Kiko Loureiro is one of the great guitarists in the Brazilian metal scene.
In addition to his excellent solo work, the musician was a member of Angra , contributing to acclaimed albums such as Angels Cry (1993) and Holy Land (1996).
More recently, he took on the role of guitarist for Megadeth , recording the band's two newest albums, Dystopia (2016) and The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! (2022). In 2023, he announced his departure from the American group, being replaced by Teemu Mäntysaari.
Currently pursuing his solo career, he is coming to Brazil for a tour and will participate in the Best Of Blues And Rock festival, which takes place in Rio de Janeiro on June 21st at Vivo Rio. In addition to this event, the festival also takes place in São Paulo, Curitiba, and Belo Horizonte, featuring a variety of artists.
Tickets for the event are available on the official Eventim website .
In an exclusive interview with Wikimetal , Loureiro discussed this new phase of his life, the relevance of Angra's albums, the differences between the music market in Brazil and Finland, and more!
Check out the full interview:
Wikimetal: What are your expectations for this new phase of your life, pursuing this solo career?
Kiko Loureiro: Ah, that's great, that's great. So, I've been doing this solo work, albums with my name, for a while now. I've done several shows like that. What's different is that there isn't another band I'm in that's in the foreground, right? Before, I had Angra as the main focus, then Megadeth, and I would put these solo career things in between the tours and such. And now it's the main focus, so it's a challenge. To continue doing this, but at the same time, there's the freedom to schedule shows and not have to wait. Like, what the band is going to do before you can schedule. It gives you the freedom to aim higher and have guests and who knows. And in this case, now, doing a whole tour in Brazil, having a festival in Rio and then doing another tour, staying in Brazil for a while, so it gives that geographical and time freedom too.
WM: You were part of Megadeth for years and definitely made your mark on the band's history. Do you see yourself playing with them again at some point?
KL: I don't have any… there wasn't any problem, you know, with them or any bad… there wasn't any of that, no resentment or mistreatment in any way, nothing. It was a personal matter for me, you know? So, in that sense, there's no problem at all, but it's something… it's not something that crosses my mind. Because otherwise I wouldn't have made the decision I made, right? But if the question is "oh, was there some fight, something we don't know about and so you would never go back" or you're expecting some kind of answer like that, no. Like, I like everyone, I'm super cool with everyone, the band, the crew, the manager, [Dave] Mustaine , who were also very close. So, in that sense, the doors are always open. But now it doesn't make sense in my life, you know?
WM: You already have a long and established career, participating in different projects. What do you do to stay updated in the constantly evolving world of music?
KL: That's a great question, because things change, right? And we observe, like, if you look back at the beginning of Angra, how the music market was, the concert market changed too, but not as drastically as the recording industry, and we lived through all those changes with CDs, DVDs, Napster, MP3s, Spotify. All these social media, TikTok and so on. So, you observe and see how you fit into it. I think it's part of any artist's career. Even the new ones who are coming up have to understand how it works and have to know that it will change. The only thing we know is that things change. You always have to be observing.
WM: Angra released the album Cycles of Pain What's it like for you to do these special appearances with the band?
KL: Since I left, they've made two albums, and I did a solo for each one. Because I was touring a lot, it never happened that I could participate, you know, do a show with them, but I could have. I'd like to, it might happen, to do a special appearance. It didn't happen because I live abroad. Touring with Megadeth constantly, so it was… I have a young child, it was always more complex to make it happen. It was always simpler, easier to do a solo on the albums, because you can do the solo from wherever you are, right, in the middle of the tour and everything. So that's what happened until now, because I'm friends with everyone, I'm proud of the career I had with Angra, of Angra's fans in Brazil, etc., you know? Now on this tour, I'll definitely play my own songs, play the Megadeth song I participated in, play the Angra song, so the idea of my setlist at the shows will be a compilation of all these facets of mine, so to speak. Of my story itself.
WM: And still talking about the band, what do you think makes albums like Angels Cry and Holy Land so impactful and important even 20 years after their release?
KL: Let me think. I think it's hard to know, right? Because if we knew the formula, we'd repeat it. But I think there's something that we sometimes don't even… I don't know if the word "magic" doesn't quite fit… but it's a thing about the moment, the energy, there's a bit of innocence, you know, it's starting out and you think you can do a lot of different things, there's a question of the time period, of how it was made. For those albums, and the others too, Rebirth (2001), Temple Of Shadows (2004). And as for the band, it continues, right? And I'm also talking about Megadeth, which also has some iconic albums from that era, my own solo albums, some that I made that became hits and people ask for the songs, it's hard to explain why it sticks, why it catches on. We keep doing it and, you know, we do it the way we believe is cool, in my case. From the music, from the band, we believe in what we're doing and we do it with zeal, with complete dedication. And we wait to see the people who connect with it. And some albums connect more than others. It's crazy, but I don't know how to explain it.
WM: Observing the Finnish metal scene compared to the Brazilian one, what would you say are the main differences?
