The Ermo who owe nothing to the name are a young musical duo that appear in 2012 with a self-titled EP and whose next album "comes here" throws them in the limelight of music in Portugal. With an electronic sound with a strong Portuguese musical influence, this band from Braga recently launched their last work Lo-fi Moda, which distanced itself from its other recordings, but not from its Portuguese essence.
I would like to know how
Ermo project comes with this aspect of Portuguese music and at the same time electronic? You are instrumental and voice.
António Costa: We met a few years ago, since 2011, we became friends and it was not something much thought, the part of the Portuguese music, in fact it is a sonority that we are leaving very out of this new work. But for a long time it was like this, I cannot explain why, it was just what we felt at the time and now we are thinking of different lyrics and sounds that do not reflect that much.
When we hear the albun there is always an electronic sound in the background and what changes is the lyrics. What kind of instruments did they use?
Bernardo Barbosa: We started using guitars, but the instrumentation is always on the computer.
Does it start there, or do some of the themes emerge first in the lyrics?
BB: There are some tracks where we have the theme that we want to deal with and maybe we'll start from that. We took a sample and we are going through the Portuguese sonority and only later we fit some instrument, or we used only the computer, or some chords. It works on top of that.
So, what is the guiding line of your work?
AC: We have a 2012 EP that has no name. The 2015 album is entitled "Amor vezes Quatro" the 2013 is called "Come around here" has 8 tracks and results from what we are feeling, there is no line. But in this last work we really wanted to make this separation in relation to the previous records, so we had two years of silence, we wanted to make a paragraph.
Why are you singing in a serious sound?
AC: We also wanted to get away from this record, now the voices are lighter. In 2013, this intonation mostly happened, it was not very thoughtful, we used a lot of sharp sounds in our songs, to make melodies, I cannot tell you if it's something purposeful. The lyrics are serious in their content and maybe because of this comes that more serious sound.
You said that are going to present a new record and it is different, how does it differ?
AC: We are no longer so dependent on the Portuguese theme, we are not so connected to this medium. It is a more urban and young album, we are a band that will grow to maturity if you notice the professionalism of what we are doing and the themes.
BB: It's less classic, we used to get a lot from Zeca Afonso, Madredeus and José Mário Branco.
And in terms of sonority?
AC: It's more electronic and is aimed at a different audience. We used the synthesizer more, less digital and there was an attempt to make bolder arrangements, we left aside that poetic centrality that was for many years and tried to do something more cohesive in terms of instrumentality.
Is the portugality underline again on this album or not so much?
AC: Not much, we continued to sing in Portuguese, is something that will always be present, even if we go somewhere else.
BB: And never equate singing in a language other than Portuguese.
Electronics are associated with English, even in Portuguese bands.
AC: Our natural sound is Portuguese and we do not want to change.
Is it very difficult to write the lyrics? And who writes?
AC: We both.
Reflects your life?
AC: Yes, that's what we thought and felt. Reflect also what we are hearing. That's what we got out of us. We work what we liked and it is our aesthetics
On this album it seemed to me that you put great emphasis on the words and the intonation of the voice.
AC: Yes, anyone who works with the voice has to worry about intonation, the way you put the voice, and there is the right and wrong way to sing a word. We strive in this direction, maybe someone else would not worry about the diphthong, or how the accent will be used in a song and therefore there are words that should not be used. The lyric however good it must be thought at when placed along with the melody, it is always a slave to the way you are singing it.
This new record how would you define it?
AC: Although less epic and dense is more urban, more city and less countryside. We live in the city is more underground in this aspect.
BB: It is more likely to be appreciated by someone who does not speak Portuguese. We play much more with the sonority of the music, or anything you want to hear about Portugal is a record that can be heard outside and is the first step in that direction.
Will you go on an international tour with this new album?
AC: Yes, we are going to Brazil and experience Asia one of these days. Projects for the future stay right there.
How is the receptivity of a work like yours so different, in a country like Brazil?
AC: We went to a rock festival, we met a lot of people who liked our sound, but maybe it would be more welcome if it were in São Paulo. But, we learned immensely as professionals.
What's the name of the new album?
AC: Lo-fi fashion. (laughs)
Not a very Portuguese title, why?
AC: It's like having a piece of clothing for being "dodgy." It's like having jeans that you've worn for 15 years and fit your legs. (laughs)
