Kaddish Interview on TV in 1988

Interview with Kaddish from kat stoopid on Vimeo.

This was a lengthy interview from the 26th August 1988 on TV where we introduce ourselves and mention our intention of mixing Brazilian Rhythms with Rock music as well as commenting some trivia. Note the Presenters hairstyle and clothes very 80's defining, although it would be considered bad taste then as well I suppose, and the simplicity of the set just a few stools, it makes it look like a home production, but I swear it was on TV! Here is a full translation to English, for the curious ones I was then 21, Sergio 22, Paulo 23, Tayo 22 and Brent 23. Enjoy! (My comments in navy blue)

Presenter: Rio Hit Parade launching a new band to you: Kaddish
And then, I’ll start presenting from my right, Sergio
Sergio: Hi
Presenter: Paulo
Paulo: Hello
Presenter: Tayo
Tayo: Me
Presenter: Simone
Simone: Hi
Presenter: And Brent
Brent: Good Evening (so English!)
Presenter: So, How are you? First interview on TV, isn’t it?
Tayo and Brent: Yeah
Brent: Yeah a bit nervous and so on but that is normal
Paulo: We just gone back to playing live now as the venues had been a bit scarce, we are playing a sequence of gigs now and we are taking the chance to promote them here on your space (he didn’t waste time as he was the one responsible for promotion at the time!)
Presenter: Sure, now tell me something; you’ve changed the band's name isn’t it? It was Ex-Kafka and now...
Tayo: No it was Kafka
Presenter: It was Kafka, and then you changed to…
Presenter and Tayo: Kaddish
Presenter: And why this change?
Tayo: There was a band in São Paulo with the same name and they had been using the name longer than us (That is actually not true because I followed up the case we had it for longer and we had it registered but they were signed and we were not), so we had to change it.
Paulo: They were going to record an album too
Tayo: They were actually already recording it
Presenter: Yeah I think I have already interviewed them here in the Program then when they said something about you I said Huh is it the Kafka from São Paulo but no then they were talking about this story.
Tayo: Yeah it’s another band
Presenter: But this name was a coincidence to be the same name?
Tayo: It was, we didn’t even know the people and we had to get in touch with them when we found out, actually there was another one in Brasilia too, I think everybody likes Kafka
Presenter: Laughs. It’s nice that Kaddish is different
Brent: And there is a relation because Kaddish is the name of a mourning prayer, so we
Tayo: (interrupting)There’s a whole story behind it
Brent: Yeah
Tayo: …because we used to love the name Kafka, there was a lot to do with us, with the band and everything, and Kaddish is a prayer in Hebrew, a prayer of passage, when someone dies, so Kafka had died to us, you see,
Brent: So then Kaddish
Tayo: so we put Kaddish, which is also a very beautiful poem from Ginsberg, an American Beatnik poet
Presenter: Cool, Cool this!
Sergio: Also the sound of it was not very different and we didn’t want to loose totally…
Presenter: The way the word sounded
Sergio: Exactly, that’s why Kaddish
Presenter: And how long have you been together for?
Tayo: eh
Sergio: 2 years
Brent: The complete band 2 years but it started before
Paulo: I started it with Tayo, it was more ideas an so on, acoustic guitar, that kind of thing but the full band with drums, rehearsing it has been 2 years
Presenter: What do you play Paulo?
Paulo: I play bass guitar
Presenter: Bass
Paulo: Yeah
Presenter: What about you Sergio?
Sergio: Drums
Presenter: And you Tayo?
Tayo: I play the guitar
Presenter: Simone?
Simone: Keyboards
Brent: Vocals
Presenter: And Simone, what is it like to be a musician among 4 lads?
Simone: Yeah this question always comes about, it’s funny, like, nowadays it happens a lot women playing instruments, even drums, those things, but there is always a, I wouldn’t say prejudice as such, but people think for example that I am going to sing, I arrive at a venue and they prepare the microphone for me so I say no I am not going to sing
Tayo: Lower, they put it (the mic) lower and all (He couldn't miss the opportunity to remark about my height)
Simone: So it’s funny if there’s a girl in the band it’s because she will sing or you know, to play then it’s already…
Tayo: Or that she will shake her hips and play the tambourine
Tayo and Simone: (Laugh)
Presenter: (To Brent) And it’s you, who sing, isn’t it?
Brent: Yeah I sing
Presenter: And are you the ones who write the songs?
Tayo: Yeah the songs are all ours
Brent: All
