The River Raid

Artist Information

Biography

In 1996, five high school students from Recife, Brazil challenge the music trend with intensity and started a rock band, “ The River Raid” (TRR). Their music is influenced by The Stooges, Violent Femmes, Radiohead, Sonic Youth as well as other Brazilian artists from the sixties and seventies such as Tom Jobim, Roberto Carlos, Os Mutantes, and Luiz Gonzaga.

The early years for The River Raid offered much success, including the honor of being published in a reputable magazine known as Showbizz, being at the time the No 1 music magazine in Brazil. They rapidly gained media attention after winning first place at a national band challenge hosted by MTV with their song "2030."

After a couple of years dedicated to other music endeavors, the members of The River Raid got together once again to write and release their official first self titled debut album, “The River Raid”. The album was developed in both Miami and Brazil with Grammy winning producer, Felipe Tichauer. Segmenting the different stages of their song writing and influences, the album producing a brilliant powerful sound, intensified by three guitars. 4:20 Local Time recalls the exuberance of the first couple of Hives records - confident, ballsy and bloody catchy." claims Owen Mckeon of Glasswerk.co.uk.

The band continued to receive recognition by specialized media, thus earning them great reviews amongst some of world’s most prestigious music critics, bloggers and magazines like Guitar Player, Spin Magazine, Glasswerk.co.uk, CMJ, Zig Zag Live, and Rolling Stone, which had placed them in the “Editors Hot List of the Month” with the song "Nao Caio Mais No Que Voce Diz" (Don’t fall for what you say anymore).

After a promotional tour in July of 2007, MTV Brazil began to endorse TRR's music video "Time Up" on television and on it's website (MTV Overdrive) to million's of people. As well as televised spots, TRR's single Time Up was featured on radio stations like Transamerica (Recife), Radio Cidade (Fortaleza), Brasil 2000 and Radio Mitsubishi (Sao Paulo), broadcasting the River Raid’s vibe across Brazil's FM Radio.

Their single "Time Up" is featured in compilations around the World from USA (Sonicbids, Shatter Records) and England (Stay in the Box) and the CMJ's Exclusive monthly compilation.

The River Raid were fortunate enough to have been invited to play at some of the most important festivals of North America: the Atlantis Music Conference (Atlanta, Georgia), Canadian Music Week (Toronto, Canada), Florida Music Festival and Conference (Orlando, USA), and North By North East (Toronto, Canada), opportunities that were perfect breeding grounds for new artists.


With only one album on baggage and mileage logs that pass by respected festivals and events such as the famous South by Southwest (Austin, TX), CMJ (New York, NY), and the Brazilian "Levis Music”, both aimed at disclosure of names of the independent scene.

In 2008, their talent continued to be recognized by some of the most prestigious contests and awards such as ISC (International Songwriting Competition), the Brazilian band ousted 15 thousand competitors from more than 100 countries in the ISC - International Songwriting Competition, with the song" Time Up ". They were the most voted band in the rock category and on the internet “People's Voice” and received an honorable mention from the jury, composed of figures like Julian Casablanca (The Strokes), Frank Black (Pixies), Robert Smith (The Cure) and Jerry Lee Lewis, the only Brazilian band in the final of the contest.
They were also nominated for The Hollywood Music Awards, Toronto Music Awards, and the Ontario Independent Music Awards.


The River Raid continued to perform in Brazil, while working on their second album, in some of the largest well known festivals in Brazil appearing at the Abril Pro Rock (Recife/Pernambuco), REC Beat (Recife, Pernambuco), Bananada (Goiania, Goiás), Ponto CE (Fortaleza, Ceará), Se Rasgum no Rock (Belém, Pará), Festival Do Sol (Natal, Rio Grande do Norte), MADA (Natal, Rio Grande do Norte) Aumenta que é Rock (João Pessoa, Paraíba) .

In October of 2008 The River Raid were asked to be the opening act for the American Music Award nominated band Paramore, in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro for the Brazilian leg of their Final Riot Tour. With 13,000 fans before them, The River Raid rocked the crowd with vigour, using their unforgettable and captivating live performance. During the Paramore tour, TRR appeared on MTV and Trama Virtual for interviews to let their fans know about upcoming releases as well as future tour dates.

The River Raid finished work on their second album “In a Forest” in 2009 and is due to be released in 2010.

Instrumentation

Praga - guitar and vocals
Pompi - guitar and vocals
Giba - guitar, synth
Ed - bass
Peter - drums

Discography

The first album “The River Raid”, features 12 songs, produced by Red Traxx (Miami), co-produced by Leo D and William P (Mr. Mouse, Recife) and mastered by Ted Jensen (Sterling Sound, NY). The album won awards and recognition by specialized press. A mini tour was set up to introduce the album in the USA, the tour passed through Texas, New York and Massachusetts. With their first self titled debut album, they achieved notable success, such as the opening act for the American band Paramore, in their Brazilian tour “The Final Riot!” at the end of 2008.

