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Adriano Cintra of CSS Interview by Eric Mitts |
In the digital age, everything is instantaneous and everything is international. In the world of music, few bands fit the form of what this age allows us as finely, or have more fun doing it, than Sao Paulo, Brazil’s Cansei de Ser Sexy, aka CSS. Best known, so far, for their song “Music Is My Hot, Hot Sex,” appropriately featured in commercials for both Apple’s iPod and Microsoft’s Zune, CSS has an immediately infectious quality to its guitar-driven, keyboard-enhanced electro-rock suited to the attention spans of the mp3 addicted. And that’s no ironic coincidence. The Internet helped break the band as its singer, fashion-focused femme-fatale Lovefoxxx found her Flickr and Fotolog pages filling up with fans from around the globe while downloads of their music went viral via the Brazilian music networking site Trama Virtual. Worldwide word of mouth then took the band beyond Brazil to the Seattle offices of iconic indie Sub Pop who signed the band in 2006 for the release of their self-titled international debut album. Soon they followed the path their music took down the digital superhighway with real-life world tours. Those tours ultimately inspired their next installment, this summer’s Donkey. Taking advantage of the modern convenience of email to invade CSS songwriter/producer/bassist Adriano Cintra’s crazy-hectic schedule, and avoid any language confusion in the process, Wide-Eyed wrote up a few questions about the global destinations that make Donkey so kick ass.
Wide-Eyed: You played in a number of other bands around Sao Paulo before starting up CSS, what’s the music scene like down there?
Adriano Cintra: The interesting music scene in Sao Paulo is the independent one. The major one is terrible; it’s all bands copying what’s successful abroad but singing in Portuguese. The independent scene lacks of money and structure.
WE: Having had the chance to tour all over the world now, how is your new album, Donkey, inspired by or influenced by seeing the world?
AC: I wrote most of the songs while we were touring. “Move” was written on Ibiza; “I Fly” in Cannes, “Left Behind” (was) inspired by a party we deejayed at in Helsinki. “Rat is Dead” (was) inspired by an incident that took place in London and was written during a bus trip to Stockholm. I can’t tell how much these songs were influenced by the traveling; it’s not that we do world music, but the lyrics can tell a bit.
WE: In other articles you’ve described your first album as being more of a
producer album and your new album as sounding more like a whole band album, how so?
AC: In the first album there’s very little of the band playing in it. Most of the drums are electronic; most of the basses are synths. We had to rearrange the songs to play them live. Donkey is the band playing everything.
WE: What were some of the things you were listening to a lot while writing and working on the new album?
AC: Bikini Kill, Make Up, Sebadoh, Superchunk, Stereolab, Tegan and Sara, Tilly and the Wall, David Bowie, Hole. Sonic Youth. I believe that the last two years were the years my iPod worked the hardest.
WE: How much did you want Donkey to have a more well-rounded overall sound than your first album? Did you work really hard on having a good variety of songs and sounds on the album?
AC: I wanted Donkey to sound simpler and closer to what we sound live. We all wanted it to sound more realistic. We went through really hard times since we put out the first album, we were ripped off pretty bad by our ex-manager, there was a time that we were working so hard that we could only sleep for two hours a day. But still we were having the time of our lives. We were partying our asses off around the world. It was like living in war. I was very concerned about writing new songs and being a workaholic, this was no issue. I was constantly making new stuff. When we stopped to record the album we just had to choose amongst the new songs I’ve done. We started choosing the songs that weren’t 100 percent solely mine, that had some sort of collaboration with the girls. Then we went to the studio, each one found their own sound and we recorded it.
WE: Do you find it challenging to write lyrics in English since it’s not your native language?
AC: Not really, for me it’s much more difficult to write in Portuguese. It’s been a while. I read mostly books in English. I started to study English when I was six years old. It’s kinda natural. Pop music sounds much better in English.
WE: Lots of people have talked about how seeing CSS live is really the way to experience your band’s music. Do you agree?
AC: Playing shows is what we like the most. We formed the band because we wanted to play shows.
WE: How much did you work at trying to capture what the band is like live on the new album, Donkey?
AC: I decided to let each girl decide what was their sound. Carol, how does your guitar sound like? Ana? Luiza? Then we worked from that. On the other album I decided pretty much everything and now after playing so much live I let them show me how they sound.
WE: What’s your favorite song off Donkey and why?
AC: “Air Painter.” I wrote half of this song on the New Years Eve of 2007 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I made the song and wrote the chorus: “tell me your stories, write down your secrets.” Then I sent it to Lovefoxxx and the day I listened to the lyrics she wrote and the melody she imagined, I was so amazed. I had written the rest of the lyrics myself, but hers were so much better.
WE: Out of all your songs, what’s your favorite CSS song to play live?
AC: I like the loud ones like “Off the Hook” and “Rat is Dead.”
WE: Earlier this year your old bass player, Iracema Trevisan, left the band and you moved over to play bass instead of drums. What was that move like for you, going from the drums to the bass onstage?
AC: I feel like I was promoted. I really hate playing the drums. I’m not a drummer, I’ll never be a drummer and I swear I will never sit on a drum stool again in my life.
WE: You missed playing Lollapalooza last year because you were stuck at the airport in New York. How excited were you about playing there this year? How much fun did you have at that show?
AC: It was an amazing show, I really loved it. We had our friend Renata dancing onstage with us. It was very crowded and I was really happy.
WE: Overall, have you had much trouble traveling for all your shows? What have been some of your best memories from traveling all over the world?
AC: Traveling is never a problem, it’s the best thing of all. Especially when we have time to check out the cities we’re at. The Japanese fans are amazing. We were there a couple of weeks ago and a lot of fans stopped us on the street and showed us their iPods playing our songs. Going back to Brazil and playing a festival there was so special. Istanbul was amazing as well. And Finland… I could never imagine I’d go to so many places in my life.
WE: How much does it surprise you that so many different cultures have embraced CSS’s music?
AC: A lot.
WE: Why do you think your music reaches so many different types of people all over the world?
AC: Because we’re very truthful to ourselves. We don’t want to be something we’re not.
CSS plays the Mayan Theatre Sept. 22. Donkey is in stores and online now. For more on the band, check out: csshurts.com.
