Live and direct from their own back yard, Nação Zumbi played a historic hometown gig in Pernambuco's Marco Zero venue in 2009, one that has fuelled their latest tour with the show DVD finally seeing the light of day in March 2012. Now, lead singer Jorge du Peixe birings some of the band's signature 'MangueTown' to Rio, and a sold out show at Circo Voador.
"We're not just going to play the tracks off the DVD, there's going to be plenty of surprises and new songs from the next album, coming out later this year," promises the frontman. "Playing at Circo Voador is a home gig for us, we'll feel comfortable and we're going to have some fun."
The band's second live DVD (the first being 'Propaganda' recorded in São Paulo back in 2004), it includes fifteen tracks that together tell something of the group's history, such as 'Rios, pontes e overdrives' and 'Trincheira na Floresta'. For Peixe, however, the highlight was 'Cordão de Oro', a track they recorded especially for the film Besouro and has never appeared on an album;
"(The DVD) exceeded all our expectations, it couldn't have worked out any better, and even more so because it was filmed in Recife. It was a special moment. We always do shows at Marco Zero, we just had no idea this one would conjure such a large audience. The fans really wanted to be a part of the recording."
Last year, Jorge Du Peixe (voice), Lucio Maia (guitar), Dengue (bass), Pupillo (drums and percussion), Gilmar Bola 8 (alfaia and vocals), Toca Ogan (drums, vocals), Gustavo da Lua (alfaia) and Marco Matias (alfaia) entered the studio they call 'The Playground' to record the as yet unnamed new record, slated for release in 2012.
"Its got the Zumbi Nação touch, but its unlike anything else we've done," says the singer. "Its an evolution, with influences from cinema, literature, comics and much more besides. There's no hurry though. It took two years to release the DVD," he jokes.
Ambassadors of the sound of Pernambuco both in Brazil and abroad, Nação, ever original, opened the gates for the musical culture of the state. From the very beginning, the idea was to expand its borders and conquer grounds through rock, rap and reggae.
"It's a great time for the art scene in Pernambuco right now, but this is only the start of it, there is still a lot of work to do. We have some great reference points like Junio Barreto, Karina Buhr and Lira, the Cordel do Fogo Encantado," concludes Peixe. And of the band's fallen frontman and creative genius Chico Science? Only a smart crab would get out of this swamp."
