Brazilian music of the last four decades, and possibly poetry, would not be understood without the transversal and elongated shadow of Arnaldo Antunes (São Paulo, 1960). First as a member of Titãs, a leading Brazilian rock band of the 80s, and later with the worldwide success of the band Tribalistas, which he formed with Marisa Monte and Carlinhos Brown. But also with a prolific solo career and a relevant career as a poet, recognized with literary awards such as the Jabuti, one of the most prestigious in Brazil.
Antunes spoke with elDiario.es from Brazil, a few days before arriving in Galicia. From his artistic journey to reaching “the naked word”, from the communicating vessels between poetry and music that influenced him from Vinicius de Moraes, through Tropicalism or his admiration for the medieval lyrics of Martín Códax. Antunes is a musician, poet or performer, but above all an artist committed without hesitation against the rise of the extreme right and the cultural debacle caused by Bolsonaro, which represented “a usurpation of vital space by power.”
Last year he embarked on a commemoration tour with Titãs and does not rule out a new reunion with Tribalistas: “We never make plans, but it can happen.” Meanwhile, he continues with his career and his solo concerts. In the next few days he will arrive in Galicia with two scheduled performances. One with his band, at the Sala Capitol in Santiago on Saturday, October 19 and another in A Coruña on Thursday, October 31, with the virtuoso Víctor Araújo accompanying him on the piano.
It arrives in Galicia with two different formats, one with a band and the other with voice and piano. What is different about each one?
The first, with a band that has played with me for years, is a repertoire from several different periods, from my time with Titãs, through some of Tribalistas and my time as a soloist. The second is a novelty because I had never done anything with voice and piano.
He traced his path from the rock of Titás or later in groups like Tribalistas. Why did you decide to record the album? Tears of the sea alone with piano and rotate with this unusual format?
We recorded it during the pandemic and we were barely able to release it until 2022. It is something very different. I like this type of format with Víctor Araújo on the piano because it does not have a rhythmic marking like with the band. They are flexible tenses, I can extend and play with the syllables and words as I want.
Do you feel that your career is evolving more towards words devoid of artifice, close to a format spoken word?
Performing a solo piano and voice concert was born with the intention of reaching the seed and heart of the song, the song in its most primary state, completely naked. I wanted to experience something I had not done before and I really like doing it. Sometimes there are spoken poems, linked in some way to the language of the song because I have always done poetry performances.
Brazil has a great tradition of combining poetry and music, with references such as Vinicius de Moraes. You are also a poet, do you consider yourself a continuator of that tradition?
The song tradition in Brazil has a very sophisticated poetic work behind it. There are previous composers who have an intimate relationship with the word such as Noel Rosa, Lamartine Babo or Ismael Silva. In my case, in my formative period, when I was a teenager in the 70s, I had a very close approach to poetry, at that time when Tropicalism and concrete poetry met.
I suppose that meeting left its mark on him at that time as a poet and musician…
In addition to Vinicius, Caetano Veloso put to music the poems of Augusto de Campos and there are many poets of that time who worked on written poetry and sung poetry. Texts by poets such as Paulo Leminski, Antonio Cicero, Waly Salomao or Torquato Neto are sung by Caetano, Maria Bethania, Gilberto Gil or Gal Costa.
Could it be said that this poetry was a minority and the Brazilian Popular Music (MPB) song brought it closer to mass culture?
I think that meeting was very fruitful. Poetry was more of a minority but was considered to have a higher status than popular songs. However, the popular song reached more mass culture and at that moment a rupture of that paradigm occurred.
He toured again with the historic rock group Titãs and returned in 2017 with Tribalistas. Will there be new episodes of these meetings or is it a chapter of your artistic life already closed?
With Titãs it was a special celebration of the band’s 40 years. I was in the band from ’82 to ’92, and it was very exciting on a personal level, as well as having enormous success. I don’t think it’s something to keep doing periodically.
And with Tribalists? Are you thinking about a possible return with Marisa Monte and Carlinhos Brown?
The meeting with Marisa and Carlinhos is always very fertile. We have a lot of mutual enthusiasm and we compose many things together, it is a permanent composition exercise. We made many songs together over the years, which we recorded as soloists or other artists recorded, but we don’t know if there will be a new Tribalistas. We don’t have a set plan, but it can happen. The future is very long.
With Marisa Monte, you recently won a lawsuit against the mayor of São Paulo, the conservative magnate João Doria, for the use of your music without consent in his political campaign. He called them “leftists and parasites.” What did it mean to you when they agreed?
Copyright legislation has changed a lot. With networks, people start to use it in the way that an author would not want, and they do it without our authorization. We didn’t like this political use of our songs, that’s why we took action and won the lawsuit. We donated the compensation (about 16,000 euros, at the exchange rate) to the Mirim da Portela samba school in Rio de Janeiro.
With your words and your attitude, you became a visible face of cultural activism against Bolsonaro. The rise of the extreme right has also expanded to Europe and Spain. What position can a committed creator have in the face of this advance of cutting freedoms?
We are experiencing a worrying situation in the world with this threat posed by the rise of the extreme right in the world. That is why we have to raise our voices, both as citizens demonstrating and as artists with songs. I composed a song, Or real resistto talk about the impact of Bolsonaro’s election in Brazil.
Does it mean that the artist must combat certain political attitudes with his songs?
I don’t think that the song should be born with the obligation to always express itself politically, but sometimes this is inevitable. Especially like in the time of Bolsonaro, when power usurps our living space and that cannot be ignored. When it came out I did it with a very genuine, very true emotion.
In what phase is Brazil now with this stage of Lula compared to the previous one with Bolsonaro?
We are more optimistic with Lula, but the extreme right continues to be a threat and that is worrying. We had municipal elections now and we saw a very large growth of that intolerant and authoritarian right. I think we should position ourselves whenever necessary. Polarization continues and there is much work ahead to educate people so they can stop this authoritarian impulse that threatens democracy.
Do you have any link through language with the music of Galicia or with artists from here?
I know things about medieval music. Specifically, I love the work of Martín Códax, but unfortunately I don’t know the contemporary music and songs of Galicia. I would very much like to know more and I will accept receiving instructions in these days that I am out there.
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