Text originally published on our website Mad Sound
There are some encounters that happen in such an unusual way that it's impossible not to think that destiny had a touch. This is the case with the (almost) improbable partnership between Noel Hogan , former guitarist and founding member of The Cranberries , and the Brazilian singer Mell Peck .
Noel and Mell met through the internet and today form the duo The Puro , who recently released their first single, "Prison" AURORA fans .
In an interview with our reporter from Mad Sound and Wikimetal , the two artists talked about how they met, how the process of collaborating remotely went, and what difficulties they had to overcome to move the project forward. The first question that comes to mind when we think about this partnership is: how did the guitarist from The Cranberries find this Brazilian singer?
Mell Peck's contact with music began at a very young age. She reports having started her professional performances around the age of fourteen, singing in bars and at events. She also says she began writing her own songs around the same time, even if "at a slower pace." This journey led her to YouTube , where she began posting a series of covers regularly for many years, which would later become a key element in her meeting Noel.
Around 2019, after the announced end of The Cranberries, the guitarist reports having started receiving many suggestions of new artists via Instagram , and Mell's name began to appear constantly, linked to a cover of "Zombie" that circulated on the internet due to the striking similarity of his voice to that of Dolores O'Riordan . This was the first video Noel watched.
“I kept going back [to the video],” he says. “There was something about her voice that sounded different and stood out to me. At the same time, I was writing a collection of songs and didn’t know what to do with them, and that’s something I’ve been doing for most of my life. Over time, I thought I’d give it a shot and see if this Brazilian girl would be interested in doing something.”
According to Mell, the first contact between the two was actually by chance. Although she knew The Cranberries' music and did covers on her channel, she didn't know much about the band members until one day she decided to search their social media and was surprised to find that Noel was already following her on Instagram. From there, she sent him a message saying she was a fan, and the two started talking. Some time later, a formal collaboration proposal was made.
Mell then traveled to Ireland and met Noel in person, but the duo's plans were temporarily thwarted by the start of the pandemic in 2020. They then decided to try working remotely, and Noel sent Mell some songs he was already working on.
“I sent her a song and in just two days she came back with something that I thought was brilliant,” says the guitarist. “It was very fast. And things developed from there. It was strange at first because we were complete strangers, but over the last two years we’ve been working together every other day. We’ve talked about music and what’s going on in our lives, that kind of thing. And it’s evolved. I think the more recent songs are much better than the first ones.”
For their first single, “Prison,” the duo chose to release two versions of the song – one in English and one in Portuguese – and all indications suggest that their upcoming album will continue to blend languages in their compositions. Although she can sing in English without major problems, Mell still doesn't speak the language, which creates a language barrier between her and Noel.
According to the singer, they communicate using a translator app that works as an extension of WhatsApp. Over the years and with frequent communication, she reveals that she has learned enough to understand some things and even attempt her first composition in English. “Our next song I wrote directly in English. How? I don't know [laughs]. I learned as I went. It just popped into my head at a certain point and I sent it to Noel, asked if it made sense, and he said yes,” she says.
Mell is the main songwriter for all of The Puro's Portuguese lyrics. She wrote the lyrics for "Prisão," which served as the basis for the English version – written by someone else, but maintaining the meaning of the original composition. Regarding the song's meaning, she says:
“She talks about trapped feelings. We all have thoughts we can't talk about, and she speaks to the depths of what each person has. That's why it's a prison. We can't expose ourselves, we can't show too much. Sometimes we also go through difficult times, and in those moments of solitude, you cling to something. The lyrics say 'In the glass, I vent,' it's as if you're drinking whatever you want. I think the lyrics are very clear.”
In Noel's opinion, "Prison" is a good preview of what we can expect from The Puro's first album. He promises a variation of heavy songs and ballads and describes the project as a "mixture of things," a blend of "indie rock with the sweetness of Mell's voice. Sometimes the music can be dark, but there's a lightness in the vocals to complement it."
Regarding a possible tour, Noel Hogan reveals that The Puro has plans to visit Brazil in August, but some things still need to be worked out before an official date is announced. “We’re a two-person band, so it’s different from the studio, where we can play various things and make it sound like a band in the production. We need to practice a way to make it work,” he concludes.
“Prison”, “Prisão” and “Prison (Acoustic)” are releases from ForMusic Records .
