So when you create melodies, first use the instruments, or arise simultaneously with these electronic mixtures?
O: I think it begins in the instruments and end again in the instruments and we do not mix anything electronic. We used only the sound and not mix any electronic device to make our sound. Now we use instruments and rhythmic terms that are also used in electronic format, or are inspired by that atmosphere to build our own music in acoustic format. And the creative process goes through listening dance music and “world music” and then tries to meet those branches that do exist and innovative rhythmic lines, different, new and original.
You already recorded a first album and now is there a second?
O: We have a second music work titled symbology.
This new project will differ much from the previous?
O: It will not differ much. We will have taken a lot more melodic lines; the percussion will be based on concrete melodies. The first record did not take this characteristic; the sounds were drawn according to the chords of percussion and didgeridoo. This work has a more spiritual aspect, from first to thirteenth, each of which represents a spiritual path length in each individual.
Each person who is part of the band?
O: No, everyone who listens. When we baptize each theme is based on mathematical formulas and spiritual caliber of stadiums that have been studied and practice by spiritual masters. The matrix for the composition of this CD is the Mayan calendar, the people that comes from Mexico. They used the 13 moons and time was regular for them and a year had 13 months and eight days on average, characterized in that a matrix is Zolkin. The Mayans found a pattern at time and managed to identify 20 different stamps for each recording and 13 tones corresponding to each moon, the combination results in 260 days, which are just nine months in the background portrays the quality of energy that bathes the earth each day and they managed to categorize it.
How do you transport this whole universe for music?
What: This universe appears in the songs through a mathematical formula of the wave spell. To the Mayans correspond to element 13, 13 days, 13 weeks, 13 years, 13 Zolkins that is twelve plus one, a symbology sacred to many peoples and holistic believes. They thought that wave spell was these 13 elements, which began on March 8th and was 13 days ahead until the 25th of July, which was the last day of the year, and the next day is the first of a new year. Each day is a step in the wave spell, a stadium on the spiritual path, that day has to be a specific reflection for our personal growth. On the first day we reflect on the purpose that inspired us. It is a universal reflection on our music and that people may or may not identify. We created melodies with mathematical purposes that inspired these songs. The second day of the wave is the spiritual rectitude. The melody serves as the basis for a person to do an active meditation, not passive, can be visualized and rectitude is an advance in terms of the conceptualization of its purpose. Third, we did a tune for the service, which is another stage, how can I be available to meet my purpose? And do it all with integrity. The fourth will be the setting, set everything you will find in that context and so on.
Then each subject is one of 13 stadiums?
O: Yes, to achieve transcendence.
Then you advise people on the CD cover to start in the first topic?
O: Yes, we conduct the people to be so, but there is free will and we accept it fully and you may start from last to first. Everyone knows that is his way. This is what we have built in terms of artistic work and people can follow to the letter and envisage what is the feeling of the artist when he composed the work, so much so, that the songs have a connection with each other. On stage we played all the themes as one to see the feedback from people, which make a total of 35 minutes of music. We have a lot of school in terms of music; we are people who went to these countries to be form, the drummer, Xoben, went to Cuba to learn to master the technique of Cuban battery that is very difficult. Magupi, our percussionist, was more than once in Africa, to learn the various elements. Our knowledge is genuine; do not come from the internet.
Why "olive tree dance", because it is a millenary tree?
O: We are Portuguese, do instrumental music with roots in Portugal. We also considered ourselves Portuguese music, except we have an avant-garde way of doing this and we do not used a conventional way to create melodies. The olive exists in Portugal and we have used instruments made of wood and everything has an organic and natural element. The "olive tree dance" branches and also invites other artists to play with them, merge with other bands, which makes our music richer, hence the logic. Our root is also universal, because we want to play on the stage of the world, not just here in Portugal and here we have done much service. So we used traditional Portuguese rhythms that are translated differently, because it is done by young people who think differently, outside the box, coming out of a scheme that is already quite beaten. Our aim is to pour this conventionalism and make music that awakens emotions in people. This is our big extra motivation to do concerts and people often come to us in order to ask what was that?
You already held concerts in Australia, no?
O: As a group no, personally I’ve played with Australian musicians. But we already played in various places, been in India, in Asia and in Brazil we stayed three months.
What was the perception of them to your sound?
O: It was an extraordinary reception. Showed how avant-garde we are, because they were fascinated with our sound.
It's a transversal music, because any audience to understand?
O: At first the Portuguese public was stunned looking at us, seemed odd, it was not perceived to dance. But, as they saw us performing melodies quickly and excels, different viewers were glued to our execution. We had about a year to show our work in 40 concerts, not to show service. We want people to jump out of context, also because we jumped out of our instrument, we don’t think only in our music, we think with our body, mind and entered in a trance. We were not just playing while people dance, our music is genuine. Each concert is a moment for us and it shows the frequencies that we played, because we are opening a conceptualization in the people who hear us, they will swarm and feel that energy. We want to inspire them, so we did it and in 4 years already are bands inspired in the "olive tree dance".
