ZAGORO MOJA
Ante Tešija
Hrvoje Bubić; MARCELO VASCO INTERVIEW
Hrvoje Bubić
Marcelo Vasco je brazilski glazbenik i umjetnik specijaliziran za naslovnice metal albuma. Za SolinLive govori o sebi, svojem radu, bendovima u kojima svira i o proizvodnji vina
1. To begin with, can you introduce yourself to our readers and say something about yourself?
Marcelo Vasco – Hello everyone! My name is Marcelo Vasco. I’m a graphic artist from Brazil and I have been worked since the middle of 90s for many bands, doing cover arts, album layouts, merch and all kind of promotional design. I already worked for Slayer, Kreator, Dark Funeral, Hatebreed, Machine Head, Dee Snider and tons of other great bands. I’m also a guitar player in the bands The Troops of Doom, along with ex-Sepultura Jairo “Tormentor” Guedz, and Patria, not to mention a lot of other musical projects. And at last but not least, I’m a small wine producer, leading a project called Treamici Vinhos.
2. You are a cover artist specializing for metal albums (Slayer, Kreator, Machine Head, Dee Snider). In addition, the head of the AISA (All Independent Service Alliance) graphic department and a collaborator for the discographic house of Nuclear Blast. What prompted you to start making album covers, and could you tell us more about your style?
Marcelo Vasco – Yeah, I always had a lot of interest in art, in a general way, since I was a kid. Firstly inspired by science book illustrations and comics, and later, of course, by the amazing world of Heavy Metal, specially impressed by early Death Metal vinyl covers. Since I was quite good drawing, when I finally had the chance to have a home computer, and when Photoshop was released, I just got fascinated and started to try things here and there. But only by the middle of 90s that I started to do some covers, very bad covers, bytheway (lol), it was for my own bands and bands from my friends and neighbours, you know. But it was my kickstart and I have to live with that. Actually I’m basically a self taught, so all I learned is an apprenticeship, you know, step by step, and naturally during this journey we do a lot of bad things (lol). To be honest I’m still learning and I love that. Trying to be better and better through my daily work. Well, in the end of 90s / early 2000 I did my first international cover art, for the Swedish Black Metal band Lord Belial, for their album “Angelgrinder”, that was released in 2002. It opened some doors and more bands started to write me and ask for artwork. It was still a hobby, not a real job on that time. In 2003 I started to course Graphic Design in the university, I also got a job doing this for a company, not related to music or metal at all, and to resume, in 2008 I got courage and decided to leave this job to dedicate myself exclusively doing artwork for Metal. On that time I started to work for the Norwegian label Indie Recordings, which was awesome and important to my career. I met many people and bands and that’s primordial to move forward. Thanks to this network I met the right people in Nuclear Blast and I was very lucky. Everything worked like a charm. It’s a hard work, I must say, not easy at all, but it’s something I really love to do and I do with full force. Specially living in Brazil, it’s almost an utopia, because we don’t have a strong Metal market here and culture, generally, is not properly supported. During all these years I have worked for major Metal labels like Nuclear Blast, Sony Music, Roadrunner, Century Media, Napalm Records and many others. In the last years I have been the head of Graphic department for AISA Music and By Norse Music.
3. Therefore, you are also active in the music field, be it as a musician, arranger and producer. Please tell us more about it.
Marcelo Vasco – So, I play guitar in a few bands and random projects. My main band is The Troops of Doom and Patria, but this second one is not so active, specially on live concerts. The Troops of Doom is the band where I concentrate the major part of my time today, rehearsing, recording and touring. I’m not exactly a real producer, but sometimes I like to work on my own things. It’s easier than make another person understand and get the exact kind of sound I would like to explore, you now. But honestly it’s a hobby, I’m not professional producing at all. And I also been involved with other musical projects like Mysteriis, Le Chant Noir, Demoniac Harvest, Thokkian Vortex, I Gather Your Grief among others.
4.Currently, you are the guitarist in the band The Troops Of Doom, whose founder, Jairo Guedz, I already had the opportunity to introduce. Please tell us more about The Troops Of Doom, as well as the idea for starting the band?
Marcelo Vasco – We started the band in the pandemic, March of 2020 to be more precise, so we recently completed 3 years of existence. Everything is going pretty well with The Troops and I must say we’re growing quickly. We already have two EPs and one full album released and now in May we’ll have another EP. Not to mention that we’re already working on the second full album for the next year. We’re doing many shows in Brazil and South America, building our crowd step by step. We played in a South American Tour with I Am Morbid, we also did some shows along with Cavalera brothers. It’s been really awesome!
