Saturn`s call
The ship of "space rock" wich was launched by Hawkwind, Nektar and Pink Floyd in the late 60`s and keeps in orbit today with Ozric Tentacles is inhabited in Portugal by Luis simões`s Saturnia.In his own words, "a mix of 70`s classic psychedelic and progressive music with comtemporary beats".
Everything started because of his older brother who married and left the house, leaving him his vinyl collection.Luis Simões, aged 27, didn`t hesitate. He learned to hear and to like the past.He formed, four years ago, with M. Strange (a.k.a. Eduardo Vasconcelos), to whom a third element, Vasco Pereira, joined later, Saturnia, a project of " hippie sensitivity for the 90`s" where they mix theremins, waves of krautrock and drums'n'bass grooves."Cosmic Music", to travel. "Trippy", as Luis Simões calls it in a reference to "trips" of music and acid that 30 years ago shot heads to the occult side of the moon."We have a rock ' background ' in the area of ' space rock ' and ' progrock ' of the late 60`s, early 70`s, of Hawkwind, Pink Floyd, Gong, that type of bands ", explains Luis Simões. "In 1996, when the Saturnia thing started, this type of reference, of ' trip ', improvisation, ambients, was completely out of rock.
But Luis Simões perceived that" this way of thinking, this philosophy " had been imprisoned in the dance scene and in the electronic music scene, even before drums'n'bass and trip hop started to happen, same thing with the techno-trance 'chill out' scene".What Saturnia did was " fusing " these two, time separated, but paradoxically united by the concepts of trip and evasion, universes. The first of these universes inherited from Luis Simões`s older brother. "It`s what i allways heard at home" Today, after absorbing old vinyl albums he speaks at ease of Julian Cope`s "Krautrocksampler" book, and its front cover image taken from the Amon dull II "yeti" album cover.Dance music and electrónica, fill the ether of the year 2000.Just read the tltles of the abum that Saturnia intend to release soon to understand the galaxy around which they gravitate: "Club Aquarium", "The twilight Bong", "Interstellar rainbow lung"... In them, "groove" that points to the stars is a Constant thing. The "trip" that Luis simões only conects with the use of psichotropic drugs to some extent, he smiles, speaking of Hawkwind , who were in this department "a disaster". As to Saturnia, he admits that differences might be noticed in the music between hearing it in normal or modified "state."A trippy soundtrack", recognizes Luis simões, although denying that this is the intention. "Music that has as goal harmonizing the self with the universe that encircles it", but also a"sequence of doped religiosity, doped mantras".Ultimately, to Saturnia`s ideologist, its the"descending scene of the psychedelic period, a contemporary psychedelia"."Something is sought after, not only in music but, in a more general way, in western society today , where there is an enormous lack of values, ideas, ideals and beliefs." To Luis simões, the answer lies between Saturn`s rings.
público 18/01/2000 Fernando Magalhães
