Batucada Sound Machine – Beck’s Music Box, Perth Esplanade – February 15 – Beck’s Music Box runs February 14-March 8
What is Batucada? It’s a Brazilian word that refers to a type of rhythm. Essentially, it’s a big drumming group playing samba. We take those rhythms on a small-scale and fuse them with our own influences – it’s a mobile party.
Brazilian aspirations? We try and study as much as we can because one-day when we play in Brazil we want to go over there and play a samba and have them go, ‘shit, these gringos can play’.
Other Beck’s Music gigs you want to see? Tony Allen – Tony Allen is like my hero.
Best festival story? We did a tour in the UK, where we did something like 20 gigs in 23 days with the full 13-piece band. We were due to play at WOMAD at 1 o’clock in the afternoon. We had played the night before up in this beautiful town in Wales and had left especially early. We were still were stuck in this big bus on the M6 in six lanes of traffic that were just ground to a halt. Out of frustration we hopped out on the M6 with all of our instruments and started playing in the middle of the motorways. Five minutes later the traffic started nudging forward and away we went. We got there on time and played the show, best show of the whole tour.
Favourite festivals? The Byron Bay Blues Festival, WOMAD in the UK, Jambalaya in New Zealand.
Your Dream Festival? I would have it up in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand which is where I’m from. Tony Allen would definitely be on there, Bob Marley (even though he’s dead), Ozomatli, Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Macaco from Spain, Batucada Sound Machine (of course). It would be Afro Beat or percussive-inspired music, groove-based music that comes from the Latin or African cultures, but more fused with contemporary music.
Megan Smith spoke to Batucada’s James Hughes.
