Engenheiros do Hawaii
Encyclopedia
Engenheiros do Hawaii is a Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band formed in Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...

 in 1985 that achieved great popularity with their ironic, critically charged songs with heavily semantic lyrics often relying on wordplays. The vocalist and bassist
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

 Humberto Gessinger is the only original member still in the band today.

First years in the south (1985–1989)

Three architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

 college students from UFRGS, Humberto Gessinger
Humberto Gessinger
Humberto Gessinger is the singer and bassist of the Brazilian band Engenheiros do Hawaii.Gessinger was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil. In late 1984, he formed a rock band with two friends from the faculty of architecture at UFRGS, Carlos Maltz and Marcelo Pitz, to play in a parade made by students...

 (vocal and guitar), Carlos Maltz (drums) and Marcelo Pitz (bass) decided to form a band for a show in a college festival. That performance brought invitations to do new shows and after some gigs in alternative venues in Porto Alegre and a series along Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...

's country region, the Engenheiros do Hawaii recorded their first solo album: Longe Demais das Capitais
Longe Demais das Capitais
Longe Demais das Capitais is the debut studio album by the Brazilian rock band Engenheiros do Hawaii, released in 1986.-Tracks:- Personnel :*Humberto Gessinger: Vocals and Electric Guitar*Marcelo Pitz: Bass guitar and Vocals...

(Too Far Away from the Capitals) in 1986 (the first recording was a compilation with several local bands, called "Rock Grande do Sul" in 1986). The record's musical direction pointed towards a more New Wave sound, very close to the sound of bands like The Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...

 and Paralamas do Sucesso
Paralamas do Sucesso
Os Paralamas do Sucesso is a Brazilian rock band, formed in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1970s. Its members since 1982 are Herbert Vianna , Bi Ribeiro , and João Barone . In its beginning, the band combined reggae and ska with rock, but later added horn arrangements and Latin rhythms...

. It includes the songs "Toda Forma de Poder" (Every Form of Power) and "Sopa de Letrinhas" (Alphabet Soup).

Before the they got around to recording the second album, Marcelo Pitz left the band. In his place was recruited the guitarist Augusto Licks, who had worked with Nei Lisboa, a known local musician. With Gessinger assuming the bass the Engenheiros released the album A Revolta dos Dândis (Rise of the Dandies) in 1987. The band changed their sound, turning to a more Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

-ish, folk mood, with critical lyrics with literature quotes from philosophers such as Albert Camus
Albert Camus
Albert Camus was a French author, journalist, and key philosopher of the 20th century. In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons within the Revolutionary Union Movement, which was opposed to some tendencies of the Surrealist movement of André Breton.Camus was awarded the 1957...

 and Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...

. It brought the hits "Infinita Highway" (Infinite Highway), "Terra de Gigantes" (Giants' Land), "Refrão de Bolero" (Bolero Chorus) and the title track, divided in two parts. By this time they had begun to play gigs to greater audiences in the center of the country, like the Alternativa Nativa festival, between 14 and 17 June 1987.

From this date, the Engenheiros filled halls and stadia all over Brazil. The following album, Ouça o Que eu Digo: Não Ouça Ninguém (Listen to Me: Don't Listen to Anyone) of 1988 can be seen as a natural succession from the previous one, due both to the album coverwork and the theme and style of its songs. Well-known songs from this album include "Somos Quem Podemos Ser" (We Are Who We Can Be), "Nunca Se Sabe" (You Never Know), "Tribos & Tribunais" (Tribes & Tribunals) and "Variações Sobre o Mesmo Tema" (Variations Over The Same Theme), the last one being a tribute to Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

, with its progressive mood and being split in three parts. This album also marked the time that the Engenheiros relocated from the city of Porto Alegre to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

. With the new formation settled, the Engenheiros released Alívio Imediato (Immediate Relief), of 1989, their fourth album and the first live one. It showcased a retrospective of their main songs and the new ideas leading to a more electronic sound, present in the title track and in the song "Nau à Deriva" (Carrack Out Of Route).

