This interview was made last March with the very interesting
Paulo Furtado, better known as
The Legendary Tigerman, from the Portuguese band
Wraygunn.
On a very hot day we had a very nice conversation with one of the most busy and talented artists in Portugal.
Wraygunn is composed by
Paulo Furtado (vocals and guitars),
Raquel Ralha (vocals),
Selma Uamusse (vocals),
Sérgio Cardoso (bass guitar),
Pedro Pinto (drums) and
João Doce (drums and percussion).
Until 2012, they've released 5 records - being
L'Art Brut the most recent to be available.
FYMS: It’s funny. You are a Portuguese band that sings in English. Why does
the title of your new album is in French?
Paulo Furtado - Wraygunn: It had to
do with our own choice, at first it was thought to be in Portuguese, but on the
last minute, we chose the original term that was given by Dubuffet, a French
man, and was the first term that defined the Art Brut which is used a lot of
times in a lot of contexts in its original form and we decided to do it too.
FYMS: So you think your album is the reflection of a pure work, which exactly
what is there?
PF – W: No, we can’t go that
far. I think that fact that we call Art Brut to our album has a lot of to do
with the past, like we had an album called Ecclesiastes 1.11 that had all this
idea of memories that was taken from the Bible but we, in general, are not
catholic but sometimes we get ideas that can be resumed in small sentences and
represent a lot to us. And Art Brut, in this case, represents a very inspiring
place to look at and a place when you can go when you start to have doubts or
when the world starts to pressure you, somehow, to go to a way or another. Art
Brut inspires us to follow our way. Obviously we are not Art Brut artists, as
much as we wished to be but it’s a beautiful place to look at and to get
inspired.
FYMS: How is your return to records, to stage going?
PF – W: Very very good. This
weekend, we did three dates in Coimbra, Tondela and
Porto we don’t know what to expect, if people would appear but there was a lot
of people in the three concerts and we were happy to see that people knew the
new album and followed the songs. The concert was a bit different because we
played the entire new album and we didn’t put any old songs in the middle of
the setlist, only in the encore and it was very good to see the people singing
the new songs and appearing in big masses.
FYMS: Do you feel that a lot of The Legendary Tigerman’s fans followed
Wrayguunn’s comeback?
PF – W: I think there is always some
people that are common but the majority that bought Femina doesn’t know that
The Legendary Tigerman is also the person that sings and plays the guitar in
Wraygunn. Probably, some won’t even ever know that, but eventually some will
find out.
FYMS: We read on an interview, recently, you saying “today there are a lot of
Quim Barreiros masked as cool things.” What did you mean with that?
PF – W: What I want to mean is that
Quim Barreiros is genuine and it’s clear what he does, like it’s clear what we
do and they are not similar things. I think there are a lot of projects,
nowadays, where that isn’t clear, where they seem to be genuine but those
projects are thought and are copies of international stuff and it has almost
anything to do with music, but it’s like music done on meter and not music made
with the heart that it’s the kind of music we like. And to be honest, I think
Quim Barreiros does music with his heart, obviously. I guess it was miss
interpreted on that time too, there were people that thought that I was somehow
criticizing Quim Barreiros, but I was doing the opposite.
FYMS: We read some comments saying “Oh, he is criticizing him…” We actually
didn’t get that idea, actually we thought you were saying that are those
projects that aren’t who they seem to be.
PF – W: Exactly. I could not use
Quim Barreiros’ name, I could not use a name at all. But people always like to
see blood and slow on the highway to see the accidents and to know how many
people died instead of interpreting things correctly, unfortunately that’s what
they do.
FYMS: How is the Portuguese music going, nowadays?
