It’s Brazilian week at WWD! Following on from the amazing guest mix and interview with Warung resident Aninha we also got to sit down with one of Brazilian house music’s pivotal figures. With production credits on the likes of Stranjjur, Cream Couture and his brother HNQO’s Playperview label, Fabo is a man who’s destined for the upper echelons of the electronic music scene. A native of Curitiba, Brazil, he personifies all that’s great about Brazil’s emerging underground scene, with a sound and an outlook that’s just as vibrant, diverse and colourful as country itself. With his latest EP doing the rounds on German label Great Stuff, we thought it a good time to catch up with the main man himself for a quick chat…
How’s life with Fabo right now? What’s keeping you busy aside from music?
I’m doing good! I’ve started reading a lot and sometimes I go out for dinner with my friends. I like to stay close to my family and pets – but my life is 90% music.
How has music changed your life? I guess you’ve got to travel to some pretty amazing places?
Yeah, I’ve visited a lot of places I’ve never been before and I had the chance to experience lots of different cultures, food, people etc. So yes, it’s changed my life a lot you could say.
What’s been the best place you’ve visited and where’s your favourite place to play?
I really enjoyed visiting Berlin and Paris, playing clubs like Club Vibe and Warung is always very special.
And when did you decide to make music? How influential has your brother been in that regard?
I decided around 7 or 8 years ago when I started to listen to electronic music. I was immediately curious about how to make those sounds. Then I meet Soundman Pako, an old DJ from Curitiba that showed me a lot of stuff from rock, techno, house, drum n bass and I recognize this was very influential to me. We started a project called Rolldabeetz and the label with HNQO, Playperview.
And do you still get to see each other a lot these days? Have you guys been in the studio at all recently?
Yeah! I meet Henrique and Pako all the time, and we talk about the label and music in general. I’m at the studio with Pako working on Rolldabeetz two times a week, and late at night I work on my own music.
So how is Curitiba? What is the scene like there and the clubs? Is it mostly local DJs playing?
It’s going well. Some local DJs like Gromma and Aninha are playing great music and evolving to be big artists. We have Club Vibe and Danghai hosting international names weekly plus the Tribaltech Festival, which has been very successful on taking the whole thing to the next level.
What are the best and worst things about the Brazilian scene?
I think the best thing is that have a lot of new people are coming to listen electronic music – two weeks ago we had the first (only) Electronic Carnival here in Curitiba. It was so crowded, around 40k people came over hungry for music and fun. The worst thing is that most of the people hardly want to listen something new. We need them to be curious for new information, and it seems like they want to listen to the same stuff all the time. This prevents an evolution happening in our scene and the people lose the chance to listen to new and old good artists that are still doing great work around the world.
Will you make it to Ibiza this summer? Is it a place you’ve been before?
I don’t know but I hope so. Funnily enough, I have never been there before!
Your latest tune is out soon on Great Stuff. How did they end up signing it?
My manager was in contact with them for a while and when she sent over the track they immediately signed it. I was happy as I think it’s a good one and I’m very much looking forward to checking out the public’s reaction to this EP.
You tend to spread your releases out across a wide range of labels. Is there any particular thinking behind this?
I just want different people, from different perspectives, to get to know my work. That’s it really.
What else can we look forward to from you this year?
I’m working on another release to come out on Playperview in June and a Rolldabeetz EP to be released in march in Playperview also! We gonna focus a lot on our own label this year.
Fabo’s Washed is out soon on Great Stuff Records