Loto Interview (Part 2 of 2)

loto
(6)I ask this question a lot, but it's an important one. What sort of musical backgrounds do you all come from and what sort of music did you/do you listen to? What inspires you and where did you come from, in short.

LOTO: We all like pop music, and it's there where it all gets together. The Beatles, New Order, The Smiths, Blur, Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Primal Scream are some of the bands that influenced us. Than a lot of French stuff really got to us... Daft Punk, Air, Phoenix ... Now there's a lot of cool stuff out there that we all like. The DFA sound and bands like the Rapture, the Killers, CSS, Justice, the Chemical Brothers, The Scissor Sisters and the list goes on and on...

(7)Since we're all in the dark here, please tell us some other Portuguese bands that you're into right now.

LOTO: There’s a lot of good stuff going on!! I honestly think that in the meantime a lot of Portuguese bands will be "really" heard! Bands like X-Wife (www.myspace.com/xwiferocks) more into electro rock, The Legendary Tiger Man (www.myspace.com/thelegendarytigerman) with a very cool rock group, Spartak! (www.myspace.com/spartakone), lo-fi meets pop or Gomo (www.myspace.com/gomoworld) and a lot more ... The scene is really exciting and a lot of bands are getting some buzz from all of Europe and America ... So who knows?

(8)What sort of future plans do you have in store for us? Any tours or collaborations or records?

LOTO: Well we’ve got this new album "Beat Riot" and we definitely want to play it live so we’re touring Portugal and later we’re hoping to get to the USA and to the UK and Australia, Japan ... Everybody loves making records but the chance to play the songs live is what it’s all about.

(9)Another slightly generic question ... what is each of your favorite pieces of equipment? What's the thing you like most about playing in the band?

LOTO: We’re huge fans of vintage keyboards, we own a Korg MS-10 and we tell you ... this baby blasts the room! Great synth ... We also use a Stylophone ... Don’t know what it is?? Your life is about to begin!!

(0)What are concerts like in Portugal? I would imagine that you're a part of a pretty small, compact musical community. Is that the case? Do you work with and hang out with a lot of your musical peers? What's the deal there?

LOTO: Portugal should be the size of California or even smaller and still we’re a country so we know must of the bands and there’s a lot of complicity and collaborations between us ... I guess the main thing that unites us all is the will to make it outside of Portugal.

(1)I think that's enough questions for now. You've got quite a lot of talent, it sounds like, and a bright future ahead. Maybe Portugal will become the new Sweden of the pop world. Any closing comments?

LOTO: Thanks! We think that Portugal should be the new Sweden of the pop world! The flavour is totally different from Sweden ... We’re more Latino (not the Ricky Martin way!! Don’t expect maracas ... We only go as far as a cowbell ... ), more impulsive and the songs have a different feel. Anyway great pop is just great, never mind the place where it comes from ...
Loto - Golden Boys (feat. Del Marquis)