It took me a long time to actually cross paths and meet Marina Vello, whom many of you will know and love as Marina Gasolina, the stage shattering vocal adrenaline from Bonde do Rolê. Despite living within the same two blocks of each other for at least a year, Marina and I somehow never managed to collide.
She entered my musical radar way back in early 2006, fronting the baile funk sensation that Bonde do Role was at the time. It wasn't until the summer of 2009 in London that we finally met over cigarettes and beer around the same time that she was featured on a Maskinen track and video.
Both Marina and I are fiercely pro-Clapton Pond (a little nook in the borough of Hackney, London). We had always unknowingly hung out in different coffee shops on the same street, and once we realised, decided to meet in the middle, drinking coffees until we were hyper and talk some shit. Of course the conversation turned to music at one point, and I was invited to listen to the tracks that she was working on at the time. Even then in that early, demo stage, hearing her new songs made me excited to hear what was to come.
Now it's the tail end of 2010 and Marina has long since moved on from Bonde do Rolê both musically and geographically; having left the band and Brazil for the east side of London. Despite this, Marina's explosive musical presence and raw energy both on stage and off are still very much the same.
Let's just take a moment to contextualise the irony of the nom de plume that Brazil's foremost riot girl has owned since 2005:
Adapted from Maria Gasolina (as her name is Marina, duh), Marina's moniker is derived from the Brazilian way of nicknaming groupies. In this case, Maria Gasolinas are in fact, the hangers on of car enthusiasts and rev heads. There are other kinds of Marias too; band groupies are specifically named for their instrument of preference, like Maria Palheta and Maria Baqueta (guitar and drums subsequently), whilst soccer super fans are dubbed Maria Chuteiras.
And you all know that Marina Gasolina ain't no groupie. Of ANY kind. She does though, know how to make friends with cool and talented people, like Radioclit's Etienne Tron and Johan Karlberg who helped produce some tracks on the album, alongside Berlin's Electronicat. She's got a new live band backing her up too, in the form of Andrew Thompson, Anthony Wade and Igor Volk. It might have taken a while this debut release to complete itself, but Marina has been taking her time to build strong foundations for her personal life and her music in London.
November 29th marks the official release of her new single 'Leone' (via her own label, Anfetamina) taken off the forthcoming album, which is currently being mixed and mastered. Slow and steady wins the race, innit, and Marina has more than enough gas in the tank for a heated explosion now that she's finally ready to crash back into the lime light.
How long have you been working on this album?
For almost 2 years now! hard work! It took me quite a while to figure out what I actually wanted and how I wanted to sound.
But you always knew you wanted to do music, even after leaving Bonde (do Rolê)?
Well
not really. Music for me is a passion, but the business part is the
part I really hate, and this part almost made me want to give up! So I
was in between doing music and not, when I left; but it came naturally.
First lyrics, then whole songs, then an album.
Tell me a bit about your influences for this album.
Enio
Morricone, surf music, the Cramps, Bikini Kill, grunge bands, Russian
literature, rockabilly in general. Darth Vader. ON THE DARK SIDE!
What was the turning point for you, after you left the band, that you told yourself, "I’ma do this music thing again"?
Basically, I just thought, what am I gonna do next? I thought about going back to
do literature at uni, I thought about finding another career...but I
think in the end I realised that music is stronger in me than even I thought,
or that I'd even like it to be! It's the thing I love most and hate most in the
world; but it’s something I can't run away from. I just can't live
without it. It comes so naturally, even if I don’t want it to. Even if I
don’t touch my guitar, and I don’t listen to music, my head is always
playing something to me.
Now
that your sound has evolved and you've found your own, what's your view
on baile funk? Cos let's face it, you were the heart of Bonde's baile
funk at the time. Is there any baile funk influence still with you in this album?
Baile
funk came to me, not the other way around. I still like it, and I DJ
and MC with it sometimes at friend’s parties, but I wouldn’t say I ever
wanted to make a career out of baile funk; that was just a huge
fortunate accident that happened in my life. I can’t say there's anythig
baile funk-ish in the album, despite a few moments when I get cocky.
Then how would you describe this new sound of yours for this album?
