tropicalism made me understand Brazil better; that is the message I got from the beloved masters. Caetano and Gil were exiled, but “a man of movements is never an outsider”.