Gessinger, Licks and Maltz (1990–1993)

The following album, O Papa é Pop (The Pope is Pop), from 1990 consolidated the band's change of sound. Fuelled by the success of "Era Um Garoto Que Como Eu Amava os Beatles e os Rolling Stones" (He Was a Boy that, Like Me, Loved the Beatles and the Rolling Stones or, in the original Italian title, C'era un ragazzo che come me amava i Beatles e i Rolling Stones), a new recording of an old song from 60's group Os Incríveis, this album tried out a progressive sound, with Licks's guitar solos and a more electronic base of keyboards and drums. He is the author of the songs "O Exército de um Homem Só" (The One-Man Army)--also split in two parts--"Pra Ser Sincero" (To Be Honest), "Perfeita Simetria" (Perfect Symmetry) and the title track. Acclaimed by the people and bashed by the critics, the Engenheiros do Hawaii left their mark in Rock in Rio II
Rock in Rio
Rock in Rio is a series of music festivals held in three cities: Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Lisbon in Portugal and Madrid in Spain.Four incarnations of the festival were in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991, 2001 and 2011, four in Lisbon, in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010, and two in Madrid in 2008 and 2010....

, earning praises from even The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

. The following year would see the band's next release, Várias Variáveis (Many Variables), that failed to repeat its predecessor's success, even with songs well-known to fans like "Piano Bar", "Muros & Grades" (Walls and Bars) and "Herdeiro da Pampa Pobre" (Heir of the Poor Pampa), cover version from a Gaúcho da Fronteira song.

In 1992, a brand-new album, Gessinger, Licks & Maltz, or GLM for short (a homage to Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...

). Their sound kept on mixing MPB
Música Popular Brasileira
Música Popular Brasileira or MPB designates a trend in post-Bossa Nova urban popular music. It is not a discrete genre but rather a constellation that combines original songwriting and updated versions of traditional Brazilian urban music styles like samba and samba-canção with contemporary...

, Milonga
Milonga
Milonga can refer to an Argentine, Uruguayan, and Southern Brazilian form of music which preceded the tango and the dance form which accompanies it, or to the term for places or events where the tango or Milonga are danced...

 and progressive elements, most noticeably in the tracks "Pampa no Walkman" (Pampa With a Walkman), "Ninguém = Ninguém" (Nobody = Nobody, or extensively, no one is like anyone) and "Parabólica" (Parabolic), a song composed by Gessinger in homage to his daughter, Clara. Their follow-up release is a semi-acoustic album: Filmes de Guerra, Canções de Amor (War Movies, Love Songs), from 1993, recorded live in Sala Cecília Meirelles, Rio de Janeiro. With acoustic guitars, percussion, piano and guesting the Brazilian Symphonic Orchestra, scored by Wagner Tiso
Wagner Tiso
Wagner Tiso Veiga is a musician, arranger, conductor, pianist and composer from Brazil.-Biography:Tiso learned music theory with Paulo Moura and specialised in keyboards. In 1970, he joined Som Imaginário, working with Milton Nascimento. Tiso and Nascimento were then together in Clube da Esquina,...

, old songs like "Muros & Grades" and "Crônica" (Chronicle) and new works like "Mapas do Acaso" (Maps of Randomness) and "Realidade Virtual" (Virtual Reality) sounded cooler and highlighted the quality of Gessinger's songwriting.

Difficult times (1994–1996)

The year 1993 also marked the first tours to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Unfortunately, towards the end of this year, an internal rift resulted in Augusto Licks leaving the band. There began a long legal dispute over the ownership of the name “Engenheiros do Hawaii," with Gessinger and Maltz finally winning control of the name. The next step was to rebuild the Engenheiros, with the addition of a guitarist, Ricardo Horn. Afterwards two new members joined the band - Paolo Casarin
Paolo Casarin
Paolo Casarin . Is a retired football referee from Italy. He is mostly known for supervising two matches in the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain-References:*...

 (accordion and keyboards) and another guitarist Fernando Deluqui (ex-RPM
RPM (Brazilian band)
RPM , is a Brazilian Pop Rock band. It was formed by singer/bassist Paulo Ricardo, keyboardist Luiz Schiavon, guitarist Fernando Deluqui and drummer Paulo Antônio "P.A." Pagni....

). After two years without recording, Engenheiros released Simples de Coração (Naïve at Heart), towards the end of 1995. The sound was heavier, with a regional flavour given to it by the accordion of Casarin. Standout tracks were "A Promessa" (The Promise), "Lance de Dados" (A Cast of Dice) and "Simples de Coração". Towards the end of this period, Maltz decided to leave the band, resulting in a new crisis in the band.

Gessinger Trio (1996 - 1997)

Gessinger returned to Porto Alegre, and with two friends, Luciano Granja (guitar) and Adal Fonseca (drums), formed the band Gessinger Trio. Later, they produced the album Humberto Gessinger Trio in 1996. The key points of the disc cover Gessinger's early works, such as the songs "Vida Real" (Real Life), "O Preço" (The Price) and "A Ferro e Fogo" (By Iron and Fire). In reality it is "an album by Engenheiros without the name Engenheiros do Hawaii", in Gessinger's words. They proved themselves the next year when Granja, Adal, and Gessinger re-assumed the name Engenheiros do Hawaii.

