Part of Small World Music Society's 18th Annual Small World Music Festival presented in association with Uma Nota Culture.

Born in Sao Paulo's abandoned industrial buildings, amongst a thriving electronica scene, Teto Preto is a unique, politically provocative force that Boiler Room has called "Brazil's most innovative band." Their audiovisual performance is a raucous and subversive party.

It can be hard to describe Teto Preto. On paper, they’re a five-piece who combine techno, jazz, house, and tropicália – a blend of Brazilian and African rhythms with psychedelia and colourful performance. But it’s better to see them, as they’re known in São Paulo, for their raucous, provocative performances.

Teto Preto member Loïc Koutana describes it best. While the name literally translates to "black ceiling," he says Teto Preto refers to a very specific feeling: "when you take a drug that’s too hard for you, and it feels like you’re about to fall [and] lose your mind."

We see what they mean when they perform 'Gasolina,' their most well-known song. Fronted by singer Laura Diaz and Koutana, who dances front of stage, Teto Preto melds electronic punk with queer-club-kid performance art. In one breakdown at Night Mass, Diaz removes her chained nipple tassels in an orgiastic release, and the crowd absolutely loses it.

'Gasolina' serves as a perfect introduction, too. It’s a sprawling near-eight minute track which establishes the club as a place of political resistance, pulsing with frustration at Brazil’s overbearing police presence and corruption: "Who eats of my flesh/and drinks from my blood?" Diaz sings. On-stage at Night Mass, steam surrounds Koutana as he struts and contorts his body at Diaz’s every scream and grunt. This is a group that feels what they perform, taking each snare like a gut punch.



With support from Toronto-based Brazilian producer Nego Mozambique.

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