Presenter: And are you playing gigs now in Rio, how is the agenda for Kaddish?
Paulo: Our Agenda is as follows: Friday, Saturday and Sunday we prepared with some friends a Festival, not a Festival as such, in Niteroi, there at the DCE (Student Union) venue, near Plaza Shopping Mall
Tayo: It’s not a competition or anything
Paulo: Yeah, Friday we play, Saturday Eterno Grito plays, and Sunday Kongo.
Presenter: Right
Brent: At what time the gig?
Paulo and Simone: Nine p.m.
Paulo: Next week…
Presenter: And the venue, what’s the address?
Paulo: Next to Plaza Shopping, by the Ferry
Tayo:At the UFF DCE
Simone: Visconde de Rio Branco Street 625 next to the Ferry
Paulo: And next week we are Wednesday and Thursday at Piteu, Barra, and on the following week we are at the Teatro de Bolso Aurimar Rocha in Leblon
Brent: Aurimar Rocha, opposite Rio Design Centre
Presenter: Right so you are gigging, shaking up the scene
Tayo: Yeah we have to happen
Presenter: Have you got any intention of making a record?
Brent: Yeah we are full of intention to make records, there is enough intention what we don’t have is a contract or anything, we would like a contract with a record company if anybody knows of something can contact us
Presenter: Is it the first band you are all part of?
Sergio: Not mine,
Brent:Yeah he has a history
Sergio:I played at another one but it was more for fun
Tayo (interrupting Sergio): Yeah me too but only for fun never went far
Presenter: And now I want to know Kaddish’s Hit story (They had asked us to think of a funny story that happened to us)
Tayo: That’s a funny one
Sergio: This story is very funny, it happened when we went to play in Cabo Frio (Beach resort in Rio), we played this gig and in the local paper, was published that we had played, well, we had played at a venue called Barão com a Joana (Barão with Joana because it lies on the corner of two streets Barão da Torre and Joana Angelica)
Tayo: Which is a venue in Ipanema
Sergio: So they published that we had played at the Barão Club with the singer Joana (Tacky Brazilian Romantic singer)
Tayo: It was a great success
Brent: A gig with spectacular repercussion
Tayo: In the Barão with the singer Joana
Presenter: O my God these papers Ah?
Tayo: We played at Barão com a Joana they read at Barão with the singer Joana they already imagined, they put down that … they invented a lot of different styles for us like, they imagined in their heads…
Sergio: And this, when we got there, was being shouted by a loudspeaker on those vans that have a loudspeaker on, we arrived in the town and found out we had played with Joana
Tayo: But we didn’t know it
Presenter: You didn’t know it! The news! And now tell me something else, which type of music has most influenced, influences you
Tayo: Can I?
Presenter: Your music?
Tayo: We all listen to different things right? But we have a basic approach which is to make Brazil Rock, we hear a lot Brazil Rock, Brazilian Rock but there is really Rock sang in Portuguese, which is different. What we want to do is Brazilian Rock so we have influences of, we get the rhythm of for example Forro, Samba, Baião, these things and each of us add their own, for example I like King Crimson, something like this, a more schizophrenic guitar
So I put this information on top of it
Presenter: I see
Tayo: Then Brent has his style, Simone hers, so we, the information, goes on for us to make something basic which is Brazilian Rock
Paulo: We start from Brazilian rhythms like Forro, Baião, Carnival music, and write a pop song on top of it.
Presenter: Cool!
Tayo: And with Rock instruments, right, conventional, keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, it’s not that thing, maybe we will throw a percussion in and everything but it’s not that thing, let’s make Brazilian Rock and we play a cavaquinho (Brazilian ukulele), 7-string guitar, no, it’s done with Rock instruments
Brent: The important thing is the fusion between the two
Presenter: There you go, Very Good, for the first interview you’ve done pretty well
Brent: Thank you
Presenter: And good luck in your career and that you come back here to show me the Platinum record, platinum is enough isn’t it?, and now we are going to watch Railway Children with the song Brighter (I loved this song it was actually our choice from a list they gave us what video to play next) and…

Other Interviews:

Radio Sucesso (Cabo Frio) - 11/07/87
Jornal O Globo (National) - 19/09/87
Radio JB AM (Rio de Janeiro) - 24/09/87
Radio Fluminense FM (Niteroi) - 24/12/87
Radio Fluminense FM (Niteroi) - 30/03/88
Radio Liberdade (Belo Horizonte - Minas Gerais) - 27/05/88