We recently had the pleasure of connecting with Rodrigo Santiago who started the very cool Brazilian music site LoungeBR. He shares his perspective on Brazilian music and talks about some of his musical inspirations.
"The idea of LoungeBR was to create a Brazilian music bookshelf." So if you are looking for some João Pinheiro or Cartola, Rodigo's podcasts are packed with cultural context, insight and a great combination of music.
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Global Samba: What inspired you to start LoungeBR?
Rodrigo: Several things inspired me. First of all, I am a composer myself. I use to listen lots of different songs from the many composers in Brazil to study their work, and this brought me the will to share these wonderful songs with people. A year ago I met Maestro Billy on the web, a great producer who lives in São Paulo and maintains a podcast about pop music in portuguese language. His podcast is huge and popular, but it lacks many of the greatest and less known brazilian songs, since it is focused in pop music. I know people all around the world who loves brazilian music, so that's why I've chosen to record it in english, an idiom which I love. That helps me to study it also. Besides, I have a fully functional homestudio, which I mounted with the will of producing my own music in the future. And on the top of that, I am a systems analyst and a blogger. After all this, I couldn't escape having my own music website. So I put everything together and created LoungeBR.
Global Samba: In what way do you think Brazilian music has influenced, shaped or developed Brazilian culture? And cultures around the world?
Rodrigo: Brazilian culture was always about music and religion. Three different races were put together in an unkown and fascinating land, with different beliefs. There was no formal education to natives or africans, so that music was the only way to preserve their memory. No literature. No religious symbols allowed by the Catholic church. The portuguese language is the only one that has a word to express the feeling of missing something (the homeland, in this case): "saudade". This environment was highly poetic. Many strange stories about unnatural wild beings all time, everywhere. Many forbidden love stories among the miscigenation between three skin colors. Extreme heat and extreme cold in the same piece of land. A highly fertile earth that could grow anything you could seed on it. Time to wait for the crop. We had comfort, discomfort, time, passion, love and saudade. And the only way to express it, for most people, was through music.
Later, all other lands in America discovered their new music also, such as blues/jazz in USA. I think in Brazil it happened first, because the miscigenation happened in a much wider way, and this allowed us to get that valuable 'thing' in African rythms. We have dozens of very different and new rythms spread all over the country because of that.
This new music meant 'big news' all over the world. Villa Lobos brought it to classic music, while Tom Jobim and João Gilberto had a major impact in jazz music, since the Bossa Nova night in Carnegie Hall. Many big music stars, like Bill Evans, Michel Legrand and Sinatra himself, couldn't live without record some brazilian composers.
Global Samba: Who are some of your favorite music artists and how have they inspired you?
Rodrigo: During my childhood, Hermeto Pascoal was my neighbour. It lasted for 14 years, in Bairro Jabour, Rio de Janeiro. He is my major influence. Not because I went there to see him, but just because of the opposite - I didn't! When I fell in love with music, I couldn't stop listening to his songs, learning from that and feeling sorry about myself cause I didn't meet him personaly. He is some kind of harmonic and rythmic wizard, having many beautiful pieces such as Canção no Paiol de Curitiba or Ginga Carioca. His songs are mostly inspired in Northeast rythms, such as Baião and Maracatu. He was born there. Another major influence is Guinga. His harmonies are something to study A LOT! I had already the pleasure to have him as my music advisor. He's making yet another very different kind of music. I am also highly influenced by progressive rock broken rythms - Rush and Gentle Giant songs mainly. Bossa Nova from Jobim and João Gilberto, Egberto Gismonti's songs and Yamandu Costa are also in my heart. And jazz, of course: Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Sarah Vaughan... Together with the jazzy electronic music, such as Saint Germain, Jazzanova, Cafe Del Mar and a little of house and trance music.
Global Samba: What can LoungeBR followers anticipate from you next?
Rodrigo: I am expecting to make more podcasts a week, bringing pop music also. I got closer to a successful record label in Rio called Saladesom records, and we are planning to make videos and interviews. They are recording my wife's first album, the singer Manu Santos. She is a very good singer, and she's already recorded two of my songs that I'll feature here in the future. I want to get closer to other brazilian music lovers and producers over the web and work something out together with them (you guys, for example). I'll also post some of my compositions in LoungeBR, just to share some of my own music with people all around the world.
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Wow, I'm inspired! Thank you Rodrigo for sharing your knowledge and clear passion for music with us. We hope to see you back again on Global Samba.
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