Well,
one thing people are going to notice when they hear it is the fact that
I actually sing, I don’t just scream like a porcupine! [laughs]
It's a rock album; very very personal, with simple good old fashioned
guitar riffs. It also has it's mellow moments, like ‘Forbidden Things’
which is a track that’s just all vocal harmonies and ‘The Waltz’, which
is obviously, a waltz. I’ve also got this new song that’s my favourite
right now (but it doesn’t have a name yet), it sounds like Rolling
Stones at Hyde Park (good old out-of-tune rock'n’roll)!
In terms of the Brazilian scene, is there anyone doing stuff that you like at the moment?
Holger, O Lendário Chucro Billyman, Hillbilly Rawhide, As Diabatz, Uh La La, RockaJenny, Mc Gi, Cibelle, Catra.
What other bands are you listening to right now?
Gayngs
(<3) , Crocodile , Mock and Toof , Grinderman, Lots and lots of Neil
Young, Ceremony (<3) , lots and lots of Racionais Mcs, Lots and lots
of Cypress Hill...
How did you meet the Radioclit boys?
A long time ago, back in 2006; the first time I came to london ever, we stayed at Johan's place. IN CLAPTON. E5.
REPRESENT.
That was my first impression of London. And that's why I’m still here in Clapton!
I remember at that one of the boys still had the Uppercuts label -
Exactly, Etienne.
And Esau Mwamwaya was still around the corner with his little shop.
I
remember when Etienne got a bike from Esau and they became friends and
then he [Esau] started coming to the house parties at Johan’s (I lived
there for a while in 2008). He’s the best vibe guy ever.
What kind of stuff have you written about in the album? Any themes in particular?
Most
of my lyrics depend on my mood on the day I write them. Like there's this
song called ‘Barbie's a Bitch’. There’s some pretty stupid lyrics about
breaking up with a boy, but they do have sense of humour...Meanwhile
you have ‘Leone’ where I talk about what it was like to leave Bonde, how
I felt, and how my husband helped me to get over it. It's a love song.
‘Leone’ is a spaghetti western movie soundtrack inspired name. To be
more specific, it was inspired by SERGIO LEONE movies. It was the first track I
wrote for the album, in the beginning of 2008.
Very personal, then.
Everything I wrote is. I held onto these tracks for so long because I was scared, this is all very personal.
I
can imagine it would be a very scary thing, especially with the huge
changes in your life and stuff...so now, what's your daily life in
London like these days?
I
had to provincialise London to finally feel at home here. London is too
big. I decided to call my home Hackney, not London, since I rarely
leave the neighborhood. I don’t go out much anymore, I like going to
local pubs and playing board games with friends, or spending whole days
buried in coffee shops, having lattes until I’m shaking. I also read a
lot (I never watch tv, though if i had some Brazilian novelas, I would
totally watch them). I like the simple life.
My latest thing is to watch korean soap operas. SOOO BAD, BUT SO SOSOSOSOSOSOOOO GOOD.
I’ll have to check them out!
So how did you find the other members of your live band?
Through friends. Igor I already knew; he used to play bass for New Young Pony Club and we met on the road and became very good friends. He also has a very good solo project called Igor Volk.
Tony was through Louis (my husband), who got his contact through Marek from Invasion (fucking amazing band). Tony has his own band, super cool Surf metal called One Fathom Down. And Andrew was also through a friend. He’s a super amazing drummer, very young, only 21 years old.
And what about your label, Anfetamina, is it just for the single, or do you want to put the album out by yourself too?
Well, actually, I read your Chromeo interview, and you know how they were talking about 360 deals and record labels and stuff? They took the words right out of my mouth. I'd like to own all of my stuff. But if a record label wants to invest money in me on MY terms, then ok, we can talk.
So what does 2011 look like for Marina Gasolina?
BUSY. I can't wait to be back on the road.
And speaking of being back on the road, go go go see Marina Gasolina, one of the best frontwomen we've ever seen at these places in November (London):
- Wed 10th Nov – Lock Tavern, Camden – London
- Wed 17th Nov – The Rest is Noise, Brixton – London
- Fri 26th Nov – Macbeth, Hoxton - London
And of course, cop her new single:
