Ratos de Porão

Ratos de Porão (Portuguese for "Basement Rats") is a Brazilian crossover thrash/hardcore punk band from São Paulo. They were formed in 1981, toured South America, North America, and Europe and still continue to play today. Their core lineup of João Gordo on vocals and Jão on drums and later guitars has remained since virtually the band's beginning.

Lead singer João Benedan (better known as João Gordo) is a former well-known VJ on MTV Brasil and later worked at Rede Record in a comedy TV show called: "Legendários" (Portuguese for "Legendaries"). He now has a youtube channel where he hosts a talk show and cooks vegan food, called Panelaço.

History

Early days

Ratos de Porão, or simply RxDxPx, was formed in November of 1981, existing in the Brazilian (São Paulo city) punk rock scene (alongside bands such as Olho Seco, Cólera, Inocentes, Garotos Podres, and Lobotomia). Directly influenced by the UK 82 hardcore bands such as Discharge, G.B.H., Varukers and Swedish and Finnish bands such as Anti-Cimex and Kaaos, they started to write songs that criticized Brazilian society, a revolutionary concept at the time. Their sound is regarded as one of the rawest of their scene (because other bands such as Cólera and Garotos Podres were more 'punk rock' sounding than 'hardcore').

João Gordo

João Gordo (born João Francisco Benedan on March 13, 1964 in Tucuruvi, Northeast Zone of São Paulo) is the vocalist of the Brazilian hardcore punk band Ratos de Porão, also known simply as RxDxPx. He participated in many seminal punk events in Brazil, such as the collection entitled O Começo do Fim do Mundo (The Beginning of the End of the World).

Besides several guest appearances in metal radio shows from São Paulo such as Backstage and Comando Metal (defunct, originally syndicated in São Paulo on 89.1 Rock FM). In the 1990s he became one of the most famous VJs of MTV Brasil, in their programs of games and talk shows. He also appeared on the studio version of "Reza" on Against (1998) and also contributed vocals to Nation (2001), and RDP's song "Crucificados Pelo Sistema" was covered by Sepultura way back when. He recently appeared on Sepultura's DVD Live in São Paulo, joining the band to perform "Reza" and "Biotech Is Godzilla".

References