CATARINA BRANCO + BCC
Catarina Branco was forged in iron in a desert by the sea—perhaps that’s why she is more permeable to the cold and emptiness of winter than to the color and warmth of summer. It’s life in the river zone of the Oeste, a place as capable of being harsh as it is pleasurable, almost never in the desired proportions. And it may come from there that her black-and-white clown painting emerges, where red and other typical colors have no place: the image of Acordava Cansada, the second full-length release following Vida Plena (2022), as well as the singles and EPs she has been releasing since 2018. It is a nautical gothic visual, a painting that fades into music.
After the sunny collections of original songs (’Tá Sol and Vida Plena) that came before it, the dense and foggy Acordava Cansada now arrives. Songs that began in the black and white of the piano, brought to life through the drama and melancholy evoked by the contrast of the makeup.
BCC emerged in 2019, in Porto, as a casual Friday gathering in a concrete room at Brasília, to make noise and release the frustration of working in a call center. In 2020, as those sessions began to generate recurring melodic ideas, Sara Azul — guitar —, badsá — vocals —, and Luke Redmond — drums — were joined by Rui Fonseca (800 Gondomar) on bass, forming the band’s first lineup. With the onset of the pandemic, they released a rehearsal recording of their first piece on a SoundCloud account that has since been lost. Shortly after, Luke moved away from Porto and Vanessa Lonau, a dancer, took over on drums with Rui’s support, in a process rooted in experimentation and learning. This is the lineup that recorded BCC and released it on cassette and digital formats in February 2022. Already marked by a flexible and fluid character, the band changed drummers again — roughly around the time of their first release — with Vanessa’s departure, as she moved to Lisbon, and the arrival of José Stark (Duques do Precariado). In 2023, after several shows following the EP — and as they began to imagine the LP set for release this year, baixa psiquiátrica — Rui Fonseca left the project and Luís Barreto (MonchMonch, OTDA) took over on bass. Still based in Porto and continuing to rehearse at Brasília, bcc operates in flux alongside full-time jobs, freelance schedules, and the nuances of a collective, ever-shifting creative process with no imposed form. Since 2022, they have performed across the country in festivals, venues, and benefit events (Zigur Fest, ZDB, Clube B.leza, Damas, Maus Hábitos, Musicbox, SHE, CAAA Guimarães, Mavy, CAEP, RUM, among others).
After the sunny collections of original songs (’Tá Sol and Vida Plena) that came before it, the dense and foggy Acordava Cansada now arrives. Songs that began in the black and white of the piano, brought to life through the drama and melancholy evoked by the contrast of the makeup.
BCC emerged in 2019, in Porto, as a casual Friday gathering in a concrete room at Brasília, to make noise and release the frustration of working in a call center. In 2020, as those sessions began to generate recurring melodic ideas, Sara Azul — guitar —, badsá — vocals —, and Luke Redmond — drums — were joined by Rui Fonseca (800 Gondomar) on bass, forming the band’s first lineup. With the onset of the pandemic, they released a rehearsal recording of their first piece on a SoundCloud account that has since been lost. Shortly after, Luke moved away from Porto and Vanessa Lonau, a dancer, took over on drums with Rui’s support, in a process rooted in experimentation and learning. This is the lineup that recorded BCC and released it on cassette and digital formats in February 2022. Already marked by a flexible and fluid character, the band changed drummers again — roughly around the time of their first release — with Vanessa’s departure, as she moved to Lisbon, and the arrival of José Stark (Duques do Precariado). In 2023, after several shows following the EP — and as they began to imagine the LP set for release this year, baixa psiquiátrica — Rui Fonseca left the project and Luís Barreto (MonchMonch, OTDA) took over on bass. Still based in Porto and continuing to rehearse at Brasília, bcc operates in flux alongside full-time jobs, freelance schedules, and the nuances of a collective, ever-shifting creative process with no imposed form. Since 2022, they have performed across the country in festivals, venues, and benefit events (Zigur Fest, ZDB, Clube B.leza, Damas, Maus Hábitos, Musicbox, SHE, CAAA Guimarães, Mavy, CAEP, RUM, among others).