First of, just want to thank you for participating in this edition of Infidel Interviews. Could you start off by giving a little information about both of you to the audience? Whatever you feel comfortable with, but name, age, what instruments you can play, and where you live would be pretty standard?
First, we would like to thank the opportunity to be able to talk about our project. Wonder Dark began in 2015 by Gutisk (32 years) and Camila Fernandes (36 years). Gutisk is the musical producer of the project, as well as singer, composer and keyboard. Camila is a singer, songwriter, guitarist / bass. We live in São Paulo - Brazil
How do you enjoy where you live? Is their a vibrant music community for you to indulge? Would you say you find that your local scene influences your attitude and/or creativity?
We eventually go to nightclubs in the underground scene in São Paulo, but currently we spend most of the time dedicated to work in music. The scene here is great, but the artists here are not highly valued by the local scene, which makes it difficult for banks to transition into the world music scene. What else influences us are the bands of the 70s and 80s, especially post punk and dark wave.
Do either of you currently pay attention to politics in your current country? If so do you have any comments on the current ousting of your democratically elected leader?
Yes, today we live a delicate moment in our country. We do not have a clean history in politics and this comes from the beginning. We have removed a corrupt government and replaced it with one that is even more corrupt yet. The process of Impeachment itself was judged by people who are being investigated for political and fiscal crimes. The population is easily influenced by the large local media that determines who should hold the power. We do not believe that this was the best solution and actually ashamed of this bad time that Brazil is going through. It seems that everything is getting worse and we do not see much hope here.
What drew you to start post-punk influenced music? When you hear so much EDM influenced electronic music nowadays, what inspired you to this vintage style?
It is a genre that we have heard always. We grew up in the 80s and to this day it is what inspires us. We heard other genres as well such as English rock, synthpop, EBM etc. Before the Wonder Dark, we had / have a synth pop project Sintetico Ministerio. But the desire to make a post punk project is old. We always hear much artists as joy Division, Bauhaus, David Bowie, X-mal deutschland, The Cure etc.
What would you say are your favorite themes and topics to write about? What draws you to those themes?
We do not have a favorite theme, We can write about various topics since they can serve as a teaching, We try to answer usually when someone talks to me asking for some advice. We try to alert the conscience sometimes. Living is an inspiration. Nature, feelings etc. for the next album the theme in question will be the senses which can be attributed to both the emotional and the spiritual
The imagery and aesthetics of your project seem to draw from an ethereal and psychedelic-like quality. What this intentional and if so what drew you to be inspired by such?
Yes it is intentional. Regarding visual aesthetic will we try to be natural within our style. For each song we have assigned a drawing or photograph, so that the information contained in the idea of the letters can be seen, heard and felt by consciousness.
You two have put out several releases over the last year. How would you say your sound has evolved, and where do you plan to take it from here?
We started with few resources, this makes it very difficult. We are not able to pay for studio equipment and the work of mixing and mastering, so then alternative was to learn to do this work slowly and by our own way. We realize that with each song we do better.
What would you say would be you short term, and long term, goals for your band? What do you see in the future for your creative output?
Short term will have an EP release on vinyl for a record of Spain and we are finalizing the work of the new album that will be named “Sense”
We'll start the live presentations in June in Argentina, Buenos Aires
Our majors goals would be to continue production for future releases and to tour Europe , Latin America and USA
Have you had any particular moment(s) that you would like to share, that you would consider to be a crowning achievement in your musical career so far, or moments that you would say truly continue to inspire you to pursue your artistic path?
A special moment: Well, from the beginning we live for big surprises, already after we made our first releases publications began to appear containing videos of our songs made by fans showing their support . And when the song “Eclipse” reached the maximum downloads inSoundcloud, arousing interest to Djs, web-radios, record labels and the public who affectionately publish videos on youtube, facebook and blogs. This love and support has motivated us to go ahead.
Are live shows an important part of your career? Or are you predominantly a studio musician? If you could play a live show anywhere in the world/do a tour anywhere, where would it be?
Regarding the live presentation already we have experience with our old project. We will start the Wonder Dark presentations in June this year. Buenos Aires will be our premiere. We have a great desire to make presentations in Europe, particularly in Leipzig Wave -Gotik -Treffen Germany festival, also in Portugal at the festival Entremuralhas . Anyway we like to sing and play, anywhere that enjoys our songs, and where we are welcome (laughs)
Would you say that your choice to pursue music has changed your life since you started? Would you say that creativity has evolved you spiritually, emotionally, or logically?
It's hard to tell if something has changed in our lives. Besides music we have other activities: Gutisk is professor of Kung Fu (an art that is within the philosophy, which can provide guidance for these issues) and I'm Plastic Artist. We believe in the power that music has to influence the spiritual, emotional and logical questions and to our creativity it all goes together.
What are some of the biggest challenges you have had to overcome in your musical career?
The lack of adequate equipment for the production and presentation.
When it comes to non-musical media, what do you find yourself most inspired by, and what about it draws you to it as a source of inspiration?
Cinema, photography, arts in general and all, as we learn to see the beauty even in darkness, in any situation. As the name Wonder Dark suggests
Thank you so much for participating in this episode of Infidel Interview. Any parting words for your fans, or my audience?
We would like once again to thank all the fans and say that we are very happy with the support we have received. And we want to take the opportunity to invite your audience and all who do not know yet, to know a little more about us, visit our page on facebook and our channel on youtube. Leaving a like and subscribe to follow the news. A big hug. Greetings!!
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