A fabulous new Danish/Brazilian duo, consisting of Martin and Flavinha aka Flavia!

It’s Aalborg vs Rio. A tropical shitstorm over the North Sea ready to hit your love nest when you least expect it!

Take some magic moments, mix them up with a bit of courage and shake it with determination and you will get a highly explosive cocktail of love’n’fun and that my dear friends is the essence of The Courettes!

Put a wide smile on and repeat after me: Real garage, REAL garage, REAL GARAGE!!

New album out in June! Get yourself one, it sure will be refreshing on em hot summer nights!

A Danish-Brazilian combo is quite unique. Is rock’n’roll universal or does this cultural mix have some sort of impact on your songs?

F: One thing I discovered is that rock’n’roll is the real universal music and universal language and that people everywhere in the world want the same things: to love, to have fun and to be happy. The world is smaller than we think and the cultural diferences are not so many as we once thought.

M: We dig the same records, bands etc so yeah it must be universal to some point. Scandinavian garage approach meeting jungle selvagem!

Who wrote the lyrics and what are they about?

M: Flavinha is thee song’n’lyricist wiz’!

F: I wrote all the songs and lyrics but Martin has a very important role saying “this is a good idea” or “this sucks”. Actually he’s the one who decides wich ideas will become songs, so we work on them and we build the arrangements together. My lyrics talk basically about love. But also about life, people’s relationships, society… and partying!

Martin you come from a background with Thee Attacks and Columbian Neckties. Flavia you come from a long-term marriage with the Autoramas. What are you bringing into The Courettes from these bands if any of course?

F: Experience.

M: I bring loud rhythms!

Besides the bands and music in general what are your backgrounds?

M: I do movie artwork and freelance design at We Don’t Like Art.

F: I always worked with music. Besides playing I was once a music teacher in a school in my early 20s.

What will be the bands firmest trademark?

M: Real Garage!
F: Real Garage!

Are we going to have any tropical feel to the band?

M: Perhaps a Cachaça on stage. Otherwise no!

F: My tropical skin tan!

What can we expect from the record and what can we expect from your live performances?

M: Real Garage!
F: Real Garage! And fun!

Since you are both now living in Denmark, this question goes to you Flavia. Moving from a major tropical city like Rio also known as “a cidade maravilhosa” to a, in comparance, small and weather wise colder city like Aalborg. How have you experienced this change so far?

F: Rio de Janeiro, my hometown, is the most beautiful city in the world. No doubt. But every big city like Rio has a lot of problems like traffic jams, violence, social problems… and living in Rio in the last years has become impossible to afford. I like Aalborg and the peace of smaller towns, and you can always find a parking spot! I’m enjoying the different seasons too. In Brazil we only have like the warm season and the super warm season. The winter is a little hard but the coming of spring, with flowers and smiles blooming, is very touchy.

Flavia, you just recently officially left Autoramas, a band you have been with for so many years. A band with a name both in Brazil as well as in Europe. Was it difficult to let go?

F: Yes, of course, it was really hard! But I think we have to have the sensibility to aknowledge when a cycle has ended in our life and happily welcome the next. You have to have the courage to take chances, to let it go and be opened for what’s new. I like to give my full heart and soul to my bands/projects, to really mean it on stage with all my guts, and with Autoramas it was not real anymore.
I couldn’t have made a better decision. I am so happy now, both in my personal and in my professional life! The Courettes are doing very well, getting a lot of offers for concerts, good reviews and good reception of the audiences. Our first album is already in the factory and will be released by the cool German label Sounds of Subterrania in the summer. It was recorded, produced and mixed by Kim Kix of Powersolo because he saw us live, liked us, and invited us. We made some great gigs in Germany early this month, last Friday we played at the SPOT Festival in Aarhus – where we had an amazing feed back of the audience and a great review in Gaffa. In the summer will be at the Nibe Festival and in London for the first time. And I just came back from a tour in Holland and Belgium last week with one of my favourite Danish bands, Powersolo, as a guest bass player. It was a pleasure and a lot of fun! If you have the courage to take chances, life smiles right back to you!

Martin you have been to Brazil a couple of times by now. Could you imagine a future life in Brazil?

M: I dig Brazil! Amazingly beautiful!..but now Aalborg got amazingly beautiful! Let’s see! An otium in Friburgo could be lovely though!

Martin in your opinion what are the major pros and cons between Aalborg and Rio?

M: Rio has this all year round vacation feel to it! I love that!..and the nature is so stunning. Flavia’s family is the best thing about Rio though! Such a great bunch of good hearts! That’s hard to find! The traffic though makes me pass out all the time! I don’t dig stress! Aalborg is improving a lot! The city develops in a great way! More culture, more cool bands! I like when people don’t just flee to Copenhagen, but stay trying to make this place greater and cooler!

