Tomorrow, we know who is going to the finals of Portugals national final, Festival da Canção. We have had the chance to speak with another semi-finalist competing at the long-running Portuguese festival. Voodoo Marmalade is a six-member band based mainly in the Lisbon area. During our interview, we discussed Voodoo Marmalade’s unique band name, the significance of their entry song “Tormento,” and their overall thoughts on the competition.
Hi guys, and welcome to ESCUnited! Thanks for wanting to speak with us today. How has your preparation for Festival da Canção been going so far? Are you starting to feel confident and ready for the competition?
We’re having so much fun rehearsing for the festival, and we’re confident that we’re gonna give our best to enjoy the moment and deliver the message.
Now, the name Voodoo Marmalade is certainly intriguing! Would you mind sharing the inspiration behind this unique name choice?
The name VOODOO came from the idea of combining exotic music, ukulele, skulls, rhythm, and MARMALADE it’s from the fact that in some covers that we make, we like to mashup songs, combining them with each other even if from different styles.
For people who aren’t familiar with your music, how would you describe your overall sound?
Our overall sound can be described as a marmalade of different styles and cultures, that we enjoy combining, mostly from the areas with the hottest weather on earth.
To be performing at this year’s Festival da Canção must feel extremely special. How does it compare to other performances and jobs you’ve all done in the past?
The main difference is that in the festival we only have 3 minutes to perform, and we are very used to the energy that’s within the spirit of a full-length concert. But anyway the experience is amazing and we’re very grateful!
Let’s talk about your entry “Tormento.” Tell us about your feelings towards the song and how you produced it. Was it originally created for Festival da Canção or did you think it would be a good fit for the competition after it was written?
The song was already made before the competition and it’s about pushing away bad vibes, or thoughts that can evolve us into a deep ocean of troubles that we cannot get away from. The song appears as a sort of mantra of good feelings, like a prayer but not attached to religion.
You have also decided on a song in Portuguese for the festival. Looking at your discography, your first self-titled album was in English, while some of your later work has been in mostly Portuguese. Could you give the readers some insight into
your transformation musically, and why you settled on submitting a song in Portuguese?
It was not easy for us to write in Portuguese, but we really wanted it. So we worked a little more on that issue and then we could be able to write in our mother language, which we really feel connected with. So it’s a thing to carry on doing. For us, it feels more genuine.
To get to know you guys better, let’s talk about your life outside of music. How has being a part of Voodoo Marmalade influenced your personal relationships and daily life outside of music? Does collaborating as a group bring you closer together
We’re really a good group of friends for a long long time. We all have different number one jobs, but our second is definitely Voodoo, it’s great to have two different choices when it comes to thinking of work.
While Festival da Canção is a competition, have you had the chance to listen to the other artists’ entries, and if so, do you have any favorites?
We have our favorites of course, but if you don’t mind we would like to keep that for us. The truth is they are all amazing with no exception. it’s a real privilege to be part of this unique experience.
We are a few weeks away from your appearance in the second semi-final. How would you sum up your plans for the live show’s staging and general performance in just one sentence?
There will be stained glasses a lot of lights and rhythm and we’re really gonna have great fun.
As we come to the end of our interview, is there anything you’d like to say to your fans and supporters here at ESCUnited?
Yeah, thanks for reading our interview, and good luck in life, always remember to smile and have fun and overcome your demons.
Voodoo Marmalade is set to compete in the second semi-final of Festival da Canção 2023, which airs on Saturday at 22:00 CET on RTP.
Would #YOU like to see Voodoo Marmalade win the 57th edition of Festival da Canção? Let us know your thoughts by commenting on our social media accounts @ESCUnited, our Discord, or our forum page!
