Formed in 2013 by Fernando de Almeida Filho (vocals and guitar), Benke Ferraz (guitar), Raphael Vaz (bass and keyboards), and Ynaiã Benthroldo (drums), Brazilian psychedelic rock band Boogarins announces a commemorative tour celebrating the ten-year anniversary of “Manual, ou Guia Livre de Dissolução dos Sonhos.” With concerts in Brazil and the United States, the band also announces future steps in this tour, bringing the special guest Adrian Quesada of Black Pumas for the Bandshell Beach Club Festival at the Miami Beach Bandshell, who is also collaborating with Boogarins on a new single set for release early this year.
The psychedelic wave that permeates the aesthetics, music, and culture of the early 21st century gains, through Boogarins, the rare perspective of Brazil’s countryside. Goiânia—at the time a kind of off-center hub within the alternative music scene—was pulsating with independent festivals featuring artists from across the country. The experience of their hometown became the main foundation for the new possibility of Brazilian rock created by the band, drawing from classic influences (Milton Nascimento, Lô Borges, Beto Guedes, Tropicália, Os Mutantes) while remaining essentially contemporary. A collage of references emerges, overflowing through rhythms, lyrics, and sonics, and in live settings, the band plays with song structures through improvisations and irregular instrumental themes.
Nominated for a Latin Grammy Award in the category of Best Portuguese-Language Rock Album, “Manual, ou Guia Livre de Dissolução dos Sonhos” is the band’s second studio album, released in October 30th of 2015, by Other Music/Fat Possum. The record confirmed to both audiences and critics that Boogarins were more than just a promise, consolidating them as one of the most important Brazilian rock bands of their generation.
Recorded in the coastal city of Gijón, in northern Spain, “Manual” was made during a one-month break in the middle of the band’s first international tour—which included over 100 shows across cities in the United States, Europe, and Brazil. Unlike their debut album, recorded at home with a more lo-fi aesthetic, the songs on “Manual” were born and developed on the road, during live performances, and were captured in a fully analog studio. The recording process preserved the energy of four young musicians living the dream of traveling the world and making a living from music, while simultaneously developing a new language for Brazilian psychedelic rock.
The idea goes beyond nostalgia or recent sentimentality; instead, it aims to build a new moment in which revisiting the past through the lens of the present allows the band to share the emotions, stories, and significance of these songs with longtime listeners and newer fans alike. “This is not a show just to awaken memories, but to create new ones.”
