The band Venuz turns the pain of a broken heart into music in the new single “3AM”. Inspired by Marília Mendonça, the song explores feelings of revenge and recovery after the end of a relationship. With a cheesy funk beat, the song incorporates Brazilian cultural plurality and shows how rock can merge with different musical genres. Available on major streaming platforms, “3AM” is a powerful addition to the band’s repertoire.
“3AM” is part of the universe of the band’s previous release, “Belladonna”, which also addresses the theme of poisonous love and broken heart. In an attempt to connect with listeners of different musical genres, such as pop, funk, brega and country, Venuz leaves its comfort zone and exchanges distortion for popular music. This bold approach reflects the band’s versatility and their ability to innovate within rock.
Formed by four women, the band Venuz has been inspired by female icons since its formation in 2017. With dozens of shows held in Rio de Janeiro, the band cites influences such as The Pretty Reckless, The Runaways, Hole, Pitty, Vixen and Rita Lee. “3AM” is a composition by Aila Dap (vocals), with Renata Vianna (guitars), Carolina Guterres (bass) and Juliana Valente (drums). The mixing and mastering were carried out by Francisco Patrício, with drums recorded at Estúdio Clave de Sol (RJ) and the cover illustrated by Renata Vianna.
How would you describe the band’s evolution since its formation in 2017 until now?
AILA: I think the main points that marked this evolution are technical and personal maturity. Today we have much more know-how about what we do, both on the musical side and on the management side of the band… We have already picked up events to produce, we are going to do our first mini tour to another state in August… all of this comes with maturity, without shadow of doubt. In personal terms, I think it’s internal and individual changes that end up impacting the band. Our experiences over the years have made us grow a lot.
What are the biggest challenges and rewards of being an all-female band in today’s music scene?
AILA: From my current point of view, which has changed a lot over the years, what bothers me most nowadays is the expectation that the public has regarding the image of women on stage. They always expect more from us, in any situation. It’s not enough to never play, sing, compose, you have to be beautiful, impeccable, sensual… Even more so for people who are approaching the crisis of their 30s… having to meet these standards of beauty in society on stage is doubly tiring. You see a photo and say: wow, here I had a Chinese mustache, look at my dark circles in this one… When it’s a man’s band, people don’t get that worried, right?
CAROL: As a challenge, I still see a lot of resistance from people in believing that women can also rock. We’ve played in places where, before starting, the looks of judgment were noticeable. However, when we finished the show, the facial expressions completely changed. It’s almost like we have to work twice as hard [laughs]. On the other hand, the reward is inspiring other people, which is very rewarding, as well as seeing people singing our songs in chorus.
RENATA: And in the past, how many women did you see making music? And when we talk about rock? I grew up surrounded by male references and I’ve heard the question a few times: “Why is there a band with only women?” Even though female representation has increased, we are still minorities and in a sexist society, we have to prove our value and capabilities all the time. It’s almost an obligation to be impeccable and always surprise those who don’t believe in our abilities. And if I can encourage and inspire more women to be in that place, I feel rewarded.
What are each band member’s main musical influences and how do they contribute to Venuz’s unique sound?
AILA: I’m very eclectic. I listen to everything from pisodinha to French rap. And that’s exactly what I like when thinking about a composition: what random reference can I make to match the rock we do…
CAROL: Wow, I’m also eclectic. When I was little, my parents influenced me to listen to rock, it was a lot of Led Zeppelin, The Who, U2, Beatles…, but as time went by I diversified and today I find myself listening to pagode, samba, I really enjoy French music, electronic music, rap and so on.
RENATA: Although I also consider myself eclectic because I listen to trance, pop, reggae and rap, rock is what I listen to most. I think I’m the coolest one in the band, I like old hard rock like Guns n Roses, Skid Row, Bon Jovi, Black Sabbath and good grunge like Nirvana and Alice in Chains. As I said above, I grew up with more masculine references and currently I try to listen to and learn more about the work of women. I think that my musical taste weighs a lot in the choice of my tones (that combination of Gibson and JCM800, very Slash), the style and the feeling of the guitars. I think the band’s magic is precisely this mix of people, backgrounds and tastes.
JULIANA: We need to refuel all the time, our favorite bands are an incredible source of references! For me, the female voice wins me over; Currently I’ve been listening to a lot of national music like Pitty, Day Limns Carol Biazin… internationally, a really cool band from Minas Gerais, The Warning and my master reference, Avril Lavigne!
The song “3AM” was inspired by a personal experience of a long-distance romance. What was the process of turning this experience into a song like?
AILA: For me it works better than therapy. It’s like I’m exorcising my demons. After I write, musician and release it to the world it’s as if I’m sealing my past, eternalizing it where it belongs.
