Dead Combo encloses Lisbon and its influences in their instrumental music. They are a cult band in Portugal, thanks to an American television program, now they belong to the world music.
Dead Combo went from practically unknown to the Portuguese public, to be recognized internationally because of a cooking show that catapulted you to fame, it is not weird?
Tó Trips: It's a little strange because we been here for ten years and although we were a cult band and in that period we gain an audience, in fact that was the catapult for greater recognition of what we do. It was also strange because it is a television show, but nowadays these things work like that, whether you like it or not, is a means of spreading your music. This is a good example of how you can export music, through an entity; in our case was the Anthony Bourdain.
The fact that you are now more recognized by a wider audience makes you more commercial? Because as you point out before you were a cult band.
Pedro Gonçalves: I think one thing does not imply the other. We are recognized by more people and our music becomes more recognized and does not necessarily have to do with being more or less commercial, in our case has nothing to do it, because we continued to make the same music we did in 2003, what happens is there are more people like it. There we do not compromise, nor songs for the radio, we do not, nor ever shall we do that.
Then you share the view that the radio and the media generally spend little time on Portuguese music?
TT: No.
PG: No, the radios air Portuguese music. Has more to do with quality of music, with quality radios with financial issues associated with the playlist that does not have anything to do with music. I think it's a conversation that makes no sense, is my opinion.
Because you are fusion music, which encompasses several types of musical influences, you are in a different level?
TT: No, for now this band has no singles. Has no voice, no choruses, is instrumental. We are not a band to go on radio and we are not aside of it. I think that Portugal is one of the best countries in Europe for radios if not the best, because it has several independent broadcasters. The antenna 3, the radar in Lisbon and Porto, Vodafone fm betting on new and different things. Maybe only minorities heard it. I'm not a fan of showing only Portuguese music, there are both good and bad as the same may be said of the English music.
Regarding the tours that you are more famous notice that the audience changed?
TT: The only thing that changes is people do not know us when we go abroad. What happens is that we are recognized and we have a good reception. The only difference that we noticed here is that people already know our work.
Abroad they associate it you to Portugal? Your alternative look does not forward immediately to a sort of Portuguese style.
TT: No, in fact it's one of the things we say at the very beginning of the concert is that we are from the south of Portugal and that is California only without money.
Are you currently considering recording a new album?
TT: No. We continued to play our repertoire.
Of all the works which you recorded what was more remarkable, or the one that gave you greater pleasure?
TT: In all records there is always a story and each is written one manner, others are recorded in a different place, we are a band that maybe all song could be a single record and could be giant. We are a duo that builds a path. If you want me to tell you one, I do not know which, each had its route.
If you had to give a name to the giant record what would it be?
TT: I think it would be Dead Combo. We both bet on being free, and do what we want until now we are blessed because we are what we do, in the end we are lucky that people like us, when we started we were not expecting anything. All this has taught me one thing in life, not to be anxious about things, was something that had to happen; we did not do a market research and has not a scheduled.
http://deadcombo.net/
