Gui Silveiras could be showing everyone the EP “Bate Tambô”, released in February this year. It is a five-track reunion in which his MPB side, which emerges in an impeccable mastery of the guitar and the refined sensitivity to compose, appears intertwined with the drumming of terreiro dots. This combination explodes into very peculiar percussive songs, a demonstration of virtuosity and excitement.
But the driving force behind the singer-songwriter’s creative work is already calling for another project, this is the reason why Gui brings his new album, Grito Contido, to the public, 100% authorial work that reaches the listener in voice and guitar. It is a project designed and developed within Fatec Tatuí. Gui received an invitation from some Phonographic Production trainees to register an album. And he did it in five days inside the studio, in sessions that were also recorded on video, which will be made available on the networks.
The quick way of doing this work still surprises him. “It’s a really crazy story. I am a civil servant, I teach guitar at the Porto Feliz city hall. One of the students I had ten years ago, now graduated in production, needed to get into the studio to put what he learned into practice. And he invited me to record some songs, maybe material for a single. And an album came out!”
“Contained Shout comes from the silent voice during the pandemic, from this closure, right? From this confinement and all the limitations that this situation imposed on us “, vents the singer-songwriter. For him, “the record arises from this need that we have, as an artist, to put our feelings and sensations into the world, through sound.”
The result is tracks that are sometimes intimate, at other times pulsating, strong, but with a false simplicity. Gui weaves complex instrumental plots that seduce those who listen. There is a mastery of refined technique, but the construction follows intuition, as the composer assumes. The lyrics deal with the human condition, the man facing the world.
Songs like the title track of the album, or “Na Língua do Bar”, “Meu Brasil”, “Zarabatana” or the powerful “Ilá de Mim”, which will be released as a single, are perfect pearls for radio stations that still promote a good brazilian music. Too bad they are getting more and more rare. The material is a recent production of the composer. Songs that he took ready to the studio, in addition to one he created there, in the atmosphere of recording work, playing various instruments.
The proposal was different from the other two initiatives by Gui in his solo career. In 2013, at the encouragement of friends who liked his music, he applied for ProAC to make his first album possible. Being chosen increased confidence in one’s work. “Gee, the first time I sign up for a public notice, I end up going through it. I started to think there was really something there.” This something turned into a powerful album, “Caburé”, impeccable business card, a good duel between the expert guitarist and the composer attuned to what can be expected from the best MPB.
In the following years, he promoted the record, participated in festivals, winning some, and worked with a lot of good people. Beasts like Hamilton de Holanda, Mônica Salmaso, Arismar do Espírito Santo, Nelson Sargento, Itiberê Zwarg, André Marques and Kiko Dinucci, among others. In addition to his authorial work, he has two albums in his discography as a guitarist for the group Vintena Brasileira, created by André Marques, highly recommended albums for anyone who wants sophisticated, popular music.
Then came the pandemic. When the urgency of a new recording became difficult to handle, the EP “Bate Tambô” came. Unlike his debut album, when ProAC’s budget allowed for a cooperative atmosphere in the studio, now it was him alone at home, his musician friends recording separately, anyway, it wasn’t the same thing.
When he accepted the invitation to use the studio in Tatuí, Gui quickly thought that he couldn’t waste a single moment on the session days. He thought about recording an entire album, but didn’t immediately communicate it to the production staff, “so as not to scare the guys”, “They’ll change their minds…”, he jokes.
The experience of producing Grito Contido ended up being something halfway between his previous recordings. It mixes the comfort of being in a good studio, with technical resources and friendly people to help, as in “Caburé”, and alone to sing and play, which brought remnants of the recording in the isolation he made for “Bate Tambô”. There is only one guest musician, trumpeter Raphel Sampaio, on the track “Zanzo”.
At first, Gui decided to release the album in July, only in digital format, after an informal survey with friends and other singer-songwriters. “Most of them aren’t pressing CDs, and those who press are full of boxes at home. Nobody else has a device to play, I think it will be digital. He regrets. “Miss a flavor, huh? Picking up the booklet, looking at the technical sheet, it’s a good feeling, but it’s the game for now.”
At the age of 35, Gui assumes the role of conductor of his own career, combining the creative effervescence, which is his hallmark, with the administrative and commercial processes to bring his art to the public on a daily basis. His goal is to perform at bigger festivals, “maybe world music festivals, jazz festivals, I think I fit into this type of event”.
Wherever he goes, Gui Silveiras always wants to carry the banner of authorial music as a vehicle for manifestation and communication. Anyone who loves thought-provoking music should look for “Caburé”, “Bate Tambô” and, above all, the new album on the networks. The scream can no longer be contained.