Columbus Alive (USA) October 22, 2007: Columbus, Ohio Smashing borders The examples of world music that make it to our shores are usually heavy on the indigenous sounds of the band's home country. Sao Paulo, Brazil's indie-rock quartet Diafanes aren't without the clitter-clat of a flamenco beat, but the five-year-old band counts Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Garbage and prog-rock legends King Crimson as its strongest influences. On a sampling of songs from Diafanes' See Through, released in the U.S. in 2005, the sometimes haunting little-girl leads of founder and vocalist Lorena Hollander stand up surprisingly well to the wail and moan from guitarist Ciro Visconti. Visconti also adds Theremin to the collection of unique instruments building the sound, such as snuj (finger cymbals), derbake drum and castinets. It's an unusual combination, both radio-friendly and experimental, at once reminiscent of the band's easily recognizable influences and a thing unto itself. What: Diafanes - When: Friday, July 6 - Where: High Five, Short North - Web: myspace.com/diafanes Along with Diafanes' own music, you may hear a cover of one of its idols when the band plays an early show at High Five, part of its U.S. summer tour. —Melissa Starker Obliveon Magazine (Germany) Diafanes consider themselves artists, who feel constrained to quality, what doesn't exclude musical success. And it's shown already in the debut, since "See Through" was already published on 17.09.2005 in the US together with 2 singles 'Love Me' and 'Inside Me', from which the first was already shown already in 2004 on the Brazilian MTV. Even if success is programmable, one has to put some after of course. Besides two additional singles, the new songs "Unity" and "High Heels", the new album is already in the making, which should be called "Obviously Clear" and is to be expected still this year. Furthermore there will be a video clip for the single "Unity". The music of "Diafanes" is quite alternative and experimental, what is due to the various musical influences like Soundgarden, Queen, Pink Floyd or Smashing Pumpkins – quite much rock with a touch of gothic - of the band members. Elements like flamenco not only mix up, but also put – I refer especially to "Inside me", which I consider the highlight of the album – an additional component to the general impression, which causes the necessary diversion and variety. The experimental side is caused by interesting tunes and effects, which are blended in harmonic structures. Musically, it seems "See through" is very detailed, but not exhausting or overloaded. Because of the class of the musicians "See Trough" is a compact and complex experience, of which the 13 tracks are dominated by Lorena Hollander, who is either bewitching with a soft voice, or acting like a siren. Her singing surely takes getting used to, but is a good contract to other known gothic singers. Considered that the band produced the album by themselves, one has to compliment the good result. The sound is transparent, the bass adequate and the instruments can be nicely separated and recognized. For this debut I can attest a strong presentation, which I give 8 points and an editorial pick. MTV Website (Brazil) Diafanes, band from São Paulo founded in 2002, aims to make rock with much artistic engagement. The band assumes the experimentalism and uses instruments such as snujs, castanets and theremin. The lyrics, all in english, are about the human condition in their social and personal aspects. For the ones who don't know, snujs are instruments inventes over 3000 years ago. They are two small metal cymbals, used for percussive effects, as the castanets. They are tied to the fingertips and can be used together with the belly dance, for instance. Now, the theremin is the grandpa of synthetizers. Invented in 1919, its made of a box and two antenas and produces sounds by frequency oscillations, as the musician moves his or her hands. In the beginning of 2003, Diafanes composed the soundtrack of the dance presentation "Sequences", by Laura Hallasz, presented in Berlin. The result of this project was the single "Love in/Wilt", that mixes the peculiar vocal tone, melodic bass lines and heavy guitars and drums. Their second demo recorded in 2003, includes the single, three unreleased songs and a version of Chico Buarque's "Deus lhe pague". In this record, the band's experimental side is more evident with some unusual musical structures, timbers and unexpected effects. These elements are brought about by the great diversity of influences of the members, reaching from Smashing