Martin why is Aalborg able to remain at the title as rock city no. 1 in Denmark?

M: Didn’t know it was?

Passions besides music?

M: Flavinha, kiddo, collecting space age stuff!
F: Martin, good books and good films.

You are both creative and positive people, is there a limit to making dreams come true?

M: No!

F: I prefer thinking there are no limits as long as you have dreams!

What are your dreams for the future?

M: A good life!

F: A happy life with Martin and a lot of inspiration for making more and better Courettes songs.

Biggest regret in life up until now?

F & M: Not listening to universe signs.

Why are you two a good match as a couple?

M: Love!

F: Love!

Why are you a good match playing together in the band?

M: Love!
F: Love and musical affinities!

Do you believe in destiny?

M: Now I do!
F: Totally, no doubt about it.

Craziest place either of you have ever played?

M: Dont remember the name. It’s in Germany. on top of a hill. That’s always so crazy there! Love that venue!
F: Lanzarote Island, in the Canarian Islands, Spain. I played there with Autoramas. The stage was nearby an active vulcano and the whole place looks like moon’s surface!

Most beautiful place you have ever seen?

M: The tour van in Brazil. Shit o’ clock in the morning. February 2013. There she was! Wow! Blew my mind!

F: Rio, my hometown.

Best food ever eaten?

M: Brigadeiros!
F: Brigadeiros!

Fave beer?

M: Not a fan of fancy, expensive beers. Give me an Astra or Stella Artois… That’ll do!
F: Jeg elsker alle øl!

 

If you were standing in Aalborg Tårnet right now, looking over the city what would you shout out to the people?

M: Peace!
F: Follow your heart!

What records do you listen to right now?

M: A lot of Girls In the Garage!
F: Headcoatees, Shangri-las, Delmonas, Ronettes and obscure girl bands.

All time fave records?

M: Here are The Sonics
F: Stones’ Between the Buttons, Beatles’ Revolver, Kinks’ Something else by the Kinks, Mutantes’ Mutantes.

Do you ever listen to something completely different than rock music?

M: We like sunday mornings with the Man In Black!
F: Some old Bessie Smith blues but blues is rock music to me.

Fave book?

M: L’utopie du tout plastique
F: Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

When is a day a good day and when is a day a bad day?

M: A good day is waking up. A bad day is the opposite!

F: It’s all in your mind, if you want a good day, you’ll have a good day. If you want a bad day, that’s what you gonna get, even if you are in the most amazing place.

Worst trouble you’ve ever made?

M: Cant remember!
F: I only make trouble when I’m too drunk, so the memories are a little foggy.

Do you manage to make life fun as it was meant to be?

M: Send more cash!
F: Really can’t say my life isn’t fun! It’s a privilege to work with what I love the most, and I’m so thankful for that.

What’s the meaning with life?

M: Reproducing! Socrates go home!
F: The meaning of life is the meaning you give to life: mine is love and music.

Have you ever lost faith in someone or something?

M: Yes!
F: Unfortunately, yes.

What does faith mean to you?

M: Not losing it!

F: Knowing it’s gonna be alright. So have faith in your intuition and keep a positive attitude towards people and life.

Are you sensitive if yes, how?..if, not why? 

M: Yes! I get less sensitive after morning coffee!
F: Yes! I think it’s a part of being an artist, things reach you in a more intense way. You cry more, you sense people’s mood, you perceive little details…some times it’s great, sometimes it’s a little embarassing.

If you had to write a short poetic verse that talks about love, how would that go?

M: The fab’ four wrote it very well.
F: Love is all you need!..but I guess someone wrote that before.

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Pay your dues to The Courettes here and follow their sounds here

This fine couple is currently planning a full tour once the album is out but before that you can catch them at the following venues:

May 23rd – Beat Circus Festival – Copenhagen, DK
July 2nd & 3rd – Nibe Festival – Nibe, DK
July 25th – Weirdsville – London, UK

..and a splendid review after their show at the Spot Festival:

Gaffa (original review in Danish)

A brief translation:

* * * * Gaffa
“Under the clattering and dirty garage surface one could hear that The Courettes have full control of the anatomy of a good popsong”.
“The band has a refreshing live energy and eccentric entertainment value that immediately position them as one of the most promising new Danish live bands.”
“The style was so stark naked, the couple almost got the two-man band The Black Keys sound like a polished, radio-friendly and calculated pop rock band. The Courettes played raw, minimalistic and energetic rock’n’roll that woke nostalgic memories of the 1960s garagerock protopunkbands like The Kinks, The Shadows of Knight and The Sonics, as well as 2000’s undisputed garage rock ambassadors, The White Stripes.”
“All of the concert songs were delivered with a noticeable energy that obviously rubbed off on the dancing audience.”