Democustico

Democustico consists of Mauro Berman and singer Gabriela Geluda, as well as Far Out Recordings producer Roc Hunter. After falling in love at college in Rio, they moved to London in 1996 where they met Joe Davis at Far Out Recordings through a mutual friend. Joe decided Gabi's voice would fit perfectly with some of the productions he'd heard from co-prdocucer Roc Hunter and the result was ‘Brazil’ – a hypnotic percussive vocal groove that featured keyboards from Mauro - turning Democustico into a trio. A follow up single ‘A Sereia’ was recorded – keeping the Brazilian vibes strong, the track also had a heavy Indian influence coming from the time Gabi had spent in India.

In 2001 Gabi and Mauro returned to Brazil and for the next few years a transnational musical exchange began. Roc Hunter would send beats and loops from London to Mauro and Gabi to work on in Brazil - Mauro working on ‘noises, synths, mpcs, street field recordings and bass, while Gabi provided melodies and harmony both in Rio and India which she visited again in 2002 for more spiritual and music inspiration. The album was finished when Roc Hunter spent three months with Mauro and Gabi in Rio in 2005.

Gabi explains what each member of the band brought to the mix: “Mauro brought the wild side through heavy bass lines, keyboard sounds and unconventional arrangements of the songs, I brought the Indian/Brazilian flavor from my trips to India and love of classic Brazilian singers such as a Joyce and Milton Nascimento, whilst Roc Hunter brought an amazing collection of sounds from where we got a lot of inspiration.” She adds: “Far Out Recordings has a great roster of wonderful Brazilian artists who have made history such as Marcos Valle, Joyce, Azymuth and Os Ipanemas yet we are from a new generation. Those people showed Brazilian music to the world yet we are taking the world to Brazilian music”.

The different styles combine symbiotically to produce a coherent world musical fusion with Gabriela Geluda’s mellifluous vocals joining the dots from Brazil to London by way of India. With fans as diverse as world music guru Andy Kershaw, Gilles Peterson and techno producer Laurent Garnier.