Pumpkins, Veruca Salt, Soundgarden and Radiohead to classic bands such as Queen and Pink Floyd. Diafanes, that in greek means transparent, is formed by Lorena Hollander, Ciro Visconti, Pietro Bergamo and Rafael Tortola. Lorena is a musician and a plastic artist. Learned to play influenced by the 90's bands. In Diafanes she plays guitar, snujs, castanets, sings and is the main composer. Ciro Visconti, who plays theremin and guitar, is also a member of the bands Duna, Deep Purple Cover and the Quattuor guitar quartet. Is a teacher at the Souza Lima music school and conducts the guitar orchestra of Latin America. Pietro Bergamo (bass and backing vocals) played with blues guitarist Nuno Mindelis in 1990-91. Has played in several bands with Ciro Visconti, including Duna, Deep Purple Cover and Corsário. Rafael Tortola is a drummer since he was 13. Studied at the Souza Lima music school and plays with the bands The Giant and Ravennah. Discography: Love in/Wilt (single, independent, 2003) Demo CD (independent, 2003) Demo CD: Live at CCSP (independent, 2003) Email: diafanes@diafanes.com.br Site: www.diafanes.com.br Playboy Magazine (Brazil) Album review written by Thales de Menezes for the collumn: The new sound of Playboy Created in 2002 by guitarist/vocalist Lorena Hollander and drummer Rafael Tortola, the quartet from Sao Paulo follows the style of Smashing Pumpkins: climatic rock, leaded by the vocalists delicate voice. The first cd, Diafanes, impresses. Modern Drummer Magazine (Brazil) Diafanes is a new voice in the Brazilian Alternative Rock scene. Lyrics in English and a mix of a female pop vocal, very well interpreted by Lorena Hollander, with heavy guitars. See Through is a heavy album with room for experiments. Mundorock.net website (Brazil) Review in the Mundorock.net website about the band’s show on May 24, 2003, at the Dinossauros Rock Bar. The alternative rock band Diafanes has made another show to promote their single Love in/Wilt, which is among the top 25 of MP3.com for some weeks. With a set list made basicly by their own songs, the group dared to play at the Dinossauros, a bar in São Paulo that, as the name suggests, is known by having Rock’n’roll classics, and play together with Rocktopus, well known in São Paulo and that fits well in the bar’s style. Surprisingly the band was a success. The heavy, melodic and original sound hooked even the waiters. The band is formed by Lorena Hollander (vocal/guitar/composer and band founder), Ciro Visconti (guitar), Pietro Bergamo (bass) and Rafael Tortola (drums). Besides the hits like “Wilt”, “Love in” and “Open your eyes”, the band presented versions of “Shout”, by Tears for Fears, and “Deus lhe pague”, by Chico Buarque, being this last one really special. Apart all this, the great surprise of the evening was the new song “Shrub”, which has some oriental taste and a fantastic feature of the singer Lorena playing snuj, an arab percussion instrument similar to the castanets. With heavy guitars and a high pitched voice, somewhat heavenly, the band is now present in the alternative rock scene, highlighted by their originality, lyrics and visual effects. It is said that their site has hidden links! With all this, one can say that Diafanes came to being to make history in the rock scenary. This is what we shall see with thier first album, to be ready in the second semester of 2003...See through! IndependentsOnly.com (USA) Review of the album "See Through" Monk's Picks Inside Me Love In Ecosystem Equilibrium "See Through" is a series of complex layers of sound, laid together and organized brilliantly. The guitars chime an evocative, classical metal sound while vocalist Lorena pipes in with a soft, gentle voice. It's a great combination. Diafanes music is a cosmic rock, hard to compare to anyone, highly contagious. From the radio friendly grunge of "Love In" to the otherworldly Dead Can Dance meets Rush style of "Inside Me", these São Paulo natives could be the band you're soon telling everyone about. R.I.Y.L.: Rush meets Dead Can Dance Lady Killers, female vocal rock website (Brazil) Band from São Paulo that does a very careful alternative rock. The band is together for a short time now, but already shows a lot of quality. Keep your eyes on them. SpaceCadetz.com, the best of myspace (USA) One of the most promising indie alternative rock bands from Brazil would have to be Diafanes, a four-person group founded by vocalist Lorena Hollander in 2002. It’s really hard to label Diafanes as ‘alternative’ because their sound really defies traditional notions of alt rock. Melodies are a complex mix of guitar, bass, and unusual