KL: The main difference, let's see. It's that Finland is a small country. It's a country with… it's small, right? There are 5 million people here. So, it has a strong culture that comes from the Kalevala, that kind of Nordic thing and all that. But it's very influenced by European music, American music, English music and so on. Rock ends up being very present in everyday life, it's crazy, you're, I don't know, in a place, they're playing Dio , they're playing Black Sabbath , they're playing Gojira , you know? In a completely unrelated place, like, a Nightwish , families go to see it. Something kind of metal is part of the normal music, let's say, that people listen to. And you see a lot of people with band t-shirts, you see a lot here. There's a metal culture. Whether that's good or bad, for me, I feel comfortable. You always see someone with a Slayer on the street, something like that. It's a very metal country. But at the same time, it also reflects that it doesn't have a very strong culture of its own, like Brazil's. That's it, right? There's this positive side, because I like the style, so it's cool, I feel comfortable. There's space here. There are shows and stuff, festivals. But at the same time, you see that it's a country very influenced by things from abroad. Despite having great bands that came from here. Another thing that's very different here, compared to Brazil, is that you have music in schools. Public schools have music, bands. So everyone, like, everyone, 100% of the population, at some point, learns an instrument, even a basic one, you know? And they learn and play around with band instruments, so they learn a little bit of keyboard, a little bit of guitar, a little bit of bass, a little bit of drums, a little bit of clapping, of doing something physical like that. So, to foster that, by having that in the culture, in the basics of education, you're going to generate a lot of musicians. That, for me, is the big difference. Everyone kind of plays a little bit here, and it ends up generating a lot of very good musicians, making the metal scene strong. But hipster pop bands are also strong, bands that compose for video games are also strong, classical music is a whole other level, the conductors who come from here go on to conduct orchestras all over the world, the level is extremely high. It's a matter of culture, of state investment in children's culture. And you see it reflected in all musical areas. That's why in a country of 5 million inhabitants, you see, we can easily mention about 10 metal bands. Like Nightwish , Children Of Bodom , Sonata Arctica , Stratovarius , Amorphis , and so on. And in Brazil there aren't, right? In Brazil there aren't so many. Because there's the aspect of Brazilian music being strong and the people… and also because there isn't this cultural support from public education. And equipment and so on. Because if you play heavy metal or rock, you need a guitar, an amp, a cable, a pedal, or drums, same thing. You need a different kind of economic capacity, you understand? And here, in every neighborhood, you have a library that has instruments you can borrow, a guitar, an acoustic guitar, I don't know what. So, you have everything at your fingertips, right? This will generate, in the future, a result like this, of several bands, several musicians, etc.
WM: Looking back over all these years, what moment would you highlight, the moment when you stopped and thought, "Wow, I did it"?
KL: I don't think about it too much, because there's always a new challenge, right? You think, "Wow, I could be like that. I'll make it," but… The first time we recorded Angels Cry , recording outside of Brazil, in Germany, it was like, "Wow, we're going to Germany," you know? When you do your first tour abroad, "Wow, that's great." When we played at Monsters of Rock, which was a festival at Pacaembu Stadium, where we were opening, saying, "Wow, we're playing here." Before that, it was Kiss , I think, Black Sabbath, Slayer, so, all those moments, when… then it was recording the next album, when we recorded with the orchestra at Abbey Road, at Fireworks. When Bruce Dickinson sang with us, came to participate in our show, because he thought it was important for him to be at the Angra show, and so on, when I joined Megadeth, etc. The shows I did with Megadeth as a headliner at various festivals or Madison Square Garden, in venues like Budokan and such. All of that is specific. And it's building up to this… Things are happening. That's great. All the effort is paying off, the effort I put in, because at the same time people see these aspects, they don't see the day-to-day life, studying, playing, practicing, answering emails, talking to people, running errands, driving, doing interviews. There's all of that. So, you kind of take a chance, put in a lot of energy and you want to see, and you end up getting results. Which gives you even more energy to keep going.
WM: You're coming to Brazil to play at the Best of Blues and Rock festival, what are your expectations?
KL: Oh, that's great, because it's been a while since I... I went to Brazil briefly last November, but then there was the whole pandemic, everything, I didn't travel, and then there was a lot of touring with Megadeth in the United States, and I was very disconnected from Brazil. And, well, I'm going now to stay... what am I going to stay? Two and a half months in Brazil. So, like, I'm going to do a mix of shows and a bit of vacation and friends and family and see the fans again, see everything, live, eat at the bakery, that whole thing. It encompasses everything, it's not just the festival. The festival, obviously, is really cool, because... the people I know, Zakk Wylde , I've had the opportunity to play with him at other festivals, and so on. Joe Bonamassa , who I'm a fan of. The festival has several acts, Eric Gales , I don't know him personally. But I'm a huge fan of his work. So many other artists will be there. That's fantastic. And in this case, I'm going to perform in Rio de Janeiro, my hometown, right? I was born in Rio, but I'm kind of a… fake Carioca, you know? Because I grew up in São Paulo. But I've always had a special affection for Rio de Janeiro, etc. This is going to be really cool. And it's going to be the first show of this leg of my tour in Brazil. So, it's challenging at the same time, to start the tour with a show of this magnitude.
WM: And after your trip to Brazil, what do you plan to do?
KL: Well, I have several requests to continue touring in Latin America, to go to Europe, and I'm already in talks to go to Japan. I can't talk about dates or anything yet because nothing is 100% signed and defined. But I've toured a lot in recent years, so I'm going to... I'm studying this touring thing carefully, and I have a new album coming out. It will be released soon, and I'll dedicate myself to its release from that moment on, and then I'll also schedule tours to promote the album and continue this new cycle.
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