Did you ever think about getting this far when you were 13 and starting in a band?
 “Well what I though was that it was my dream actually you know to get to professional level one day to get “big” and I had my idols like Maiden and Preist and I would like to be like them one day you know? But I always thought that it would be only  a dream, and time after time it’s just coming true step by step.”

How did you choose the name Angra.
 ”That word comes out of Brazilian Indian mythology and it means there “the goddess of fire”. So we just thought it was an interesting name and that’s why we choose it.”

Do you take a lot of inspiration from mythology?
 “We do especially our own latin American/South American mythology it’s something that’s very interesting, comes from the Indians, comes from the Black people-the slaves, so everything is kind of mixed up over there-we think it’s pretty interesting.You know, it’s something that has influenced us a lot especially on our second album Holy Land we have written a lot of songs in this regard.”

Perhaps you could tell me about a couple of the songs on the new album? Lisbon first!
“That song is very special, I wrote the lyrics as kind of a tribute to Lisbon-the capital of Portugal In brazil the main colonization was done by the Portuguese so we have some portuguese blood in our veins. It was pretty impressive for me it was the first time I had been to Lisbon..”

Kind of like getting in touch with part of your heritage?
 “Yeah, you know, it’s kind of part of the past-like going back to the past somehow. The city is pretty ancient and very tiny streets, dark places, a very special atmopshere which lead me to write such as song.”

Ok, how about the title track Fireworks?
 “That’s also a very interesting lyrical theme. I had the idea for writing those lyrics when I was watching the fireworks at the Copacobana beach during the New Years Eve celebration. So I was kind of paying attention to all the people and how fascinated they were because of the fireworks and that’s what the lyrics are about is the beauty and power of such a spectacle and that’s also why we choose this as the title of the album because we thought you know, the music is pretty similar to what fireworks could represent. Kind of an opposition of different forces.”

Tell me about your time in the studio did you have fun?
 “I HATE IT! It’s hard and fucking stressfull I hate to record.”

So you’re into the live thing?
 “Definitely, There’s no comparison at all. Onstage is a totally diffenert story.
 “But I try to do my best in the studio the most difficult thing is that in the studio you have to create the right atmosphere for yourself while you’re being locked inside a box…”

And everyones looking at you through the window…
 “Like a monkey in a zoo!”
 “So it’s really hard to recreate the same kind of atmosphere you would have onstage but that’s the challenge. If you can afford to do so then you’ll get a good performance.”

You recorded this time with a famous producer (Chris Tsangrides; Preist, Sabbath, etc) how was he?
 “He’s a cool guy, a pretty funny guy very humorus we got along very well. I think he had a lot of fun working with those Brazilian guys as well.”

Are you excited about signing with Century Media? You know there are not a lot of true Metal bands “making it big” in the US-none really but in the underground you can make an impact.
 “I know, but I’m excited because I’m just realizing things are changing here. In the past we couldn’t really expect anything from the US but now yeah!”

Have you been doing quite a few interviews today?
 “Yeah, quite a few yesterday and today. You know I didn’t even notice there was so many media people involved with this kind of music… It looks like it’s pretty locals. Each one is doing for his or her area or town. And that’s very important because that’s called Underground and if the underground can unite then you can really do something for serious-you can really think a bit further and include the US into the circle as it were, like Europe, Japan and South America is.”

Angra has played a lot in Europe is there some favorite stops?
 “I could say Greece, France and Italy are our strongest audiences.”

Is that because the fans are loud there?
 “Well sometimes loud is not always the point, sometimes the fans are loud and they don’t respect you and I don’t like that.”

Well, nobody likes having beecups thrown at them…
 “Exactly! That’s happened to us already in Brazil and a couple other places, I don’t like that! I like when they’re loud but they know what they’re doing…

Singing Along.
 “Exactly-having fun! We have this kind of singing going on in Japan, France and Italy, Greece you know, South America so that’s the sort of thing I enjoy about (playing live).

Has Century Media spoken about maybe some shows in the USA yet?
 “Yes we’re just figuring out now what we could do. We will be pretty busy until the middle of this year (1999) after that we see the possibillity of coming over to merica and doing some concerts here and in Mexico. And I heard about some festival that are gonna be held here I think it’s… Millwaukee”.