PF – W: I think it’s very good, to
be honest it hasn’t been better. Although I am saying these things, those
projects a small part, because that starts on the hip-hop to rock n’ roll,
passing through pop and all the other genres, including contemporary music… But
there are some actual projects that could never exist before. The last ten to
twelve years, since the end of the 90’s until today have been the big “BOOM!”
of the Portuguese music in all ways – in English, in Portuguese, in all the
genres. And I think that we have a lot of capacity, or we could have, to export
our projects. And honestly that should be one of the paths, and it wouldn’t be
the only one, to help Portugal to get out of this crisis. We always have this
idea that culture is a burden to the country and I think it’s the complete
opposite and it has been proven in countries like France and Canada that
support the exportation of their music, their cinema, their artists… And it’s
also proven that in the end of the year, the accounts are mainly positive for
each country. So in a country where we almost don’t produce, where we killed
the agriculture and almost destroyed fishing, we still have culture. At this moment,
people are doing a great job destroying what’s left of culture but while they
don’t do it, we should export what we have.
FYMS: You talked about some projects that were a “BOOM!”. Can you name 3
bands, maybe 3 it’s unfair, but some bands?
PF – W: I can name a few…
Like Dead Combo, Sean Riley & The Slowriders, Rita Redshoes. We have
Moonspell that are internationalized for years, Deolinda that are bravely
trying the internationalization…
FYMS: So they are giving value to Portuguese music…
PF – W: Yes and by mentioning them,
I can name a few artists from fado like Ricardo Ribeiro, who has a magnificent
voice and his an incredible interpreter; Ana Moura, who’s making an amazing and
very important international work. We have some different projects that can be
heard by people outside of Portugal, and that’s the most important thing. All
these projects together define the Portuguese music, not only fado, not only
the traditional Portuguese music. There are some recent and very interesting projects
that sing in Portuguese but who’s influences can be more international than
mine.
Nowadays the Portuguese music is a mix of influences. Buraka Som Sistema are
another example of that – a band that could only appear here and not anywhere
else, exactly because we are in the center of Europe, Africa and America. When there
are a lot of different things happening to a lot of different cultures, that’s
an asset, that’s part of being Portuguese.
FYMS: What’s the difference from the actual Wraygunn and the ones from a few
years ago?
PF – W: In general, I think we are
more mature. We have this capacity of making calm things and assume it.
Probably five years ago we wouldn’t be able to do a record with such calm
songs, because we had this urgency. Now we are able to control that energy that
previously was uncontrolled. I don’t know if it will last forever, maybe on the
next record won’t happen but it happened on this one. This album is very
personal in many ways, I think the songs are very personal, some lyrics – by me
and Raquel – are a bit autobiographical, a bit fictional but clearly they are personal so it’s a very personal and
intimate record.
FYMS: On that lyrics context… Is there a tendency to write personal things or
to create stories?
PF – W: Usually, even when I write
other things, I begin from the personal to the fictional. For example, when I
write movie scripts, I observe people and I write on a small character book –
because sometimes I see people that are too good to be created. And I think
that reality always exceeds fiction. So, there’s an element that helps the
story to be created and it can be real, but at the end it has nothing to do
with that character and in my case, that’s how I write – from a personal experience
to fictional.
FYMS: Since 2007 – when your last album Shangri-La was released – until now,
you haven’t released anything. In what extent did your other projects – in this
case The Legendary Tigerman – influence your new album and your evolution?
PF – W: I think one thing
influences the other, for exemple – Selma had several projects, did several
different things… This hiatus gave Raquel the confidence and the space to write
and create music, previously she would only write the lyrics and she composed
the first two songs of this record. I
have a very intense rhythm, when compared to the other members and maybe Selma
has the closest rhythm to mine, she does several things at the same time but
the others have a slightly different rhythm. Sometimes, as a “kind of” musical
director of this project, I have some urgency to see things happening and that
takes some needed space to the others with slower rhythms – it’s not a bad
thing, it’s just a different thing and this stop allowed Raquel and Selma to
write lyrics and in the end let us re-create ourselves in an effective way. If
we kept the rhythm of releasing an album in every two years we wouldn’t be able
to understand if we grew or not or if you are on the same places. Sometimes,
two years aren’t enough to fill a balloon and then empty it to a record and
sometimes when you can’t – and has already happened to me in the past – have
the balloon full, you need to make a bigger effort to be able to add something
new to your previous work, to be honest and in this case the balloon was full
and it was possible in a very natural and relaxed way to make a different
record.
