The first semi-final of Portuguese, Festival da Canção 2024 is taking place this Saturday. One of the acts competing is a Portuguese band from Aveiro who is making their debut at the contest. Perpétua will perform “Bem Longe Daqui” and we had a chance to talk with them ahead of the show. Check out what they told us in the interview below

Hello Perpétua first of all I would like to congratulate you for being selected for the Festival da Canção 2024. How does that feel and what made you decide to take part at the show?
Hello! It’s indeed a great honor to be a part of this show. In fact, we were invited to participle, which made us extremely proud. When we first got the invitation we couldn’t really believe, since we are a band with only a few years of existence.

Can you tell us more about your musical beginnings and how was the band formed?
Each one of us has always been surrounded by music, because our parents played music themselves or just because there were always some tunes playing while at the house or during car trips. We know each other since we were 12/13 years old. Diogo (guitarist) met Beatriz (vocalist) at school and then the other two boys, Rúben (drummer) and Xavier (bassist) at a school academy. We kept in touch throughout the years and in the second half of 2019 we decided to get together and try to make music that excited us all.

How did  “Bem Longe Daqui” came to life and what does the song mean for you?
We are currently working on our second full length album, which is scheduled for the first half of this year. Initially the song was meant to just be a part of the album, but as soon as we thought about how to approach the show, this one stood out, even after some attempts to make another new one. So, we stuck to it and only made some minor changes. It’s the song in which we incorporate a vibe closer to City pop, a genre we all love so much. Thematically, we like to leave some room to ambiguity and interpretation, but our goal was to shed some light on the extremely accelerated way we wall live our lives now. It’s about growth and perspective, about trying to make sense of things from the place we are now.

What can we expect from your performance? Can you give us a hint?
We are band, so we will stay true to that. We won’t compromise our identity for the sake of flashiness.  That’s all we can say.

The style of your FdC 2024 entry could be described as City pop or Jpop do you listen to Jpopmusic , if so could you share with us your favourite song from the genre?
We are leaning towards disco music and its various subgenres more and more, City pop being one of those subgenres. We are true fans of those 70’s and 80’s Japanese artists, but we can highlight two, “Mayonaka no Door/Stay With Me”, by Miki Matsubara, and “Telephone Number”, by Junko Oashi. Those two have been on a heavy rotation.

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?
Obviously, we can’t stress out enough how impactfull Portugal’s win with “Amar Pelos Dois” was. That’s a favorite, for obvious reasons, but we can also name “Playback”, from Carlos Paião (1981) as one of our favorites. He was from our hometown and unfortunately passed away too soon. We even made our own version of that song!

Where do you find inspiration for the music you create?
Thematically we find inspiration in everyday life. We like to talk about things everyone can relate to, since music can be a powerful tool to help make life better. Musically, we find ourselves lending from Disco, 80’s Pop, Dream pop, Jazz and a bunch of other music genres.

If you could chose any bend to be a support/ opening act for which one would it be and why?
We are collectively in love with Parcels, L’Imperatrice and Men I Trust. These are probably the three bands the four of us have the most in common when it comes to sheer appreciation. So, opening to one of these amazing artists would be a tremendous privilege to us as a band.

What do you do when you are not singing? Any hobbies?
In fact, music is a hobby for all of us. We are not a professional band yet and each one of us has other occupations. Xavier started studying again and does some freelancing work in audio and visual production, Rúben has his own studio and is a Music teacher, Beatriz is also a Music teacher, and Diogo is a Philosophy teacher.

What are your plans after Festival da Canção 2024?
We are preparing our second album, so our main goal after Festival da Canção 2024 is getting it out and start touring.

Thank you so much for your time Perpetua. 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?
Thanks a lot for the opportunity and kindness! For the readers, check us out, follow us on social media so you don’t miss a thing and stay tuned for what’s to come! 

You can listen to “Bem Longe Daqui” by Perpétua below: