Dusk Sao Paulo dance performance for The Labrit Project’s ‘Way Down’ remix
London-based guitarist and music producer Muca, (Los Bitchos, L.A. Salami, Alice SK) teams up with UK singer and vocals performer Randolph Matthews to release a new duo track and remix under his new world music project, The LABRIT Project. A striking world, tribal Brazilian roots track embellished with an outstanding performance from on Randolph Matthews vocals, ‘Way Down’ also comes with a modern and fresh remix.
Both tracks complete each other. The original sounds like classical tribal world music with the uniqueness of Brazilian berimbau, yet with Randolph Matthews bringing his infectious vocals and performance style to create something fresh. The original track has Serra Petale on drums (Los Bitchos) Rafael Kalil on Cello, and Bahia on pandeiro. The remix is a unique mix of vocal performance and beat-making with guitars, drum programming and electronic conjuring into something intoxicating.
Both artists have known each other since Muca moved from Brazil to the UK. Muca produced some of Randolph’s songs in the past, but now as he’s releasing his project, he wanted Randolph to be one of the first artists he worked with. After the recording and the mixing of the original track, Randolph came up with the idea of getting some of the stems and playing around with them. He then sent it back to Muca with unique new ideas. They then decided to create a remixed version, combining Randolph’s ability to create amazing vocals and percussive loops with Muca’s guitars and programming.
On the process, Muca explains: “As a producer, you must always keep updated on new forms of making music. When I started to learn finger drumming and the MPC, I found I felt it would be a great place to start adding this new knowledge to my music.”
The video for the remix, filmed and directed by Giovanni Mattei and performed by dancer Thiely Volga, is set around a powerful and moving performance in São Paulo’s downtown Roosevelt Square in a semi dusk vibe. On the video Mattei said, “The mix of jazz and pop with an intense beat of Muca’s and Randolph’s sound gave us a chance to create a film that extracts colours from a grey metropolis like São Paulo. But the result was incredible, and the dance conveyed the intensity of the track.”
For the original track, Muca takes a different direction for the video, creating visual and animation content for the it himself alongside using Micah Buzza animations, edited by Sofia Sguillaro.
With blogs, magazines and radio stations like Songwriting Magazine, BBC Radio London, Amazing Radio, Songlines, Record Of The Day, and more already praising Muca’s efforts for production and songwriting, he is now working on his debut solo album inviting singers to join him for his soul/jazzy/bossa/groovy style. It shouldn’t be long before Muca is a name on everyone’s lips.
