A 'mixtape' is a compilation of songs recorded in a specific order, traditionally onto an audio Compact Cassette.
People who lived in the 80's will remember how incredible it was to record, erase and re-record all songs on that little piece of plastic, creating tracks to listen to at anytime without having to go to the disc player to jump off that track that made you change your mood or without having to spend hours beside the radio waiting for the song you wanted to be played. They will remember that cassettes were often given as a gift to friends and lovers, as a way of sharing musical news. At that time, people used to play the dj, recording the songs they most liked and separating their cassetes by themes: romantic, dancing, sad and so on. What people didn't know, or at least we didn't, was that those tapes had a name: Mixtape. The perfect name for a duo that exactly: a compilation of everything we like.
If you didn't live in the 80's, no problem, the name mixtape is also used for recordings on cd, mp3 and even your ipod can be called a mixtape. And if now we can affirm that musical democracy really started with the cassete tape's recorders, that allowed people to create their own mixtapes, we want to continue this revolution so that people will get to know our music more and more everyday, and so that they'll have our songs on their favorite playlists!
Mixtape was formed in 2008, first as a trio, playing songs in Portuguese. Their debut album (O Tormento do Tempo) was recorded and released in 2009 and now, as a duo, Pris Elias and Helen Negrão release their second album, “Find Your Own Way Home”, all written in English.
‘We basically do pop music and we’re highly influenced by 80’s pop, indie/rock, electro/pop, punk/pop and international pop and pop/rock. Our first record had more of our pop/rock influences. For this second album, maybe because we’re working as a duo, we explored electronic elements much more than we did on the first record. We feel more mature and secure of our music and message and we just want people to know that being themselves and doing what they really love will always bring the best answers for the most important questions in their lives.’
- Pris Elias.
