I recently posted an album recommendation for “Horizon”, the debut release from Brazilian band Owl Company. The album was released on 14th July via One RPM. As I didn’t know much about the band I arranged to do an interview by e-mail with lead singer Enrico Minelli. The other members of the band are Felipe Ruiz on guitars, Fabio Yamamoto on bass and Thiago Biasoli on drums.
Thanks to our friends at New Ocean Media for facilitating the interview.
You’ll find out more about the band at https://www.facebook.com/corujaofficial/ or https://twitter.com/owlcoband
NI ROCKS – Your debut album “Horizon” was released on 14th July. Tell me where was it recorded and who did you work with through the whole process?
ENRICO - We did it all by ourselves. I have a recording studio in Sao Paulo, Brazil and together we produced it. Everyone in the band have their own experience with the process, it helped a lot.
NI ROCKS – When did writing for the tracks on the album start and how long did that take?
ENRICO - We started on 2015, took us two years to finish it. From the main riff to the chorus, to the bridge, we built it together. Because of that, recording it was very smooth.
NI ROCKS – Was there a standard approach to the song writing or did each come together very differently?
ENRICO - Lyrically I did it all by myself. It tell stories from my father from the second world war, he was born in Italy in 1926. Some are more personal than others. They have different perspectives on which I would put myself in the same situation as he used to describe.
NI ROCKS – Which track on the album took the longest to come together and do you have a personal favourite?
ENRICO - I think the answer for both questions would be “Riddles”. It’s one of those songs that I already had the lyrics but it took us some time to get it and compose. I was driving to my studio one day and I woke up with the idea off the main riff. I sat down with Felipe and we started to put them together. For sure it was the toughest but it’s my favorite in the album.
NI ROCKS – The band formed in Sao Paulo around 2015. Had any of you been in bands together prior to the formation of Owl Company or did you know each other from the music scene generally?
ENRICO - We knew each other from the streets. We live in the same neighborhood in Sao Paulo. I was living in Los Angeles in 2014, exchanging some ideas with Felipe over skype and email. When I came down to Brazil we decided that we should put up a band to produce those ideas. That’s how we started.
NI ROCKS – What bands influenced you to get into music originally and when Owl Company got together was there a consensus on what you wanted the band to sound like?
ENRICO - We have different backgrounds. Everybody in the band grew up in the 90’s, but with different influences. Black Sabbath is a band that we admire, it’s timeless. Since the beginning we wanted to sound raw and I think we achieved that.
NI ROCKS – How long after you formed was the single “Condescend” released and was that the band’s first break-through to a wider audience?
ENRICO - After I got back from US we went straight to the studio to record it. We released it after 3 weeks, in my opinion that was our first break-through. We knew that we’re on the right track after we got some feedback from it and we were really surprised with.
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NI ROCKS – Where has the band performed to date and what plans are there for touring beyond Brazil and South America?
ENRICO - We played all over Sao Paulo, which is one of the biggest cities in the world but only a small portion of the population here consumes rock. After talking to each other we decided to take our first album to US and Europe. On September we’re doing a tour in California and Nevada and in the beginning of 2018 we wanna go to Europe.
NI ROCKS – If you were looking at doing a co-headline tour or even going out in support of another band, who would be your ideal choices to be on the road with?
ENRICO - Wow, that’s a hard one. We love Clutch, Mastodon, Down, QOTSA, probably those bands.
NI ROCKS – I asked about influences earlier, but a question I always like to ask is – what was the first album you bought and the first gig that you went to?
ENRICO - First album I got was “The Number of the Beast” from Iron Maiden that I trade with a good friend of mine for a bb gun, ahahahha. My first gig was a reggae festival in Sao Paulo. Back in the days, it was really hard to get good gigs here.
NI ROCKS – And the last album you bought and last gig you went to?
ENRICO - I think the last album I got was Napalm Death’s “Apex Predator - Easy Meat”. The last gig was from a very good Brazilian funk band called “Black Mantra”.
NI ROCKS – When the band gets together who decides what music gets played?
ENRICO - We always try to do this together, whatever we have to decide we always try to include everyone. But Felipe and Thiago are the most organized ones, they always have a set in mind.
NI ROCKS – “Horizon” has just been released obviously, but has there been any thought given to the next album and writing more songs?
ENRICO - To be honest we already have our second album written. I’ve just passed by some personal problems and it gave me a lot of inspiration. We wanna record this album is US, we’re looking for producers right now.
NI ROCKS – What would you have hoped to have achieved with Owl Company by the end of 2017 and looking beyond that what would you hope to achieve during 2018?
ENRICO - We wanna play to as much places we’re invited to. This tour that we’re doing in September is a dream coming through. We want to keep doing this until the end of 2018. We wanna take our music to wherever they allow us.
NI ROCKS – Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions. Best of luck with the album and future plans.
ENRICO - Thank you very much for having us, it’s a huge pleasure! Stay tuned to our social media for some great news!!
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