Photo by Marcos Hermes
01- Hello Wander, how are you? We would like to thank you so much for this opportunity!
Please, start by telling us how you got interested and who were your influences about music/guitar stuff?
I am doing Ok. I started playing because my sister used to play acoustic guitar in the 60's at the same time
of the contests through Brazil and "Jovem Guarda" (brazillian Tv show aired at the late 60's).Actually this is something
kind of funny because it is really Old, Roberto Carlos had a show at Jovem Guarda on the sundays which was a band called
RC7 and it had a guitar player named "Gato", who I don't know if he's already passed away , but he was the very first guy
who I was influenced by. My sister had some acoustic guitar classes, and she had an Giannini acoustic guitar and after she got
a Di Giorgio and keeped both , then I started playing her simplest acoustic guitar and figuring out how to play music by my own.
After obviously the Beatles came up and in that time was really hard to find some young people who weren't influenced by
this.
02 - Who were your guitar teachers?
Nobody . My generation just had phonograph, do you know what a phonograph is? Lol
I do..rs
It is something which can play those old records. We just had this and imagination, there wasn't even pick and
we used to play with phosphorus stick, coins and my dad used to wear suit and there was something plastic that used
to be on the collar which was called whalebone. To make this much more clearer the first Fender pick
I had lasted one year , because it was something really rare.
So We learned tons of things from the albums with no didactic information at all, and we just figured out that
it was a pentatonic six years after of playing and that's the way my generation learned.
03 - You are one of those players who have been perfoming since the 70's, we would like to know about
the musical reality of that time if compared to nowadays for professional musicians?What was job opportunities
and rock scene in Brazil like?
In that time Rock'n roll was Rock'n roll, it didnt have any slope or division, Rock was it and you took this seriously and played it.Rock Scene was totally
different, I am a guy from Pompéia which is a totally rocker neighbourhood where the Mutantes, Rita Lee and etc came from and I used to live
with these people which was from a previous generation of Serginho Dias which is a huge influence for meas well as Pepeu Gomes who
were my idols that time and still nowadays they are very important for brazilian guitar.
It was something very cool because there weren't these make-up which we have to day, there was no way to create a music like there is today
at Pro Tools, there wasn't even tape recorded.You had to play it righ and public was really exigent.
It was a time that you listened to a lot of music , to make this clearer, you went to the store and the guys used to speak that a new band came up
and what is the name? "Led..hummm Led Zeppelin" in other words it was like that, everything was nw. We learned all those songs and kept playing
them for years. I had a basement, because I lived below a friend of mine's house and that was the encounter point of the dudes, several people
came from the basemente: Mozart Mello, Faíska, Álvaro Gonçalves and etc then it was the dudes who lived only and exclusively to play guitar
and that was the scene the purest rock'n roll, really rock'n roll which are the bands from that time Led, Deep Purple, Gentle Giant, Dust and etc which
is very seldom to find someone who know some of these bands.
04-You were member of projects such as Made in Brazil, Secos e Molhados, Joelho de Porco, Gang 90 and Rita Lee.
What was working in this projects like?
In the 70's , I played with the most rock bands. I started doing Proms , which today people call cover. There was also Mingau which was a place where people used to go to hang out on Sunday which had in the clubs of São Paulo such as Pinheiros, Paulistano, Tiete, Juventues among others.And the set list of the bands such as Memphis, Sundae, Kompha,Lee Jackson, Watt 69 was totally based on other countries music, no one used to sing in portuguese in that time because it was too tacky and there wasn't audience for this.The set list was awesome.
So thiese 3.4 years I played in Proms I learnt that this is the best school for musicians because you are obligated to play everything.After memphis, I played for Made in Brazil, Joelho de Porco, Secos e Molhados, Gang 90 which in the Globo conteste of "Perdidos na Selva" we got the third plae, after I played with Rita Lee in the best time of her career, o Lança Perfume, after I formed Rádio Taxi which was a band which got rally nice results.
05-You are a member of Rádio Taxi which had tons of hits on the radions during the 80's.What was this experience like?Since you guys have released a DVD recently?
We've released it now, last year by Sony.It was a natural process, because in that time we all played together backing Rita Lee, doing lot of concerts and our partner, Nelso Mota, who is a journalist helped us in several lyrics and came up with the band name. You play for many bands and there comes a time that you have to form yours, all the bands the bands I played with I was invited, I didn't form band.
Rádio Taxi was something we formed with a concept of pop/rock sharp-cut.
06- After leaving Rádio Taxi, you recorded you solo Cd and soonafter the Taffo band which had Dr.sin members on the
drums and bass.What was this work like?
It was around 1988, which was more rock'n roll with Ivan Busic and Andria Busic.After they left to form Dr.sin with Edu Ardanuy, so I continued the band
with Carlos Angelo on the Bass, Fernando Nova on the voice and Gel on the drums, Gel has played with me since 1973 in other words a huge while.
