Whosputo is an indie band formed in Lisbon, Portugal in 2018. The band consists of good friends and band members Raimundo Carvalho (voice/ guitar), Miguel Fernandez (drums), Tom Maciel (Keys) e Tiago Martins (Bass). 2020 saw the duo release their debut album Art of Decay, and more recently their official music video for song ‘Braces’. The music they produce knows no bounds with their indie charm, as they include elements of electronic music, trip-hop, and jazz into their overall sound.
We would like to think that smoky textures and sonically rhythmic off beats go together to set the background for our urban ballads and more edgy straightforward songs about youth, state of self-doubt and love.
Which three albums have influenced you the most creatively?
It is very hard to pick three albums out of all the music that contributed to our recipe but they might be:
– Around the Fur by the Deftones
– To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar
– Songs by the Brad MeldhauTrio
Tell us about the key pieces of equipment that you use to define your sound?
We have a lot of electronic elements to our approach, in basically any stage of our existence, whether it is composing in the studio or live. We definitely love samples and all the FX´s that can be used to atrophy them, like delay pedals and pitch shifting devices. We are also a traditional quartet that enjoys the jazz and rock format, so definitely the drums, the bass, guitars, and synthesizers are the things for us. We like strong and vivid music textures, with vibrant rhythms and so we will use our instruments to achieve that. Miguel will use an acoustic drum set with a Roland SPD to complement the groove with stronger electronic samples. Tiago is currently playing an 8 strings bass and is building his own harmonizer and phrase sampler. Tom plays two different key sets, a Korg SV-1 for the piano, rhoads sounds, and a Korg Minilogue for the synths. I play my Stratocaster our SG guitar connected to an array of guitar pedals and samplers, plus a novation ultranova or microkorg synthesizer. I also use sampling in my voice live.
Is there any “non-musical” ingredient that is essential to crafting your sound?
Life. Being alive and going through a normal existence with all the sets of experiences we go through is really the main thing. To be fair, it would probably be accurate to say that everything is music, or at least it is in every element of life, so there you go.
Studio work and music creation, or performing and interacting with a live audience, which do you prefer?
Performing is the coolest thing. The edge of it is everything and it is the moment where music comes alive. But we do love creating and producing. Everything has its place. Although in these current times we have been only left with the creation part.
What has been your most memorable performance so far?
The first band performance, definitely. It is also likely the worst in terms of quality of gig.
And which performance would you prefer to forget?
Absolutely none.
Any new or emerging artists on your radar?
Sam Gendel, who some might recognize as playing saxophone for Knower, recently released an incredible album with twisted versions of jazz standards, it´s called Satin Doll.
If you could collaborate with, or perform alongside any artist, who would it be? And why?
It would definitely be James Blake.
His music is a big influence on us as a band and he is very refreshing and consistent with any new release. He keeps on innovating and going somewhere forward with his music. We also feel like he is the best producer in music right now and has probably been for the past few years. It is also crazy that you can go to his first releases as Harmonimix and find an incredible treasure of future sounding electronic music that still sounds unique today, 12 years later.
If you weren’t a musician what would you be?
I can´t answer for the other members of the band, but I (Raimundo) would probably be an Historian or a psychiatrist.
Trent Reznor once said “To me, rock music was never meant to be safe. I think there needs to be an element of intrigue, mystery, subversiveness. Your parents should hate it.” What are your thoughts on this statement?
I think he is right, in a way. Music will never be safe and there will always be a generational gap of new music acceptance between parents and kids. Music is about challenge and edge and also the now, and it is not very often that you find music good enough to resonate in everybody all the time, throughout time itself.
Tell us about any upcoming shows or releases you have in the pipeline.
Well, it is a pandemic. For now, we have a gig in August 12th at Festival de Jazz de Viseu and a couple of more that we cannot announce due to the uncertainty of these times. We are already in the final producing and mixing stages of an EP that will come out in the Fall.
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