instruments like the castanet, derbake, and soon koto. Add the fact that vocalist Lorena is a coloratura soprano, which means she can reach the highest notes possible, and you have rock music unlike any other. The band has release one album so far called “See Through,” and the lyrics are all in English despite the Diafanes’ Brazilian roots. Check out the tracks “Love In” and “Inside Me” for a sample of what Diafanes is all about. Both can be downloaded on their MySpace page. Visit www.Diafanes.com for more info. Contrasurco website (Galicia) Alternative rock from Brazil To keep our militance on the most absolute underground, Contrasurco presents a series of bands that work around the world and that would seldom have access to the traditional information channels. And to begin with we shall make another militance, of our lusitan bonds, to present Diafanes. This is a brasilian band that comes to us from one of the megalopolis of the world, São Paulo, which has a papulation that excedes in many time the population of Galicia. The group was formed in 2002 by Lorena Hollander – guitar/vocal, Ciro Visconti – guitar, Pietro Bergamo – bass, and Rafael Tortola – drums. In 2003 they recorded the single Love In / Wilt, which had some repercussion in Germany. Through this time they didn't stop working in Brazil. Nowadays they are working in their first full-length album, that will be released this year of 2004. Regarding their style we could define them as alternative rock, and they are always searching for original sounds and timbres. This comes from their more rocker influences (Smashing Pumpkins, Veruca Salt, Soundgarden, Radiohead, Pink Floyd,...) with ethnic sounds rom Brazil and other parts of the world. They stress the arab and flamenco influences, even using some instrumentes related to this. As an example of this ecliticism, in their set list are versions of Chico Buarque and Radiohead. You can check one of their songs in the radio-contra in the first two weeks of February. More informations in the website: http://www.diafanes.com.br. Playboy Magazine (Brazil) Lorena Hollander and Clemente Nascimento show you how to make your own home studio - May 2004 Make your studio at home It is already possible to buy all the gear necessary to record your bands cd at home with a good quality for less than a new cheap car. By Clemente For the ones who enjoy and play, few things can be compared to the emotion of plugging a Gibson Les Paul in a Marshall JCM 900, at top volume, in a huge studio. But... when this pleasure costs more than 180 reais (US$60) the hour, its a little bit different. The way things are going the big studios are, like dinossaurs, heading for extinction. Every day its getting easier and cheaper to record a demo or even a good CD at home. Its the democracy getting to the recording media. Your room can become a small studio. This is what cute Lorena Hollander, vocalist and guitarrist of Diafanes, did. Lorena has no Abbey Road between her bed and the chest of drawers. Much differently, many of her equipments are quite obsolete (like her Tascam M216 mixer and a Casio keyboard old enough not to have its model recognized). But they work very well. The truth is that with a PC, a good audio converter, a microphone and a handful of basic equipments you can produce a quality demo spending very little money, and having very much fun. Not to mention that all the gear will be always available and the maintenance costs are low. So that you don’t have to run around standing salesmen bullshit, Playboy put together some handy solutions to make your bedroom become a studio with the best cost possible. Its enough for you to record a cd and send it ready for a record company. Just don’t leave the wet towel over the guitar! What to buy with... If you already have a PC and a guitar at home, check how to spend your money: 4.7 thousand reais Reason 2.5, earphone (you can’t buy the speakers...), mixer, amplifier and two microphones. Its like a car without four-wheel drive in the mud. Its tough but it gets there. 