RIVIERA GAZ – Connection

Description

Formed by Brazilians Gustavo Riviera and Paulo Kishimoto from the band Forgotten Boys and American Steve Shelley from Sonic Youth, Riviera Gaz presents their debut album “Connection” on CD, LP and K7, released Hearts Bleed Blue (HBB).
The band, as drummer Steve describes it, is “international and multiracial” and for that reason, “Connection” took three sessions to take shape. In the first one, Ubu, Take it, Crowboy were recorded and also appear on their 2016’s EP. As two other recording sessions took place when the trio were on tour. “For the process to be legal, the direct mix will be done very well, without any fuss. John represented this very well. We will work more and more in gear, but the result of the record is very coherent”, says vocalist and guitarist Gustavo.

The album, full of cultural references, has the title and the track Cowboy inspired in the film “The Connection” (1961) by Shirley Clarke, based on the play by Jack Gelber. Pere Ubury, text by Alfred Jar King Ubury. The cover of “Connection” features a work by the plastic artist Hudinilson Jr. (1957 – 2013). However, as musical influences that pass through The Kinks, T.Rex, Velvet Underground, Ramones, Beatles and Rolling Stones, also appear on Riviera Gaz’s debut album. If I Had One track that talks about hopelessness, according to Gustavo, it was designed to sound like the Ramones, but then it was transformed. “It was the last song written for the record, it’s fresh and reveals the energy that the band is”, he says. “Bleeding”, with influences from The Kinks and The Stooges, was composed in the studio during recording. “I had the base, we discussed a few things, took stock and recorded. This song for me is the final scene of a movie, set in the last moments of life, a little confused, death coming”, reveals Gustavo.