André Matos - Mentalize

March 3rd 2010

Sorti en 2007, "Time to be free" marquait les débuts solo d'André Matos. L'album est grandement salué par l'ensemble de la communauté Métal, et l'attente du nouvel opus devient insupportable pour les fans. Les voici récompensés avec "Mentalize"! Encore merci à André pour avoir bien voulu répondre à nos quelques questions...

Fab : First, thank you to give us some of your time, even if it would have been an honor to meet you. According to you, what's the main differences between your new album "Mentalize" and the first one "Time to be free"?
Andre : Thank you for your interest and, as long as we play in France, you're welcome to have a personal interview.
I guess the main difference is the way the albuns have been conceived - but I believe it's still too early to try to define which one is the best out of both. Maybe there's no best between both: they're different - and belog together at the same time. One thing is for sure: Mentalize could never be created without Time To Be Free. It is probably the natural follow-up to the first one.

Fab : " Mentalize " was released in August 2009 in Japan. Why so much delay for Europe?
Andre : For a single burocratic reason: the album should be released by SPVrecord label in Europe, such as Time To Be Free. The company has gone through a big reestructuring, which took good part of the last year. They've made a great job on Time To Bre Free, therefore I thought it would be worth the wait for a best release timing in Europe.

Fab : Could you tell us a little bit about the genesis of this record, the songwriting and the production?
Andre : Everything has been developed really fast. From the composition to the mixing process, it didn't take more than 3 months. We have bet on the spontaneity - whether on the compositions, whether on the performance. We respected original song ideas and didn't touch them too much when arranging them. Same as for the recordings: this album has absolutely no computer edits at all. That was our point of honor. All the sounds you listen to are real, no samplings, re-pitchings or replacings. That was our philosophy. A little old-fashioned like? Maybe… but isn't that what most of the current productions lack of nowadays?

Fab : My favorite songs are "I will return" with its deep intro & "Mentalize" which is so powerful. What's your meaning of "mentalize"?
Andre : Mentalization is the faculty of modifying nature or changing one's reality through the imaginatory power of the mind. The whole album lyrics follow this direction and, although it's not to be considered as a concept album in terms of fact, it has, indeed, this main hookline all across.
Those two songs are also among my favourites - I would also mention The Myriad and Leading On.

Fab : I was amazed to hear your voice so deep into the medium range, which reminds me a lot of the vocals in PETRA (Christian Rock Band). Was it conscious to avoid your famous high-range singing?
Andre : That's nice to hear. Well, I haven't had the chance to listen to that one yet (maybe the label 'Christian rock' might have kept me away from it); but now that you've mentioned, I'm curious to listen to their music - especially the voice.
Yes, there's maybe a conscious side on avoiding the high range, sometimes. My goal as a singer is not to be known by my technical skills, but by the variety - and the emotion that I can bring across with my voice. A singer must impress his own personality - and when this personality lays only on some skilful aspect, that's a rather fragile basis to keep a long-life career.
However, anything I can deliver with the voice, I'm keen to. You must sing for the music, and not the opposite.

Fab : You seems to have a special relationship with France (early on with Angra, you played an acoustic show at FNAC, you also released "Holy Live" which was recorded in France, your show in Hard-Rock Café Paris…) where you have a solid fan base. Do you agree with that statement?
Andre : Absolument!  France was probably (together with Italy, to be fair!) the first country outside Brazil and Japan where I got to establish a solid career and some very solid relationships. There has always been a sort of sinergy between our cultures and, sometimes, when something was not really well understood by other people, it has been gone well in France. A good example is the album Holy Land, from Angra: at its release, it has been highly criticized in Brazil, somehow misunderstood in Japan and ignored in Germany… but in France, it happened right away!

Fab : When will we have the pleasure to see you on stage in France?
Andre : The pleasure will be all mine! We're right now confirmimg some participations on summer-festivals, which do not exclude also the possibility of headline concerts. For sure, a lot is to happen yet this year.