Return of the Engenheiros (1997 - 2001)

For their 1997 album Minuano (no certain translation; minuano is the name given to the breezes that blow over the pampas), which marked the return of Engenheiros, a new keyboardist, Lucio Dorfman, joined the band. The disc, which mixed regional influences and critical lyrics by Gessinger, combining the success of "A Montanha" (The Mountain), as well as other songs such as "Nuvem" (Cloud) and "Alucinação" (Hallucination), a cover of an old tune by MPB singer Belchior. The follow-up, Tchau Radar! (Bye Bye Radar!), from 1999, showed a more mature Engenheiros, with tunes considered beautiful by fans, like "Eu Que Não Amo Você" (It's Me Who Don't Love You) and "3 x 4" (roughly translated as ID Photo - 3x4 is its popular name in Brazil, referring to its measurements in centimeters), and two covers: "Negro Amor" (Black Love), a version of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

's It's All Over Now Baby Blue, and "A Cruzada" (The Crusade). Afterwards, they released their third live recording, and the twelfth album of their career: 10.000 Destinos (that might mean 10,000 Destinations or 10,000 Fates).

Then, Gessinger went back of the back catalogue of the band and wrote new songs, amongst them covers of "Rádio Pirata" (Pirate Radio, by RPM, with their frontman Paulo Ricardo guesting) and "Quando o Carnaval Chegar" (When Carnival Comes, by Chico Buarque
Chico Buarque
Francisco Buarque de Hollanda , popularly known as Chico Buarque , is a singer, guitarist, composer, dramatist, writer and poet...

). Renato Borghetti
Renato Borghetti
Renato Borghetti is a Brazilian folk musician and composer.He works in many genres including traditional styles from his home state of Rio Grande do Sul, other styles of Brazilian music like samba, and international genres like jazz and European classical music. His main instrument is the diatonic...

 was prominent in new versions of two hits: "Toda Forma de Poder" and "Refrão de Bolero". Some months after their performance in Rock in Rio III, Lucio, Adal and Luciano left the band to form Massa Crítica, changing once again the formation of Engenheiros.

Surfando Karmas e DNA and Dançando no Campo Minado (2001 - 2004)

After this parting, Lucio, Adal and Luciano were replaced by Paulinho Galvão (rhythm guitar), Bernardo Fonseca (bass) and Gláucio Ayala (drums). Gessinger took back the lead guitar, after playing bass for fourteen years in the band. With this new lineup, they re-recorded various previous tracks by the band and released 10.001 Destinos. The sound is cleaner, but also a bit heavier. In 2002, a more nostalgic phase of the band was started, with the release of Surfando Karmas e DNA (Surfing Over Karmas and DNA), with the participation of ex-band members, especially Carlos Maltz on "E-stória" (E-story). Standout tracks for this album include "Esportes Radicais" (Extreme Sports) and "Terceira do Plural" (Plural Third (Person)). The following album, Dançando no Campo Minado (Dancing on the Mine Field), from 2003, continued the theme: short tracks, heavy guitar and critical lyrics of Gessinger denouncing the perils of globalization - in "Fusão a Frio" (Cold Fusion) -, war - "Dançando em Campo Minado" - and showing disillusionment with politics and ideology - in "Segunda Feira Blues" (Monday Blues), divided in two parts -, the last one featuring contributions from Carlos Maltz. However, the most successful track of this album was catchy pop-rock theme "Até o Fim" (Till The End).

To commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the band in 2004, Engenheiros do Hawaii released a disc from an MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged is a TV series showcasing many popular musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show has received the George Foster Peabody Award and 3 Primetime Emmy nominations among many accolades.-Unplugged:...

 session. Special guests on this session were Fernando Aranha (acoustic guitar), Humberto Barros (Hammond organ) and Carlos Maltz (singing "Depois de Nós" (After Us), which he wrote in his solo career), Gessinger presented new versions of classics like "Infinita Highway" and "O Papa é Pop". Other tracks are "Pose", with contributions from Clara, Gessinger's daughter, and songs from the Gessinger Trio era (like "O Preço" and "Vida Real"), which had already been incorporated to the EngHaw official material.

Unplugged tour (Acústico MTV) (2004 - 2006)

After the success of the unplugged DVD, the band, reformed by Humberto Gessinger, with the loss of the guitarist Paulinho Galvão who went on to other projects, carried on with new additions Fernando Aranha on strings, and the young musician Pedro Augusto on keyboards.