The second album, “In a Forest”, features 10 songs recorded in Miami, in the Red Traxx and Power Station studios, produced by Rodrigo Coelho (Recife) and mixed/mastered by John Cornfield – a multi-platinum winning English producer, having worked with world renowned bands such as Oasis, Supergrass, Muse, Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Stone Roses, The Verve and Razorlight. The new album will be released in April 2010.

IN A FOREST

Based on the musical moment that the band is living, “In a Forest” refers to the beauty of the forest, a balanced and full of life place with mystery and power. “In a Forest”, each element has its role. “In a Forest”, lives are lost and separated. “In a Forest”, there are miracles, charm, light and date. The question is ours, take responsibility for the forests natural habitat, and help sustain them, or it will be our end!

Links

• The River Raid Twitter
• The River Raid Facebook
• The River Raid @ Myspace

Audio

• Alright
  Listen  
• Darkness Fuel
  Listen  
• Girl from Mars
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Alright
• Darkness Fuel

Video

Alright

Photo Gallery

Press

• BUZZCATCHER - SPIN [+ Show ]
  

  BUZZCATCHER Check 'em Out: The River Raid These Brazilian dance rockers channel CSS and Bonde Do R...BUZZCATCHER
  Check 'em Out: The River Raid
  These Brazilian dance rockers channel CSS and Bonde Do Role but add scathing riffs and punk urgency.
  
  Who? Like fellow Brazilian acts CSS and Bonde Do Role, the River Raid offer danceable beats with punk snarl -- but let the comparisons stop there. With a cock-sure swagger, this fuzz-rock quintet's triple-guitar assault -- complimented by vocalists Toni and Praga's shouting snarls -- creates a sonic force that's like sandpaper to the face. Yet despite their sinister backbeats and barely-controlled six-string chaos, the River Raid's explosive dance fiesta sounds as if it's far from tired of being sexy.
  
  http://spin.com/articles/check-em-out-river-raid
  

• CMJ Spotlight [+ Show ]
  

  Apr 18, 2008 Brazilian quintet the River Raid are the winners of this week's CMJ Sonicbids spot...Apr 18, 2008
  
  Brazilian quintet the River Raid are the winners of this week's CMJ Sonicbids spotlight contest. After achieving notable success in their home country, the five rockers began garnering international acclaim after abandoning Portuguese and writing songs in English. In order to spread their rockabilly infused post-punk sound, which is laden with catchy choruses, heavy surf guitar and ambient sampling, River Raid has been hitting up the festival circuit (Canadian Music Week, Florida Music Festival And Conference, North By North East) and appearing on compilations around the world.
  
  "It's an honor for our band to be featured on the Sonicbids Spotlight," says bassist Jimbo. "We are a rock band from Brazil so it's fairly unusual to create a buzz outside from Brazil that isn't Samba or Bossa Nova. For an Independent band like us [this is] crucial to assist in our efforts to be heard worldwide! Que Beleza!!!"
  
  Keep a lookout for the fivesome's sophomore release, which is slated to come out soon.
  
  www.myspace.com/riverraid

• "Time Up" is an ISC winner [+ Show ]
  

  As the Founder and Director of the International Songwriting Competition, it is my honor and pleasur...As the Founder and Director of the International Songwriting Competition, it is my honor and pleasure to congratulate and inform you that the song "Time Up" has received a Honorable Mention in the Rock category in the 2007 International Songwriting Competition (ISC). We are very proud of this accomplishment, and we applaud the skill it takes to craft a winning song.
  
  We know that you have your choice of many songwriting competitions to enter, and we appreciate and thank you for selecting ISC.
  
  ISC received over 15,000 entries from 100 countries throughout the world, so this acknowledgement of the song by ISC and its judges is a noteworthy achievement of which you can be very proud.
  
  Please note that you may use the content of this email or any official ISC newsletters to notify fans, press, and media that the song "Time Up" is an ISC winner. Please feel free to announce the news on any websites.
  
  All the best,
  
  Candace Avery
  Founder/Director
  ISC

• River Raid @ Rolling Stone’s Hot List [+ Show ]
  

  River Raid appears at the top five Editor's Hot List of the Rolling Stone Magazine (july, The Simpso...River Raid appears at the top five Editor's Hot List of the Rolling Stone Magazine (july, The Simpsons Cover - brazilian edition).