You mentioned that “3AM” has a cheesy funk vibe and influences from different Brazilian musical genres. How did you decide to incorporate these elements into your sound?
AILA: As mentioned before, I am a very eclectic person. The conception of this song took place during the pandemic, when I was suffering from love for an affair that I couldn’t see… At that time I was listening to a lot of Barões da Pisadinha, João Gomes, Marilia Mendonça and Duda Beat. I even thought about doing a solo project in this vein, taking advantage of the fact that the band was away due to the quarantine. The idea was to get in touch with beatmakers and do something along the lines of references…, but I ended up shelving the idea. Years later, when I showed the song to the girls, thinking they wouldn’t even like it, to my surprise they loved it and agreed to record it, as long as it was in our rock style. But the skeleton, the guide of the music, does not deny its origins, after all it was born to be cheesy funk.
What was the writing and recording process like for “3AM”? Could you share a little about how each member contributed to the creation of the song?
AILA: As mentioned, I came to the girls with a skeleton, a guide that I recorded during the pandemic with just the bass and the voice of the song. Carol used some things on the bass, but added a lot of different and really cool stuff.
CAROL: Of course, I had to enjoy it! I loved the swing of the song, I just made some changes to adapt to the other elements. These adjustments were necessary, but the essence of skeleton music remained [laughs].
RENATA: I took Aila’s skeleton and created details and progressions on top of it. I created a fingering and used my magic formula to make it my own. I believe that the guitar should complement all other instruments and the whole process is a great tune and connection.
JULIANA: The important thing is to see that, regardless of the form, the result will always be something cool, both to compose and to listen to!
When we felt the vibe of 3AM we already knew it would be beautiful to share this sound with the world. We hope everyone enjoys it, without moderation!
You collaborated with Francisco Patrício for the mixing and mastering. What was it like working with him and what was the impact of this collaboration on the outcome of the song?
AILA: Chico, as we call him, has been with us since the first recorded work. We trust his work a lot.
CAROL: Chico is like the fifth Venuz, only in the backend, in the studios [laughs]. It’s always great to work with him.
RENATA: He has been with us since the beginning and the best part is that he already knows us and is able to capture exactly what we want. It’s always amazing to work with him.
The single cover was created by Renata Vianna. What was the inspiration behind the illustration and how does it relate to the theme of the song?
RENATA: In addition to being a guitarist, I am the band’s official designer. I always worry about telling a story, contextualizing it well and bringing a very concise visual identity, not only for the band as a whole, but also for the releases. We’re also always doing our own art direction and love brainstorming everything, from releases, to music videos, to posts. In RebELA, as it was our first work, the illustrations tell a more raw story, of rock and mystical issues. In Hel, despite being singles, we brought a unique and more focused identity, with mythological elements, as well as the story we were telling. For these new releases, they all have the same identity. Something more pink, more vintage and more ornate, a bit Art Nouveau. For each cover we focused on pink and a more retro palette, to emphasize the nostalgia and romanticism of the lyrics and melody. After many references, we came to the conclusion that nothing would be fairer than for a clock to represent the time “3AM”. After that, I did the entire animation process
You guys mentioned that “3AM” is possibly the band’s most mainstream song to date. Does this signal a change of direction in Venuz’s sound or was it a one-off experimentation?
AILA: I don’t believe it’s either option. I think we can still go back to something heavier, it’s just not our current vibe. For future releases, I say that they won’t see so much weight again, but we won’t abandon rock, ever.
RENATA: These are moments, phases. The moment we are going through in our personal lives, how we are feeling and the social context in which we are inserted guide our sound direction… Our first work, the EP RebELA, was more raw and in the door as we didn’t have much experience. All of Hel’s songs were released in a pandemic context in which we weren’t playing shows, so this allowed us to experiment more, we used keyboards, synthesizers, beats, different things. Now we are testing something more romantic and soft, but that doesn’t mean losing our essence, just experimenting more.
Venuz is influenced by bands like The Pretty Reckless, The Runaways, Hole, among others. How do you balance these rock influences with elements from other Brazilian musical genres?
AILA: I think it’s very important to remember that despite rock being a genre born abroad, we are a Brazilian band. And I do believe in the cultural importance of the arts, including music. I think every Brazilian should have a hint of nationalism to build their own identity. I take that into the way I approach the band. We always have to remember who we are and where we are. We are the ones with peculiar tastes, we like rock divas, but we live in the country of funk, samba, sertanejo, forró, pisodinha, which are so unique and deserve to be exalted. 7
CAROL: I think the best thing we do to “balance” is taking national songs, usually other musical genres, which we transform into rock. We did this with some songs, like funk, mpb, etc.
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