Stereo Maracaña

Stereo Maracanã is a group of six musicians from Rio de Janeiro, over for a European tour, who have found a way of expressing their dreams and dissatisfaction with the power structures of an excluding society through music.

They chose their name Stereo Maracanã because of the mediums influence on the creation of the group (Stereo) and added the name of Brazil’s largest soccer stadium (Maracanã) as a reference to mass culture. Stereo Maracanã’s dream is to integrate the medium they represent into society, combining popular culture from hip-hop to funk and Capoeira with a sophisticated electronic multi-layered and solid groove.

They believe that through their musical work and a repertoire committed to fighting racial prejudice they can inspire their listeners to appreciate the day-to-day realities of people who are constantly struggling for the basic rights of food, work, decent housing, health and leisure. Stereo Maracanã describe themselves as a Rio de Janeiro rap group committed to musical experimentation. Their point of departure is combining drum machines with drills of hip-hop grooves, lots of percussion (playing mainly instruments used in the brazilian fighting dance “Capoeira”, like the Berimbau and the Atabaque) and poetry.

The Stereo Maracanã partnership with the Maianga Discos label resulted in the release of the group's first CD - Combatente. Recently, their song “Freestyle Love” was included in several compilations , like Mr Bongo’s “Brazilian Beats 5” , Wagram's french compliation "Brazilectro-Latin Flavoured Club Tubes", and the “Radio latina Brésil” compliation. In Brazil, Stereo Maracanã performed in big festivals like Abril Pro Rock( In Recife-Pernambuco) and Humaitá pra Peixe(Rio de Janeiro), and collaborated with several artists like the carioca funk queen Fernanda Abreu and Mr Catra.

Vocalist Pedro D-Lita, who writes the lyrics, and Mauricio Pacheco, musical producer and composer of melodies and soundtracks, are producing their second album mixing african rhythms with capoeira and hip hop, making a blend that provides the tenacity of organized soccer fans, joyously indignant, asking life for a better score.

The band is now producing the remix album "Alianças Rebeldes" (including collaborations with DJ Dolores, Marcelinho Da Lua, DJ G-rina from Tokyo and many others), due for release at the end of 2007. Stereo Maracanã is also recording "Mentalidade Safari", their second studio album.
Recently the band was selected to perform at the international trade show Popkomm, in Berlin, in september 2007.

This invitation made possible the band’s first europpean tour, including 8 concerts in 5 of the most importants capitals of the continent: Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and London. The band toured Europe for about three weeks, and came home with a distribution contract for their next album, wich will be released by French distribution company DG Diffusion.

The band received as well several invitations for a summer tour in 2008.Arriving in Rio de Janeiro, the band had already scheduled one big concert at the Riocenacontemporanea, the most importtant arts festival in the city callendar, for an audience of 2.000 people.

To check out the new tracks of the upcoming album of Stero Maracanã and tour dates, visit the site www.myspace.com/stereomaracana.