Slowdown's sound combines jazzy melodies and breezy Bossa Nova to create 'the perfect musical picture postcard' of Brazil! At last! One of the most requested albums ever played on The Sounds of Brazil radio show is coming to CD!
Pre-order your copy now for June 21, 2009 delivery!
About Slowdown:
Constantin Gillies played the violin in his adolescence but soon changed music genre when he became the bass player of a local punk band. Later, he introduced himself to the piano and the acoustic guitar and started song writing for his own band. He became familiar with digital music production after buying his first sampler in 1991, which was initially intended to be an intermediate replacement for the drummer’s vacant position, but later turned out to be a key instrument for creating funky music arrangements and electronic sounds.
Martin Suttrop started as the drummer of a jazz band to which he belonged for about eight years. During this time he also played tympani and percussion with a youth symphonic orchestra and attended classical piano lessons. After switching to jazz piano and improvisation he discovered his profound interest in song writing and music arrangements. He played keyboards with a local jazz rock band and established a small recording studio.
Gillies and Suttrop met at a recording session in Bonn, Germany. When they both realized that playing in their respective bands didn’t allow them to completely satisfy their musical ambitions, they came up with the idea to form SLOWDOWN as their own music production platform.
Their first recordings were raw acid jazz songs and remixes, among them works under the EMI label and music scores for short movies and advertisements. The idea to cross over to “smoother” territory was triggered by Walter Salles Jr.’s inspiring documentary “Bossa Nova: Music & Reminiscences”, which was aired on ARTE-TV in 1994. Gillies and Suttrop recorded their first set of Bossa Nova songs from 1994 through 1997, together with German-Portuguese vocalist Maria Theresa “Gigi” Ullrich.
After Ullrich left SLOWDOWN to pursue a career in opera, Gillies and Suttrop gradually changed music genre again, introducing the sweet vocals of Sabine Galuschka, and venturing more towards electronica sounds while keeping the pace slower than ever.
Today, SLOWDOWN lives on as it came into being: A creative platform for Constantin Gillies, Martin Suttrop and friends. Thanks to their continuing exposure on the internet and the help of Scott Adams, Lenny Balistreri, Allen MacGregor, Michael van Droffelaar, Eugene Loh and other radio DJs from around the world, SLOWDOWN has received sustained international recognition and finds an increasingly large electronic audience.