5. Also, together with Jean Carlos Carraro, Fernando Troian, you have the project Treamici, you are engaged in wine production. How did you actually come up with the idea to start such a project?
Marcelo Vasco – That’s the part many people don’t know, but yeah, I’m also a small wine producer, as I said. Well, I born in Rio de Janeiro but I live in the brazilian southern mountains since 2008, so I’m living here for 15 years already. And here we have a very strong wine culture and place. I kind felt in love with wine, I met many wine producers in this region and I made good friends. At some point was natural my involvement with this so beautiful culture and in 2019 I took partner with two other friends of mine starting a wine project called Treamici. It’s a young project, our first wine production was in 2020 vintage. So far we have about six different wines and counting. All small production, handcrafted and limited to 300 bottles of each.
6. For the end, what would you say to our readers? What are your future projects? Will we ever see The Troops Of Doom in Split, Croatia?
Marcelo Vasco – I would love to visit Croatia indeed. Crossing fingers! We still didn’t play a Tour in Europe, but it’s part of our plans, of course. Maybe we’ll make this happen in the next year of 2024. By now we’re touring in Brazil and South America and working on our second full album for the next year. Besides that I’m recording the guitars for the new album of Thokkian Vortex from my long time friend Lord Kaiaphas (ex-Ancient / Norway). It’s gonna be killer! And of course, doing my daily job as graphic artist for many bands around the globe. I love that!
HRVATSKI PRIJEVOD
1.Možete li nam se za početak predstaviti i reći nešto o sebi?
Marcelo Vasco – Pozdrav svima! Moje ime je Marcelo Vasco. Ja sam grafički umjetnik iz Brazila i od sredine 90-ih radim za mnoge bendove, radeći omote, dizajn albuma, reklame i sve vrste promotivnog dizajna. Već sam radio za Slayer, Kreator, Dark Funeral, Hatebreed, Machine Head, Dee Snider i gomilu drugih sjajnih bendova. Također sam gitarist u bendovima The Troops of Doom, zajedno s bivšim Sepultura Jairom “Tormentor” Guedzom, i Patria, da ne spominjem puno drugih glazbenih projekata. I na kraju, ali ne manje važno, ja sam mali proizvođač vina, koji vodi projekt koji se zove Treamici Vinhos.
2. Ti si umjetnik specijaliziran za naslovnice metal albuma (Slayer, Kreator, Machine Head, Dee Snider). Osim toga, voditelj grafičkog odjela AISA (All Independent Service Alliance) i suradnik diskografske kuće Nuclear Blast. Što vas je potaknulo da počnete raditi omote albuma i možete li nam reći nešto više o svom stilu?
Marcelo Vasco – Da, oduvijek sam imao veliki interes za umjetnost, općenito, još od djetinjstva. Najprije inspiriran ilustracijama znanstvenih knjiga i stripovima, a kasnije, naravno, nevjerojatnim svijetom Heavy Metala, posebno impresioniran ranim Death Metal omotima vinila. Budući da sam prilično dobro crtao, kada sam konačno imao priliku imati kućno računalo, i kada je Photoshop pušten u prodaju, jednostavno sam postao fasciniran i počeo isprobavati stvari tu i tamo. Ali tek sredinom 90-ih sam počeo raditi neke obrade, vrlo loše obrade, inače (lol), bilo je to za moje bendove i bendove mojih prijatelja i susjeda, znate. Ali to je bio moj kickstart i moram živjeti s tim. Zapravo sam u osnovi samouk, tako da je sve što sam naučio naukovanje, znate, korak po korak, i naravno da tijekom ovog putovanja činimo puno loših stvari (lol). Da budem iskren, još uvijek učim i volim to. Trudim se biti sve bolji kroz svakodnevni rad. Pa, krajem 90-ih / početkom 2000. napravio sam svoj prvi međunarodni omot, za švedski Black Metal bend Lord Belial, za njihov album “Angelgrinder”, koji je objavljen 2002. To je otvorilo neka vrata i više bendova je počelo pisati mene i traži umjetničko djelo. Tada je to još uvijek bio hobi, a ne pravi posao. Godine 2003. počeo sam studirati grafički dizajn na sveučilištu, također sam dobio posao radeći to za tvrtku, koja uopće nije povezana s glazbom ili metalom, i da nastavim, 2008. sam se ohrabrio i odlučio napustiti ovaj posao kako bih se posvetio sebi radi isključivo umjetnička djela za Metal. U to sam vrijeme počeo raditi za norvešku izdavačku kuću Indie Recordings, što je bilo sjajno i važno za moju karijeru. Upoznao sam mnogo ljudi i bendova i to je iskonsko da idem naprijed. Zahvaljujući ovoj mreži upoznao sam prave ljude u Nuclear Blastu i imao sam veliku sreću. Sve je radilo kao šarm. Težak je to posao, moram reći, nimalo lak, ali to je nešto što stvarno volim raditi i radim punom snagom. Osobito život u Brazilu je gotovo utopija, jer ovdje nemamo jako tržište metala i kultura, općenito, nije adekvatno podržana. Tijekom svih ovih godina radio sam za velike metal izdavače kao što su Nuclear Blast, Sony Music, Roadrunner, Century Media, Napalm Records i mnoge druge. Posljednjih godina bio sam voditelj grafičkog odjela za AISA Music i By Norse Music.
