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| Guitarist Rafael Picoli sets the tone for alternative rock band Urban Escape (Publicity Photo). |
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Rocker Rafael Picoli says he always had a passion for the
guitar. With a love for such bands as Iron Maiden,
Metallica and Megadeth, the young boy bought his first guitar and was soon off into world of hard rock and heavy metal in his native Brazil.
Many years later, the talented musician is
lead guitarist in the alternative rock band Urban Escape and is busy in the
studio working on a series of three EPs to showcase the band’s unique sound.
“We are planning to release three
EPs before releasing the full album,” Picoli said. “The songs from those EPs
are going to be the songs for the final album as well, and it will be called
Urban Escape – the same name of the band.”
With his upcoming EPs, Picoli is making his mark with Urban Escape,
featuring a slew of his songs and musical sensibilities that lie in classic and
grunge rock along with a hard dose of heavy metal.
“We
are working with the five-time Grammy Award-winning producer Lamps
(Lampadinha), who is accompanying us throughout this process and will be
recording all of our material,” he said. “Best song we’re doing is probably a
song called ‘Mary Lee.’ It’s about a girl that was the crush of the lead singer
of the band, Eric Urban. It has a very cool chord progression with some great
lyrics.
Another
major song in the EP will be “Alone,” which blends dark lyrics with hard rock
and a melodic sound reminiscent of the Beatles and other classic rock bands he
grew up listening.
Born
in Monte Azul Paulista, near Sao Paulo, Brazil, Picoli loved playing video
games as a child and became enthralled with the game Guitar Hero which allows
players to play a guitar shaped controller. But when the game abruptly stopped
production, Picoli took up a real guitar to explore his own musical leanings.
After
years of playing in local clubs with a number of bands he earned a scholarship
at the prestigious Musicians Institute in Los Angeles and soon he traveled to
the U.S. and became one of its standout students. Soon after graduation, he
would meet some fellow Brazil expatriates to form Urban Escape and develop the
band’s unique alternative rock sound.
But even as he began working with
his new band, he was already in demand as a guitarist with a number of artists
including Sonder City, Joe Abujamra, Kasia Lins, Julian Martel, Inessa, as well
as acclaimed artist Larissa Basilio, among others.
“Playing live is one of my favorite
things ever. It's great to see the response from the public to the songs you
have worked on. Also, you have a different energy when playing live that you
don't get anywhere else,” he said. “Playing in a recording studio you have to
care more about smaller details and make sure everything sounds perfect, as in
playing live, playing with attitude is more important than playing perfect.”