FYMS: What’s the story behind your first single “Don’t You Wanna Dance?”
PF – W: It’s a love story,
and it was a song that wasn’t supposed to be edited because it was made for
someone else. At some point I thought it was a waste this song wasn’t available
for the world and that’s the story.
FYMS: It was such a waste that even became the first single.
PF – W: Sim. Yes, I mean it
isn’t a waste. It would never be a waste, but it would be a bit selfish not
sharing it, that’s more accurate to say.
FYMS: Your gigs have been almost full. Do you feel that you are more
recognized than before?
PF – W: I don’t know, that’s
a bit hard. We had to sold out rooms and two that almost did. We aren’t
starting from the beginning, but we are almost starting again so we were very
happy to have this response and to see people in our shows but these are the
first ones. Now we are going to France – we are going to see if people still
remember us. And then we return to Portugal, where we have several scheduled
dates and only there we’ll be able to understand how much did people missed
Wraygunn. On these first ones, it’s pretty easy to have people, we could feel
they missed us. But I think everything is going to go fine for us.
FYMS: If we are not mistaken, you presented your album on a Lisbon’s room –
Lux. How did it go?
PF – W: It went very well,
that was one of the sold out ones. It was also the most nervous one. Than we
did Coimbra - also sold out -, Tondela and Hard Club, in Porto. The last show
in Hard Club was the best of those four, which is normal… It was the last one
and we were now less anxious and the audience in Porto is always amazing.
FYMS: How do you prepare for these shows? As a group you didn’t play a live
show for a while.
PF – W: We didn’t play live
for a while but people, sometimes, think that in the last five years we didn’t
play together or that was a “hole” that actually didn’t happen.
In the first two years and a half we played a lot, not only in Portugal but
also outside and actually there was a period of 9 to 12 months that we didn’t
practice regularly because after we started to work on the record and we
started to practice more often. Which means, it wasn’t something done in the
last minute, where suddently we had all these new songs. We had a regular work
during that time. Obviously we were nervous for not playing a show in more or
less a year and a half. But the first show in Lux, maybe paid for that anxiety,
we were a bit urgent, I have the feeling the songs were slightly fast.
FYMS: Do you still have the need to play on stages?
PF – W: Yes, of course. And
we will for a very long time.
FYMS: Normally, we have a trouble to classify the band in the several
different genres, maybe even the band, due to their different sounds. In which
genre do you fit in?
PF – W: I don’t like to fit
in anything, because that’s a need for that people who write and have to
catalogue so people can place them in the stores. We were never the kind of
band that wrote in the records “file under” or put on the blues or rock n’
roll. We have different influences, obviously both rock n’ roll and blues are
our backbone, such is soul but we also have hip-hop, country and several other
influences that takes our music to other places and makes it more peculiar – so
if I had to catalog it would be Modern Portuguese music, which is embracive
enough to include us and several other projects that represent the Portuguese
music in a whole.
FYMS: How far it influences the band, when an artist have a side project? In
this case, how is The Legendary Tigerman?
PF – W: It’s great! I’ll
explain you a bit of my life… I do like eight to nine things at the same time…
I’ve always done movies, at the same time that I do music. I’ve also done
several soundtracks, with Rita Redshoes, for cinema and theater and it’s
something that we do more often… For example, last year I made three
soundtracks for short films and with Rita, for a theater and two movies. So
everything at the same time I was doing The Legendary Tigerman’s shows and this
summer I’m going to the US and will play in festivals in France, England and a
bit around the world, probably until the end of this year The Legendary
Tigerman is going to be released in Japan. Things are constantly happening and
I have this rhythm, I do a lot of things… And I’m only a full-time musician for
5 to 6 years and I’ve been in the industry for about twenty years at least so I
like to have this need to do several things at the same time and I’m used to
it.
