Zumbi do Mato, the greatest dementia on the planet
Nonsense, improvisation, chaos and humor remain as the guidelines for the weird band from Rio in their second CD, Pesadelo na Discoteca
Silvio Essinger
08/01/2001
There is nothing that comes close to the Rio de Janeiro band Zumbi do Mato, you can look for it. Having been around for ten years, their music has been received with many different tags - even "random minimalism" - but no one ever came to a conclusion. Assembled by the bassist and heavy metal fan Zé Felipe, Zumbi is a band without guitars. The great bassist Löis Lancaster only sings. A few non-drummers have played with them, but today, the post is kept by Henrique Luggero, who, strangely enough, happens to be a pro. The keyboard is the less advanced that one may find, played by the band's graphic artist, Marlos Salustiano. With nonsense lyrics and scattered identifiable musical references (from Frank Zappa and Daminhão Experiença to free jazz and grindcore), Zumbi has just released its second album, Pesadelo na Discoteca, or Nightmare at the Disco 
, which has come out on Tamborete Entertainment. Despite a few production difficulties, Zé Felipe reckons that this is a "tighter album, more careful" than the first one, Menorme , which came out on Qualé Maluco. He is right, but one's got to listen to that album and its hits, Tiroteio do Esqueleto Sem Cabeça and Potinho de Anhanha, to know what he means.
As usual, the name of the album comes from nothing. Pesadelo da Discoteca is a bad translation of a Corel Draw function. More than ironic for a band that does not even make dance music. The few, although enthusiastic Zumbi fans will relish with the possible hits in this second disc: Música Polisensorial do Tom Waits para Surdos, Data, Calendário 1999 and Bufufú. "Zumbi is not connected to any kind of rootsy research", says the bassist. "The references are lost by the third rehearsal." Peidão, for example, was supposed to be a samba cliché, followed by a metal cliché. "We couldn't do it, we contaminated the clichés", he laughs. The escape from common places, according to him, is natural for ZDM. "Nobody makes music to provoke reactions, no more!", he complains.
There are explanations for Zumbi's peculiarity: the band members live far away from one another and rarely practice together. The songs are composed during soundchecks of the scattered concerts that they manage to play. Usually, they pick one of Zé's or Löis' lyrics and improvise - and there comes a song.
The lyrics for Garão Tesé, for instance, were made with a software that randomly combines words at the site www.Dr.Markov.com. "Anyone can write Zumbi do Mato's lyrics!", says Marlos. Also from the Internet comes the never ending text that originated the 13-minute track Sincronicidade Artificial, Manipulação de Linguagem, Kundalini e as Fronteiras da Realidade, which closes the album.
Commercial potential? The Zumbi members do not seem that interested in the subject. "No one's making a living out of the band, anyway, so it is a matter of keep doing it", claims Zé. The guest appearances are luxurious, though: Biquíni Cavadão's vocalist, Bruno Gouveia, Rogério Skylab and 4 Track Valsa vocalist Cecília Gianetti make the disc shine a bit more.
Besides assembling one of the most eccentric bands on the planet, Zumbi's members also carry bizarre parallel projects. Löis and Zé form Jenesis, who write the songs while recording them; and Löis also makes thrash metal as Cidade dos Pés Juntos. Marlos makes contemporary experimental music with Dense Music and Clark Cristo, and electronic music with Ombak. Henrique plays with the Pierrôs Lunáticos. Zumbi happens during the breaks. Still, the bassist already has plans for the band's next album. More fun on the band's web site: www.members.tripod.com/zumbidomato
, which has come out on Tamborete Entertainment. Despite a few production difficulties, Zé Felipe reckons that this is a "tighter album, more careful" than the first one, Menorme , which came out on Qualé Maluco. He is right, but one's got to listen to that album and its hits, Tiroteio do Esqueleto Sem Cabeça and Potinho de Anhanha, to know what he means.
As usual, the name of the album comes from nothing. Pesadelo da Discoteca is a bad translation of a Corel Draw function. More than ironic for a band that does not even make dance music. The few, although enthusiastic Zumbi fans will relish with the possible hits in this second disc: Música Polisensorial do Tom Waits para Surdos, Data, Calendário 1999 and Bufufú. "Zumbi is not connected to any kind of rootsy research", says the bassist. "The references are lost by the third rehearsal." Peidão, for example, was supposed to be a samba cliché, followed by a metal cliché. "We couldn't do it, we contaminated the clichés", he laughs. The escape from common places, according to him, is natural for ZDM. "Nobody makes music to provoke reactions, no more!", he complains.
There are explanations for Zumbi's peculiarity: the band members live far away from one another and rarely practice together. The songs are composed during soundchecks of the scattered concerts that they manage to play. Usually, they pick one of Zé's or Löis' lyrics and improvise - and there comes a song.
The lyrics for Garão Tesé, for instance, were made with a software that randomly combines words at the site www.Dr.Markov.com. "Anyone can write Zumbi do Mato's lyrics!", says Marlos. Also from the Internet comes the never ending text that originated the 13-minute track Sincronicidade Artificial, Manipulação de Linguagem, Kundalini e as Fronteiras da Realidade, which closes the album.
Commercial potential? The Zumbi members do not seem that interested in the subject. "No one's making a living out of the band, anyway, so it is a matter of keep doing it", claims Zé. The guest appearances are luxurious, though: Biquíni Cavadão's vocalist, Bruno Gouveia, Rogério Skylab and 4 Track Valsa vocalist Cecília Gianetti make the disc shine a bit more.
Besides assembling one of the most eccentric bands on the planet, Zumbi's members also carry bizarre parallel projects. Löis and Zé form Jenesis, who write the songs while recording them; and Löis also makes thrash metal as Cidade dos Pés Juntos. Marlos makes contemporary experimental music with Dense Music and Clark Cristo, and electronic music with Ombak. Henrique plays with the Pierrôs Lunáticos. Zumbi happens during the breaks. Still, the bassist already has plans for the band's next album. More fun on the band's web site: www.members.tripod.com/zumbidomato