Paradise Guerrilla: between fiction and reality of the pop trio

First, there’s a surprise. Then an estrangement, followed by curiosity. understand the Paradise Guerrillais to go beyond their dancing pop, with influences from The Weeknd and David Bowie. For those with an open mind, it involves entering together into the detailed fiction that narrates the story of a singer’s encounter, starlightwith two interdimensional beings, UFO and frankstation.

Immediately, the first question is: who are the musicians behind each character? And the answer, the trio assures, is irrelevant. When in training, they are the characters of the project, launched in early 2022 and which has pretensions beyond music, such as the launch of a comic book and involvement with the gamer universe.

“Music is always with us, it’s the basis of everything, but we’re not just the music, we’re also the whole story that surrounds us,” he says. starlight.

In this sense, the songs would serve as clues to understand the story: “Another Galaxy”, the first single, would narrate the meeting of the trio itself; “Escape” delves deeper into the abduction plot. “I Wanna Make a Hole in the Sky”, which advances the name of the album, literally talks about opening a hole in the sky to escape with a loved one.

At each step, whoever leads into history is starlightthe vocalist, responsible in the plot for introducing the world and music to statethe and frankstation, who still cannot speak human languages. Face to face with the trio, however, curiosity does not cease. It is necessary to go further, to try to understand who are the humans behind the project. And it is by breaking the fiction that one understands from which world the Paradise Guerrilla.

in the real world

The meeting for this interview is divided into two moments – the video conversation with starlight, UFO and frankstationproperly dressed [abaixo]and another conversation, face to face, behind closed doors, where the trio gives up their characters to answer where the project comes from.

Identities are still irrelevant here. They are part of the mystery that the trio wants to keep for the sake of the project as a whole. For the moment, suffice it to say that the three are Brazilian artists, with experience in platforms other than music, and that they know exactly where they want to go.

O Paradise Guerrilla does the opposite way to traditional bands. Instead of growing up with shows until the moment of releasing an album, the trio, who were born in the pandemic, spent two years locked in the studio, without seeing anyone. It is from this period, of recordings and rehearsals, that I Wanna Make a Hole in the Skythe first album, scheduled for release in the second half of 2022.

The group even probed a partnership with a distributor in Germany and they were ready to leave Brazil. “This was always the plan,” they say. Then the Paradise Guerrilla is wanted by orcharddigital distributor of Sony Music, which proposed representation in 45 countries, with the condition that the band stay for a period based in São Paulo. A “homework” that would guarantee, in addition to the first fans, visibility to the international scene.

That’s how, supported by a record company and a plan as detailed as the fiction that surrounds them, the Paradise Guerrilla marked his stage debut – without a single released. On March 10th, they release the song and video for “Another Galaxy” [assista abaixo]just in time for the first live performance on the same night.

“It was unbelievable. We didn’t play any covers, just our music”, says the bassist who plays frankstation. It was on this day, says starlight, that the project was born. Held in São Paulo and scheduled for 350 people, the date ended up bringing together 500 guests and opened the door to what would come next: a presentation in Rio de Janeiro, which ended up catching the entrepreneur’s attention. André Almada. Almada would be responsible for taking them to a presentation at Camarote Pride, during the Pride Parade in São Paulo, in June, a high point for the trajectory until then.

Future down to earth

As he reveals each stage of his fiction in verse, the Paradise Guerrilla also conquers space in radio and streaming services. With “Another Galaxy”, he has 260 thousand views on Spotify, in addition to another 130 thousand on YouTube. For “Escape”, they set up a feat with the American tsukiyomi. And the work has just begun: in the second half of the year, the group follows the launch schedule for I Wanna Make a Hole in the Skyand its 11 songs, which are currently being mixed and mastered in Los Angeles per John Armstrongwho has worked with names such as Madonnaand Travis Scott.

Outside the studios, the group prepares for a performance at the UCCONXone of the biggest events of geek culture and gamer universe in Latin America and for a new date in Blue NoteSao Paulo. With each appearance, a new achievement. At each meeting, surprise and curiosity are repeated, like a formula.

“We are still understanding the public and the public is understanding us”, he says. UFO: “The characters don’t wear masks – they are that. Despite having a certain visual force there, a certain aggressiveness, there is also another side that captivates people, a magnetism that is not heavy or negative”. “Children come to hug. When they see it, they start waving to each other, to another, they all want to get close”, he says. frankstation.

And, if masks and fictions are already a big part of the Paradise Guerrilla today, the group announces: they want more. Looking to the future, starlight shoots: “The more we grow, the more we will invest to have amazing things, of spectacle in our show: fire, ship, LED screen, everything you can imagine we will want to put on the Paradise show”.