Bruno Verner

Bruno Verner (born 1971 in Belo Horizonte) is a Brazilian composer, poet, electronic musician, performance artist and compiler, best known for his work as the other half of Brazilian tropical punk funk duo Tetine which he formed with Eliete Mejorado in São Paulo in 1995.

Verner was an active member of Belo Horizonte's post punk and industrial scene from the mid 1980s as a musician, poet, performer & producer, having played alongside a number of pioneering post punk acts. He sang, played keyboards, bass guitar and programmed drum machines in Brazilian post punk bands such R. Mutt, Divergencia Socialista, Ida & e Os Voltas, O Grito Mudo and Albania Berg - electronic and experimental groups from his hometown over a period spanning from 1984-1990. His early work is compiled in cassette tapes and compilations such as Lilith Lunaire Divergencia Socialista, R. Mutt (R. Mutt), Mulata Urbana (O Grito Mudo), Jovens Raptados (Ida & Os Voltas) ' Substance - Marcelo Dolabela & Divergencia Socialista. Verner early tracks with Divergencia Socialista, Tetine and O Grito Mudo are also included in the compilation Uncorrupted Tropical Wave, 1984-2011 ( Slum Dunk 2011)

Bruno Verner was born in the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. His mother worked as a primary school teacher and his father was a pianist. He studied music at Fundação de Educação Artística (FEA) in Belo Horizonte where he developed an avid interest in contemporary music and the avant-garde, becoming a young composer of electronic music at the age of 17. His piece ‘Casamento’ for 2 sequencers,synthesiser and a sculpture was performed at Ciclo de Música Contemporânea in a programme dedicated to emerging young composers.

Verner performing with Tetine

In 1990 Bruno Verner moved to São Paulo to study Linguistics at Universidade de São Paulo, USP and music at Universidade Livre de Musica (ULM). In the early 90’s he founded the performance group "Um Ou Nao". As a poet & musician, he also conceived and wrote a number of experimental performances involving an unorthodox use of text, sound, improvisation and visuals from 1991-1994 in São Paulo. From this period pieces such as I Dada Happening Interdisciplinar, Pressupostos A Uma Sintaxe Sensorial, "O UM" were presented in art spaces, underground clubs, bookshops and small cinemas around São Paulo. In 1991 he wins the literary prize Projeto Nascente from Universidade de Sao Paulo and later publishes a poetry book called O UM on Atelier Editorial.

In 1994 Bruno Verner met Eliete Mejorado while producing the soundtrack for the performance piece Roberto Zucco at Teatro Oficina. Eliete and Bruno soon found themselves creating a radical blend of atonalism, industrial goth, punk and noise improvising with a drum machine, an old piano, altered voices, a VCR and slide projectors. Both artists approach to sound, voice and improvisation were very similar resulting in the creation of a one-off art performance that they later baptised as Tetine.

In 1995 Tetine was officially born with Alexander’s Grave - a multi-media performance for voice, piano, electronics and projections shown at Bexiga's underground 70-seat cinema space Teatro HAU in São Paulo and also the title of Tetine's first album. "Alexandre's Grave" marks the beginning of a series of works Bruno Verner & Eliete Mejorado would later perform or exhibit as Tetine.

Verner produced and released electronic music, post punk and funk carioca albums on several record labels including Soul Jazz Records, Mr Bongo, Kute Bash, Bizarre Music, High School Records, Collete and Mais Um Discos. He also starred in several of Tetine’s videos directed by his partner Eliete Mejorado. With Tetine he put out video compilations, curated exhibitions such as Tropical Punk, COMA, and organised music and film programmes such as The Politics Of Self Indulgence. In 1995 his first album with Tetine, "Alexandre’s Grave" was released on his own record label High School Records. In 1997 Verner wrote the original score for the dance piece "Creme" by choreographer Adriana Banana of Ur=Hor and ex Companhia de Dança Burra.

Also in 1997 Verner, Eliete Mejorado and Ricardo Muniz Fernandes create a project called Babel, curating the entire programme of the now legendary intervention festival that took place in an abandoned petrol station in Pinheiros, São Paulo owned by SESC SP. "BABEL" brought to São Paulo a series of radical performances and works by artists such as '''Orlan, "Karen Finley", "Lindy Annis", "Teatro Oficina", "Tetine", "Laura De Vison, "Kazuo Ono, Cabelo, Marta Neves, Fernando Cardoso, Carlinhos, Claudio Cretti, Adriana Galinare, Individual Industry amongst many other artists. During 15 days BABEL was installed in the petrol station of Pinheiros with unconventional exhibition spaces in the form of boxes or garages, an experimental theatre, a cinema, a stage for bands and a catwalk for fashion shows. BABEL was for free and received an incredible amount of Brazilian media attention & public visitation during its two weeks of life.

In 1998 Bruno Verner & Eliete Mejorado present Eletrobrecht and Musica De Amor at 12 Festival Videobrasil. Also in 1998 Verner and Mejorado are invited to curate the music segment of Mundao at Sesc Santo Amaro bringing for the first time to Brasil Diamanda Galas, Marianne Faithfull and John Cale for special performances in São Paulo. Other artists include Cibo Matto and a number of local artists.

