The second semi-final of Portuguese national selection for Eurovision 2023, Festival da Canção is taking place this Saturday 4th of March. A total of 10 acts will be competing for a chance to qualify for the final. One of them is Dapunksportif, a Portuguese band which was formed back in 2004, in Peniche. The core of the band consists of  João Guincho and Paulo Franco, who were long time partners in many musical projects as well as producer Marco Jung. They will be performing a song “World Needs Therapy”.

Hello Dapunksportif, first of all I would like to congratulate you for being selected for the Festival da Canção 2023. How does that feel and what made you decide to take part at the show?
It was a big surprise for us receiving an invitation by the organization-public channel RTP- with a phone call. We thought it was a prank but it was true. We´ve always liked to put ourselves under pressure. Why not? Lets make things happen and write a new song and spread our sound.

How was the band formed and what were its musical beginnings?
That’s a long story! Almost 20 years, always on the road! We call it “Combat Rock”! 5 albums recorded and we don´t wanna stop. Dapunksportif it’s about making songs. Rock songs with catchy guitar riffs, groove and a lot of energy, moving around through genres like punk, stoner and everything in between. We started playing in early 90´ with some local bands like so many others we got some stage experience and played some covers and originals songs with a band called “Pigs In Mud”. After the breakup, in 2001, me (Paulo Franco- singer&guitar) and João Guincho-Lead Guitar continued writing songs and formed Dapunksportif.

Can you tell us a bit about “World Needs Therapy” what does the song mean for you?
We´re all living in constant menace of something that’s about to happen…nobody knows what’s coming next. It’s global! There´s no escape. We need more love in our life’s and with this song we want to send a positive message to the world that all depends on us and our choices and behaviours.

What can we expect from your performance? Can you give us a hint?
It’s gonna be a rock n roll performance, for certain, we wanna give people the feeling of our live show!

Do you watch Eurovision regularly, if so would you like to share a memory which you have of it or a favourite song from the contest?
Nowadays we´re not a regular viewer of Eurovision but since Salvador Sobral victory we pay more attention to it. When we were younger there was only a TV channel and we used to watch it more often and one Portuguese song stick in our ears until today, “Playback” by Carlos Paião.

Where do you find inspiration for the music you create?
Inspiration comes from real life in general but also from listening to other bands, writers, films, mixed with our feelings and emotions.

In your career so far you’ve toured all around Portugal and performed many gigs abroad, which one is your favourite and is there any anecdote which you’d like to share with us?
It’s very difficult to choose a favorite show. We like it all! But there´s one we remember very well because our drummer had to leave the show for 3 minutes and went running to the bathroom, leaving the band without warning. We didn´t panic and the audience went crazy when the drummer got back and start playing again…ahaha…Rock’n’Roll!!

If you had a chance to pick one member of any rock band (alive or dead) as an addition to Dapunkspotif who would it be and why?
Humm…not an easy one….Dave Grohl! Great Drummer, Great song writer and a cool guy!!!

What do you do when you are not singing? Any hobbies?
Surf, Basketball and riding bike.

What are your plans after Festival da Canção 2023?
We sure want to play more gigs, write new songs and spread our music.

Thank you so much for your time Dapunksportif. We wish you the best of luck at the Festival da Canção. Do you want to share something else or you maybe have a message for readers of escbubble?
Stay cool and stay clean!!!

You can listen to “World Needs Therapy” by Dapunksportif below:

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