MegaRex

Over 20 million people live in São Paulo. What are they listening to? Mondomix tunes in to Brazil’s largest city.

São Paulo

Some twenty million people live in São Paulo – crammed into a jagged concrete sprawl that stretches unbroken to every horizon. And there is a planet of cultures here - from Lebanese to Japanese, African and native American, to Anglo-Irish and Greek. Their heritage mixes with that of the internal migrants who pour in daily on flat-bed trucks and buses from the Amazon and desert back lands of the North East in search of a new life. Together they produce a unique musical culture that mixes the sounds of the entire world with the rhythms of continental Brazil, fuelling an intensely creative independent music scene. Its sound is played out nightly in an astonishing diversity of venues – chic, neon-lit cocktail lounges, trashy beer bars, art deco theatres, spit and sawdust samba clubs and state of the art concert halls. While art critics favour the Oscar Niemeyer designed Auditório Ibirapuera, musicians hang out at Bar Genesio in Vila Madalena.

Rock Brasileiro

The only place you’ll hear Bossa Nova in São Paulo is in a five star hotel cigar bar or a lift. In São Paulo rock reigns supreme. As it has done since local heroes Os Mutantes burst onto the scene in the late 1960s. Or since Brazil’s biggest-selling metal band Sepultura launched their international career with a huge impromptu concert in front of the Pacaembu football stadium. Other established local bands like Titãs continue to draw huge crowds. And in October 2009, emerging act Megarex (who sound a like a fusion of XTC and Los Lobos) - came third in the ‘Download Music Awards’ produced by British Music Week from over 10,000 entrants. Their biggest hit in Brazil, ‘El Fuca Vermejo’ is a satire and a homage to the locally produced VW Beetle – loved by all Brazilians and yet loathed as a symbol of Latin America’s impoverished past.

http://mondomix.com/events/sao-paulo/ - Mondomix.com (by Alex Robinson)

O MegaRex foi formado em lugar incerto, em data não lembrada. A banda teve mais de 436 formações, o que causou pequenas deformações genéticas ao longo do tempo. Já fizeram parte da banda grandes nomes como Aloísio Celso Pereira de Costa e Silva, José Fernando Cunha Pontes Pedrosa do Carmo, e Nikolai Alexander Bratchonetchenko Nunes. O MegaRex teve reuniões com praticamente todos os empresários e gravadoras do Brasil e todos demonstraram profundo interesse na banda. No entanto, ninguém mexeu uma palha, transformando esse parágrafo em informação absolutamente desnecessária.

É com esta boa disposição que o Megarex se apresenta em seu site, antevendo a irreverência e o humor do grupo. Um violino combinado com guitarras distorcidas dão a dica, logo de caras, que o som proposto pelo MegaRex não é convencional para uma banda de rock. Formada por Flavio Marchesin (voz/ baixo/ teclados/ banjo de cinco cordas), Marco Camarano (guitarra, violão e vocais) e Paulinho Barizon (bateria), o som de MegaRex mistura estilos como rock, pop, funk, ritmos brasileiros, sempre com letras bem-humoradas.

O MegaRex lançou seu primeiro CD e o disponibilizou gratuitamente em seu site, com um repertório de 14 músicas, entre as quais “Misturada”, semifinalista do Prémio Visa – Edição Compositores e do Festival da TV Cultura – A Nova Música do Brasil.

Na MTV, foi lançado um clip da música em portunhol "El Fuca Vermejo no mi Atropellará Jamás", produzido pelo cineasta Flavio Colombini, a que poderá assistir mais abaixo.

No site do MegaRex tem ainda oportunidade de concorrer a uma mega promoção - El fuca vermejo na minha garagem - onde poderá ganhar um fusca vermelho de verdade. Para isso, somente terá que sugerir qual o próximo hit da banda e deixar o seu palpite até ao próximo dia 15 de Dezembro de 2008 no site.

http://blog.uncovering.org/archives/2008/10/megarex_faz_rock_bemhumorado.html - Obvious (by BJR)

Megarex una agrupación musical formada en Brasil por Conde Flavio di Marchesã, Marco Camarano y Paulinho Barizon conocidos por la canción “El Fuca Vermejo No Mi Atropellará Jamás” que mezcla el idioma portugués con el castellano. Con un excelente acompañamiento musical logra una mezcla interesante al oído.

