In a new album, Johnny Hooker seeks to celebrate life, after a period of storms

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The last years have not been easy for the artist, between the difficulties of the pandemic (“it seemed to never end and we had no government perspective on change”), the death of friends, a detached retina in both eyes in 2023 and the action of a “hate office”, which even sowed the news that he had moved from this to another (“I turned on the TV and the journalist was denying my own death”). Distraught, he announced on Twitter that he was going to give up his career:

— A lot of people supported me, a lot of artists sent messages, called and said: “Yeah, really, it’s very difficult for everyone.” But there were a lot of people who were upset, to many it seemed like ingratitude, like “ah, he has this career and he says that”. But maybe that’s because people don’t put themselves in other people’s shoes so much. Difficulties, health problems, sometimes, can be too much for a person to handle.

“Living and dying of love in Latin America” is Johnny Hooker who finally takes to the streets to celebrate life, after a period of long reflection, during which he took the opportunity to look in the rearview mirror and go on stage to review the 10 years of his first album, “Eu vai do um macumba para tie you up, damn!” “.

— For me, every project is like a movie, with a main narrative, sub-narratives, supporting characters… so, until you are sure you have a story to tell, I think it’s better to wait. On my other albums it was a deliberate process, I would say: “ah, I’m going to write a new album now”. In this one, it was the opposite. I was writing and writing and writing and before I knew it I had a bunch of songs where they were like, “Oh my God, look, you have an album here, don’t you?”

The meeting with the singer and maximum Brazilian gay reference Ney Matogrosso, 84 years old, was fundamental for the rebirth of Johnny Hooker. It actually began in 2017, with a misunderstanding, when the native of Pernambuco called him “a genius artist who lost the path the world has taken” (all because, in an interview, Ney declared that “he’s gay, I’m a human being,” explaining that he doesn’t consider himself a representative of minorities). Once the jam was over, he wrote, with the singer in mind, the song “Viver e die de amor na América Latina,” which the two ended up recording together for the album.

— I think it’s a strange spring (in 2015, with Brazil’s emergence of many non-sexually normative musical talents) raised different issues than his generation, so there was friction — explains Hooker. — Ney was an impeccable guy, he embraced music. I think generations can think differently on many issues, but the important thing is that they are together for the future, a future that was built by him, that is built by my generation, and that will be built by the next generation.

Now close not only to the singer, but also to another symbol of gay resistance of the 1970s, the writer João Silvério Trevisan, Johnny Hooker claims to have other title options for the album. But there was no doubt that it would be the same in music, since Ney “came with his historical presence from Latin America, gave this link which connected everything”, in this work whose axes are “Latin America, memories and Carnival”.

— Ney always brought this very strong Latin root and helped popularize Latin rhythms in Brazilian music — says Hooker. — Because of language, we become self-limited, trapped in the Brazilian cosmos. But influences happen even without us rationalizing them so much. And this title is in some way a tribute to what we are experiencing, as a region, taking the reins of our own history in a moment of global projection. Spanish-speaking Latin American artists are taking on new proportions, like Bad Bunny, speaking about their origins, their roots, their rhythms.

The passion for Latin music is linked, in “Living and Dying in Latin America,” to a celebration, by Johnny Hooker’s musical generation, of emotionally intense Brazilian popular rhythms, such as brega and forró.

— We dissolve this elitist thing a little, between popular music and more intellectualized music. I think they are getting closer – he believes, who already made this move in 2015 with “Macumba”. — I remember that a lot of people were surprised when I mixed these brega rhythms with rock. I think we’re living in a similar moment to 10 years ago, maybe the cycle of this queer spring that came with this incredible and diverse front of artists is ending, but all of this with this reaffirmation of Brazilian rhythms, of the identity of Brazilian music.

In “Saudades, Elder”, almost country, Johnny Hooker pays tribute to the work of singer and songwriter Marília Mendonca (1995-2021):

— What I find cool about Marília’s sensibility, and what I tried to pay homage to in the album, is this story of popular songs being so heartfelt that they end up having elements of humor. You suffer so much, you open your heart so much that you end up confessing to yourself in a funny way.

In “2 neon punks”, with the verses “tell me you love me before the end of the world”, the singer relives childhood memories and pays homage to the queer music of the 80s, to the rock of Renato Russo and Cazuza (“it’s a bit of a tribute to the victims and survivors of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, a bit to our queer ancestors who fell at the front of this war.”)

— It talks a little about this fascination with life, when everything is new, when you go into town with your gang to spread terror. It’s a bit of a reminder for myself, not to forget this wonder and not to let myself become hardened — he said. — Because we went through a very difficult time under the far-right government, with a lot of death, with a lot of attacks on culture, but we cannot forget the wonder, the magic and the rebellion. It’s remembering that spark, that flame.

Living in São Paulo since 2017 (where he recorded his new DVD a few days ago, sponsored by Te Vejo no Palco do Prêmio da Música Brasileira), Johnny Hooker recognizes that, no matter how much we throw ourselves into the world, the origin is always there (“when you grow up in Recife, you are bombarded by these rhythms, by brega, by ciranda, by frevo, by caboclinho… it’s baggage that you have had since your childhood, from Carnival).

And this heritage is printed more clearly on the album in the last two titles: “Eu Quero Ver Pega Fogo” (frevo with the Bahian star Daniela Mercury) and “A vida é um carnaval”, a hit by the Cuban Celia Cruz, which he covered and recorded with Lia de Itamaracá.

— There is this eternal quarrel between Recife and Salvador, who has the best carnival, who invented the frevo… what I think is that it was very symbolic to get him to celebrate the frevo as a joke, that it has no owner — he explains. — These songs are a chapter that closes the album, to say that carnival always comes to wash away sorrows and start again. This is where these two very strong and very symbolic female presences come in: Dani, who is a queer artist, also from the Northeast, and Lia, a cultural heiress from Pernambuco. The album ends with Lia’s recommendation and blessing, as if she were saying to me: “Go ahead, my son, the world is waiting for you. There will be many adventures, as well as falls. You will live and die for love, but you are protected!”