Missing Takes is a band far from your typical and ordinary rock band. With thoughtful and diverse lyrics centred around uncertainty, inevitable change, relapsing and the relationships built up throughout our lifetimes, the band has direct influences from 90s rock artists (the Foo Fighters, Green Day, Muse, RHCP) stretching into the 2000s. Pretty cool right? Although they’re an independent band they’ve done significant international traveling and touring while building a solid fan base and developing a unique experience catered to their own style.
Missing Takes released their single titled “Just Another” and this record is the quick-witted fun I needed for the night! The unique composition, arrangement, and lyrics caused me to be highly intrigued and engrossed by the song. “Just Another” begins with a sinuous introduction and muffled vocals that sounds like it’s being sung through a computer disc, right before their grandiose and striking vocals entertain its listeners. They have a progressive and well orchestrated merge of instruments while not missing a single drum beat or guitar riff! Something highly remarkable about “Just Another” is use of the cello. We’re used to the typical electric/acoustic/bass guitar, with drums, and a vocalist but what we aren’t typically use to is the introduction of non-traditional rock instruments, being used in a progressive sounding rock hit!
The producer and mixer Bernard Barbosa brought out a more experimental, clear-cut sound without toning down either “punch” or pop appeal. If you’re in for a good visual, Missing Takes also released a video that can be found on YouTube to their single “Just Another” where the witty sarcasm is at its peak, leaving room for detailed interpretations.
Listen to "Just Another" here.
Hey there, can you introduce yourselves to our BuzzMusic readers!
Hi there BuzzMusic readers, we're the Missing Takes, a indie-alternative-rock band from Porto Alegre, southern Brazil. We used to be 4, but now 5 guys who love making music, no matter what. We got different background, some have worked with pop music, some with hip hop, some with heavy metal, some with brazilian local rhythms, but all of us have got rock'n'roll in our DNA, although classic rock'n'roll is not our focus. We got direct influences from the 90`s and early 2000's indie/alternative rock, but we're constantly trying to improve ourselves and following new paths to build up something authentic, so we listen to all kind of music, specially when we're composing or recording new songs. Missing Takes is: Mateus Zuanazzi (vocal/guitar), Tito Lima (backing vocal/guitar), Pedro Mello (backing vocal/bass guitar), Rodrigo Messias (backing vocal/drums) and Pedro Chein (keyboards/samples). Although an independent band we toured California, played in Canada and won the Akademia Independent Music Award (Los Angeles) for best alternative rock EP with "Uneven Tides". Besides that we've also toured Brazil. We have four Ep's and are currently promoting the most recent "We Don't Have It", released on February, this year.
Tell us about “Just Another” and what inspired you to write this?
"Just Another" was the first single and music video released prior to "We Don't Have It". The single version is slightly different from the EP version. Although the single version is on the music video, we prefer the EP's version, because we like the mix and arrangement better. The song is a series of questions to someone who thinks is in control of everything. Although there isn't a defined character, I like to to picture the song as someone who's in a therapy session and at times is the shrink asking questions and other times it's the own person talking to his mind, or in other words, "just thinking". This song is a step towards different musical paths, as I said before, we got of the "bass-guitar-drums" line up and there's keyboards and even a cello.
Did you find any challenges in creating “Just Another”?
The challenge was having a really pop and catchy melody and building a song around it without getting like "pop-boring". What we did was keeping the pop melody, changing the key for the chorus then coming back, and at some point in the song, we decided that we should go a different direction, completely different from the rest of the song, and keep it until the end. This way we'd have a pop song but with "something else".
In the video portion of “Just Another”, what vision did you want to get across to your viewers?
The challenge was having a really pop and catchy melody and building a song around it without getting like "pop-boring". What we did was keeping the pop melody, changing the key for the chorus then coming back, and at some point in the song, we decided that we should go a different direction, completely different from the rest of the song, and keep it until the end. This way we'd have a pop song but with "something else".
What can we expect next from Missing Takes?
We're already working on new songs. This time we're writing in Portuguese, we see the scene growing again down here in Brazil. It's like "after the storm there's a rainbow". Well, maybe is rainbow time. But we won't be releasing many songs at once, like an album. Since we're an independent band and we're still trying to build up a consistent fan base, we'll just give some shots, releasing singles and music videos, and then analyze. Maybe we'll write in english again. I have many songs kept in my computer. We're also adapting to new times, so we have a new guy in the band, playing keyboard and "dee-jaying", we're bringing more clean-cut tones and less distortion to the songs. Without leaving the band's DNA, of course.