Brazilian band comes to the ‘Pep

By Catherine Amos

Published: April 10, 2008

Culpeper music lovers can sample the flavors of Brazil at ‘A Taste of Music’ Saturday at Culpeper County High School.
Brazilian band Diafanes, on its second U.S. tour, will stop through Culpeper before performing in Washington, D.C. for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival Sunday at the Tidal Basin Stage.

Diafanes’ first American tour last year took the band to 24 shows in 20 states, and this month alone Diafanes will visit North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida. The band formed in
2002 and pairs alternative rock with exotic instruments, from Japanese harps to castanets.

A 2003 recording solidified the band’s sound, pairing heavy guitars and drums with melodic bass lines and vocalist Lorena Hollander’s tone with “a strong dose of experimentalism,” according to the Diafanes’ Web site.

The band is comprised Hollander, who also plays a few exotic instruments, Ciro Visconti on the guitar and lap steel guitar, Samuel Denicol on bass and keyboards and Rafael Tortola on drums, derbake drum and castanets. The band’s two CDs are “See Through,” released in the United States Sept. 2005 and “Obviously Clear,” released last year.

In 2006, Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell selected Diafanes as one of 20 semi-finalists — out of 2,000 bands — in a competition to play at Chicago’s Lollapalooza Festival, and last year the band toured the United States for the first time.

According to the band’s Web site, Diafanes “seeks a departure from the common pop/rock, exploring original tonalities and timbers.” Diafanes’ influences include the Smashing Pumpkins, Veruca Salt, Soundgarden and Radiohead, among other ’90s bands, as well as Queen, Pink Floyd and contemporary music composers. The band’s music contains Arab and Flamenco elements, heard through instruments such as snujs and castanets. Often there is a belly dance performance with Diafanes’ shows.

Despite the members’ native Portuguese, their lyrics are all in English, and “deal with not only personal issues but social issues as well, painting a picture of the human condition that the public can identify with,” according to Diafanes.com. 

Catherine Amos can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 138 or at

Who is Diafanes?
Diafanes is a band from Sao Paulo, Brazil that mixes different tones with rock and exotic instruments, such as the koto (Japanese harp), castanets, snujs and theremin, among others.
Visit myspace.com/diafanes or diafanes.com.
Lorena Hollander (vocal, guitar, koto, cuica, snujs and castanets)
Ciro Visconti (guitar, lap steel and theremin)
Samuel Denicol (bass and keyboards)
Rafael Tortola (drums, derbake drum and castanets)

‘Taste of Music’
schedule of events
Join Brett Jenkins in celebrating local music acts April 12 from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the door and money raised will benefit Culpeper Band Boosters, Windmore Foundation for the Arts and the Parent-Rock Organization. The event will be at Culpeper County High School in the auditorium, library and cafeteria.

First stage (auditorium)
11:30 a.m. Hooked
12:30 p.m. The BluesTones, James Madison University a cappella group
1:30 p.m. CCHS Step Team
2:30 p.m. CCHS Jazz Band
3:30 p.m. A.O.N.
4:30 p.m. Ryan Benyo Experience
5:30 p.m. Diafanes
6:30 p.m. Krush
7:30 p.m. Rath
8:30 p.m. Rude Buddha

Second stage (cafeteria):
2 p.m. David Gilmore
3 p.m. Aubrey Driggers
5 p.m. Possum Ridge String Band

Library:
11:30 a.m. Discussion with Emmy award-winning composer David Cottrell and renowned musician Joseph Taylor, both JMU professors in the School of Music.

For more information on ‘Taste of Music’ visit myspace.com/atasteofmusic.com