Fab : Any "special" guests musicians on this album?
Andre : Probably the same ones as usual. I'm not very keen on looking for special appearances in my albums - except when it happens naturally. I guess nowadays people always expect this or that famous artist to appear in someone's record, and I consider that as a big mistake. First because you shoudn't need any extra talent to make your music sound better. Second, because it might discharacterize your own face as a band. I'm not talking about live- that's a completely different thing.

Fab : What are your plans for the close future?
Andre : To promote Mentalize album all through Europe and also some new territories to come: Latin America, USA, Australia… And, of course, to start the real world-tour of Mentalize, which should keep us busy for the next whole year, at least.

Fab : Any special musical guest appearances on other records
Andre : The last one I performed is on the upcoming Avantasia record. I have been taking part since the very first one and also joined the troupie for a world tour in 2008. It's a big team of friends - and also very good music.

Fab : A word about the Mariutti brothers?
Andre : My great partners. I've been playing together with Luis since 91 - it's been 19 years already.
As for Hugo, he's probably my number one partner in compositions, a very good friend and an outstanding guitar player.

Fab : You have a special voice, recognizable between a thousand, which technical singing advice could you give to our readers about the work you have to do to sing that well. Any secret ? or it is just hard work?
Andre : It has been hard work during many years. First, when I started to sing, I didn't have a clue about technique. So I decided, yet on an early age, that I should learn the basic fundaments of singing. But of course, the best school is the road itself. Nowadays, I try to focus more into the musician side, other than the singer. I believe that, for singing well, you also must understand music well. That's my personal point of view. Maybe for other singers that can work in a different way; I don't mean that everyone should have musical education if they don't feel like. In my very case, I must admit it has helped a lot. Knowledge is never too much. And when you decide to do something like that for life - in my opinion, you must know where you're stepping at.

Fab : What do you think about the Brazilian metal scene nowadays? As you are one of the music pioneer in Brasil, a cornerstone of the diversity of music in your country.
Andre : There are a few interesting bands in Brazil, it's a very musical country, indeed.
However, it's sad to notice that still most of the bands don't fight for originality, and tend to sound like other bands. I think that only when this phase gets to be overcame, the real talent of brazilian bands can be shown. But that's an universal problem that happens not only in Brazil: due to our globalized neocapitalist system all over the world, people are much more concerned about making success (even if of an ephemerous kind) than creating something special.
The technical side is no point: we have very incredibly technical players and singers there. But they still should place themseves the following question: why, and for what purpose am I doing music?

Fab : Sorry to mention that but, do you still keep an eye on ANGRA's work and career?
Andre : No, I don't. It would be different if everybody would have a rather closer relationship - like the one I still have with the people from Viper, my first band - then, you can even cooperate together again and so on. But in this very case, we all went sepparate ways, and I believe that's the best decision we might have taken in our careers. I feed no hard feelings though; my wish is that they can find good motivation, at last. Whenever someone would be able to create good music, I'd be the first one to applaud.

Fab : Next june, it's the world cup. Is it not too boring to always be the favorite?
Andre : Actually, Spain is the favourite now! Hm, I'm not very positive about the brazilian team this time. I really think they have chosen a bad coach - and I can't stand the corrupted ways of the Brazilan Football Confederation. The commercial interests speak louder there. We have excellent young players that would deserve a place in the national team - but they keep insisting on some negligent stars. That can't always work. Of course I'll stand for Brazil, but to be honest, I like the world cup as a whole. I also love to watch the other matches.
In 98, when France was world champion, I was in Paris. That's a night I'll never forget. But you definitely deserved it - and that was a great lesson for us. Ever since, I never again consider Brazil as a favourite in the world cup.

Fab : A last word for your French fans?
Andre : I miss you all! Let's try to come back as soon as possible and share great moments on stage. Meanwhile, I wish you delightful discoveries with Mentalize. Merci!