THE HISTORY
Naked Soul was born officially in 1994, in Cruz de Pau, Portugal, with the release of their first demo tape “The Powerful Sound Of Silence”
Kim, Marcos, Bao and Mao presented themselves with a funky- rock sound that slowly was changing to something much more connected to their musical preferences…
In 1996, with Kid, added as second guitar player, they released another demo tape, “Completely Lost”, much more powerful, much more aggressive, where all that funky was transformed into a powerful rage, a blend of so many different styles where you could see yourself listening to something that had the Faith No More “Epic” song flavor, mixed somehow to the groove of Rage Against the Machine “Killing in the name of “and all the power of Pantera's “This Love”!
These songs opened the door for national radio stations and magazines. The song “Wild Forces” was in the play list and a regular presence in the listener’s top preferences of Super FM (the best station at that time…). They were new, they were fresh, their songs were well structured, the lyrics were very political and they were completely different from everything that was being listened in Portugal!
With no surprises, they recorded in 1998, their debut album, called “Naked Soul” with the independent label “Nova Independência”. They hit the road, from north to south, they performed everywhere, sharing the stage with all kinds of bands, from local small clubs to more then recognized places, like for example Johnny Guitar, Paradise Garage (…such a crazy show!!!) or Hard Club. The crowd was theirs in every show, people followed the band, and the energy of live performances was amazing!
Some problems lead Nova Independência to an end, and with it, all the promises and dreams that were gradually being fulfilled had ended, and with it, the band lost exposure and strength, because they were only worried about playing and they were caught by surprise…
Even though, this record was an icon, above all, in the surrounding areas of Lisbon, Southside, Naked Soul was a reference for new bands, and this album was the proof that you could reach far, if you believe in your work!
So many years after, with some casual shows in between, in 2002, they gather the energy to fight back, and also add Mana to the samplers, and the demo CD ”Take Control” was here to say that they were still alive! A major label approached them to sign… but they had to sing in Portuguese… They refused! This is not what they were making and fighting for so long, that was not their music, so they get the deal to record their second record with Floyd Records, a small independent label, and Naked Soul were back in 2004!
In 2004 they released “Global Violation”, a great record, that had awesome reviews everywhere they talked about it (specially at garageband.com), and even their low budget video “Nobody Can Stop Your Body” was on the TV for a couple of weeks!
Feedback Magazine described this record like this: Naked Soul are probably the more experienced band in the Portuguese crossover universe. For about ten years, they had fight against the lack of support with perseverance, live shows and work. Global Violation is their second record and, looking around, I just cant find any other band in better shape and more focused on what they want, in this kind of fusion between styles like Hardcore, Metal and Nu-Metal. Global Violation stays somewhere between the irreverence and criticism of Rage Against The Machine and all the strength of Downset, but Naked Soul apply to it a very personal prescription which gives them a much stronger vocalization and a lyric reality more adapted to our own social-political situation (take special attention on the song Head Down) and even with ambient concerns (the name of the album says it all). Global Violation is active, strong, revolutionary and with few weak points and a very strong one: the song Barriers Grow, is, perhaps, the best song ever made and played by the band, and it has everything a crossover song must have: melody, balance, brutality and an un-common strength. (.) in general, Global Violation is a bomb ready to explode in the hand of who grabs it! The Portuguese musical scene needs a band like this!
This record opened new doors and exposed NS to a completely new public and generation. The band earned even more respect, with their solid and mad live performances, but they faced for the first time, deep changes in their line up… Mana left the band, and some months after, was Bao, which was there since the beginning, that decided to abandon the band due to personal reasons. However, this only gave them more strength! Great new songs were coming and so, Bruno entered to the samplers, and Marco Wolfgang was added to the Bass.
In June 2007, the band will release their promo CD called “…Justice?” with two great different songs, in order to give everybody a nice preview for what is going to come on their new album! The band will be recording during the summer of 2007 and they expect to have the record ready before 2008!
THE SONG JUSTICE WAS NOMINATED AS TRACK OF THE DAY IN 31TH MAY @ GARAGEBAND.COM
