Gui Boratto: “I Was the Ugly Duckling of Techno”

Gui Boratto's music varies greatly, from colorful songs like "Beautiful Life" to dark techno bangers like "The Drill," but his music always maintains a distinctly Borattique pre-occupation with melody. He''s not interested in your standard techno affair – The story and emotion are key, but as manifested through melody.

Next week, Gui Boratto is releasing his new album Abaporu on the German Kompakt label. According to the Brazilian producer, it's his best album yet. THUMP caught up with Boratto to talk architecture, math, the difference between DJs and producers, and his transformation from the ugly duckling of the techno scene to the beautiful swan of emo house.

THUMP: You started your music career playing in local bands. How did you get into electronic music?
Gui Boratto: I started playing the guitar and piano when I was about eight or nine years old. Around the time that I turned fourteen, I got bored with standard rock. I started listening to bands that flirted with synths, and took that up as well. Because I knew how to play the piano, I was already used to the keys. It wasn't hard to add some synths and samples to the music I played with my band. As time went by, I got into electronic music more and more, so it was a natural process. It's not like there was a specific moment where I decided that I wanted to make techno. I'm not really a techno producer anyway. I kind of hover between different subgenres. Sometimes I'm more industrial and techno, other times I'm more house or even progressive.

So you're a jack-of-all-trades. You also have a degree in architecture and city planning. How did that influence you as a musician?
All my friends at university were in bands or made music. Music and architecture are very similar. Both deal with spaces, structure and rhythm. It's just a different way of expressing art. Music was my first passion, and architecture my second. In Brazil, it's difficult to turn making music into a career. That is why I had architecture as a back-up plan, and why I worked in the city office for two years. But I was already doing jingles and music for ads by that time, and producing for my band. In the end, I chose my biggest passion: music.

Now I have a different dream: I want to build a house from scratch. But for me, those two fields are really one. I like drawing things and I like making music. Music and architecture are very similar. It's all math. Math can be very poetic and very beautiful. And music is made up of numbers too. That's the connection.

Your third album was a lot darker than your earlier stuff, but Abaporu sounds much happier again. Would you agree and is there a reason why III was darker than the rest?
My third album was my rock-and-roll period. I wasn't very happy when I made that. But I like different moods. The nice thing about making an album is that you can cover different emotions. You can try out alternatives, play with different elements. You can go to the beach, the forest, the river –all in a single hour. When you're making a single, you only have a few minutes to get your message across. My third album is my personal favorite, because it is a lot more complex than Chromophobia or Take My Breath Away. In terms of the composition, and also when it comes to technique and production, it might be my most complete album. I know that it's dark and introspective, but it is also very powerful. That happened very naturally, but it wouldn't have worked if that had been my first album. That's because I already had a lot of fans when it came out, which allowed people to see that side of Gui. It took me seven years to get back into the same mood that I was in in 2006, when I did Chromophobia. That album was a lot easier to make, but it also sounded very naive.

"​I think Abaporu is my best album. " - Gui Boratto

Why?
I was kind of the ugly duckling of the techno scene at the time, that's why it sounded different. I wasn't spinning in clubs, I wasn't doing anything. I was a studio geek, a nerd that wasn't part of the club scene at all. Though maybe that was actually what set me apart from the rest, and what people responded to. My music has evolved over time, and III came out in 2011. It's a strange album because it is dark, but also full of energy. It would have made more sense if Chanel had chosen a track by Avicii or David Guetta for their catwalk, but they chose music from my album instead.

You can listen to all my albums at different times of the day and in different settings. That's why I really enjoy playing at indie or pop festivals, where you're not just sharing the stage with other DJs but also with rock and pop acts. It's great to have a mixed fan base and a mixed album. I like it when an album is creative, when a producer tries different structures, different compositions that can make you happy or sad. Not boring techno, I don't like that.

Can you tell us why you named your album Abaporu? That's a reference to a Tarsila do Amaral painting, right?
Abaporu means 'the man that eats human flesh' –so cannibalism, essentially. In my case, it's not so much about cannibalism as it is about devouring different influences. Just like Tarsila referenced different European influences that helped develop her concepts 90 years ago. I was also collecting influences and impressions, because I was travelling so much and listening to music from all over the world. That's why I called it Abaporu.

At the same time it was a great opportunity to pay homage to one of our most important artists. The cover photo is a wink to Tarsila too. It's an updated version of the original Abaporu from my point of view. You know, we're always collecting influences. When you travel to a different country and see different things, it changes the way you see the world and yourself.

Are there specific elements of your own culture that you use in your music?
We have so many different music genres in Brazil. In the north, people mostly listen to carnival music, in the south they're into electronic music, and in the middle it's all about country. And we also have a history of bossa nova, which is my favorite, and probably the most influential genre in Brazilian music and culture. But there are also influences from the eighties in my music. Get The Party Started was inspired by the band Imagination.

Your biggest hit Beautiful Life had vocals. How important are vocals for you?
Vocals can, like every other instrument, make or break a melody. The melody is more important than the lyrics to me, because the melody has the power to make you happy or sad for no specific reason, just because of the notes. People like vocals, but it's not a must for me. Normally I only do one or two tracks with vocals per album. But I think that because of my pop background, even my instrumental tracks have the structure of a pop song.

Do you think your new album is going to be as big as Chromophobia?
I think Abaporu is my best album. Michael Mayer told me that the other day as well. It all fits together: the cover, the content. I think it's going to do just fine. I poured so much love into it. People feel that, when there's a lot of love in something, when you're sincere and don't try to imitate others.

Abaporu comes out September 29th via Kompakt. Pre-order on iTunes