Megarex dispone en su sitio la descarga del álbum completo como también están disponibles las letras y el cifrado de cada uno de los temas, y ya desde hace algún tiempo tengo mis temas favoritos.

Realmente Megarex es una agrupación que me ha llamado la atención por el corte musical que manejan, por la técnica y por lo curioso de sus letras todo eso y la ventaja de descargar un álbum legalmente me invitó a escuchar un sonido muy bueno por parte de Megarex.

Read more: http://dumitraqui.guateblogger.com/2009/01/hablemos-de-megarex-un-sonido.html
- Blog Dumitraqui (by Kike)

Misturar é a palavra de ordem para o Megarex. Não é a toa que logo a faixa que abre esse trabalho foi batizada de “Misturada”. O grupo combina com muito equilíbrio Rock, Pop, MPB e elementos “inusitados” como violino e banjo. Foi com essa proposta que eles chegaram às semifinais da edição de 2003 do Prêmio Visa na categoria de compositores e agora colocam na praça um álbum homônimo. A formação conta com Flavio Marchesin (voz, baixo, teclados, banjo), Eduardo Tibira (guitarra, violão, backing vocals), Marco Camarano (guitarra e violão), Luis Galdino (violino) e André Novais (bateria), todos músicos competentes e com larga experiência na cena. Eduardo Tibira e outros integrantes ainda foram responsáveis por todas as etapas do processo como gravação, edição, mixagem e masterização. O som do Megarex tem bastante identidade e não há outro jeito de classificá-lo a não ser usando mesmo a palavra “mistura”.

As três primeiras canções são agitadas e um resumo de todo o álbum. A curiosidade fica com “El Fuca Vermejo No Mi Atropellará Jamás”, em espanhol. As letras são inteligentes e muito bem humoradas. Algumas são mais sérias, mas mesmo assim, não tem a pretensão de parecerem “cabeça” e a audição fica mais leve e agradável. “Santo.com” e “Homem Stress” são mais lentas e arrastadas, mas o ritmo volta a ficar frenético com “The Repente”. Um dos destaques é “João, O Pescador”, nada menos do que uma versão “abrasileirada”, de “John, The Fisherman”, dos malucos do Primus. O Megarex é uma banda criativa e talentosa, que pode tranqüilamente figurar no primeiro escalão do Pop Rock nacional. Falta só investimento. Mas não deles, uma vez que a produção e a arte também estão muito satisfatórias.

http://www.lagrimapsicodelica.blogspot.com/2008/10/megarex.html - Lágrima Psicodélica (by Mr. Bad Guy)

En la comemoración de lo dia internacionale de hablarse portuñol, Newronio orgulosamiente apresienta: El Fuca Vermejo.

O que fazer se você tem uma banda e não tem a mínima idéia da sua próxima música, nem do nome? É óbvio! Faça uma promoção e dê um fusca vermelho para o primeiro que vier com um nome interessante… eu sei, não é óbvio, mas é exatamente isso o que a banda Megarex está fazendo.

A promoção “El fuca Vermejo na minha garagem” (nome dado em homenagem à uma música de mesmo nome, tocada em alto e bom portunhol) se baseia no cadastro do concorrente no site da banda com a sugestão do nome, e, no final do ano, a agência e a produtora que estão promovendo o grupo, escolherão o melhor nome, que posteriormente se tornará uma música, e claro, o felizardo ganhará um Fuca Vermejo novinho em folha! bem… quase. Mas é um Fusca! E vermelho!

O Megarex está na estrada desde “uma data não lembrada” segundo o site, e isso deve segnificar “muuuito tempo”. Essa promoção é uma das grandes chances da banda para despontar no mercado fonográfico, e, pequenos erros como esses podem acabar fazendo com que essa oportunidade tenha o mesmo destino que o fusca gelo estacionado aí do lado de fora da sua janela.

http://newronio.espm.br/index.php/tag/megarex/ - Newronio (by Luiz Paulo Andrade)

MegaRex, Recyclable Data

March 17, 2010 | by Skope Staff

Are you ready to “Get It On” with not T. Rex but with another bandosaur called MegaRex. MegaRex offers a dino-mite sound with plenty of solid rock for your eardrums. This Brazilian rock trio brings to you their new CD, Recyclable Data, that you will be able to listen to over and over again.