FYMS: We can say it’s recent that full-time musician… Did you ever thought you
would be released in the US, Canada or Japan? It’s always a dream but until
it’s true…
PF – W: Curiously, I went to
Japan eight years ago, in the beginning of Tedio Boys where we played a lot in
the US – where we played 500 shows and in Portugal around 80, in our entire
career. I’ve always had a perspective that didn’t let me live from music. So I
try to keep that perspective as always, there’s always a possibility to start
over, it’s a natural thing. For example, when I go to a new country, I’m not walking
to the big door and play for 500 people, it’s something that you should be
ready for. I feel very lucky to do what I like and be able to refuse things,
like I always did, that would compromise my art but could give me more money,
maybe that’s why I only live from music for 6 years and not for ten to fifteen
years, for refusing things that didn’t interested me artistically and that’s
why I feel so lucky for being able to do it while most people can’t.
FYMS: If you weren’t a musician, what would you be?
PF – W: I usually say that if
I wasn’t a musician, probably there wouldn’t be anything legal that I could do.
But I would be a film-maker or a painter, that was my first big passion in arts
that somehow I traded for music but I’m sure one of these three would make me
really happy, maybe music has a different way to interact with people from
cinema, although I really enjoy movies, talking and discussing them as a person
but it hasn’t the same trade as a gig. Maybe I wouldn’t be so happy as a
fulltime filmmaker or painter but they would also fulfill me.
FYMS: You said painting was your first passion. How did music appear?
PF – W: Music stole me from
painting, it was something like that. I was studying arts in Coimbra and by
that time Tedio Boys were in their first tours in America, which were always
around 1 and a half month and 3 months and I had to decide between one thing
and the other, I ended up choosing music.
FYMS: How is the relationship with fans? Which is the feedback?
PF – W: I think it’s very
close, Wraygunn fans have an affection and closeness with us. Nowadays it’s
easier to understand it because there’s Facebook but 7 to 8 years ago, you
could only understand it on the shows and we were always able to feel it and
that affection is real like we are something rare and it’s very good to feel
that way.
FYMS: You have some international experience. Which are the main differences
from the Portuguese audience and international audience?
PF – W: I think there’s
something to be put in perspective… When I play in France, or any other
country, I’m an artist that’s going to play there… For example, in Holland I stay ten years without
playing or in London, where I play more rarely so there’s a different
atmosphere which is an atmosphere of people who are waiting a long time to see
a project and so they are a warm audience that’s eager to see you, because it’s
easier to see me in Portugal, where you can see me play twice or three times a
year and that doesn’t happen in the other countries. I don’t think there isn’t such
a big difference, and Portugal has an amazing public, it’s very good and
probably the main difference, when compared to France, it’s that people don’t
have a tradition…
Here in Portugal, there’s the idea of when you start a family or have kids you
have to stop to go to concerts, also here they are usually late but in France
we play around 7pm or 8pm, if we are the highlights of the show which gives
time to a person that works, that has a family and children to be able to go to
a concert and return home on a reasonable hour and be able to work on the
following day which is something that doesn’t exist in Portugal because the
concerts are late and that thought of when a person has kids and a family it
has to be serious, stop going to concerts and renounce some things that people
outside don’t do. So it’s very nice to see people with their sixties, where you
notice perfectly that listen rock n’ roll for forty or fifty years and still go
to concerts with kids around their fifteen or sixteen and that’s interesting
and healthy and we, Portuguese, don’t live as much as we should – that’s
probably our biggest flaw as people. I
think it’s possible to coordinate everything so people can be able to have a
life of culture and active entertainment.
FYMS: Complete these sentences...
a)
One day…
PF – W: …I will have a son or a daughter
b) The best thing people can say about me…
PF – W: … is that I’m honest
c)
And the worst…
PF – W: … I’m false
d) In tem years…
PF – W: … I hope people
still want to listen to me.
FYMS: What would you say to FYMS readers?
PF – W: Be wise!
[Special thanks to Raquel Lains, Paulo Furtado, Lola Coelho and the entire Wraygunn members.]
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