The band is on the lineups of some of the biggest festivals in Brazil and the world
Despite a relatively short career, the Brazilian band Ego Kill Talent has forged an admirable path. Since 2017, they have released an album, performed throughout Europe opening for bands like System of a Down and Shinedown , played at the two main national festivals — Rock in Rio and Lollapalooza — and opened for Foo Fighters and Queens Of The Stone Age on a joint tour that included Brazil .
Formed by Theo van der Loo (guitar and bass), Niper Boaventura (guitar and bass), Jonathan Correa (vocals), Raphael Miranda (drums and bass), and Jean Dolabella (drums and guitar), the band takes the name Ego Kill Talent (literally, "ego kills talent") seriously. In the studio and on stage, the members maintain humility by taking turns playing instruments and working together on composing the tracks.
“We rehearse a lot to make these exchanges [ on stage ] work and sound natural,” the group explained during an interview with the TMDQA! . “We don’t do this to be a circus act, on the contrary (…) They happen because they make sense.”
From the history of world music, it's clear that a band's ego can be, above all, a hindrance. A feeling that, when at its peak, causes many artists to change their attitude and transform their perspective on music. To avoid losing what brought them together, the members of EKT use their fame purely to spread Brazilian rock and roll, avoiding whims along the way.
“Rock isn’t the number one musical style when you put country, funk, and electronic music together,” they say. “But it still draws huge crowds to stadiums every year, all over the world. It has an energy that, in my opinion, has to do with a sincerity, honesty, and authenticity that touches people.”
Foreign trajectory
Despite having a foreign name and singing lyrics in English, the group explores national roots and carries them forward, performing at major festivals that might seem like a dream for some bands. Last weekend, for example, the group participated in the famous Rock am Ring, an annual music event that takes place in Germany and always features a captivating lineup.
There, EKT shared the spotlight with Muse , Foo Fighters , and Thirty Seconds to Mars, proving that rock, and especially Brazilian rock, is not dead. That same week, the rockers played in Copenhagen, Denmark, opening for the American band Shinedown – which led to six more nights across Europe with the band in the following days.
“It was exciting because after the show they told us that Metallica played on this exact same stage in 1984 on the Ride the Lightning with Cliff Burton … Besides, it’s the city where Lars Ulrich ,” said Theo, excitedly.
“We’re still going to do some more really big festivals,” he said, mentioning Grasspop, Novarock, Download Madrid and Download Paris, events where they will join music giants like Guns N' Roses , Foo Fighters and Ozzy Osbourne . The sky's the limit.
See below some photos from EKT's shows in Europe.
Credit: Denis Carrion