MegaRex is made up of three talented individuals: Flavio Marchesin on vocals, bass guitar & keys, Tibira on guitar and Paulinoho Barizon on drums & percussion. Flavio also plays the role of sole songwriter & engineer on this new project. Also, MegaRex, as a band, produced this album with the help of NY Producer Jamie Siegel on three tracks. Worth mentioning that Siegel is well-respected in the music biz as he has worked with the likes of the Smashing Pumpkins, Joss Stone, Lauryn Hill, Santana among others.

Besides having cool, kick-ass names, these Brazilians are ready to sizzle & spice up the music scene! Already big in their homeland, MegaRex is ready to venture to and conquer other lands. Dinosaurs roamed the Earth ages ago and later on became extinct. Now we have the MegaRex that’s ready to make some big noise in 2010 and beyond!

As I listened to this disc, I simply loved their fun, upbeat style. There are moments of fresh electronic elements being used to back up a solid rock sound. The CD starts up with a song titled “Angel” that incorporates a modernized rock feel but mixed with a flashback retro sensation. “Mix It Up” is just funky, fun & funny while “Alien” offers up a killer vibe.

What I gather from MegaRex is that you should just to enjoy life, laugh and have a good time while listening to their music. Their humorous personalities definitely shine through while listening to all five tracks. Good-humored & good-natured jams to take with you now and use again later is Recyclable Data in a nutshell. If my data/analysis is correct, then you will definitely see MegaRex roaming the states very soon. For more on this cool, calm and collect Brazilian trio and their exciting new release, SKOPE out www.megarex.net. My only drawback is that this new record is only five songs long; gimme’ some more MegaRex!

Avaluation: 4/5
By Jimmy Rae - Skope Magazine

Esses dias, o Obivious, o melhor blog em língua portuguesa, escreveu um post uma curiosa banda brasileira: MegaRex.

Formada por Conde Flavio di Marchesã, Marco Camarano e Paulinho Barizon, a banda é uma peça rara. Tocam rock com os instrumentos tradicionais (guitarra, bateria etc.) e acrescentam um violino; o som fica bastante original, lembrando a ousadia (mas não o estilo) do Chico Science. Não lhes falta talento para desenvolver as músicas, que são bastante animadas. Além disso, as letras são de um humor impagável, de alta qualidade.

O melhor, porém, é que o CD MegaRex está disponível gratuitamente no site. Curiosamente, no site há uma promoção bizarra na qual você pode ganhar, de verdade, um Fusca vermelho!

Minhas músicas preferidas são Misturada e El Fuca Vermejo No Mi Atropellará Jamás, que segue abaixo.

Vai lá no site deles dar uma espiada. Eu acredito que você se divertirá bastante.

http://suspensaodejuizo.wordpress.com/2008/10/28/megarex/ - Suspensão do Juízo (by Brandizzi)

O TRETA é especialista em identificar fenômenos populares pelo cheiro (e eu não estou falando do aroma suave de Trés de Marchand). Há algum tempo, resgatamos do ostracismo um dos grupos mais performáticos da época de ouro da Discoteca, e desta vez anunciamos uma banda que certamente vai arrebentar a boca-do-balão: a Megarex.

Não é jabá, e nem conhecemos os caras. O bagulho é feito no capricho mesmo. Assista ao videoclipe de “El Fuca Vermejo No Mi Atropellará Jamás”, música de trabalho do grupo:

Deliciosamente tosco.

http://www.treta.com.br/2008/10/o-fusca-vermelho.html - Treta (by Ivo Neuman)

SONICBIDS GRANTS $4K SPONSORSHIP AND 4-CITY TOUR TO SXSW PERFORMING BAND MEGAREX



BOSTON, May 10, 2010 — Sonicbids, the website that helps bands get gigs, has granted its member band MegaRex a $4,000 sponsorship and 4-city tour. Sonicbids promised bands performing this year’s South by Southwest a chance at the sponsorship if they delivered a video of their “Road to SXSW” or clips of their band’s performance at SXSW.



“Our core mission is to empower the artistic middle class and sponsorships like this support that effort. MegaRex sent us a funny video before they left for SXSW telling us why they should get the sponsorship and tour,” said Panos Panay, Founder and CEO, Sonicbids. “They made a case we couldn’t argue with, and they did it in a clever way. They’re also a very talented band that’s getting a ton of buzz.”