Now, the band is looking back to their glorious time in the late-80's and early-90's, with some old hit songs, barely altered from their original versions, being played in shows. The acoustic phase can be counted as one of the greatest successes of the band in recent years. Moving forward from 2006, the band has promised a new album sometime in the first quarter of 2007.

Discography

  • Longe Demais das Capitais
    Longe Demais das Capitais
    Longe Demais das Capitais is the debut studio album by the Brazilian rock band Engenheiros do Hawaii, released in 1986.-Tracks:- Personnel :*Humberto Gessinger: Vocals and Electric Guitar*Marcelo Pitz: Bass guitar and Vocals...

    (1986)
  • A Revolta dos Dândis
    A Revolta dos Dândis
    A Revolta dos Dândis is the second album by Brazilian Rock band Engenheiros do Hawaii, released in 1987...

    (1987)
  • Ouça O Que Eu Digo, Não Ouça Ninguém (1988)
  • Alívio Imediato (1989)
  • O Papa é Pop
    O Papa é Pop
    O Papa É Pop is an album by Brazilian rock band Engenheiros do Hawaii, released in 1990. It is considered the best-selling album of the band, with more than 250,000 copies in its first year.- Side A :...

    (1990)
  • Várias Variáveis (1991)
  • Gessinger, Licks & Maltz (1992)
  • Filmes Guerra, Canções De Amor (1993)
  • Simples de Coração (1995)
  • Humberto Gessinger Trio (1996) 1
  • Minuano (1997)
  • Tchau Radar! (1999)
  • 10.000 Destinos (2000)
  • 10.001 Destinos (2001)
  • Surfando Karmas & DNA (2002)
  • Dançando no Campo Minado (2003)
  • Acústico MTV(2004)
  • Novos Horizontes - Acústico (2007)

Videography

Year Video Album
1985 Sopa de Letrinhas Rock Grande do Sul
1986 Toda Forma de Poder Longe Demais das Capitais
Longe Demais das Capitais
Longe Demais das Capitais is the debut studio album by the Brazilian rock band Engenheiros do Hawaii, released in 1986.-Tracks:- Personnel :*Humberto Gessinger: Vocals and Electric Guitar*Marcelo Pitz: Bass guitar and Vocals...

1987 Terra de Gigantes A Revolta dos Dândis
A Revolta dos Dândis
A Revolta dos Dândis is the second album by Brazilian Rock band Engenheiros do Hawaii, released in 1987...

A Revolta dos Dândis I
Filmes de Guerra, Canções de Amor
1988 Ouça O Que Eu Digo: Não Ouça Ninguém Ouça O Que Eu Digo: Não Ouça Ninguém
Somos Quem Podemos Ser
1989 Alívio Imediato Alívio Imediato
1990 Era um Garoto que Como Eu Amava os Beatles e os Rolling Stones O Papa é Pop
O Papa é Pop
O Papa É Pop is an album by Brazilian rock band Engenheiros do Hawaii, released in 1990. It is considered the best-selling album of the band, with more than 250,000 copies in its first year.- Side A :...

O Papa É Pop
1991 O Exército de Um Homem Só I
Refrão de Bolero (Ao Vivo) A Revolta dos Dândis
A Revolta dos Dândis
A Revolta dos Dândis is the second album by Brazilian Rock band Engenheiros do Hawaii, released in 1987...

Herdeiro da Pampa Pobre Várias Variáveis
Piano Bar (Ao Vivo)
1992 Parabólica Gessinger, Licks & Maltz
Ninguém = Ninguém
1993 Até Quando Você Vai Ficar?
Mapas do Acaso Filmes de Guerra, Canções de Amor
Realidade Virtual
Quanto Vale a Vida?
1994 Às Vezes Nunca
Crônica
1995 A Promessa Simples de Coração
A Perigo
1996 O Preço Humberto Gessinger Trio
1997 A Montanha Minuano
Alucinação
1999 Eu que Não Amo Você !Tchau Radar!
Negro Amor
2000 Números 10.000 Destinos
Rádio Pirata
2001 Novos Horizontes (ao Vivo) 10.001 Destinos
2002 3º do Plural Surfando Karmas & DNA
Surfando Karmas & DNA
2003 Até o Fim Dançando no Campo Minado
Na Veia
2004 Vida Real Acústico MTV Engenheiros do Hawaii
Somos Quem Podemos Ser
2005 Armas Químicas e Poemas

External links

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