MECAPresent Rio 2014 Indie Music Festival

By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Friendly Fires, Charli XCX, Savoir Adore, and Klangkarussell will play at Copacabana’s popular new underground club, Cave, on Wednesday, January 29th, as part of MECAPresent Rio Music Festival. This is the first year that the Maquiné, Rio Grande do Sul based Meca Festvial will expand, bringing “indie” artists to other Brazilian cities.

Now in its fourth edition, the festival is dubbing the two sideshows as MECAPresent Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo respectively. “Indie” in terms of this festival – one of many that will take place this summer in Rio – covers genres from chill/dub indie to indie rock to indie pop and also includes electro indie.

Headliners for both the main festival and the Rio and São Paulo shows will be the electro infused indie-pop band, Friendly Fires. The English trio is known for their songs; “Paris”, “Jump in the Pool” and the samba influenced “Kiss of Life.”

They first began to gain attention with the release of their single “On Board” from their eponymously titled first studio release in 2008. During the years that followed, the Friendly Fires members; Ed MacFarlane, Edd Gibson and Jack Savidge, released various singles including “Kiss of Life”. 2011 saw the release of their sophomore album, entitled Pala with its lead single “Live Those Days Tonight”, and follow-up “Hawaiian Air.”

British singer-songwriter Charli XCX, who will take Cave’s stage before the Friendly Fires, comes to Rio fresh off of the release of her new single, entitled “Allergic to Love“. She also arrives in anticipation of the release of her third studio album, which has a projected fall release in the United States and UK.

Born Charlotte Emma Aitchison, the now 21-year-old performer first started recording her songs and sharing them to the MySpace social network at age fourteen.

After catching the attention of a London underground rave producer, Charli XCX began to make waves in the electro-indie genre with her 2008 singles including “!Franchesckaar!” and “Emelline”/”Art Bitch”.

She also produced but never commercially released a debut studio album entitled, 14. It was after an EP release; tours supporting Santigold and Coldplay; and co-writing Icona Pop’s megahit “I Love It”, that Charli XCX finally saw her own major label debut. It was the 2013 release of her second studio album True Romance.

Before Charli XCX plays, Brooklyn, NY’s Savoir Adore will take the stage. A duo with a three-piece backup band, Savoir Adore released their debut album, Into the Wooded Forest in 2009. Filled with pop indie melodies and DYI sounding effects- see “We Talk Like Machines“-the group was well received in their area.

Their more polished sophomore effort, 2013’s Our Nature, helped further grow their audience due in part to the inclusion of the catchy single “Dreamers”.

Kicking off the MECAPresent Rio event will be the Austrian dance and electronic music producing duo known as Klangkarussell. Members Tobias Rieser and Adrian Held are best know for the Klangkarussell single “Sonnentanz.” Reportedly written in one night, the song went on the rank in the top 10 in six countries.

Also expected to release an LP soon, the duo warns fans that new songs will not be watered down “Sonnentanz” imitations but instead songs that the duo recorded themselves, unlike the aforementioned heavily sampled single.

Additionally, to round out the MECAPresent Rio sideshow, DJs; Cix & Yasmin; Ricardo Bräutigam; Raphael Lima; Zeh Pretim and Felipe Mustache will spin, making it a night to remember in Copacabana.

What: MECAPresent Rio Music Festival
When: Wednesday, January 29th, 11:10 PM
Where: Cave, Rua Francisco Otaviano, 20, Copacabana
Entrance: R$70-R$140, available online here.