In January 2000, Bruno Verner and Eliete Mejorado become resident artists at Queen Mary University in London, establishing themselves in the UK. At Queen Mary University of London, Bruno gave workshops on performance, music & sound manipulation to students of the Drama & Performance department and later created "Living Room" - an autobiographical spoken word piece for electronics presented at the university’s Harold Pinter Theatre. Living Room also took part of East End Collaborations Platform - a collaboration between the Live Art Development Agency and Queen Mary University showing emerging artists working with Live Art.

In 2000 Bruno Verner was awarded the full scholarship Bolsa Apartes/ CAPES from Brazilian government to complete a MA in Performing Arts at Middlesex University, London. In 2002 he collaborates with French artist Sophie Calle writing and producing the electronic music album Samba De Monalisa - Tetine Vs Sophie Calle. The album was part of Sulphur Records collection Meld - a series of audio pieces produced in collaboration between 2 artists released on Robin Rimbauld (Scanner)’s label Sulpher Records. Other titles from Meld include DJ Spook, Scanner, Stephen Vittielo amongst others. At the same year Bruno Verner and Eliete Mejorado co-curate a film programme & performance night with late British artist/curator Ian White at Whitechapel Gallery entitled The Politics Of Self Indulgence including films by Taka Limura Chicks on Speed, Tetine, Marina Abramovic, Chilly Gonzales and debuting their Samba de Monalisa performance live at Whitechapel.

In 2002 Bruno Verner and Eliete Mejorado fell in love with a new scene of female MC’s of Funk Carioca (Baile Funk) from Rio de Janeiro and began broadcasting a weekly radio show called Slum Dunk on Resonance Fm, 104.4 entirely dedicated to the genre. That’s the first time Funk Carioca is played in Europe. After hundreds of radio shows spanning different periods of the genre, including a series of live interviews with Djs, MCs and people involved in the scene, in 2004, Bruno Verner & Eliete Mejorado compiled the pioneering mixtape Slum Dunk Presents Funk Carioca mixed by Tetine, released on Mr Bongo Records. At the same year they released an original blend of queer funk carioca in an album entitled Bonde Do Tetao on Bizarre Music in São Paulo. Slum Dunk Presents Funk Carioca was critically acclaimed in Europe and in the USA and influenced a new generation of DJs and producers including M.I.A and Diplo - who were then beginning to experiment with Funk Carioca more or less at the same time. Tetine's Slum Dunk radio show was responsible to bring Funk Carioca – the intense lo-down Miami-bass driven sound from Rio’s favela parties – within London’s cultural radar, giving exposure to a number of Baile Funk artists for the first time in Europe, introducing the British and Americans to a new genre, as well as playing Brazil’s most experimental segments of funk including the proibidoes.

The Slum Dunk show covered from obscure electronica to post punk, funk carioca to avant hip hop, experimental mpb to film music and beyond – through hundreds of thematic or free-form radio shows including live performances, interviews with MCs, producers, artists, curators, journalists, beat & party politics conversations, screenings and more. Bruno Verner and Eliete Mejorado were also responsible for the London premiere of "Eu Sou Feia Mas To Na Moda" " I’m Ugly But Trendy" - a film by Denise Garcia on the Funk Carioca scene, later also exhibited in Tetine’s show Tropical Punk.

In 2005 Bruno Verner compiled the album The Sexual Life of the Savages - underground post punk from São Paulo for British label Soul Jazz Records. Bruno Verner selected the artists, wrote the sleeve notes and create the album concept. A year later Bruno Verner releases A Historia Da Garça - a 12’ on Soul Jazz Records in 2006 and the EP L.I.C.K MY FAVELA on Berlin’s label Kute Bash.

In 2007 Bruno Verner & Eliete Mejorado conceived Tropical Punk - a Brazilian post-tropical intervention/ exhibition that took place at the Whitehapel Gallery with a programme of films, artist videos, fanzines, T. shirts and performances. In 2008 Soul Jazz Records releases Tetine’s I Go To The Doctor as 12’ and their full album Let YouR X’s Be Y’s.

In 2009 Bruno Verner is back in São Paulo for a series of shows, talks, exhibitions and workshops on Tetine’s project Samba de Monalisa. Tetine is invited to perform the original audio of "Samba de Monalisa" at Sophie Calle’s exhibition Take Care of Yourself as part of Videobrasil alongside talks on this project and the workshop Mixing It - Conhecendo Linguagens. At the same year Tetine shows their Samba de Monalisa at the Bordeaux Bienalle in France. Bruno Verner also takes part in the videos for Tropical Punk and Shiva with Eliete Mejorado, Guilherme Altamyer and Tiago Borges filmed at Aldeia do Meco, Portugal 2009.

In 2010 Verner and Mejorado release From A Forest Near You (Slum Dunk Music) and Tropical Punk on CD and vinyl through their own label Slum Dunk Music.