Sonicbids and MegaRex are coordinating to define tour dates and locations. MegaRex, a Brazilian rock band, has been a Sonicbids member for two years. In addition to playing this year’s SXSW, MegaRex has booked gigs like British Music Week, Radiolicious iPhone Jam Sessions, The Buzzin Box and Banana Peel Radio using Sonicbids.



"It was great to know that we won the sponsorship. We got really excited, especially because we left the US after performing at SXSW wanting to do more gigs,” said Flavio Marchesin, MegaRex. “And, of course, we will finally be able to give up our part time jobs as CD holder, coffee table and traffic cone."



You can view MegaRex’s video and those from other artists who participated by going to www.sonicbids.com/sonicsx. Sonicbids plans for more band sponsorship programs in the year ahead, including its current sponsorship for Berklee College of Music’s Five Week Summer Performance Program. To read more about Sonicbids support for independent artists go to www.sonicbids.com/supportsindiemusic.













Sonicbids is the website the helps bands get gigs and promoters book the right bands. Our community includes more than 245,000 bands and 21,000 promoters and licensors from all around the world. With festivals, clubs, colleges, music licensing and much more, Sonicbids offers a diverse range of gigs for every kind of musician. In fact, last year alone, more than 71,000 gigs were booked on the site. The company was founded in 2001 by Panos Panay and continues to focus on its core mission of empowering the artistic middle class. Get a gig or book a band at www.sonicbids.com.





- Sonicbids / Business Wire / Digital Music News

STOLI HEADS TO BRAZIL TO MEET UP WITH MEGAREX

May 17, 2010 | by Skope Staff



Another weekend has gone and a new edition of Skoped Out is here. This week we decided to head below the equator to check out a band making some heavy noise called Megarex. What caught me most from these guys is their ability to write catchy hooks. I got hooked on Megarex after listening to their new EP, ‘The Recyclable Data EP.’ Join us this week as we talk about gaining recognition in the US, Brazilian women, grooming, and much more. The boys are also offering an MP3 of “Alien” for all Skope readers!

Stoli: Where are you chatting with me from today?

Megarex: I’m in Brazil, preparing to go to Austin to play at SXSW!

Stoli: What is the meaning behind the name Megarex?

Megarex: A few people know this but in 1887 a group of Italian archeologists found an exquisite crypt carved in the middle of nowhere in the region that used to be the old Mesopotamia. Inside that crypt they found a giant golden vase, and in this vase it was written “MegaRex”. Although there is still no unanimity, most of the archeologists believe that the word means “an onion a day keeps everyone away”.

Stoli: How did you three come together and were you friends before the music?

Megarex: Yes, me and Tibira are childhood friends and we already played together in lots of bands, including a RUSH tribute when we were teenagers. Paulinho started to play with us on a music festival in Brazil, in 2003, and he’s been with us since then.

Stoli: I love to try and guess what the lead single is off new albums I listen to. I would have to choose “Alien.” Is that correct and what inspired that awesome song?

Megarex: Thank you for the “awesome song”! Well, we are releasing our first album sung in English (Recyclable Data) in EP format this time, but soon we will release the complete album (there’s a lot of new songs being produced), so there’s a chance that another lead single candidate may appear, but for now yes, I think “Alien” is the chosen one.

About the inspiration for “Alien”: one day I started to imagine what an Alien would think of us if he could spend one day one Earth. Of course I took the Brazilian culture in reference, but I think there are lots of things in the lyrics that fit in almost every culture…

Recyclable Data EP available here: www.cdbaby.com/cd/MegaRex

Stoli: Why did you decide to call this album, ‘Recyclable Data’ and are you a “Green” band?

Megarex: Hahaha (LOL). Recyclable Data is a joke about the way music is consumed nowadays. There are lots of people who listen to a new band and elect them as the best band in the world, and next week they do the same thing with another band and the previous elected artist is discharged and “dated”. So Recyclable Data is a joke about that, you can use our songs for your hearing pleasure and them throw it away and recycle. The intention behind the name has nothing to do with ecology, but of course I’m very concerned about that issue.

Stoli: How easy or hard was it to translate the album from Portuguese to English?

Megarex: I think “extremely hard” would better describe the process. Almost all of my lyrics (in Portuguese) are humored, and to do an English version that keeps the same kind of humor and adapt the jokes and expressions to another culture, adding to that some rhymes and rhythms… it’s not an easy task. I was lucky of being helped by a fantastic Brazilian teacher, an American musician and teacher and a Canadian friend. I hope it worked…

Megarex “Alien” MP3:

SKOPE IT HERE!

