Dias Gomes, Ricardo -& Star Rover-
This Whole Emptiness
In early 2017 Ricardo Dias Gomes (longtime member of Caetano Veloso's Banda Çe) made a trip from Rio de Janeiro to New York to play a few solo shows, and on the recommendation of fellow Rio musician Arto Lindsay, dropped by Trans Pecos in Queens to see what was happening. Onstage happened to be drummer Jeremy Gustin (Albert Hammond Jr., Rubblebucket) performing in a duo. Blown away by his unusual, bombastic style, Gomes introduced himself after the show. They quickly discovered that they had met previously when Gustin and guitarist Will Graefe (Okkervile River, Landlady) had performed in Rio on tour with Grammy Award winner Jesse Harris. That very night Gustin invited Gomes back to his Bushwick loft to jam with him and Graefe, his partner in Star Rover. Moved by the immediate musical connection, they knew more had to happen. After a tour in Europe later that year, Star Rover met up with Gomes in Lisbon, where he had recently expatriated with his family. With only sketches, they spent several days in the studio of Marcelo Camelo (of Los Hermanos) - also a recent expat - recording snippets of songs alongside free improvisations. Then began the long process of their separately overdubbing parts and sending notes back and forth, developing concrete songs, such as the gems 'No Espelho,' a tone poem with Portuguese lyrics, sung by Gomes; 'Swallow The Sky,' a mediation on birth and destiny, with English lyrics sung by Graefe and Gomes; and 'Happy Birthday,' an Indie/Brazil fusion that sounds like Tropicalia on speed. Says Gustin, "It all happened in a sweet sort of blur. We knew something special was being captured. Though Ricardo has his influence of Brazilian music, I've studied in African rhythms in Ghana, and Will is a jazz-trained guitarist, the outcome is more other-worldly as opposed to 'world music.'" Indeed, 'This Whole Emptiness' transcends genre and strikes a unique balance between artists from different cultures. Listening, for example, to the instrumental 'Farmacia,' one would be hard-pressed to say exactly what kind of music it is. Is it from the future? Gomes' lyric to 'A Parada' sums up the projects's ethos well: "Trabalhar na parada mais honesta é bom," which translates roughly to, "To work on something in the most honest way possible is good." The title 'This Whole Emptiness,' extracted from Gomes' lyric concerning his move from Brazil to Portugal, is almost ironic as it relates to the music, which is so robust and rich - anything but empty. Aside from recording three albums with and touring the world many times as bassist/keyboardist for Caetano Veloso, Ricardo Dias Gomes has released two solo albums: 'Aa' and '-11.' Accompanists to battalions of indie bands from Brooklyn, Star Rover has also released two albums, 'I May Be Lost But I'm Laughing' and 'Western Winds Bitter Christians.'