’89 domande a The Legendary Tigerman – Musician

Name? Paulo Furtado (@thelegendarytigerman).

What’s your job? I have several jobs. I think the most accurate is artist. And reformed teenage rioter.

What did you study? Fine arts, painting.

What was your job before becoming a musician? Before I could just live out of art I was a promoter in a club and i programmed a Blues Festival.  When I was a kid i briefly was a dealer.

What would you have done if you had not done your job? I’d be in jail. There’s nothing else (that’s legal) that I feel I can do to relate with the world that art and music.

If you were a character of a movie which one would you be? Sailor Ripley.

If you could compose the best band in history, who would be in it? Iggy Pop, Poison Ivy, Booker T, Ziggy Modeliste. No bass player.

If you could compose the best band of today, who would be in it? Iggy Pop, Poison Ivy, Booker T, Russel Simins.

Do you think Hegel was right to put music as art at an higher level, or do you think the figurative arts, especially at an emotional level, are on the same level? I think that, on an emotional level, Theater and Cinema should be right there on the top.

Can you give us a definition of art? Art is what you do to give some meaning to your life.

Your favorite style icons? Eddie Sedgwick.

What is the most rock and roll anecdote you can tell us about your life? If it wasn’t for Rock’n’Roll I’d be in jail. It’s funny cause it’s true.

If you could speak in world vision for 15 minutes what would you say? I wouldn’t speak, I’d play a song, or dj a few songs that I think that everyone should listen to.

What songs? Los Zafiros – Y Sabes bien; The Trashmen – Surfin’ Bird; Pj Harvey – Pocket Knife.

Do you think exist an objective aesthetic value or you think aesthetic value is just subjective? Everything is subjective.

If you could have a super power what would you choose? The power to shut up assholes by gluing their lips every times I blink my eyes.

When, in your opinion, can you define a person as an artist? When they devote their lives to their art.

Do you think that the relationship between art and drugs is just a cliché? No. But I don’t believe that artists need drugs to make good art.

Do you think success changed you as persons? Fortunately, I’m changing and learning with everything I experienced in life. So yeah, I think it did, I think it made me a more humble and down to earth person.

What is the song you are most attached to? Why? Freight Train by Elizabeth Cotten. It’s one of the most beautiful songs ever, It touches me so much. I don’t really know why, maybe it’s the mix of fragility and unusual guitar technique.

The craziest thing you’ve seen at one of your concert? I can’t tell, it’s too embarrassing. But it kinda involves a part of my body and someone’s mouth.

Do you think that only the art market define what can be considered art and what cannot? Of course not. Art is like beauty. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

What do you think about Banksy’s experiment to sell his works on the streets for cheap? Do you think that the value of a work, in the eye of an observer, is given from the context in which it was seen? I think that Banksy can do whatever he wants, these days. I think that most street artists would love to have is market value.

Do you have any political orientation? I’m Lefty.

What do you like the most about Italy? Asia (Argento n.d.r). And Pizza. And Celentano, Fellini, Pasolini, Sophia Loren. The list is enormous.

And what you don’t like? Not sure about that. I’ll spend next week in Rome, I hope I don’t find out the answer for this one.

What’s your favorite city here? Rome.

What is the night you spent the most money to have fun? Vegas.

Do you remember approximately how much you spent? Nope. If you remember Vegas it’s not a good sign.

What’s your favorite artist? Living? Jenny Beth. Tav Falco. Iggy. The Black Lips.

What’s your favorite show business character? Humm…

If you could live in one historical era, which one would you choose? 5 years in the future.

If you could spend a day with an historical figure who would you choose? Elizabeth Cotten.

Who are the people that inspired you the most? I’ll write the first 10 that come to my mind: David Lynch, Kubrick, Mancini, Jarmusch, Morricone, Welles, The Cramps, Robert Frank, Araki, R.L. Burnside.

If you can choose a famous person for a night, who would it be? We can just talk, right? Abel Ferrara or Christopher Walken.

And for a relationship? Uma (Thurman n.d.r).

What’s your best song in your opinion? No idea. My next one, hopefully.

And he most appreciated one? Motorcycle Boy, maybe? Dunno.

Can you tell us a song that you would have liked to write? Lights Out by Sean Riley and the Slowriders.

