Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: I spent most of my childhood in Brazil, between Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais. If we were to generalize, one could say that I grew up in a dance between chaos and tradition. For many of my formative years, my family went through some serious financial hurdles, which forced me to find my own way around in order to do the things I was attracted to. At some point, that thing was music, and that hasn’t changed since then. As an early teenager, I was fully immersed and integrated with the local metal scene. Through time, I was fortunate to have friends that introduced me to avant-garde approaches to styles that were, until then, set in stone. When I felt like I had hit a wall, I abandoned everything and dedicated myself to the world of classical music. I radicalized myself and listened to nothing but classical music for a few years. It was very important to me that I mentally conquered the classical music world, as I wanted to fully understand what the greatest composers in history did in their music. That led me to being invited to go to the United States, as a teaching assistant in a university near New Orleans. There, I also got in touch with Jazz and met my wife. A few months later, we created Fracktura, and slowly grew into what we are today.
Q: Can you describe the musical style of Fracktura in three words?
A: Lucid, defiant, contradictory.
Q: How do you stay connected with your fans, and what role do they play in shaping your musical journey?
A: There are many ways fans can stay connected with us, and most importantly, with what we do. They can find us online via social media platforms, and we encourage them to contact us through our website. We follow their reactions and feedback, as we believe our work is not fully complete until it reaches the individuals that will interact with it. For each individual, it becomes their own particular thing, or at least we hope it does. Because of that, this interaction remains important to us. That being said, when the time comes to create, no one but us is allowed in. People’s expectations, or the lack thereof, play no role in the process. We have a deep-seeded need to stay true to our artistic vision, and audience-capture is absolutely out of the question for Fracktura.
Q: You have just released your new single, ‘I Hear the Wind’. Is there a story behind it?
A: I Hear the Wind is the first song of our upcoming album |Time: Machine|, which will be coming out on the 21st of March. The main theme here is time itself. The title denotes time as a machine; unstoppable, destructive, healing. The emotional and mental hurdles that surface as result of the constant conflict between time and existence is a big source of inspiration here. We approach that through lenses of dreams and surrealism. They can offer a lot when words are not enough. With that in mind, the album has so many layers, so much information, that we hope every listener that connects with what we do will be able to make its story their own. Self-explanatory art works are not very interesting to me, I prefer to leave room for imagination and meet the listeners where they are.
Q: What is your favorite track from the album and why?
A: This is an album meant to be listened to from beginning to end. That’s a huge ask in today’s culture, even though the album is less than 40 minutes long. However, we are confident it will reward the defiant listeners who decide to give it a proper chance. Asking which track is my favorite is like asking a parent which child they prefer. Even when there is a preference, it shouldn’t be said out loud. Every track present in the album plays a significant role in the whole. We usually cut and throw away half of what we create, so I like to think that every track released truly deserves to be there.
Q: Can you walk us through the creative process of producing the album, “|Time: Machine|”?
A: It is very convoluted and chaotic at first, because I work individually with each musician and each collaborator at the same time. It actually starts before that, as a lonely endeavour, but it quickly develops a life of its own. During the lonely beginnings of it, I am very careful with my artistic diet. I make sure I consume works that will take me places where I am most comfortable creating my own thing. Once a particular theme speaks to me the right way, I let it breathe. If the theme is right, it will grow in you until you reach a level of utter confidence in it. That’s when I start collaborating with the lyricist, musicians, and sometimes a second composer. At this point, the album is no longer mine or anybody’s, it is its own thing, and our job is to honour it the best way we can.
As far as |Time: Machine| goes, we didn’t hit the studios until we had the lyrics and music all written on paper. Once we got there, we were working in three different studios at the same time, making countless adjustments, cuts, and writing new things. That’s because we have musicians living on different continents, and we only get everyone together to rehearse when there is a concert or something like that. In |Time: Machine|, I wrote the album in collaboration with Diogo Oliveira (lyrics) and Nic Bizub (music). Diogo Oliveira has been our lyricist from the very beginning, but this was the first time I worked alongside Nic Bizub for the creation of the majority of the album. This collaboration with Nic was meant to be small, but quickly changed to a point where the album would definitely not be what it is without him.
Q: What has been the most memorable concert or performance for Fracktura so far?
A: We played in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) last year. To me personally, this was memorable for the simple fact that it was my first concert back home since I left the country many many years ago. Also, we brought this whole album to the stage way before its release, as a way to test it live. It was a baptism by fire, and some parts did not survive the process and got cut from the album.
Q: Reflecting on your body of work, each song holding its unique significance, could you share a particular track that stands out to you personally? What makes that specific tune special, and why does it hold a place of pride in your musical journey?
A: I honestly don’t have a specific track in mind. I usually write an album as one piece of music that is divided into smaller sections (songs), each section with its own format and personality. I also never plan whether the album will be a full-length or an EP. That’s up to the music itself to decide. Whenever the theme reaches completion, the album is over. And then math will decide what people want to call it.
In that sense, |Time: Machine| is our most mature work so far, and the most representative of who we are as a band. We’ve faced many bizarre challenges, and sometimes the feeling was that there is some sort of cosmic force trying to stop us. With |Time: Machine|, we reach the other side with the taste of victory in our mouths.
Q: Exploring the diverse creative processes within the music industry is always fascinating. Could you provide insight into Fracktura’s unique approach to crafting music? From the initial spark of an idea to the finished song, how do you navigate the creative journey and bring its musical concepts to life?
A: I spent many years shaping what Fracktura is and represents. Even though it is an ever evolving shape, there are ideas and tenants that feel like home to me. I am constantly searching for ideas that will add to (and expand) the band’s shape in a positive way. Sometimes, to the detriment of my own personal life. When the time comes and I am able to define and establish the theme of a new album, my next step is then to find the right collaborators. Again, we have been working with Brazilian filmmaker Diogo Oliveira as our lyricist, as well as the writer and director of our music videos, since the band was created. For |Time: Machine|, I also invited composer Nic Bizub to collaborate with me in the creative process. Nic went way beyond what I expected, and blew my mind to pieces with how well he understood the concept and the band’s language. His contributions to this album cannot be understated. Both Diogo and Nic are, at this point, considered by us as off-stage members.
Back to the question, once the ideas are on the paper, meaning the lyrics are written and the scores are ready, it’s time to hit the studio. From that point on, it’s a few months stuck in a cycle of destruction and rebirth, in a process where absolutely no ego is allowed. At that stage, I usually work with each musician separately, and I am lucky that for this album I have managed to find the right personalities to work with. When it comes to the voice and saxophone solos, for example, it almost always turns out completely different from what we had on the paper. Some of the best ideas are born from conflict, and it’s important to me that I work with people of discordant personalities.
Q: As we wrap up our conversation, looking ahead, what aspirations or dreams do you have for Fracktura, and what message would you like to share with your fans as they continue to accompany you on this musical journey?
A: Our aspiration is to be able to keep doing it without compromise for as long as time allows us. I appreciate every single person who takes the time to engage with music (and art in general) in a meaningful way. If you connect with what we do, stay close. We hope to see you on the road soon.
