Violet Soda are yet another band who had to hit the pause button, although they ended up using the time to record an unplugged version of their 2019 self-titled debut.
“We made the album and we never got to tour it; we played just three gigs before everything happened, so we thought we would revisit the songs,” says singer Karen Dio.
The resulting record takes huge inspiration to those classic MTV Unplugged shows, which is apt as there is a huge streak of ’90s influence running through Violet Soda’s sound, running the gamut from grunge to alt.rock and pop-punk.
“At the beginning it was natural because that's what we grew up with,” explains guitarist Murilo Benites. “The ’90s sound was natural but we also tried to experiment with other directions and aim for a broader inspiration. We’re also trying to add a more modern twist so it's like a milkshake mix of all these things!”
So is there a thriving underground scene in Brazil right now?
“It's hard to say,” shrugs Karen. “The rock scene was about to grow before the pandemic. Lots of bands were starting up and there were loads of bands with girls as well, which is great because it’s been very male-dominated until recently. The scene was maybe about to explode.”
“The rock scene has hardly ever been mainstream since the ’80s,” adds Murilo. “It's always been very much an underground scene, but I think bands have learned to be more organised and creative and that’s why it had started growing again.”