Felipe Brandalise is a Brazilian guy who writes in English for his blog with weird German name. Not a big deal, you’ll say. And, perhaps, it’s right – in this modern “globalized” world there are tons of resources and information, which are much better and more important than Felipe’s stuff. But I like his blog. Sure, you’ll like it too after reading this interview…
First, give us some general info about yourself…
I’m from a really small town in the southest state of Brazil. Now I live in Sao Paolo. What else… Have a college degree on Cinema and now I’m striving to be a multimedia designer focusing on music, preferably living in New York or Helsinki, or Barcelona, or Gothenburg. Good cooker. Dreamer and sensitive. Antitheist, I believe the world would be a better place if there wasn’t the concept of religion…
Why did you start your blog? What is the goal? Why is it called “Chaotisch Und Charmant”?
I started the blog in the end of 2008. I went back to my hometown to spend a year before moving to Sao Paulo and I had a lot of free time… One day, I felt this urge to talk about music… I mean, the last 8 years of my life were spent with music. I stop listening only when I’m eating. Strangely, I can’t eat with music…There isn’t really a clear goal, I think. I like the idea of the blog as some sort of catalogue of the music I like… We tend to connect a certain song to a certain period/moment of our lives and I felt like registering this process. The focus of the blog is to talk about small and independent bands and artists that I think would make the world a better place if they had their music being played repeatedly on the radio (of course, this is very subjective and each person would have a list of artists that should be known throughout the world)…By the time I created the blog, I was learning to speak German – actually I downloaded Deutsche Welle’s course called «Warun Nicht?» (Why Not?) and kinda was learning by myself… In one chapter a character is speaking with another and says the words «chaotisch und charmant» («chaotic and charming»). Those words got stuck in my head and when I was thinking about a name for the blog, it felt right to name it «Chaotisch und Charmant» since I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do (a bit chaotisch), I just knew I was gonna try to make something beautiful (a bit charmant). Also, I feel that they are adjectives that could be applied to everything in the world: people, cities, art… People often say the name is too long, hard to memorize and not very catchy but I like it, anyway…
Is it commercially useful? Is it what you want to deal with? Or it’s just a kind of hobby?
Hmm, it’s not commercially useful in the sense that I’d never received any money with it. I think of it as a long term project and a place where I can exercise my sense of critique and try to be more disciplined. Also, build a network with bands and musicians throughout the world. My main goal is to work with music (writing about it, making videos and artworks for bands…), so the blog would be like an extended arm of the things I like.Right now it’s just a hobby, but since the beginning I feel like turning the blog into a netlabel divided in two groups: «chaotisch» featuring rock and shoegaze and «charmant» featuring electropop and indiepop. As everything in life, I have no idea how am I gonna do this, but eventually (until the end of the year hopefully) it’ll happen. Being really pretentious, I want to be this multimedia guy that makes visual stuff for bands and also release their music…
How do you use to choose the bands to write about?
The most important thing is that I have to like. The motto of the blog is to promote bands that aren’t dying to become the next big thing… So I go for small bands and artists that I end up finding on the Internet or that contact me through email or Facebook…
What do you think about the thesis that blogging will kill mainstream music journalism?
It’s not gonna kill it but make it less influential in the sense that mainstream journalism won’t be (already isn’t) the only voice speaking about music to a large number of people. I mean, of course, it’ll continue to influence listeners but they are not the only source anymore. They certainly lost ground… As a music consumer, blogger and creator, I believe that two minds think better than one. In the past, a small group of people used to define what was good or bad; elevate an artist to stardom; and even define a period of time in terms of music… I think we will never have something like «the grunge years» or «the new wave years» again. It always bothered me the fact that all the other types of music seemed to be non-existent when that kind of label was given to a certain period of time. There are no clear trends anymore, now we have several trends co-existing and somehow being represented on the media (magazines, independent blogs…).Of course, Internet played a crucial part in this… Before, underground artists were known only locally. Now the world is their stage. It feels good to think that the power, once concentrated in the hands of a few people, now is divided between a large number of people with different views and taste towards music. The scene becomes more eclectic and everyone ends up winning with it: artists and listeners…
Is there any post in your blog you’re really proud of? I mean, can you say that you “opened” some band or artist for the audience with your post?
I can’t think of a specific post… I feel proud for starting making interviews… Even though I think I’m a crappy interviewer and need hours to come up with 10-12 questions for every interview I make.I really like my interview with Holiday Records, since it was their first interview ever… And also interviews with artists that I really really love, like Eux Autres and recently My Teenage Stride…As far as «opening» the world to a band, I don’t think my blog is that big or influential… One day maybe?!…
Your top 10 list for the late 2 weeks…
1.La Estrella de David – Un ultimo esfuerzo, La Carretera, Más Mañanas
2.Egil Olsen – In the Middle of Norway, Singer/Songwriter, California
3.Kids On a Crime Spree – Sweet Tooth
4.Code Pie – North Side City View
5.College – A Real Hero
6.My Teenage Stride – Connect-shun
7.When In Rome – The Promise
8.Saskatchewan – Dreamboat
9.Ce Lo Green – Fuck You
10.Sun Airway – Symphony In White, No. 2
Chaotisch Und Charmant (www.chaotischundcharmant.com)