On this month dedicated to Fundão we decided to go beyond the itineraries and boxes and went to know a band that comes from that territory, the Anafaia (which you may also hear in our Playlist “Music to Climb Gardunha”).
How did the project Anafaia begin?
It was born in 2010 in Cova da Beira, in the city of Fundão. We are friends who came together to develop a project with the goal to promote traditional music from the Beira region. In the beggining we were called ComTradições, later, It was changed to Anafaia. Two projects that derive from Homem do Saco - Traditional Arts Association.
Anafaia is, without doubt, an unusual name. Where did it came from?
"ANAFAIA" (From ár. an-nafaia) - The first threads from the Bombyx mori, before the formation of the cocoon – the beginning of everything.
The first thread is the beginning of the web which leads to the cocoon, traditional music too, the songs and the feelings of the people, they are the root of the people's culture.
Do you play original music or reinterpretations of traditional songs?
Initially we focused on gathering and recreation of themes from the Beiras region and the lives of the people and the land, and giving it a contemporary twist. We would like to be the brighteners of memories, taking advantage of the rhythms, themes and lyrics found in the songs from the Beiras, which are passed from generation to generation and the proof is on our first album.
We also feel the need to create some original themes related to our region helping to promote and disseminate our culture. In this new record we have five original, the rest are musics that we picked up in the region.
The members of Anafaia already had a musical past or is this your first experience in the world of music?
All members have had experiences in other musical groups from the Traditional Music to Rock, hence the group's sound.
You released recently a new album, what was the receptivity of the audience for these more traditional Portuguese sonorities?
Nowadays the interest in traditional portuguese music is increasing, much due to the appearance of some bands who can enhance and give value to the traditional songs from the Portuguese repertoire, which sonner or later would be forgotten. This is our goal, trying to reinvent new sounds and revive them for younger audiences and impress older public. We believe that there is no innovation without tradition and no tradition will stand without innovation.
We are making our way and we realize that people like our work.
What can we find in your music box?
One may find traditional music as a starting point for our compositions, ie our raw material, hence our themes always have tradition tied to the structure of the song. In this way original compositions or adaptations of traditional themes come up naturally.
What are you'll be doing next?
At this time we will start promoting the new album that begins with a presentation concert in Fundão on 12 of December and then we will go to the rest of the country. Surely we have the will and desire to continue our work that gives us great satisfaction. So we can say that we will work for other further album releases.
More information about the band here: www.anafaia.pt