Homage to David Bowie, ‘Gone with the Wind’ sample and danceable references: The captivating mystery of Deadcat

Of the synthetic beats present in the dance music From the 1970’s to the energetic guitars of rock, decades of music history make up the knowledge used by deadcat to create their debut album. Brazilian who sings his feelings in English, through a mysterious character, the artist spoke exclusively to Rolling Stone Brazil.

In a world of digitally animated bands like gorillazelectronic music DJs who perform with masks, such as Marshmelloand bands whose costumes draw as much attention as their music, as in the case of Slipknot, the public is used to performers who have never shown their faces. And it is on this wave that he surfs deadcat.

With tracks about everyday experiences, the Brazilian never showed his face — and did not even reveal his identity. As well as the aforementioned artists, what speaks loudest in the career of deadcat it’s not his personal life or his appearance, but rather the carefully thought-out characteristics of his songs and, of course, the mysterious tone of his character.

Sometimes I feel freer being deadcat, because I really don’t have any mask on stage or in the studio. So maybe he’s a more honest me because I get to write from his perspective and I don’t have a lot of shame,” she revealed.

But anyone who thinks that the character created by deadcat it’s an alter-ego, or a way of hiding the artist behind the record. According to the musician, the decision to create a mystery about his identity was much more narrative and marketing.

“The name deadcat it has already instigated people’s curiosity and we can only use it once, the mystery. Because once I go out in public, there’s no turning back,” she explained. “But it is not to divide who I am from the deadcatbecause you will arrive at the same person.”

A mix of dance-rock, soul, disco and electronica, the album brings out the pop and performance sides of an artist who left his comfort zone to create seven danceable tracks. Released in early March, the self-titled album also features dense and sarcastic lyrics.

“I had never done pop before, so the album reflects my attempt a lot. I was very happy with the result, it has several different elements and I intend to do it that way, explore more, always simplify as much as possible, but also push the boundaries of pop a little, not limit myself to what everyone else is doing, or what I already was doing,” he said.

Consisting of tracks like “avant garde”, which reflects on one of the internet’s most famous families, to “Radio“, an ode to the equipment that accompanied generations, the album deadcat had two tracks released as singles before its release. The first one, “Midnight boogie”, is a direct tribute to David Bowie; while the second, “Scarlett”, approaches house-funk with a sample of the theme song of Gone with the Wind.

“We chose to release both as singles with great difficulty”, recalled the singer. “I think all tracks have the capacity to become singles on the album, so this difficulty of choosing what we should release first made it so special. It’s a short album, but with different elements, all taken from my view of everyday life.”

Finally, when asked about his affection for cats, which appears in the work of deadcat from his nickname, to elements present in his clips, the musician explains that it’s all about creative choices. “I reserve myself more to produce the music and give free rein to the visual identity creatives to interpret the tracks and work with them.”

“So the references to cats came from my name and from the minds of the people who worked on the audiovisual part of the album”, he concluded. deadcat. “Of course I love all pets and I think cats should be worshiped like the gods that they are, but that visual aesthetic is simply because it’s the first album and I’m not showing my face yet.”