As we walked through the dark, narrow hallway and made our way backstage at the Miami Beach Bandshell, we could hear the beautiful Portuguese melodies pulling us into an unassuming greenroom. Behind the door sat Francisco, Joao and Jose Gil, an Award-winning trio of Brazilian music royalty and sons and grandsons of legendary music genius, Gilberto Gil.
Gilsons (pronounced Giu-soons in Portuguese) gifted us a captivating sold-out show at the Bandshell as part of the Global Sounds Concert Series presented by Rhythm Foundation and Tigre Sounds. Not only did Miami show up amidst the rain, the city’s Brazilian diaspora was in full representation, singing along to nearly every song the band played like a choir under the stars. “Here there is a sense of nostalgic energy“, the band said. “We feel a patriotism here in North America that makes us so proud to represent a new Brazilian sound for the world.”
As Gilsons guided us through their repertoire of hits, they charmingly spoke to an enamored audience about how excited they were to be here. Little did they know we were the lucky ones.
We caught the band backstage to get to know more about their multigenerational, mesmerizing, limitless sound.
TIGRE SOUNDS: How does it feel to come on your first North American tour and what are you looking forward to?
GILSONS: We’re very excited and feel lucky that we did our first international tour last year in Europe. Now coming to North America is like a dream for us. Miami is a highlight for sure, we feel at home here. Our show is an open air experience under the palm trees. We are also very excited about New York, and did some amazing shows already in California that we loved. It’s our first time here and we’re excited to get to know our US audience.
TIGRE SOUNDS: How have your diverse musical backgrounds shaped your mesmerizing sound, and what role does Brazilian culture play in your genre identity?
GILSONS (José Gil): For us, we always believe in the mix of the old stuff that we love and cherish and try to keep it going forward, like the nylon strings and the African drums, and especially the African influence on Brazilian music. But we also love a lot of modern stuff, modern sounds, like pop and hip-hop, and we try to incorporate and mix all these different influences and genres to make up what becomes the Gilsons sound.
TIGRE SOUNDS: Which song best represents your genre-bending approach and why?
GILSONS (José Gil): I think two good songs that represent this mix that is our sound are Pra Gente Acordar, which gave the album its name and Proposta, which was one of our first singles. We made a music video that we loved. So I think these two, Pra Gente Acordar and Proposta, which are on our first album.
TIGRE SOUNDS: What inspires your soulful lyrical stories of love and light?
GILSONS (Joao Gil): I think all of our songs, they all come from inside of our hearts, you know, inside of our souls. Each song comes from a different perspective, I think. And in this band we all write, so each song has her own story, but they all come from a place that it’s from inside of us. And it’s good because our fans can relate it in some way. They all interpret the song in their own way, but they all can relate it in some way.
GILSONS (Fran Gil): What we hope with our music is that people can feel it, you know, they can dance to it, they can enjoy it, they can vibrate, they can cherish the vibes, and also they can relate to the lyrics and got what we’re trying to say and to sing along. That’s it. That we all can vibrate in the same, the same energy.
TIGRE SOUNDS: Which emerging musicians or artists do you have on repeat right now and why?
GILSONS (Joao Gil): We are lucky that in Brazil there is lots and lots and lots of great artists and a lot of them are our friends, so we are very lucky in that way. We can say Bruno Berle, Ana Frango Elétrico, Bala Desejo, Julia Mestre, Luedji Luna, and a lot of other great artists that are our friends and we love their music. Mayana, JP, Jovem Dionísio, lots and lots and lots of them.
TIGRE SOUNDS: Do you have any questions for us?
GILSONS (Fran Gil): How is it for you, interviewing Gilsons?
TIGRE SOUNDS: To come from such a musical legacy, you’re incredibly down to earth. Your songs transport us to a state of bliss and happiness and make us feel like anything is possible. You have this magnetic swag about you and also embody your ethos of love and light. Thank you for bringing your art to Miami. That’s us in the audience – Gilsons, Gilsons, Gilsons!
TIGRE SOUNDS: What exciting projects do you have coming up that we should look out for?
GILSONS (Joao Gil): Yeah, yeah, yeah. There are a lot of things coming up. So stay tuned. Follow us on social media @gilsonsoficial. All three of us have other things going on too. But with Gilsons, there are good things coming up soon. So stay tuned!
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Photos by Kat de Berros and Daniel Zuliani