3. Dakle, aktivni ste i na glazbenom polju, bilo kao glazbenik, aranžer i producent. Recite nam više o tome.
Marcelo Vasco – Dakle, sviram gitaru u nekoliko bendova i nasumičnim projektima. Moj glavni bend su The Troops of Doom i Patria, ali ovaj drugi nije toliko aktivan, pogotovo na live koncertima. The Troops of Doom je bend na koji danas koncentriram većinu svog vremena, na probama, snimanjima i turnejama. Nisam baš pravi producent, ali ponekad volim raditi na svojim stvarima. Lakše je nego natjerati drugu osobu da razumije i dobije točno onakvu vrstu zvuka koju bih želio istražiti, vi sada. Ali iskreno, to je hobi, uopće nisam profesionalna produkcija. Također sam bio uključen u druge glazbene projekte kao što su Mysteriis, Le Chant Noir, Demoniac Harvest, Thokkian Vortex, I Gather Your Grief među ostalima.
4.Trenutno ste gitarist u bendu The Troops Of Doom, čijeg sam osnivača, Jaira Guedza, već imao priliku predstaviti. Molim vas, recite nam nešto više o The Troops Of Doom, kao i ideji za osnivanje benda?
Marcelo Vasco – Bend smo osnovali u pandemiji, točnije u ožujku 2020., tako da smo nedavno napunili 3 godine postojanja. Sve ide prilično dobro s The Troops i moram reći da brzo rastemo. Već imamo dva objavljena EP-a i jedan cijeli album, a sada ćemo u svibnju imati još jedan EP. Da ne spominjem da već radimo na drugom punom albumu za sljedeću godinu. Radimo mnoge nastupe u Brazilu i Južnoj Americi, stvarajući našu publiku korak po korak. Svirali smo na južnoameričkoj turneji s I Am Morbid, također smo imali neke koncerte s braćom Cavalera. Bilo je stvarno sjajno!
5. Također, zajedno s Jeanom Carlosom Carrarom, Fernandom Troianom imate projekt Treamici, bavite se proizvodnjom vina. Kako ste zapravo došli na ideju pokrenuti takav projekt?
Marcelo Vasco – To je dio koji mnogi ljudi ne znaju, ali da, ja sam također mali proizvođač vina, kao što sam rekao. Pa, rođen sam u Rio de Janeiru, ali živim u brazilskim južnim planinama od 2008., tako da živim ovdje već 15 godina. A ovdje imamo vrlo jaku vinsku kulturu i mjesto. Nekako sam se zaljubio u vino, upoznao sam mnoge proizvođače vina u ovoj regiji i stekao dobre prijatelje. U nekom trenutku bilo je prirodno da sam se uključio u ovu tako lijepu kulturu i 2019. sam s još dva svoja prijatelja započeo vinski projekt pod nazivom Treamici. To je mlad projekt, naša prva proizvodnja vina bila je u berbi 2020. Do sada imamo oko šest različitih vina i rastemo. Sve male proizvodnje, ručno izrađene i ograničene na 300 boca od svake.
6. Za kraj, što biste poručili našim čitateljima? Koji su vaši budući projekti? Hoćemo li ikada vidjeti The Troops Of Doom u Splitu, Hrvatska?
Marcelo Vasco – Zaista bih volio posjetiti Hrvatsku. Držimo fige! Još uvijek nismo igrali Tour u Europi, ali to je dio naših planova, naravno. Možda ćemo to ostvariti sljedeće godine 2024. Do sada smo na turneji u Brazilu i Južnoj Americi i radimo na našem drugom punom albumu za sljedeću godinu. Osim toga, snimam gitare za novi album Thokkian Vortexa od mog dugogodišnjeg prijatelja Lorda Kaiaphasa (ex-Ancient / Norveška). Bit će ubitačno! I naravno, obavljajući svoj svakodnevni posao kao grafički umjetnik za mnoge bendove diljem svijeta. Volim to!