6.8 thousand reais Add the Sound Forge and a multieffect. You’re hot! 10.1 thousand reais Buy it all. Now its just record your cd at home, print and register your genius scores. All with the same quality of Oasis! Mundorock.net website (Brazil) Review about the band’s show on May 24, 2003, at the Dinossauros Rock Bar. Photo and Text: Paula Witchert The alternative rock band Diafanes has made another show to promote their single Love in/Wilt, which is among the top 25 of MP3.com for some weeks. With a set list made basicly by their own songs, the group dared to play at the Dinossauros, a bar in São Paulo that, as the name suggests, is known by having Rock’n’roll classics, and play together with Rocktopus, well known in São Paulo and that fits well in the bar’s style. Surprisingly the band was a success. The heavy, melodic and original sound hooked even the waiters. The band is formed by Lorena Hollander (vocal/guitar/composer and band founder), Ciro Visconti (guitar), Pietro Bergamo (bass) and Rafael Tortola (drums). Besides the hits like “Wilt”, “Love in” and “Open your eyes”, the band presented versions of “Shout”, by Tears for Fears, and “Deus lhe pague”, by Chico Buarque, being this last one really special. Apart all this, the great surprise of the evening was the new song “Shrub”, which has some oriental taste and a fantastic feature of the singer Lorena playing snuj, an arab percussion instrument similar to the castanets. With heavy guitars and a high pitched voice, somewhat heavenly, the band is now present in the alternative rock scene, highlighted by their originality, lyrics and visual effects. It is said that their site has hidden links! With all this, one can say that Diafanes came to being to make history in the rock scenary. This is what we shall see with thier first album, to be ready in the second semester of 2003...See through! Rabisco Magazine (Brazil) Interview with Lorena Hollander and Ciro Visconti by Luiz Pattoli, for the online pop culture magazine Rabisco – June 2003 Diafanes – São Paulo / since 2002 Rabisco: What does Diafanes mean? Lorena: Diafanes, in greek, means transparent. That is, something you see through. The idea for the name came from one of our songs, “See-thru” (which also means transparent, but in english), in a chat I had with Ciro in the Internet, now the band’s guitarist. The name represents well the band because our goal is, apart from making rock with much artistic engagement, to make things clearer, more transparent so that all could see deeper or even through. Rabisco: How did you meet? Lorena: I met Ciro and Rafael in the music school I study in. Pietro I knew through Ciro. They’ve been playing together for a long time. Rabisco: And what does each one of you do besides the band? Lorena: We all have music as our main professional activity. Ciro, Pietro and Rafael are in music college and play in other bands. Ciro and Pietro are also music teachers. I am also a plastic artist. I’m exhibiting my works at the Pinacoteca de São Caetano until the end of June. Rabisco: How do you define the sound you make? Lorena: It’s always hard to define your own sound, but Diafanes is basicly the mixture of heavy guitars and drums with melodic bass lines and my high pitched voice, together with a strong dose of experimentalism. Rabisco: Do you wish to become part of a major record company’s roster? Why? Lorena: I don’t care much to sign a contract with a big record company. But of course we will consider it if such opportunity occurs. Obviously a contract like this would give the band a new dimension. It would easily reach a great public, which is a lot more difficult when you are an independent band. But this is not our goal. If we have to keep on running after shows, promoting and investing in the band’s album, that’s no problem. We will have the same dedication we’ve always had and our sound won’t change because of the perspectives of a contract. Rabisco: Tell us a little about how you manage to make concerts. Lorena: We all have experience with other bands and in this way we have our contacts in many different places. Ciro: What helps us a lot when we play somewhere and cause a good impression, this ends up in invitations to play in other places. Rabisco: What do you think about MP3 file exchange through the Internet? Lorena: As a promotion, the MP3 file exchange is very useful. It is very important for any band to have at least two MP3s in the internet, because after all no one is going to buy your CD or go to your show withou knowing some songs. Ciro: This is an outstanding revolution because the public can get directly in touch with the artist with no intermediary. Minimal Devotion Magazine (Brazil) In January 2006 Lorena Hollander was interviewed and photographed by Porao for the Brazilian magazine Minimal Devotion. MD - I think we can say Diafanes sound is very complex - even a bit progressive - how would you define Diafanes music? Lorena - It's hard to define Diafanes sound cause we mix different sonorities, use lots of guitar and bass effects, play unusual instruments (snujs, castanets, theremin, derbake and soon koto) and we always try to make different and complex