Good evening metal fans! A very special treat for you tonight... my interview with Rafael Bittencourt, guitarist, vocalist, and founding member of the amazing Brazilian progressive metal / power metal band Angra! I sat down last night with Rafael on the Angra tour bus about an hour before the band took the stage at Liquid Joe's in Salt Lake City, Utah. I also brought Rafael and the Angra tour manager, Carl Casagrande several local beers from Deseret Edge Brewery & Pub and Fisher Brewing Company!
B&T: I've been waiting so long to see Angra! You've never
been to Utah before?
RB: No
B&T: You've been to the states.
RB: We've been to the states... a very short tour. Very low
budget. We were traveling in a van, driving ourselves... kind of a shitty tour
and we were playing general pubs, like clubs for country music. It wasn't even
a rock circuit! Now we have a proper tour and we have a chance to show our
music to the American metal crowd.
B&T: How did you get started in music? What was your
inspiration?
RB: Well, I started very young enjoying music. My family got
together every Sunday at my grandpa's home... all uncles and they would be
sharing music, playing guitar and singing folk songs, Brazilian folk songs. And
I loved that moment. I was always waiting for that because it was like worship
for me. All the politician talk... talks about politics, religion,
differences... when someone was playing a song, all of that was gone. And
people would be silent, or singing together, or just listening to the music. I
loved it! And then when Queen, the band came to Brazil, I was 9 years old and I
lived just by the stadium where they played. And I realized that music
gathering people together to listen to it was a profession and people would be
quiet and silent and singling along. On that point, I realized that was what I
was going to do for my life. I wasn't playing. I mean I had a few piano
lessons, flute lessons, but I wasn't playing the guitar. I would start only 2
years later when I was 11. And I got into Kiss, AC/DC, Iron Maiden... all that
sort of stuff. That was '81, '82 and metal music was going boom! So by that
time I realized that was the thing I was so fascinated with... with the whole
thing ya know... playing music, writing songs, and getting people around this
moment, around the guitar, around the music itself. I thought it was magic. And
I still do. I still think it is a very beautiful thing that us as humans do. We
as humans have invented so many stuff... like skiing, surfing, and music. It's
pretty much my way of admiring us. I'm not much of a technology guy. I'm more
of acoustic and chill out.
B&T: Who would you say as a guitar player were your biggest
influences and as a songwriter who are your biggest influences?
RB: Well, as a songwriter, Brian May is... I mean Queen in
general, Freddie, all of them. Many guitar players influence me a lot. Brian
May also and Angus Young, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, so many others. Also, one
of my favorites is David Gilmour. I also love Jeff Beck. I like old guys. As a
songwriter... lyrics... Rush and Pink Floyd. Pink Floyd and Rush were the dudes
for me. Also, I love Peter Gabriel. Peter Gabriel is a huge influence for me.
Other people like Seal. I love Seal. Not only his singles, but his whole albums
are also always so good, so well crafted. I like the way he writes his songs. I
really like the way he picks words and the way he combines those words with
what he is expressing. I feel it is very true, thoughtful, and honest
B&T: So to go back into the history of Angra, I guess it was
2000, 2001 the band completely split up and you decided to go forward. What was
the impetus? What made you decide "I'm going to keep this going and
recreate Angra"?
RB: Partly fans... because the fans wanted me to keep things
going. They kept pushing me to continue. Also, Kiko [Loureiro] wanted to
continue too. Both of us of were unsure. But after a point, the fans kept
pushing us and also the record company contract. Once we kept the name,
contracts were still going. It was a good opportunity because we had fans in
mind and a record company. It would be so bad to lose. So also, passion for
music of course. I wouldn't stop making music. I would find something else. But
also the passion for the project. I struggled so hard to get to that point. It
was around 10 years that I had struggled. It is not easy to be in a metal band
from Brazil. I didn't want everything to be wasted.
B&T: You mention being in a metal band in Brazil. What is
the metal scene like in Brazil?
RB: It is getting better and better. We have good quality bands,
good quality musicians. Still some missing links... like we don't have good
producers or studios. We don't have itinerary for clubs where the bands perform
to get a good crowd. Many times the websites are only promoting foreign bands. So
we have many awesome bands coming from Brazil, but the good ones are performing
in Europe. And the scene itself doesn't support it so much, doesn't sustain the
bands. Many of the musicians have other jobs and do it in their free time as a
hobby.
B&T: So the new album... talk to me about the new album,
"Ømni".
RB: The new album represents the moment I am now as a person,
and the moment the band is too. We have a pretty new lineup. Felipe [Andreoli]
has been with me for 18 years already. But Fabio [Lione] for 6 years. Bruno
[Valverde] for 5 years... no 4 years. And Marcelo [Barbosa] joined 3 years ago.
That's pretty recent. But I think that the album represents some kind of
musical maturity that we have individually, focusing, and unity... that is why
it is called "Ømni"... the unity. I think the album brings some new
directions that we might take because of course we have new elements, we have
new people and I need to get the best out of them. I don't want to be copying
the past. I want to pay respect to the past. Much that we've done we reference.
We shouldn't start doing stuff completely different. Also, I'm trying to get
the freshness out of these awesome individuals. I think "Ømni"
represents that attempt.
B&T: On your last two albums you've done collaborative work
with other musicians, which you didn't do so much in the past. You worked with
Doro, Simone Simons, etc.
RB: I see our last album, "Secret Garden" as a
transition album, right? So we had Fabio as the new singer. We had Bruno as the
new drummer. There was already enough differences. But then we didn't have any
contract with Fabio for instance. We didn't know if he would stay in Rhapsody
[Of Fire] or if he was going to do something else. So we decided to right an
album that was like here are the possibilities. Maybe we have a new singer.
Maybe not because he's not sure. Maybe we start writing some more modern tunes.
We wrote more modern stuff compared to the past. And it ["Secret
Garden"] sounds to me very much like a transition. Now we found how we
should sound from now on. It's very solid. Let's write records together and
tour together.
B&T: It seems you have a very good chemistry... not just in
songwriting, but vocally you and Fabio really compliment each other.
RB: Yeah, I agree! I agree. I am not virtuoso singer. I can't
sing high notes and complex lines. So I think we found a good balance. It makes
the whole thing much more organic. Everyone in the band stays because they want
to. Nobody is stressed or obligate to stay. So it is very gelling and truthful
music that comes out of this relationship... a good friendship that we have.
B&T: You seem to have a really strong connection on stage.
You guys are really tight and seem to feed off of each other quite a bit.
That's nice to see.
RB: Especially after so many concerts together, I think we get
to know each other a lot and get the kind of synchronicity.
B&T: Last question... so Rafael, you finish recording for
the day, you go home, what beer do you crack open and what album do you put on.
RB: Alright, well, always IPAs or American Pale Ale... that's my
cup of tea. And after the gig, usually I'm very stressed in the ears so I like
to chill out musically. I go for "Human Being" by Seal. It is an
excellent album all the way through. I would have it on my earphones with my
IPA. And I always like to try local craft beers. Tonight I will be enjoying the
Fisher and Desert Edge that you gave me. Oh yeah, I'm very excited to try
those. I'm always excited to try new ones. Thanks for the beers! Thanks for the
interview! And I hope you have fun tonight!
A huge thank you to Mr. Rafael Bittencourt for sitting down with
me and to the band Angra for an awe-inspiring performance!! A special thanks to
Carl Casagrande for setting up the interview and for his kindness and
generosity!
Cheers!!
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