Stoli: You have a huge following in Brazil. What made you want to venture out and reach beyond your borders?

Megarex: That’s a very good question, and people ask me often in here too. Brazil is a very complicated market. At the same time that there’s a huge number of music consumers, the business runs in a very unprofessional way. This can be very frustrating in the long term, especially when you are trying to do things right. I know that there’s not a perfect place to work, but at least we are feeling and experiencing that outside Brazil things are more professional and in the long term we think we will achieve something more gratifying. I’m experiencing this right now, chatting with you.

Stoli: If I was to visit Brazil where can I see some live music and beautiful Brazilian women?

Megarex: LOL (or Hahahaha). It depends on your preference. Beautiful women can be found everywhere in Brazil. On the North you will find beautiful Brazilian women descending from Africans, on the South you will find lots of blondes (descendents from European, especially German, Italian and Portuguese). In the rest of the country they are all mixed!

Stoli: Flavio has the perfect look and sound as a lead singer. Was it known that he would be the face behind Megarex?

Megarex: Thanks again for your kind words ;-), but I don’t see myself like that. I just always wanted to write my own songs and be able to play and sing them. But I understand that since I’m the lead singer and composer I’ll be seen like the face behind MegaRex.

Stoli: Flavio also writes all the songs. How much of his personal life come out in the lyrics?

Megarex: I think it’s inevitable to put some of my personal experiences in the lyrics, because ultimately I try to sing how I see the world. Sometimes I try putting myself in someone else’s shoes and tell their stories, but my personal experience will always interfere. Lately I’m writing some songs about meditation (like “Angel” or the next coming “Dynamite”), but since I’m not sure if it’s a popular theme, I try to sound a little ambiguous so the listener could easily think I’m talking about a woman. And I could be. Or not. Or both. It depends on the listener perspective.

Stoli: When will Megarex come up to New England and play live Boston?

Megarex: I’m praying for it to be very soon! We are being played in lots of College Radios in the US right now, so our next step is to do a tour to support the media we are getting. We hope to find a good booking agent to make things easier for us.

Stoli: How did you hook up with Jamie Siegel and what has that connection done to elevate your sound?

Megarex: Jamie and I met through My Space, his associate is Brazilian and she was promoting their company to Brazilian bands. Jamie is known for working with artists such as Joss Stone, Smashing Pumpkins, Lauryn Hill, Santana, Whitney Houston (among many others), and he showed a lot of interest in our music. I sent him the songs I was already producing, and he wanted to re-mix them to sound more “powerful”. And I think that’s exactly what he did: he “trimmed the edges” (I don’t know if this is an American expression too…) and made the sound bigger and more powerful.

Stoli: What’s up with your press shot with all three of you grooming yourself and would you consider yourselves clean cut?

Megarex: Haha, not at all. We were making the photo shots for the album and press and we already had some good ones, but there was nothing really new about it, just the same “trying to look like a band” faces and posing. Then I remember saying, “what if we take some pictures like we where doing something fool in front of the mirror?” Then we tried lots of stupid things, and it ended up on that unusual band shot.

Stoli: What have you found have been great marketing tools to garner new fans in Brazil & beyond?

Megarex: I think what worked better in Brazil so far was Youtube. We had more than 250.000 views in less than one year, increasing our sales, downloads, mailing list etc. In the US we are using MySpace, Sonicbids, Twitter (every week we find a new website), a college radio campaign and we are fortunate enough to work with a first-class musical consultant, Mr. Eugene Foley.

Stoli: What is coming up for Megarex and where can readers get more from you?

Megarex: We are planning to do some serious touring and a larger campaign in the US as soon as we can. We are also writing and recording some new songs that will be available soon.

People can see everything related to our 1st album (in Portuguese) in Youtube and at www.megarex.com.br.

Now we are working on our 2nd album (1st sung in English), and people can get more of that at www.myspace.com/megarex, www.sonicbids.com/megarex and www.megarex.net. The last one is our official website which is not completely finished yet. On our MySpace page there’s also links to Twitter, Youtube etc.

And last but not least, anybody who wants to see us live at SXSW should go to the Opal Divine’s Freehouse on March 19th. (http://www.opaldivines.com/freehouse/index.html)

Thank you very much and it was a pleasure chatting with you! - Skope Magazine