The Brazilian groove architect returns with stunning new album ‘Abaporu’
Interview : Ben Hogwood
‘Abaporu’ is Gui Boratto’s fourth solo long player, and it proves just as rich as its colourful artwork implies. DMC got on the phone to the amiable producer to talk about the importance of music and colour to Boratto, while hearing about his experiences of the World Cup…
Hey Gui welcome to DMCWORLD. What did you set out to achieve with ‘Abaporu’?
“To be honest it was very natural. The process normally is that I take two years to do an album. If you track back through what I’ve done, there is ‘Chromophobia’, which I released in 2007, then ‘Take My Breath Away’ in 2009, and then two years after that, ‘The Black One’ (or ‘III’ as it is called). The theme for ‘Abaporu’ was a reunion of my references, putting them all in the same pan. I didn’t think of it as a homage or a re-reading, although there are a lot of references – a bit of bass, a bit of my chordal palette, a bit of dancefloor, and there are some introspective ones, a bit of broken beat, and some techno – so a lot of different things. I think the whole album is part of a cycle of 7-8 years, and as a happy album it is different to the third. ‘Take My Breath Away’ was a continuation of ‘Chromophobia’, then the third was my rock ‘n’ roll side, and this one is a summer album, much happier than sad. It’s a sunny album really, and I’m in the same mood I was in 2005-06 with the same kind of feeling from ‘Chromophobia’. It reflects that rather than being a copy of it. I like to explore new paths.
The track ‘Take Control’ is the centre of the album; emotionally as well as where it’s positioned. Was that recorded with your wife, as you have done with other previous vocal tracks?
“Actually for the first time I used another girl, the project came from friends (Come and Hell) who promote a party in Brasilia. Before my performance there they got me to listen to something in a small studio in the back, and when I listened to the new song I really identified with it. I changed the harmony, but kept the lyrics. It turned into a collaboration between the three of us, and I decided to include it on the album, and it became the first single. This is the only one my wife doesn’t sing on but she sings with Rod, who was in one of my first bands. So I did a duet between the two. But the vocal on ‘Take Control’ does sound like Luciana, and I really like that.”
Do you feel melody is really important in all the music you make?
“That’s how I start, with melody and harmony – they are the most important things for me. Even in the instrumental tracks, you can sing the melodies. I’m a geek but I am a musician too, and although I don’t have the DJ skills I hope I make up for that with the melodies!”
Apart of ‘Take Control’ did you collaborate with anybody else while making this album?
“I would say that 95% of it I did alone, as I really prefer to do it that way. You need a lot of intimacy to work with someone else to compose. It’s great to control and decide on your own. It’s good to do collaborations, for example the second song the process was really nice. Most of the basses were already done, I did harmony and guitar, and we got a nice result. I like to do collaborations though the artists sometimes and I recently worked with Marc Romboy on a track called ‘Eurasia’. We sent that back and forward, as he was in Istanbul at the time.”
Would you say the artwork for the album matches the music inside?
“Of course! I’m an architect, and since I was really young – 7-9 years old – I have been really into drawings, pen or pencil and paper, scratching around and making music. Some things you can express with lyrics or melodies, or paints or even spaces, and I think of course the cover should be an extension of the music inside. Sometimes it can be beautiful, and it must be an extension of the music, so that even if it’s uglier it should make sense. Since ‘Chromophobia’ I think all the albums express their feelings through the image on the cover.”
Do you see colours when you make music?
“When I hear some melodies I see colours in my mind, and texture – there are yellow, blue and red melodies, it’s all connected when I hear something. It’s not conscious but it expresses colour in your mind, like a film of moving colour. It’s all connected.”
What is your relationship with Kompakt like, especially Michael Mayer?
“Michael is great, he lets me be very free about everything I want to do, and he respects me a lot. Actually I’m not exactly the label’s cup of tea because I have many kinds of style – progressive, more housey, atmospheric, ambient – and I feel really free to express my music. They never argue, though, and Michael allows me to do what I like. We know his family very well, and Paul, his son, is the age of my daughter. We spend time together when he comes to Brazil, he has really mature DJ skills and experience so I can ask his advice on music business things, and he’s got all that experience. I’m a studio guy so ask advice as we have this friendship. He’s been giving me advice the past eight years so far!”
Looking back to the summer, how was the World Cup for you – were you in more demand as a DJ?
“Most of the parties were around the games, and the promoters were doing really big events with mainstream guys and big bands, especially the local ones – they shared a carnival thing. To be honest though the people weren’t super interested in it, they were more into the games. From 3-4pm, then 5pm, everybody was leaving work and there was a lot of traffic with people getting home, especially in a 20 million people city. The traffic was crazy! People were going into bars instead of clubs, and I was completely sat at home, finishing the last jobs I had to deliver before the summer tour. I left Brazil at the end of June, so I saw just the first phase.”
Gui Boratto’s ‘Abaporu’ album is out now on Kompakt
