30 December 2010
According to DJ Gorky from Brazilian group Bonde do Rolê, their yet to be released sophomore record is all about transvestites.
The party kids – founding members Rodrigo Gorky and Pedro D’Eyrot along with new additions Laura Taylor and Ana Bernardino - have emerged from a three-year hiatus with enough material for two records. The four-piece were in Sydney for the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange party where they premiered Olodum and some tracks from their traditional samba record. interestingly, both are largely themed around gender-bending drag queens.
“Of all the songs we’ve ever done, most of them were about trannies,” says Gorky earnestly “The samba one is a completely one themed record, about trannies,” he even announces his dream is to have renowned transvestite and TV host, RuPaul cameo on the upcoming album.
“Even if she just goes ‘you better work,’ or if she just says ‘fierce’, anything! If we could have RuPaul on the record that would be way better than the first one where we didn’t have any trannies.”
Gorky is referring to Bonde do Rolê’s 2007 debut album, With Lasers, but don’t worry if you’ve never heard of it, or the group for that matter. They’re happy-go-lucky attitude is: “as long as you remember us, you can call us anything.”
American DJ Diplo signed Gorky and Pedro along with previous frontwoman Marina Ribatski to his label, Mad Decent, after discovering their MySpace account.
With Lasers was released through Mad Decent and had a few club anthems, most notably Marina Gasolina. The track featured on an Australian Bonds commercial and although the track is entirely in Portuguese, the lyrics - Meet me after school and I'll beat you like gorilla. Bite you like slut, come play with my pussy- had to be removed from the ad due to their offensive nature; but Gorky says the lyrics are only dirty to those who are dirty themselves.
“The song’s about animals; piranhas and gorillas and spiders. Of course it has a second meaning but you gotta have the evilness inside of you to understand it in a dirty way,” he says.
“Internal issues” caused Marina to leave the group at the end of 2007, leaving Gorky and Pedro with no live act to tour and on the hunt for a new record label.
“We were struggling for so long but we kept working… We were just having a short break, due to higher forces,” side steps Gorky. “[Marina] sent me an email when her father died and I replied but she never wrote back. I’m not going to try to be her friend coz we’re not friends anymore.”
The group is now signed to Domino records but has kept Diplo on as a “fifth member.” “We actually have that on contract,” says Gorky. Along with Diplo, Gorky and Pedro recruited Laura and Ana, however their initiation was more mercenary. Passing random trials and tribulations like rolling in mud and eating dodgy kebabs for an MTV Brazil contest in 2008, the girls stood out from the rest, but not for their talent per se.
“It was more about the vibe than actual talent,” says Gorky. “It was like Karate Kid, painting the fences and cleaning the floor; all the tasks had nothing to do with the band but at the same time, it had a lot.”
In the year that MTV helped discover Bonde do Rolê’s front-spunks they also nominated the group twice at the 2008 MTV Brazil Awards for Artist Of The Year and Video Of The Year for their track Solta O Frango. This recognition from their homeland only then sparked the release of With Lasers in Brazil.
“They say we’re just a bunch of spoilt rich kids who make baile funk tracks and the people who do like baile funk think we’re just rich kids having a take on baile funk,” Gorky has accepted that his country of origin will be the hardest of all to crack so perhaps this acceptance is the reason behind “three or four out of the twelve” Olodum tracks being recorded in English.
Bonde do Rolê have been labeled, pigeon-holed, celebrated and even berated for their music, but if their Smirnoff gig is anything to go by, one only has to attend a live show to see what all the fuss is about.
“Even though we might not have a huge following, even though people don’t understand what we’re singing about, we’re going to pass that fun to the people and when we get the fun back it becomes a big thing!”
The 2011 release date for Olodum has not been confirmed.
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