The São Paulo-based group Undo has released their self-titled debut album. With a sound reminiscent of the 80s and compositions full of lyricism, the band consolidates its musical identity by uniquely blending elements of post-punk, alternative rock, and indie into something highly contemporary.
Formed by experienced and active artists closely linked to Brazilian rock, the original project consists of André Frateschi on vocals, Rafael Mimi and Johnny Monster on guitars, Rafael Garga on drums, and Dudinha Lima on bass and production.
In an interview with Wikimetal , the band discussed the concept behind their debut album, collaborations, Brazilian rock, and their next steps.
Wikimetal: How was UNDO formed and what motivated you to create the band?
André Frateschi : It's only worth being alive if we're making good old rock and roll and if we're making art in this place called Brazil. Well, Undo is this timeless child that was born recently, born out of a need we all shared, a great desire to stay alive and keep kicking, banging our heads against a brick wall, because that's what we've learned to do throughout our lives, our entire careers. But now, we have some pretty cool gloves to throw those punches and our aim and our style are improving!
WM: Undo is a band that mixes various rock genres, but emphasizes the more gothic/alternative period of Brazilian music. What made you choose to delve deeper into this style?
Dudinha Lima: I think this whole post-punk thing has something that… It's an era that captivated everyone. Everyone listened to those sounds a lot. Everyone has the DNA of all that ingrained in them. So I think maybe that's our unanimous meeting point as a band, a place where we like the sound, we like the vibe, we like the aura, we like the themes, we like the atmosphere. So, I think it's largely because of that.
Special guest appearances on the album Undo
WM: The album features special appearances by Leoni and Dado Villa-Lobos. How was the process of approaching these artists to participate in the album?
Dudinha Lima: Well, André has been playing with Dado for over 10 years, with this new Legião Urbana lineup, so I think it was a natural thing. Dado sent us a song with a very emblematic riff, and we modified the song to make it our own, to make it Undo's own. And Leoni came along through a group we perform with in hospitals, nursing homes, and shelters. He joined this group, and we became very good friends.
So, the relationship also deepened with André in the songwriting process. They wrote lyrics and music together. The song "Aprender a Perder" (Learning to Lose) has fantastic lyrics. And he loved us; he's an idol to us. A guy we're fans of. So, these were very spontaneous connections. We maybe don't have much of a knack for… Oh, let's do it with that person because it'll have a good result here and there. I think there has to be proximity. There has to be a good match, being in orbit.
WM: During the album listening session, we spoke briefly with Leoni, who talked a bit about his participation in the track "Aprender a Perder" (Learning to Lose). What was it like interacting with such a prolific musician, without losing focus on what Undo really wanted with their first album?
Dudinha Lima: He likes Undo. I think he does. When he heard the sounds for the first time, he said, 'Wow, this sounds good…' It clicked with him. And I think that stimulated this idea of doing something together, let's write lyrics together… He got into our vibe. We didn't emulate his sound, he got into our vibe in the studio, he killed it singing “Aprenda a Perder” (Learn to Lose), he came out of the aquarium red. He nailed it, and the song is really good, the lyrics are really good, and the moment he starts singing is really cool, because we managed to put him in a slightly more rock-oriented situation than what's in his discography. So I think it was good for us and for him.
WM: Leoni also said that Renato Russo was a storyteller in the world of music and that his lyrics practically didn't rhyme. What is your opinion on this phase of Brazilian music? Is Undo a return to this phase or a continuation?
André Frateschi: What I think is perhaps our legacy from that time is this thing about lyrics; we have this attachment to good lyrics. Obviously, I'm generalizing and speaking exceptionally about songs that have greater commercial reach, because there are many very good people making music everywhere, but they don't have the space they deserve, and perhaps we don't know these songs.
But in the '80s, those guys who are now in their bedrooms were playing on the radio, Cazuza, Renato, Leoni himself. They're great… There's this thing about the lyrics and the song being important. We have a bit of that vibe. Recently, we read that we're not indie enough. And maybe we've achieved our goal, because here everyone's been indie since they were 16. We've already been through that experience. We really wanted to try to make a type of music that had a wider reach, something that didn't just speak to our small circle of people and that could communicate with more people. So maybe that's our legacy, our quest in relation to those bands you mentioned.
