We first heard Muca & La Marquise with the brilliant bossanova composition ‘Blue Moon Bossa’.
We went digging and discovered their debut single, quite the opposite of a bossa track, the bluesy ‘London’. This left us very much curious on what was going to come next so we got in touch and arranged a lovely interview with Muca, the creative mastermind behind the project.
Their latest effort, which came out on the 30th of October while we were working on the interview, is the aptly titled ‘October Blues’. Giving a heads up on what the listener is about to find in their productions is probably a good shout since so far they have proved to be quite an eclectic duo.
Their debut ‘London’ definitely turned some heads and even though we are never too keen on using quotes from others, when they come from one of the bossa nova godfathers and from the BBC Head of Arts, well, we must oblige. Roberto Menescal agrees with us saying those are “great songs and amazing production!” while Will Gompertz points to the video saying “the music and the video are a delight”.
Not bad for a duo with only 3 tracks under their belt.
Their self titled album is set to be released in early 2021 with another exciting surprise being featured and we can’t wait to hear it.
In the meantime we suggest to play their 3 tracks while you get to know this amazing project.
Hey guys thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, we enjoyed the track and its bossa nova vibes and got even more intrigued knowing you’ve been going for a good year before releasing your first track so let’s start with some background questions to introduce yourselves and the band to our readers.
Tell us a bit more about your musical journey, where are you from, when and how you started getting involved with music and what led you to start this project?
I have been playing guitar since 12 years old but I loved music way before that. I was always drumming with my hands which means I’m possibly a frustrated drummer!
The story behind started of two people wanting to make music together, and start out a music project. I was doing many productions and engineering and had several musical ideas and songs I wanted to develop, but I’m not a singer. La Marquise is this girl I found and invited her to work with me. Although she has a magical voice, she didn’t want to be on the spotlight, so I decided to create a character, so she could show her voice to the world without having to expose herself .
What was your favourite artist/band as a child?
It depends how old I was, but guitar is something always pleased me. One of the moments I know I wanted to play guitars is when I watched Back to The Future when Michael J. Fox plays Johnny B Goode.
What was the first music you bought/downloaded?
Not sure if I remember as I possibly asked my mum! But I think it was back to the cassette player. And it was a Brazilian band called Titãs.
What are your main influences now? Is there a particular artist or an album that inspired you
more than others?
Not really. What happens is sometime you start hearing something you haven’t before and that grabs your attention somehow. I was recently listening to Björk’s debut album, and some of the tracks on that album are just magical. But I can get going back to the classics. Jazz, Bossa, Rock. As a producer I’m always trying to listen to new things as well.
We enjoyed Blue Moon Bossa and we hear you got another track coming in the next few
days, do you want to tell us more about it? (The track is now out – video below)
This is more of, a bluesy cool track. imagine, for five minutes, being able to lose yourself to a female Jeff Buckley singing on a ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ style ballad with a Gilmour inspired guitar solo.
If you can do that, you’ve got what Muca & La Marquise are all about.
Can you tell us a bit more about your local scene? Any special bands or special places that
are worth a mention? Or anything special that happened to you guys since you formed the
band?
My music studio is in Hackney Central in London, so there’s a great music scene here, which we don’t know which ones will survive to this crazy times we’re living. I love the area, and there’s always great music around. Paper Dress Vintage, and The Empire Bar where I was regularly going to check bands and artists.
Are you doing any socially distanced gig or have you been to any? What’s your take on this?
We have been to a couple and it was great to be out but we understand the struggles for both the artists and the venues.
No I haven’t and I’m not sure for how long this will keep working. Several venues are in high risk of closure forever. Business that have been there for years giving jobs for people. I have a friend with twenty years of experience with live sound. A really good one. He’s now delivering fancy workout bicycles.
We worked on an online 2-day festival over the summer, it was a brilliant production and the
shows were great but chatting to the artists it was very clear that the main issue was about
them finding it hard to deliver to a certain standard without any audience. What’s your take
on live streaming gigs? Do you think it can be a viable alternative for musicians for the time
being? Have you been involved in any or are you planning to?
I don’t think it is. The issue with the internet is. Once it’s ‘virtual’ very few people want to pay for it. Although is great we’re think on different alternatives for keep making music, in my opinion, this is a very temporary solution. We’re humans and we’re programmed to bond.
This is something we ask pretty much everyone we know, not just during the interviews…
we are massive fans of movie soundtracks, what is your favourite movie soundtrack (if any)?
And what existing movie would you like to recreate (or even just curate) a new soundtrack for?
Funnily enough I was just thinking about that. Yes I’m a massive fan of movie soundtracks.
One of my dreams is writing a James Bond soundtrack!
The ones for me are classic. The Godfather, Psychosis, Star Wars, and many others!
Free question – please ask yourself a question that you have always wanted to get asked.
Could be a question about your future plans, or a statement or just a story you’d like to share
with us and our readers.
Wow, a tricky one. I’d say “Why people in are listening to so much crappy music?“
My answer: Because unfortunately music became too volatile and too fast. It’s more of a small asset fast selling then art. The gap between the money making and the struggling musicians are more and more. If you think IDLES members still need a secondary job, mean the system is broken. We must fix it.
Before we let you go, can you recommend a couple of great new bands/artists you are into at the moment? Any new artists we might not have heard about?
Let’s talk about my productions. On the rock side, there’s Mongrel Dogs. They have a new singer and and the band is really getting together on the songwriting. I see a good future for them. As well my rock project, The Beaflux. As a radio host for 89fm Brazil, I hear some really good bands. This girl Circe grabbed my attention, also, The Lovely Eggs, Lauran Hibberd, Saint Agnes, Abbie Ozzard, and the list goes on.
Thanks so much for your time and looking forward to hearing more music from you.
Follow Muca & La Marquise at the links below:
https://mucaandlamarquise.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/mucaandlamarquise/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0CICUP6DIPiKUz9h6TVdNQ?si=4ncArZcoR0KQuFUzxXUydw
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFXOpUYfCL2jL0BoBxP8yTQ
https://www.instagram.com/mucaandlamarquise/
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