Black Semiotics by Tetine

The sounds of MOTHER NATURE and BLACK SEMIOTICS were written between 2000 and 2005 with a deep sense of collective utopia in mind. It was recorded in a small room in a flatshare in Hackney and in a collective studio space in Bethnal Green used as an office and rehearsal space. There was no interest in commercial strategies and zero cash for its production. 

Both releases reflect an intensive non-stop period of transformation & prolific music-making on Tetine’s trajectory as a Brazilian duo relocated to London from Sao Paulo in the early 2000’s. It also coincides with the period Tetine were fighting Latino stereotypes in Europe through the airwaves of Resonance Fm on their weekly radio show Slum Dunk dedicated to all sorts of unexpected music produced in the south hemisphere.

The 20 tracks on MOTHER NATURE & BLACK SEMIOTICS translate a dark and intense period of changes involving the end of a long relationship, obsessive gay cruising, hormone alterations, family deaths and lack of money.

Tetine’s music here is dark, atmospheric, slow, delicate, melodic and playful. Some of these tracks may sound achingly sad. Some evoke nostalgic and spacious landscapes with euphoric characteristics. Its otherworldly and meditative qualities reflect a particular harmonic sense of melodic tensions acquired after more then 18 years recording and improvising together as Tetine. Both albums also display a careful craftsman's approach to sound. Its music is the result of a gleeful merging of organic and synthetic sounds (synths, piano, bells, bass, samplers, claps, electric guitars etc…) creating an unusual counterpoint of melodies of great beauty.

According to Bruno Verner MOTHER NATURE & BLACK SEMIOTICS speak of “staying human” as opposed to “becoming machine”. It was composed with the arrogance of a ‘second childhood’ as Derek Jarman once put it. We haven’t blocked any of its sonic flow during improvisations in favor of any intellectualized approach. The creative process and the spirit of the recording sessions were urgent and very self-liberating. Everything was done spontaneously with zero pressure and zero cash. I think there’s a strong humanistic and queer presence to the way sound, improvisation and the whole recording process was approached. Body exhaustion, dance, heavy drinking and memory also functioned as triggers to make it. 

It's worth saying that these records were also inspired by Goya paintings, Derek Jarman films, Greimas’ Semiotics of Passion, Brazilian 70’s religious processions, early Milton Mascimento's folk songs, Kraut and a great deal of Kraftwerk. On another note, no steroids or heavy compressors were used in the making of these albums. Its harmonics are loose.

MOTHER NATURE & BLACK SEMIOTICS are both dedicated to our dear late friends Charlote Maluf, Laura Di Vison & Claudia Wonder - exceptional Brazilian artists that made a huge impact on Tetine.

Tropical Mutant Punk Funk

Tetine are formed by Brazilian musicians/artists Bruno Verner & Eliete Mejorado.

The pair met in 1995 in Brazil while taking part in the local underground art post-punk scene of São Paulo and Belo Horizonte, and since then, they have been producing a multitude of works & actions through the hybrid universes of performance art, music, video and poetry.