Is it true that your name CSS (Cansei de Ser Sexy – translation being “tired of being sexy”) was taken from a reported quote by Beyonce, who allegedly declared that she was “tired of being sexy”. What touched you about that quote to use it as your band name?
“Well, it’s Beyonce! and she’s “tired of being sexy”! Don’t you find that a bit funny?”
Well, yes actually.
On your recent US tour, you invited fans to contribute to a film you were making during these shows – how did that work and when will we see the fruits of this idea?
“It was Tilly and The Wall’s idea for something they were doing and we just joined in. Tilly was touring with us cause we thought it was a really cool idea. Let’s see what comes out of it – I think we can see things coming out when those guys edit it, like soon.”
Your drummer is now the bassist and your new drummer is an English man (Jon Harper), how has this affected the dynamics of a ‘non Brazilian’ in the band?
“We don’t divide people like that. Johnnie is amazing, as a drummer and as a person – and as far as the “Brazilian” thing goes, he’s an Aquarius anyway. He’ll always be fun. He’s totally inside the DYNAMICS. We have loads of nationalities working together on CSS.”
You have a nine date tour of the UK coming up in October, how do you rate British audiences to the party loving people of your home town Sao Paulo.
“Well, we haven’t played in Sao Paulo for so long. Every audience is special and unique, I think there’s a similarity except we’re much bigger in the UK, apparently.”
Normally regarded as the ‘difficult second’ album, how difficult / easy was it to make ‘Donkey’? And from the 17 tracks recorded how did you get the final eleven?
“The recording process was tight and we just did it, decided to do it and just did it without thinking about it so much. It was a great experience and it wasn’t hard, in a sense that we suffered or got all those dramatic things the to artists do. It’s hard to describe it. It was really cool to make it and different from the first, first time recording in a proper studio. The final eleven were kind of what we felt it was the best that we agreed with our managers and our A&R.”
This new album released earlier this year showcased a tighter, more ambitious sound, with a raft of fresh influences forged together in archetypal CSS fashion, what brought about these changes?
“The sound of ‘Donkey’ has much more to do with CSS live, so it’s just being honest… We’re just the same old people doing what we feel like we should, and this is still, very much CSS but reflecting a different time in our lives rather than just keeping the same “archetypal”, perhaps? The question itself reflects the answer, seems like you were expecting us to do the exact same thing we did in 2003 and, oh my god, that would be really boring.”