Where have you been on vacation when you were young? In a really cool place called Praia Grande. It’s still my favorite place to be.

Where are you going on vacation now? Anywhere.

Do you think it would be correct to create a place where man can live in the state of nature, making him free from a choice of social belonging that is instead taken for granted? Can we be naked, too?

What’s the topic you are most expert in? Humm… not sure. I think I’m really good at connecting emotionally to art and music. Artistic Emotions? I’m also good at connecting unrelated things and people. ahaha

Have you ever been in love? Yes, of course.

Have you ever had a homosexual experience? No, not until now.

Where do you live? Lisboa.

Which neighbourhood? The best. 😉

Where are you from? Mozambique.

Other cities where you’ve been living and how long? Coimbra, a long time. Also several months periods in Paris. 

Wich languages do you speak? English, French, a bit of Spanish.

Wich are your favorite places in your city? I love the whole city, Lisboa is amazing. I love the lifestyle, the human dimension of it, cosmopolitan but still cosy. I love that it’s a portal between Africa, Europe and the Americas. I love the night life, and I also love that it is so close to some of the most cool beaches in Europe.

Right now you are working with Gus Van Sant on his theatrical project about Andy Warhol, which of his films is your favorite? Drugstore Cowboy.

Favorite movies? Freaks by Todd Browning. Mauvais Sang by Leos Carax. Wild at Heart by David Lynch. Down By Law, Dead Man, Ghost Dog, Mistery Train, by Jim Jarmusch. The State of Things and Paris, Texas by Wim Wenders. Amarcord, Roma, by Fellini. Reservoir Dogs by Quentin Tarantino. Brasil by Terry Gilliam. Easy Rider by Dennis Hopper. And soooo many more.

Favorite directors? Jim Jarmusch, and some of the above.

Favorite songs? Freight Train, of course; Y sabes bien – Los Zafiros; Toxic – Britney Spears; Lust for Life – Iggy Pop; Garbage Man – The Cramps; Zé Maluco – Halloween; Gangsta – Schoolboy Q; People´s Faces – Kate Tempest; Touch the Leather –  Fat White Family; Whatever happened to my Rock´n´Roll – BRMC; Pocket Knife – PJ Harvey; Nightcall – Kavinski; Bury a friend –  Billie Eilish; From Her to Eternity – Nick Cave; By the sea – Keep Razors Sharp.

Favorite books? Tristessa by Kerouac; Hell´s Angels, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Rum Diary by Hunter Thompson; Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll; Civil Disobedience & Walden by Henry David Thoreau; People Look like flowers at Last, Women, Factotum by Charles Bukowski; Livro do Desassossego by Fernando Pessoa; American Psycho by  Bret Easton Ellis; Silk by Alessandro Baricco. And soo many more.

Favorite artworks? I really can´t choose… I love Pollock, Warhol, Paula Rego, Amadeu de Sousa Cardoso, Julião Sarmento,  Francis Bacon, Jasper Johns, Vihls, Wasted Rita, and soo many others.

If you can choose 5 celebrities to have party with who they would be? I´ll choose between alive and dead: Denis Hopper, Edie Sedgwick, Nico, Scarlet Johansonn, Joaquin Phoenix.

Do you feel envy for anyone? If so, for whom? Honestly, I don’t. I feel happy for my friends that live happy lives, I don’t give a fuck about people that I don’t like or relate to and I admire talented people that have successful careers. And it all inspires me, so…

The material good you most desire and envy? A MOOG System 55.

The quality you would like to have and don’t have? Perfect ear.

If you had the possibility to remove social networks from the world, would you delete them? Sure, why not?

What about globalisation? Not sure.

The craziest experience you’ve ever had? I’ve had a few. I won’t tell exactly what happened, but it involved sex in a public restroom, someone pointing a gun to my head, a basement in Spain and some other stuff that’s illegal.

What do you think about influencers? Who? 

Do you consider yourself an influencer? What?

How the advent of the smartphones and socials media affected the job of musicians? Do you think that today a musician have to be also an instagrammer? I think it’s the same as it is for our personal lives, there’s good and bad stuff. I don’t think you need to be an instagrammer or even have social media, there are a thousand possible ways to be an artist these days.

What’s your favorite historical character? Frankenstein.

Can you define yourself with an adjective? (un)Focused. And all that lives in between.