07 - Talk about your equipment for recording , concerts and talk about your sponsors.
I am endorsed by Laney which is an england amplifier and by Line 6 which is an amplifier to smaller places , for bigger place I use the Laney VH100.But, I have used Mesa Boogie for all my life, I have been Mesa Boogie maniac since 1981.Laney is an amplifier I really enjoy, it 100% valved, so I don't use pedals or stuff like that.
How about the guitar?
I have a signature guitar built by Giannini which is done by requests so you can't find it in any store, to have one you have to order this directly from Giannini and the name of this model is V - Power Wander Taffo Signature.
08-In 1997, you formed IG&T which today is definetly one of the biggest schools of south american, if not the biggest.What was that like?
Actually, this is the second IG&t, the first one was in 1987 and we had tons of students who nowadays are teachers like:Kiko Loureiro, Eduardo Ardanuy,Márcio Okayma, Sandro Haick among others. Which worked as experience for this version of Ig&t which was built in 1997, and in 1999 we did the Em&t with more 6 institutes.
In that time the school didn't last for so long, what happened?
The school lasted one year and half, because it was a time in Brazil that Inflation was from 50 to 60% by month and there was not computer. So it was so madness which we used to teach for 15 students playing in 15 marshalls a class, in other words there was 60 marshalls and I used to teach with a bus horn, because it tuned out to be so big mess that I had to play the horn...lol
I lasted one year and a half, it got 600 students. Then ten years later with a much more modern administrative process , computer, and with the partner Célio Ramos which was experiente in the advertisement/administrative marketing area so it ended up right.
09- What is organizing and to manage this huge school with several institutes?
Much harder than playing the guitar..lol
Other world and it ended up because it was the dream of a guitarist to give the new students everything I didn't have, quantity and quality information to play my instrumento, together with an adman who put my ideas in practice.Anything serious you want to do in Brazil about starting a company and etc you don't have support at all, they just took a huge money of governement's fees and you don't have anything in exchange.It is a dream that came true and when it happens, there's no enough money to pay.When you do what you like for a living you don't work, you have fun.
10- How does the didactic method of the schools works and what are the option for the new students?
Ig&t is a complete course with beggining, middle and the end for begginer and people who already play.It is based in ten 6 months modules, if the boy doesn't play anything he gets into the basic I and from 6 to 6 months he does tests to get up, so comes the Basic II, module I and etc until get to the module VI where he has to choose between: Rock, Fusion, Jazz or MPB.So he can finish the course at the VIII , and after this he can do an exam of graduation to get the IG&T golden ring and etc, really cool.
It is a winner didactic, by the way it has 5 international awars, because it was built by the student's feedback, because there were a lot stuff that we could imagine on the theory but it didn't work at reality and that's why it made it and it is very modern and stimulant.
What is the difference when the student starts here and when he left?
Generally what happens is that when he starts learning music he becomes a much more open minded person, because I have already seen students to ge there playing punk and they left playing Tom Jobim.I think in music, you can't have preopnions, what a think it is cool is the guitarist to have a sharpd cit style, an own voice, a huy who knows how to create and not to copy.This is the guy who is going to make it.But, it is a profession and like any other it takes sacrifce, effort and hours of study.It is such a competitive marketing, so the most competent you are more your possibilities of making it.
11 - What are you plans for the future when it comes to Em&t?
Em&t has been always getting bigger, and we already own a branch in Campinas, one in Vitória-ES and we have this to spread this seed throught out the country and now we have been doing an idean which is much more simpler and acessible than one branch, because a branch is something really expensive, can you imagine a building like this in other places? This is a new idea for licenciate schools from other brazilian states who are interested on using the Em&t methog, even it is not the Em&t, they are using the method.Then is a much more cheaper and acessible process.
Like bigger schools such as Anglo, Objetivo which sell their method to other schools, don't they?
Yes, the school can use and has the exclusiveness of this method about that region and this is something that has been getting nice results which started now in January and it's been getting bigger every single day.
Because the dream of any boy around the country is to study at Em&t, he knows here he is going to learn, and sometimes he can not come here every weel to have a class.We have students from Chile, Switzerland, Argentina but they live in São Paulo.There was student which came from Florianópolis every week and now he has the opportunity of studying the same thing in licenciate school over there.
And how about the teachers of this school , do they get an speficic training?
No doubt, they have to been through this and to get approved.
12- Thank you so much for the interview, I appreciate the opportunity once more! Leave your message.
No, I thank you! I would to send a hug to everyone and to say, not only for guitar players, but to everyone that music just makes good and playing guitar for me is the best thing in the world.
Website: www.radiotaxiweb.com.br