On the 15th of September of 2011 I packed up my records, left Europe and headed towards Brazil to learn from the Brazilian electronic & local music scenes, with the goal of incorporating new sounds & flavors into my World Bootyshaking Dj set. Now, almost six months later, I continue my South American #ELECTRODEMBOW tour and I land in Colombia’s electronic capital, Bogota… so I thought it was time to share my experiences so far with y’all!

My first stop was São Paulo. I got there not knowing a word of Portuguese and virtually with no contacts at all, but through the CouchSurfing.com comunity, I quickly made a group of very good friends who helped me a lot settling down and showing me around.
São Paulo is an amazing city. Their people are easy going, there is always something to do and the weather was mostly nice during my stay. It also has an important night life scene. Before arriving in town, I chatted to quite a few Dj’s & promoters through Facebook and with the help of Google Translate, so when I arrived… I had a rough idea about who was who and the kind of parties that were going down. While in São Paulo I was invited to play at two popular underground electronic Web radios, RadioPirata.Tv & InTheMixBrasil.com, and in one of the hottest clubs on the trendiest road of the city, Lab Club. Oh! And I also did a lil’ work for CocaCola as an extra in their next commercial. But let me tell you something… the Brazilian music scene is extremely static & cliquey. The promoters I met didn’t seem excited to work with new people, and the Dj’s, well they just weren’t bothered at all. It was all a bit disappointing really, because I was very keen to learn from them and exchange ideas with them. After all, that was one of the main aims of my trip. I began to feel a bit frustrated with such a unapproachable attitude, so after two months & a half in São Paulo, I decided to move on and head towards Rio de Janeiro.

They don’t call it the ‘Wonderful City‘ for nothing… Rio de Janeiro is just a magical place! The temperature never drops below 20 degrees, the beaches are always full and the sights are breathtaking. It just feels good to be on the street doing whatever!
The electronic night life scene is considerably smaller than in São Paulo. Brazilian music like Baile Funk, Samba & Pagode are way more popular, but I didn’t have a problem with that, coz I LOVED them too! I already told you about my experience in a real Baile Funk in a previous post and I even made a TOP 5 of my favorite popular Brazilian music. In Rio I had the chance to become resident of the most popular Urban Latin party in town, Dj for WAY OUT, the only real eclectic party in Rio, and I had a unforgettable experience playing at the top of the Favela do Vidigal during NYE, overlooking Ipanema beach and the Copacabana’s fireworks!

All in all an exceptional experience… I got all Baile Funk & Neo Baile Funk I was looking for, I discovered lots of new Brazilian rhythms, I made connections with sh*t hot producers, I crossed about 10 things from my “Things To Do Before I Die” list (ehem, most of them I can’t tell ya!) and probably the thing I’m most proud of… I SPEAK PORTUGUESE!! which means I can now understand and sing along to about 95% of the music I play, boom!!
Perhaps I can’t help but feeling slightly bitter with the indifferent attitude I received from most of the promoters & Dj’s I met. Not that I wasn’t expecting to be treated in any particular way, but I just felt that I had come from really really far JUST to speak and work with them and they never gave me the chance to show them what I got. That’s all. Read this article and you’ll understand what I’m talking about… http://papodehomem.com.br/rio-e-sao-paulo/

But of course, I also met some truly ammmmazing people who I now would like to officially big up…
Um abraço para meus anjos de SP Diego e Lucas (e amigos), don’t know where you two came from but you guys hooked me up a LOT! Big up to Renato Martins aka FUNKNACAIXA.COM | IRMAOS CORAGEM one of my first supporters helping me to land my first small gig and passing me lots of Baile Funk. Big up to Mauro Farina aka RADIOPIRATA.TV-PARADISEPARTY.BIZ & Andre Machado aka INTHEMIXBRASIL.COM who believed in my #ELECTRODEMBOW sound too and went go become very good friends. Thanks to Bruno Queiroz aka LA BOMBACION | NUVEM for his hospitality and production tips. Also a massive big up to the guys of WAY OUT & FESTA BANG!, Rodrigo S aka WOBBLE, Felippe Augusto & THE TRUCULENCIA CREW, Dj Guto de Almeida, Dj Jonas, Dj Kassiano, Dj Chernobyl, Drunk Disco, Dj Kojack, Miss Luiza Brazil, etc, etc, etc.