"This absolute banger of a debut album from Cork three piece post punk, alternative indie rockers Ash Red is crammed full of brilliant songs with The Cure being a major influence along with Buzzcocks, The Teardrop Explodes, Wire and Supergrass. Defo in my top ten albums of 2025, possibly best Irish album of 2025." Deko (Paranoid Visions)

 

Photography by Bernardo Rezende

cajupitanga is a project idealized by Candioco and Gabriel Tupy, located in Vitória da Conquista - BA.

With musical affinities and companionship already established through previous projects, the duo came together in 2019 to consolidate compositions and ideas that emerged from unpretentious rehearsals and cultural encounters around the city. Amidst a fertile period of production, cajupitanga released a series of recordings in 2020, marking the duo's first experiments with home recordings. The collection of initial EPs establishes a freer production, built mostly on improvisations, drafts, single takes, and the use of cell phones as recorders, proposing an aesthetic connected to ambient music, but articulated in the characteristic trova guitar of Conquista, which reinterprets the influence of fellow countrymen such as Elomar and Xangai.

The duo's first album, “Tradição/Tradução” (Tradition/Translation), was released in July 2021. The work develops the lo-fi recording proposal, but adds electronic experimentation through the use of the computer as a sound tool. The album also marks the beginning of the Conquista project's partnership with the historic label Cantores Del Mundo, a legacy of the Parra family, currently headed by artist and producer Arthus Fochi. 

- “Influenced by the trova guitar of the countryside, combined with Brazilian rhythms and electronic experimentalism, cajupitanga is based on homemade production and creative freedom”.

The homemade production conditions establish the creative process of the project, which starts with cell phone and field recordings, but develops both in the research of Brazilian cultural identity, especially in rural Bahia, and in the experimental possibilities that computers and electronic equipment can provide.

- “cajupitanga rehearses a countyside Bahia, of tangled land, far from the coast. Urban in appearance, but intrinsically rural. Conquista is a murky hinterland.”.

Research is fundamental to the creative process of the project. Representations of characteristic Brazilian genres are always linked to aesthetic deconstructions and sound laboratories. Just look at the EP “Ensaios Férteis,” which experiments with Latin, Afro-Brazilian, and sertanejo rhythms such as salsa, samba, forró, jazz, and ijexá, but works with the manipulation of samples and digital constructions of music, always bending the paths of composition. The work also connects cajupitanga with contemporary names such as Boogarins and ROSABEGE, references to the duo who had tracks sampled for the construction of tracks on the EP. The connection also resulted in the mastering of three tracks from the release by guitarist and producer Benke Ferraz from Boogarins. Another example is the mixtape “farra farra (montagens e trilhas)”, which uses drafts, themes, and sound experiments not used for “Ensaios Férteis” and articulates them in the style of computer glitches and soundtracks. Piano lines, loose chords on the guitar, and snippets of field recordings are superimposed like a puzzle in a work guided by sound collage and complete deconstruction of the song's structure.

Their latest release, “Próximo,” is a collaborative album with Rio de Janeiro composer Arthus Fochi. The work was determined by its process, in that it began with recordings completely free of tempo, structure, and meaning, made at home by Fochi as brief improvisations. cajupitanga samples the pieces and reinterprets them through collages, twists, inversions, and overlays with other ideas already prepared by the project. The result was a remarkably diverse album that explores a range of expressions of Brazilian and Latin music, based on the digital construction of music. Thus, improvisations, drafts, single takes, and the use of cell phones as recorders are added to the manipulation of samples and digital constructions of music to articulate compositions that range from ambient music and computer glitches to Bahian sertanejo songs and traditional Brazilian rhythms. Guided by Memory and Space, cajupitanga makes sound research a creative process of fragmenting its own history and overlapping its various aesthetic paths. 

Live Performances

cajupitanga made its stage debut in 2023 in the project's hometown. The show took place at the prestigious Camilo de Jesus Cultural Center. Months later, the duo debuted in Salvador at the Vila Velha Theater. They conceptualize their performance in different ways. With an intimate, powerful, hypnotic, or free style, the duo works with the identity of the countryside acoustic guitar, but encourages digital experimentation with live manipulation of samples, recording loops, and the use of the computer as a tool. A fundamental point is the reconstruction of most of the tracks in completely new versions, since they understand their work as being in motion, and their performances as specific modulations of their compositional process. Always open to diverse influences, their performances range from contemplative guitar and ambient piano to the intensity of distorted drones, beats, and shoegaze guitars. In 2025, they took to the stage for the first time as a band to perform “TRAMA,” a show in which the duo revisits works from their career and presents new tracks. Alongside Ramon Gonçalves (Aurata) on bass, Pedro Oliveira (BAGUM) on synthesizers and effects, and Paulo Pitta on saxophone, cajupitanga presented the new format at Largo Quincas Berro D'água, Pelourinho, opening the Boogarins show in September this year.

contact

cajupitanga@gmail.com

instagram: @cajupitanga_

website: cajupitanga.com

youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cajupitanga

Joining Carolyn is Brazilian guitarist Alan Franklin; Dundalk-born bassist Brian Dunne and Dublin drummer Ronan Sherlock. Each band member brings forward years of experience, skills, and passion into the group, creating a powerful and distinct sound that won’t be easily forgotten. The band's sound pulls from many vibes, think alt rock, prog rock, dream pop, metal, funk, and many more.

With 3 previous singles already receiving positive reviews with a healthy curiosity for more music releases, Gather The Lost started recording for their debut album. 'Never Home' is the first single from that forthcoming album and it's already making waves in their homeland with RTE 2 FM picking up the track as their 'Grassroots Track Of The Week'!
"Never Home is a powerful and introspective rock ballad about trying, but failing, to fit into the societal norms and expectations. It looks at the internal battle to conform that so many people face, while musically connecting to the emotions of the lyrics beautifully. It is raw, confessional, intimate and relatable".

https://linktr.ee/gatherthelost

Originally from the Czech Republic and closely connected to England and Ireland, Kubíková draws inspiration from a wide spectrum of international sounds. “International music brings a richer mixture of diversity and inspiration,” she says, highlighting influences that range from Freddie Mercury to Alicia Keys and Bono. She also cites classical music as a fundamental source, underpinning the modern styles she works in.

Currently completing a PhD in linguistics, Kubíková is developing Music 27 in the recording studio while exploring the interplay between language and music—an artistic relationship she continues to study both academically and creatively.

Music 27 aims to “see the hope in the darkness,” offering listeners a journey through inner reflection, emotional expression and resilience. “There’s always a light we can touch,” she explains. “I composed these songs to share the emotional world I carry within me. It’s incredible to see audiences recognise themselves in my music—proof that music truly speaks.”

The album seeks to show that music has no borders, and Kubíková emphasises her gratitude for “the special magic that only music can bring.”

Two tracks already confirmed for the release include “I Have Demons”, "I See Stars" and “I Feel Me.”

The album will be available on all streaming platforms from Monday 17th November on all streaming platforms.

Check out her instagram for future updates: https://www.instagram.com/kristininmusik27/