The next steps will be giant leaps.
WM: During the audition, we talked about the music video filmed on top of the Copan building, which will be released in the coming days. How was that experience? Can you give us a spoiler of what we can expect from this adventure?
André Frateschi: This music video was a collaboration we did with Karen Aquino , who is the person in charge of all the spaces at Copan, and who is making it a place that will house all kinds of things. I had a meeting with her, and she suggested the possibility of making the music video there. And then she introduced us to John Porciúncula , who is our director, and who understood exactly what the atmosphere of the song was. Undo is a very metropolitan band, very much from the megalopolis. Nothing better to represent São Paulo than that place.
The music video was shot entirely in black and white, so it also has a Berlin-esque feel reminiscent of Wim Wenders ' *Faraway, So Close!* [1993 German film]. There are many references in that sense that ended up making the song even greater than it already is. It's already one of our favorite songs on the album. And the video managed to translate it in an incredible way. We're very excited to release this music video this Tuesday, the 18th. We hope to play it on television, all that stuff. We're really excited because it's a beautiful visual translation of the song.
WM: How is the band feeling about the album release? What has the feedback been like from the public and the press?
Rafael Garga: We are very happy to have released the album, a compilation of songs, and we have received incredible, very cool feedback. I sometimes follow the band's social media and respond to messages from various cities across the country; just yesterday, someone from the interior of Bahia said, "I'm telling everyone here how long it's been since I heard a band that translates my feelings like this."
So, obviously, some people like it and some people don't, but I've seen and heard some really great things about the album. I'm the last guy to join the band. I think I got to hear the songs, just like Dudinha did, I heard them a bit from the outside. When Johnny [ Monster, guitarist] sent me some demos talking about the band, I called him and said, "Wow, I'm in, I'm in right now, let's play," because I thought the songs, as Dudinha said, have a vibe and André's lyrics are incredible. I think the overall assessment of the album's release is much more positive than negative, and it's only the beginning. We're still going to work a lot at the beginning of 2026, probably this first semester will be spent promoting the album a lot more.
WM: Is there a track that has a special meaning for you?
Rafael Garga: I don't think there's a specific track for me, I don't know if there is for the others… I think each one translates a little bit of some story, something, and it has a really cool vibe for me. I, Rafael as a child, wouldn't have imagined making a song with Dado Villa-Lobos, so this is really cool.
André Frateschi: “Pleasure in Starting Over,” the first song that came about, speaks a lot about our desire and our attitude to start over. It's a song about that, about the courage to be in a somewhat comfortable place and to open the door and let the wind in and out to see what's ahead, a bit of our adventure of putting together a band at this point in our lives.
Dudinha Lima: I think André said it all, I really like this one too. It has a very deep meaning about ending things that, suddenly, no longer have so much importance and about opening that door that André is talking about, and that's what we're trying to do. And it's moving, it has that resounding, apotheotic ending. I particularly like strong songs that have emotional content, and this one does.
Johnny Monster: I like "Kill Bill" because it hits a nerve, it's a super current issue. We talk about billionaires, about that whole situation that everyone talks about... It could be fairer. And I really enjoy playing this song, and I enjoy talking about this subject, which I think is extremely relevant.
WM: What are the band's next steps? Any shows scheduled?
André Frateschi: The next steps will be giant steps. We actually have that desire, but we're taking baby steps every day. It's a bit like that, having a rock band, at this point it's like that. I think at any point, actually. You're dedicated every day to making something happen, to talking to someone, convincing someone to answer your WhatsApp message, it's a bit like that.
We're sure of what the band can be, that's something we all have in common, we know. The experiences we've had live have been very important to us, for example, when we opened for Fresno at Fundição Progresso in Rio de Janeiro. It was a surprising response for us, I mean, we saw that the band… People get into the band's vibe even without knowing the songs. If we had a little more money, I think things would be easier. But we'll go for it, no problem.
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