What’s the best band right now in your opinion? There’s no best band ever.

Favorite TV series? A few. Of all times, I guess Twin Peaks, the original.

If you were an animal which one would you like to be? A tiger. A weird one. 

Have you ever had sex with more than one person? Yes.

What is the weirdest place you have sex? There’s a funny one about that in a Portuguese Tv show.

How many partners have you had approximately? No idea, I think it would be really weird to count that.

What time do you usually go to sleep? Early. 

What time do you usually wake up? Early.

What’s your favorite city in the world? Lisboa.

Do you believe in some religions? No.

What’s the first thing you would do if you win the lottery? I don’t play, so i wouldn’t win.

Do you have some phobias? I´ll not write them here, there´s a lot of crazy people out there.

Favorite fashion brand? Casa Tigre (@_casa_tigre_).

How important is it for you to be rich from 1 to 10? Not very important.

And fame? Not very important.

How important are fame and money to impress a partner? Not very important.

And what about beauty? A bit important, sometimes.

And intelligence? Very important.

The smartest person you know? No idea.

Do you consider yourself smart? Sure.

The most precious material thing you own? My modular synths.

What do you usually drink at the bar? It really depends of the place, mood, hour, whom I’m with, what’s my plan for the night. Bu I can say that I don’t like sweet drinks.

An advice you can give to someone that want to do your job? Work, work, work. Have fun. Respect yourself and your art. And work.

Best party you’ve been to? Can’t remember it, but it was amazing.

Do you know someone being a real racist? I think I do, unfortunately.

Do you think that if people couldn’t post on Instagram about it, they would take part as well to social movements? I think that what really makes a difference is to EXIST and ACT in the real world. All the rest might help, but it’s just not enough.

What do you think about the existence of royal rulers for birthright?I think it’s medieval and that it really should stop.

What drugs have you done? That’s none of your bussiness.

If so which one is your favorite? No favorite.

And which one you use more often? Omeprazol.

Are you in favour of the liberalisation of soft drugs? Sure, why not?

And hard drugs? Hummm. Maybe not. But again it’s a question when many different angles.

What’s your best talent? I´m a good friend.

What are the clothes you can’t stand to see on a man and on a woman? I hate seeing musicians on stage wearing shorts. 

What’s the item of clothing you spent the most money on? Maybe my Schott Perfecto jacket.

Can you tell us a number from 1 to 89? 16.

Favorite restaurant and bar in the city where you live? 100 Maneiras Bistro, and about bars 49, Club, Musicbox.

Your ideal holiday? It can be very different, depending on how tired I am.  But normally, I love roadtrips. I do a lot of holidays just driving around, I’ve done that many times. It really relaxes me.

Best place you’ve ever played? CBGB´s. The Fillmore in San Francisco. Fuji Fest. Coliseu de Lisboa. Paredes de Coura.

One you would like to play in? Berghain.

Do you remember the first record you ever bought? The first conscious buy, The Sonics. Boom.

Can you give us a list of 5 famous people you would want in the audience at one of your concerts if you could choose? Not famous people, but people whose work I like. Any 5 of the many mentioned in above questions.

Do you think culture is a good thing for an individual or do you think that in some of its declinations it makes man lose his purity? Culture or knowledge, that can never be a problem for an artist, in my opinion. You always have the last call.

How your songs born? Do you follow any particular process when you compose?  I don’t follow any particular process. Sometimes a song just appears out of nowhere, like if it’s just a thought waiting to be thought, other times I can decide to write about something specific. It can be a guitar riff, or a word, or a sound, or just a texture that really triggers me.

If you could choose someone to follow you on Instagram who would you choose? I wouldn’t choose, it’s all good.

Do you have some regrets about things you wanted to do but you didn’t do? If so which ones? Not really.

Do you have some remorses for something you did but you should have done differently? If so which ones? Most remorses I have are personal. I could regret accepting one or two jobs that were really well paid for but really uninteresting, but I don’t, cause it made me realize very soon that money does not pay for everything and that the most important thing is to keep your art safe.

Do you have some dreams that you are trying to realize? If so which ones? Yeah, there’s cool people that I would to work with. A lot of the above mentioned.

If you could choose whose interview would you like to read? Maxime Chanet (@maxime_chanet).