HOW IT STARTED
Swingabadi Cinetunes started back in 2011.
My idea was to play soundtrack music, over old forgotten cartoon that used to bring laughter since the beginning of 20th century.
CARTOON + MUSIC TOGETHER
Choosing a variety of cartoons, allows me to develop and recompose different tunes.
Sometimes I mute the original classical music from the background, playing my compositions over it, adjusted to our modern times spirit, making references to songs with lyrics related to the story.
In other cases, my tunes are an extension of the original music, introduced at some point by the cartoon´s original sound, reviving tunes that are unknown to us.
BASIC TOOLS & INSTRUMENTS
In the beginning, guitar, kazu, melodica and plastic squecky toys were used for the show.
The guitar was creating a base with the help of a loop pedal(machine that repeats musical phrases), as I was building up the music with a melodica or xylophone.
On top, stood several different plastic toys, to help brining the cartoon´s characters in life, sometimes played by me and sometimes played by people from the audience.
Although the basic idea hasn´t changed through the years, I decided to substitute the guitar with an ukulele for practical reasons.
So I ended up using:
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ukulele
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voice
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loop pedal
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amplifier
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squeaky toys
Having a more compact set up, I started travelling with Swingabadi, focusing more in the performance and the main idea behind this show.
COLLABORATIONS
Although this has began as a
ONE MAN´S BAND, I had the honour to collaborate with different musicians through the years, sharing the excitement in following the adventures of different cartoons.
The main musician that played next to me, was Peter Boyles, a violin player and a percussionist, using recycled material as a drum set.
Guest singers such as Andrea Buning with her magnificent voice and Ugne Reikalaite later on, brought more magic in the shows!
A tap dancer Paula Alexandra Cirino Ferreira followed with her rhythmic tricks, boosting the show with more energy!
At some point, Finn McLafferty joined in, bringing his singing, composing knowledge and tea chest bass (contrabass of the poor) in the show. In his arrival, Swingabadi & Banda Tropical came to life, orienting the music and the cartoon towards tropical tunes, together with the talented
Romina D´ Angelo in percussion and tap dancing and Maria Airam in vocals.