https://rollingstone.com.br/musica/humberto-gessinger-fa-de-nasi-nao-fala-de-politica-em-shows/

https://rollingstone.com.br/musica/humberto-gessinger-fa-de-nasi-nao-fala-de-politica-em-shows/

Former Hawaii Engineers musician comments on controversy involving Ira! and explains his stance of preferring not to “bring this to the stage”

Humberto Gessinger addressed the controversy surrounding the Iran! and the vocalist Nasiwho “expelled” Bolsonaristas from the audience of a presentation at the beginning of the year. In response, the band faced a wave of concert boycotts.

In a podcast interview Perimeter (via Whiplash), the former musicianHawaii engineers He also explained why he prefers not to talk about politics in his shows, despite considering that artists have that right.

Humberto initially argued in support of Nasi’s attitude:

“Man, I really like Iran!and I think that speaking your ideas on the show is part of it, not only aesthetically, but also politically. Say what you want. Booing and applauding is also part of the show.”

He continued developing the reasoning and warned of what he considers harmful, which would be a boycott and an “engineered” stigmatization of artists. Gessinger said:

“What I think is that the boycott thing… I don’t know if I’m paranoid, but then I think they’re already in, as I said Jânio Quadroshidden forces. There is already an architecture designed to stigmatize this. Because it doesn’t seem out of the ordinary for an artist to speak their opinion and people like it and people don’t like it.”

Humberto Gessinger doesn’t talk about politics on shows

The singer and multi-instrumentalist, however, explained that he avoids talking about politics in his performances. Humberto says he likes music to be the show’s flagship, as he feels “jealous” when the political aspect “takes the lead” in the artistic work.

He explains:

“I try not to bring that to the stage, but I’m kind of jealous of it, you know? Because I think music should be what I do and should be what should be at the forefront. I’m jealous when these accessories take the forefront of what your work is and people start not listening to the music.”

The controversy with Nasi and Ira!

At the beginning of the year, four Ira! in the southern region of Brazil were canceled at once. The performances would take place between April and May.

The reason lies in Nasi’s position during a show held in Contagem (MG), at the end of March. The vocalist asked supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro to leave the audience after booing for him shouting “no amnesty”, in reference to those arrested in the January 8, 2023 attacks in Brasília.

The company that produced the four presentations in the South — more specifically in Jaraguá do Sul, Blumenau, Caxias do Sul and Pelotas — stated that it had no choice but to cancel the events. In a note, the company reported “numerous requests for cancellation of purchased tickets, withdrawal of sponsors and the clear risk of sales not progressing until the show dates”.

Subsequently, Nasi publicly recanted with his colleagues for “losses” occurred, but defined the producer responsible for the shows in the South as “shit” and said that the episode “does not represent the public, nor the people of the South”:

“As much as they (from the South) have, statistically, a more conservative orientation, this was not pushed by the fans. This was a digital militia. Our November show in Porto Alegre is already practically sold out. They carried out terrorism with the contractors, literally. And there was a contractor who was responsible for five of these shows. I know about robots, people who are on the other side of the country, in Manaus, saying they wouldn’t go to the show (laughs).”

He added:

“Now, the guy (producer) was a fool. Several other contractors received these threats, paid for it and were successful. Because our shows, since the first one, have been full. Here in São Paulowe had to open an extra night at Vibrate. Almost 6 thousand people can fit there.”

Source: Rollingstone

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