Bio
PAULO PEDRO GONÇALVES is Portuguese /Canadian, singer/songwriter, poet who started the first Portuguese Punk Band, Faíscas 1977/78. In 1979 formed Corpo Diplomatico and recorded Portugal’s only New Wave álbum Música Moderna. In the 1980’s he was a founding member of Portugal’s most popular and influential band Heróis do Mar. HDM mixed, Portuguese, African, Rock, Pop, Funk and Folk influences and were the first artist to achieve platinum record sales with their song Amor in Portugal. Spotted by the French magazine Actuel, who along with Stern, The Face and other European magazines had decided to do a special, joint edition, by traveling around Europe to discover the most interesting and innovative artistic endeavours. HDM were voted the best European idea and musical band by the English magazine, The Face and were guests stars at Actuel’s anniversary party at the Rex Club in Paris. With the success of their platinum maxi single, Amor, Heróis do Mar were invited by Bryan Ferry to accompany him and Roxy Music on the Avalon tour, culminating in the Paris show at the Hippodrome. Their self titled album and single Amor were released in Germany, France and Spain, which was a first for a Portuguese pop/rock artist. When HDM folded in 1989, Paulo formed LX90 a mix of guitar band and club music. With DJ Vibe on the decks, samples and beats, they merged traditional rock guitar and drums sounds with house, creating an exciting and commercial success 1RPM. LX90 where the first Portuguese artist to sign a worldwide deal with BMG Ariola. Their record was released in 15 countries and after a showcase in Madrid, the President of BMG advised them to move to London England to further their international career. Arriving in London after a major European tour they soon realised that they didn’t fit in with the emerging Brit Pop scene, changed their name to Kick Out The Jams, and recorded a very heavy, Glam Rock record, “Santo António em Abril”. During this time they played every major club in London, English Universities and toured Portugal extensively. KOTJ after a long list of drummer issues became Swamp, a voodoo infested, dance floor, rock outfit that sadly because of personal reasons never got passed the demo stage. With his constant need for exploration Paulo created Ovelha Negra in 1994, an electronic duo that were the first band to mix Portugal’s traditional fado music with beats, electric guitars, samples, drum and bass. The record “por este andar ainda acabo a morrer em Lisboa”, though critically acclaimed was ahead of it’s time and lacked commercial success. It is still a cult classic, remains very influential, considered an important and unique recording by the head of the Museum of Fado in Lisbon and is a chapter in the American Musicologist Mikal Arnold’s book and University course on Post Modern Flamenco and Fado. Disillusioned with the sales of the Ovelha Negra record Paulo stopped writing and only returned in 2014 with a new Ovelha Negra recording “Ilumina”, voted one of the best records of that year in Portugal, this was a more organic sound, mixing Fado with many varied influences from folk rock to European Yiddish music. In 2017 he released a new bunch of songs “Scarecrow Paulo’s Shank”, recorded in London and Lisbon, with a group of very talented session musicians. This record has many influences but it’s great strength is in it’s use of words and melodies. He has recently finished a new record “CABRA” written in English, based on Portuguese, African rhythms. And though it is still to be released he is already preparing new material in English and Portuguese with the creme de la creme Fado guitar musician Ângelo Freire. This is his newest experiment with Fado music. The songs, all originals are not Fados but the basic arrangements are in the traditional style of the genre with Portuguese guitar, acoustic guitar and acoustic bass. Paulo Pedro Gonçalves Words & Music.
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