Some time ago when I first started listening to dubstep, in my quest for new music, I came upon the site of Tranquera - A bass + urban culture crew in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It was the nice design that first grabbed and kept my attention, so much so that I was willing to stumble my way through the Portuguese site to find out more. After many translations I discovered that Bruno Belluomini, who runs Tranquera, clearly had much passion for the music and also ran awesome parties. So I listened to the mixes posted on his site and returned regularly, with online translator in tow.
During my visit to his home town of Sao Paulo earlier in the year, I was lucky enough to meet Bruno, play at his night, and see in person what kind of party Tranquera really was. Which, needless to say, was awesome. Nossa!
Here's some words from Bruno, and also a mix to download.
Q. You championed Tranquera over five years ago in Sao Paulo. Tell us a little bit about how you got involved.
A. We started doing small parties in downtown Sao Paulo and these parties were called Tranquera – the same name of our virtual base, our monthly party at Vegas Club and all its related activity. Before this I was producing and playing Garage, Grime and other bassline hybrids. I came from Jungle and early Drum'n'bass. I first discovered Dubstep when I was listening to a pile of white labels on a record shop. Since then I got involved with it, exchanging ideas with pioneers of the scene.
Q. Tranquera looks to cross boundaries between music, art and culture. What does Tranquera stand for, and what does it give to the people of Sao Paulo?
A. We're the first Dubstep night in Brazil. Our mission is to offer not only quality bass driven music but also to create a real opportunity to get people involved with it. It's not a one way regular consume relationship. There's a real bound between artists and public when Tranquera takes place. You can feel this even in pictures if you didn't have a chance to experience it. Besides this, we work hard to be a solid point in the map were artists can present their music on a good sound system with the necessary structure to do it.
Q. Tell us about the people who come to your parties and the vibe on the night.
A. We're young, hungry for music with attitude and passionate about bass. The whole thing is very intense. It's raw like a Punk Rock Hardcore show. That's the way we do it.
Q. And which guest DJs have you had play at Tranquera, and who would you hope to have DJ in the future?
A. We already received Kode 9, Daedelus, Elemental (Hotflush), Razor Rekta (Rinse FM), DJ Fiend and many others. We're always working to bring interesting people based on their artistic relevancy.
Q. Bruno, you're a big supporter of urban music culture – DJ, producer, promoter. We'd love to know more about these and everything else in which you're involved.
A. Tranquera is my life right now and it's very busy. I'm always running things: looking for bookings, searching new artists, listening to music, producing tracks, recording mixes, presenting radio shows, etc.
Q. How and when did you first become involved in the music and art scenes?
A. I began to attend Punk Rock Hardcore shows in my teenage years. I had fanzines and distros. When Marky got his residency at Love Club I was there too. This was fundamental to me: I started to believe that to be a resident DJ was a real and possible thing. I was – and I'm still – very inspired by those days.
Q. What producers and DJs are you loving right now?
A. Rustie, Scuba and Zinc.
Q. What are your hopes for Tranquera in the future?
A. Growth without losing quality.
Q. And we have to ask if you were stuck on a desert island with a stereo and were granted by a jeanie the ability to have a never ending supply of one type of music only. What would you choose to listen to, for the rest of your (short, but fun-frolicking, island) life?
A. All music done by Moritz and Mark under the Rhythm & Sound alias.
Bruno Belluomini Allsorts Mix Tracklist
01. Ben Mitchell "Mozambique Drums" Mr. Bongo
02. Geiom "Eyl Booty" Berkane Sol
03. Grovskopa "Sex And Violins (Surgeon Remix)" Token
04. Chaim "Besides" Love Minus Zero
05. Zed Bias feat. Robbie Rue "Boomerang" Sick Trumpet
06. Tube & Berger feat. Chrissie Hynde "Straight Ahead" Direction
07. Zinc feat. No Lay "Killa Sound (Heavy Feet Remix)" Bingo Bass
08. Thugfucker "Bodyshaker (Boogie Drama Remix)" Moodmusic
09. Duck Sauce "Anyway" Time
10. Stisch "JFK (Barfly Remix)" Sound Of Habib
11. Scuba "On Deck" Hotflush
12. Elemental "T-Bar" Runtime
13. Mr. Gasparov "1975" Steakhouse
14. Howie B & Casino Royale "Royale Sound (Ramadanman Refix)" White Label
15. Headhunter "Prototype (Modeselektor Remix)" Tempa
16. 2562 "Redux" Tectonic
Download his housey Allsorts mix here »
Tranquera on the interwebs »
