I wouldn’t mind dying if there were guitars in heaven

Tiago Pereira talks about his latest documentary on Portuguese regional music: Chamarita - the country rock of the Azores.

Lisbon, until 2004 the undiscovered jewel in western Europe, is home to the haunting Fado music made popular by Mariza and Cristina Branco. Besides urban Fado music, which is internationally known, Portugal has a huge variety of regional music on the mainland and on the islands of Madeira and The Azores.

Regional music has suffered from progressive urbanization and the growth of mass culture, but it is kept alive by local groups and features in summer festivals. In the northern region of Tras-os­ Montes groups play bagpipes and dance with sticks as in the English Morris Dance, and unaccompanied singers still sing in the ancient Mirandes language. In the southern region of Alentejo there is a tradition of polyphonic male-voice choirs. Folk music revived as the Salazar dictatorship ended in 1974, and musicians like Jose Afonso began to explore new combinations of styles.

I spoke to Tiago Pereira whose latest documentary film is focused on the dance music called the Chamarita, unique to the islands of Pico and Faial in the Azores. He is also a mixing artist who uses electronica with traditional rhythms to make videos and soundscapes, and he talks with such tense energy that I expect him to be chain-smoking. About the music and its cultural and historical significance, and its neglect by mainstream urban culture.

The full interview including photos can be accessed on the website of LatinoLife.co.uk, where it was published in November 2012:

https://www.latinolife.co.uk/articles/i-wouldnt-mind-dying-if-there-were-guitars-heaven