NUNO
The first solo album, SCHIZOPHONIC, by Nuno
Bettencourt marks a new
beginning in his career. SCHIZOPHONIC is
a dynamic display of musical
styles. From track to track, tape loops
and samples segue into stomping
riffs,hook-filled rhythms and melancholy
acoustic passages. It's a
head-spinning array, but one which yields
admiration instead of confusion.
"Everybody has different moods," says Nuno,
explaining why his songs are
so eclectic.
Despite the album's contemporary sound, many
of the songs on
SCHIZOPHONIC were written and recorded as
long as five years ago. Nuno
would often hole up inside his hotel room
and record songs on four or eight
track tape machines. He became a one man
band, handling guitar, vocals,
drums and keyboards on his own. "I played
all the instruments on
SCHIZOPHONIC out of necessity. I was demoing
and I always demo on my
own. This time it became my record."
SCHIZOPHONIC is a personal expression of
emotion and creativity that
allows Nuno to enter a new era with dignity
and grace. The first single
"Gravity" combines a surging blues riff
with diverging bass lines, industrial percussion and a contagious refrain,
while "Fine by Me" is a jangling tune reminiscent of the Byrds and Lemonheads
and "Crave" is a lush, soaring love song.
Such heartfelt sentiment flows through SCHIZOPHONIC.
Nuno's powerful
songwriting is matched by poignant lyrics
that examine a number of sobering
subjects including dysfunctional relationships,
childhood confusion, disease,old age and death. "I just said what I needed
to say," he says. "I think it's not me to be vague or heavily metaphorical
with lyrics. I don't want people to have to interpret my songs, I want
everybody to know the reality of the songs and what they're about."
The most aggressive song on the record, "2
Weeks in Dizkneelande,"
features contemptuously thrashing guitars
and a frantic beat. Of this dark
track Nuno confides "Music in a lot of ways
for me is about exercising
demons."
Of course, not all of SCHIZOPHONIC's sides
are dark. "You" is about
making the most of whatever time we have
and "What you Want" is about
searching for something most of your life,
then realizing it's always been in your own backyard. Something Nuno's
recently discovered with the birth of his daughter Bebe. "And it put everything
in perspective," he says. "It was like getting a new pair of glasses on
life."
Nuno was born in Portugal, the youngest of
10 children. He moved to
Hudson, Massachusetts when he was four and
grew up in a small
community surrounded by music. "Growing
up around a big family had such
an effect on me," says Nuno. "You would
walk into one room you've got
Queen playing, then you'd go into the next
room and there's Van Halen.
Then in the third bedroom the Beatles would
be on and then Aerosmith. I
was exposed to everything, and I think
that had a really big effect on me."
At age 10, Nuno started playing drums, then
at 14 he picked up the guitar, a freedom that rings through SCHIZOPHONIC,
from the middle eastern ambient dub-groove of "Fallen Angels" to the jubilant,
power-chord assault of "Swollen Princess," SCHIZOPHONIC should clear the
slate for anyone
who thought Nuno would just bounce
from one Extreme to another.
"With the exception of having a new baby,
sleeping at night is really
important to me. Being honest to myself
and everyone else is the only way
to do so. To this end, SCHIZOPHONIC is musically
and lyrically an eclectic
diary."
- February 1997