In 2011 Bruno Verner, Eliete Mejorado and Brazilian artist Jarbas Lopes are invited to perform a re-enactment of the tent piece DEEGRAÇA in Firenze at the exhibition Tudo É - curated by Andrea Lissoni & Alberto Salvadori. DEEGRAÇA was originally performed in 2003 for the first time at Gasworks Gallery in London. With Tetine, still in 2011, Bruno Verner is commissioned by Sesc Vila Mariana to compose a new score for Rogerio Sganzerla's cinema marginal classic O Bandido Da Luz Vermelha'. The concert is presented at Cine Concerto, SESC Vila Mariana with special guest 'Helena Ignez on stage with Tetine.

In 2012 Tetine perform at Trienalle Di Milano as part of the exhibition Open Arti in Milan - an unusual laboratory programme of music, art & debate curated by Andrea Lissoni and Simone Bertuzzi with artists such as Venus X, legendary Italo disco DJ Daniele Baldelli, Awesome Tapes From Africa, Chief Boima, Miltos Mannetas amongst others. Still in 2012 Verner and Mejorado are commissioned to create a score for Neville D'Almeida Brazilian new wave classic Rio Babilonia. Later in June 2012 the concert is presented at the theatre of Sesc Santo Amaro in São Paulo as part of a retrospective of the works of Neville D'Almeida entitled Alem Cinema.

In September 2012 Bruno Verner and Eliete Mejorado perform 3 different pieces in Norway - including a brand new work entitled "I Hope You Enjoy Your Stay". All the performances happened in Oslo over a weekend respectively at The National Museum Of Contemporary Art, Stenersen Museum & Jaeger club.

In 2013 Tetine releases 'In Loveland With You' produced by Bruno Verner. The video for Burning Land and Loveland are also filmed in London.

Later in the year Bruno Verner, Eliete Mejorado, poet Ricardo Domeneck and German singer songwriter Cunt Cunt Chanel go on a mini tour in Belgium curated by Hugo Lorenzetti.

• Queer & Mutant Funk Cuts (2000-2005) / Slum Dunk 2016
• 53 Diamonds / Wet Dance 2016
• Mother Nature / Wet Dance 2013
• Black Semiotics / Wet Dance 2013
• In Loveland With You / Slum Dunk Music 2013
• Voodoo Dance & Other Stories / Slum Dunk Music 2011
• Uncorrupted Tropical Wave 1984-2011 / Slum Dunk Music 2011
• From A Forest Near You / Slum Dunk Music 2010
• Let Your X's Be Y's / Soul Jazz Records 2008
• I Go To The Doctor 12 / Soul Jazz Records 2008
• A Historia da Garça 12 / Soul Jazz Records 2006
• L.I.C.K. MY FAVELA / Kute Bash Records 2006
• L.I.C.K MY FAVELA / Slum Dunk 2005
• The Sexual Life of the Savages / Soul Jazz Records 2005
• Bonde do Tetão / Bizarre Music 2004
• Slum Dunk Presents Funk Carioca / Mr Bongo 2004
• Men In Uniform / Bizarre Music 2003
• Tetine Vs Sophie Calle - Samba de Monalisa / Sulphur Records 2002
• Olha Ela de Novo / High School Records 2001
• Música De Amor / High School Records 1998
• Creme / High School Records 1997
• Alexander's Grave / High School Records 1996

Compilations - Tracks Appear On

• Daora - Underground Sounds of Urban Brasil - Hip-hop, Beats, Afro and Dub - "Burning Land" Mais Um Discos 2013
• Uncorrupted Tropical Wave 1984-2011 - "Shiva, Lick My Favela", Slum Dunk Music, 2011
• Colette Vile - Tropical Punk (Mutant Edit) Colette, 2010
• Soul Jazz Singles 2008-2009 - I Go To The Doctor Soul Jazz Records 2009
• Spex CD, Comp I Go To The Doctor Spex Magazine 2008
• Trax Sampler 116 I Go To The Doctor (CSS remix) Trax Sampler 2008
• Soul Jazz Singles 2006-2007 (2xCD + CD) A Historia Da Garca, Slum Dunk Soul Jazz Records 2007
• Exploited Presents: Shir Khan - Maximize! (2xCD, Comp, Mixed) L.I.C.K. My Favela Exploited 2007
• Mind The Gap Volume 65 (CD, Comp) Zero Zero Five Five (Se Vende) Gonzo Circus 2006
• Gentle Electric (CD) Men In Uniform Mogul Electro 2005
• Essence - Tribute To New Order (CD) Truth The The Records 1997

Books

• Tetine - Red Book (High School 1998)
• O Um ( Atelier Editorial, 1997)

Early Sounds (cassette tapes)

• O Grito Mudo - O Grito Mudo (1985)
• R.Mutt - R. Mutt (1986)
• Ida & Os Voltas - Jovens Raptados (1986)
• Divergencia Socialista - Lilith Lunaire (1988)
• O Grito Mudo - Mulata Urbana (1987)
• Um Ou Nao - (1992)
• Tetine - Simetrias de A a Z tape (1995)