• Hollywood Music Awards!!! [+ Show ]
  

  Congratulations! Your song submission has been accepted for nomination. The Hollywood Music Awards ...Congratulations! Your song submission has been accepted for nomination.
  The Hollywood Music Awards is the world’s only red carpet event that celebrates music in popular visual mediums AND the music of undiscovered artists around the globe. Television, film, video games, commercial advertisements and Internet music sites are the mediums in which many artists get their big break.
  For more on the HMA main event (Nov. 20th) and ticket purchase info, please visit http://www.hollywoodmusicawards.org
  

• The River Raid - Demo [+ Show ]
  

  Written by Owen Mckeon 29th October 2007 Released: 29th October 2007 Label: Indie How ...Written by Owen Mckeon
  29th October 2007
  
  Released: 29th October 2007
  Label: Indie
  
  How refreshing it is to have a band not hailing from London, New York or Montreal. Recife’s The River Raid (that’s Brazil by the way) bring their heavy rock across to these shores using a mixture of their native tongue and their adopted Florida voice.
  
  ‘4:10 Local Time’ recalls the exuberance of the first couple of Hives records - confident, ballsy and bloody catchy.
  
  ‘Electric Kool’ is fuzzed up with distorted vocals and sounds like what those guys from The Mighty Boosh would have produced had they ever found “the sound”. Basically it sounds big, hairy and foreign and that’s never a bad thing. Well ok, sometimes it’s the worst of all things but thankfully on this occasion it works. It’s like a rawer, funkier Pearl Jam.
  
  The softer numbers like ‘Let It Out’ don’t work anywhere near as well, but it doesn’t mater when you’ve got the insanely odd lyrics of the Arctic Monkeys-esque ‘Time Up’ such as “I'm sick, let's get around. There's beer around the corner. Get up. Stand up, now.”
  
  This is big dumb rock of which they didn’t seem to make anymore. I’d forgotten how much fun it was.
  
  
  For more information you can visit: http://www.myspace.com/riverraid
  

• The River Raid was nominee for the 2008 Ontario Independet Music Awards!! [+ Show ]
  

  Congratulations!! You are a nominee for the 2008 Ontario Independent Music awards. The award show wi...Congratulations!! You are a nominee for the 2008 Ontario Independent Music awards. The award show will be held at the Phoenix Theatre in Toronto on Thursday, October 16. It will be free to the public and will be a benefit for the Toronto Wildlife Center. We hope that you will bring all of your friends and family to the show, which is open to all, with an over 19 age limit.
  The show will involve handing out awards in over 20 musical categories, and also performances from some of the winners from 2007. Basically, it's a great party celebrating the Ontario music scene!

• SONICBIDS LISTEN VOL.4 - selects "Time Up" [+ Show ]
  

  Sonicbids has selected our song "TIME UP" to be on their upcoming compilation CD Sonicbids Li...
  
  
  Sonicbids has selected our song "TIME UP" to be on their upcoming compilation CD Sonicbids Listen: Volume 4 (proceeds to benefit The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation).
  
  

• Toronto Music Awards [+ Show ]
  

  Hello, Thank you for your submission. We would like to inform you that you have been selected to ...Hello,
  
  Thank you for your submission. We would like to inform you that you have been selected to participate in the 2009 Toronto Independent Music Awards showcases, out of approximately 600 artists. Your early submission gives you early priority booking.
  
  
  -TIMA/HYDROGEN JUKEBOX TEAM
  
  

• Four peppy Brazilians (and a guest Canadian drummer, strangely) kicking out some fine 'n' raucous rock jams (rewiew of NXNE 2008 showcase) [+ Show ]
  

  Comment: Now this is something everyone wants to see at a festival — some actual goddamn effort and ...Comment: Now this is something everyone wants to see at a festival — some actual goddamn effort and enthusiasm! These young imports from Brazil were happy to be playing in the Great White North and it definitely showed. There was lots of fun had by both band and audience.
  
  No doubt buoyed by the bevvy of hot dancing ladies on the floor during their set, The River Raid made sure to pump out some groove-worthy tunes, as well as get the crowd worked up through random spontaneous yelping to begin and end a few choice songs. They also know the cardinal rule that three guitars sound a whole lot more awesome than two guitars, and that you should be very, very grateful to anyone who loans you a bass guitar when you find yourself in need of a non-broken one.
  
  Songs like the aptly titled "Alcohol" put smiles on faces throughout the room. Throw in a capable Violent Femmes cover, nonsensical language-barrier banter and plenty of headbanging, and you've got the first attention-grabber of the night. It was a breath of fresh air to see some kids genuinely excited about playing NXNE, rather than the same tired locals who trot out to play this things year after year.
  
  Check the link to see the complete review of the showcase.
  
  http://www.chartattack.com/DAMN/2008/06/1330.cfm

Setlist

A lot of fun!!!

Basic Requirements

Calendar