Mapping the underground scene in São Paulo

If you read and enjoy the music in the “On the Margins” column, then you need the map to the venues that put on and support that wide-ranging music scene, namely underground and experimental bands that play anything from noise-rock, indie, MPB, punk/hardcore, improv and so on. The map was put together by journalist Alexandre Bazzan and lovingly illustrated by Isabella Pontes. As the map shows, there’s a concentration in the west zone, generally seen as a hub for emerging independent talent. But as Bazzan says, “This map does not aim to be definitive. It is a snapshot of a living, expanding scene, constantly shifting and reinventing itself.” You can download the map here or find it on Alexandre’s Substack newsletter.

The next step, in my opinion, would be to map the country, finding and highlighting the tiny independent venues which try and make a living in the smaller cities around the country, away from the Rio/São Paulo axis, where cover bands dominate and small independent scenes really struggle to find audiences.

Bazzan has also put together a Spotify playlist of many of the bands that make up the scene, or those that have their material available to stream anyway. There’s a smorgasbord of new bands to dip into, many of which I have yet to discover myself. You’ll find lots of rowdy indie, but there’s also eccentric country and abstract hardcore amongst others, so dig in.

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