arrangements. I usually say it's "alternative rock" cause to me it means to have your own style, to have an unique sound, and that's exactly our goal. MD - The band already existed or did you form the band? Lorena - I formed the band cause I had lots of ideas and songs. I invited Rafael and 6 months later I invited Ciro an Pietro to join the band. Pietro and Ciro had already played together for a long time. We all met at the conservatory I used to study. MD - Your reach very high notes! Which singers do you admire? Do you have any male influences? Lorena - Yeah, I'm coloratura soprano, which is the voice that reaches the highests notes. I enjoy different kinds of music therefore I admire singers like Maria Callas, Shirley Manson (Garbage), Kate Pierson (B-52's), Nina Gordon (ex-Veruca Salt), Elis Regina, Natasha Atlas, etc. Of male singers I really like Thom Yorke, and actually, I think that of all the artists I mentioned he's the one I indentify the most vocally. But it's hard to say if those artists are an influence to me or not. I try to take the most advantage of my voice without attaching myself to exterior factors. I like to write high-pitched melodies cause I think it's really interesting when my voice is the highest line in a song, I see the voice as another instrument in the band. I think that the main line (which in the band is my voice) sounds really good when it's the highest line cause it stays, for that reason, more exposed. I think Radiohead takes advantage of that too. MD - What have you been listening lately? What albums are important to you? Lorena - Lately I've been listening a lot to Garbage's new CD "Bleed like me", "Infinito de P" from Andr Abujamra and "Hail to the Thief" from Radiohead. All Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Garbage and Karnak albums are important to me, it's hard to choose just 1 album from each one of these bands. MD - You did the artwork and took the pictures of See Through's booklet and the quality is really good. Do you work with that too? Which artists do you like? Lorena - I come from a family of artists, I've been working with plastic arts for a while. Besides music my main occupation is to paint, I already participated of some exhibitions in the state of Sao Paulo. Photography is also a passion of mine and to choose the pictures for the booklet was really hard cause I have tons! "Diafanes" means transparent in Greek and because it refers to a visual idea I took lots of pictures and related them to my lyrics. Lately I've been enjoying the work of different artists in the internet on websites like Deviantart and Minimal Devotion, of course. MD - The guitarist Ciro Visconti is a virtuoso and even the local Guitar Player interviewed him. Can you talk about Diafanes musicians? What do they like to listen and play? Lorena - Ciro is an excellent guitarist and was always recognized because of that, in fact he just signed an exclusive endorsement deal with a guitar cable company here in Brazil called Santo Angelo. He majored in music and already played in lots of different bands and projects like Quattour, a guitar quartet who only played classical music and today he has a similar project being the conductor of Souza Lima's Guitar Orchestra. Pietro studies music in an university and he likes Yes, ELP, among other progressive bands. Rafael teaches drums and likes heavier bands. MD - Do you play covers in your shows? Lorena - Sometimes we play covers from bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead and we already made an arrangement for a Chico Buarque song. MD - Tell me about your lyrics, what inspires you? Lorena - Through the lyrics I express my ideas, feelings, thoughts and indignations. Anything can be an inspiration: the social injustices, wars, relationships, the lack of care with nature, etc. MD - What do you think about posing for Minimal Devotion? Have you done something similar before? Lorena - I think it's going to be cool, Minimal's approach is very sensual but at the same time very artistic, so I think it's going to be interesting. I've been photographed by some magazines before but not like this. MD - Do you want to leave a message to Minimal's readers? Lorena - I would like to invite everyone to listen to our music in our website: www.diafanes.com and ask everyone to get more involved. In order to make the independent scene grow the artists need more support from the listeners, that are usually tired of listening what the major record companies impose. We are at a transition period under lots of aspects. We gotta have more attitude to preserve our culture and environment.