Sergio Motta - As you well described in the band’s homepage, ‘’Portuguese Prog-music is
back after many years...to stay’’. What did happen along these years that the Portuguese
youths were not interested in giving sequence to the paths previously opened by 
José Cid, Petrus Castrus, Tantra among others stunning bands from your country?

Linx: Well, first of all, I was born in 1975 and so a lot of the Portuguese prog music passed me by. However, now I think I have an opinion about that. The Portuguese musical market is really small compared to markets like the Brazilian, that not only sells in Brazil but also large quantities abroad. So, with so little space for prog in Portugal, the period in which some prog works were produced here matched the golden period of the prog scene all over the world- the 70’s. Now, in the year 2000 Forgotten Suns appear, so do lots of other prog bands worldwide. I guess this might mean we are heading for another golden period!! Be sure that Forgotten Suns are here to play their role in this new “golden play”...

Ricardo Falcão: The first attempt was in our high-school times, we had both some individual ideas that matched together very nice so we decided to form a band but the other 4 members at the time didn’t share our music perspectives so it took only 3 months and a gig for me and Linx then to quit that project and together  find our real musical brothers…a real hard task, but we’ve made it!

Ricardo Falcão: Miguel is a sound scientist, a magician I must say! when he joined the band he was highly involved in his kind of individual world listening to Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis and Tangerine Dream kind of works…I guess he was secretly waiting  for a long time for such a proposal to join a progressive style band; our diversity of colours and textures is mostly due to his great work and concepts.

Ricardo Falcão: Yes, certainly winning that contest gave us the opportunity (meaning money) to mix our Fiction Edge Demo CD in a semi-pro studio and since the demo was the first impression for people at all the labels we sent it to (including Galileo Records), you can understand the huge importance of it.

Ricardo Falcão: Well, it’s kind of funny that you ask this question, because “Fiction Edge I (Ascent)” is actually for sale in Brazil, Argentina and Chile since the end of the last year through Rock Symphony and is selling pretty well. Even more, Forgotten Suns really have a gratitude dept to Brazilian prog fans and brothers for electing us the second best new comer of 2000, right after that giant and great super band: Transatlantic. So, it has already reached your market, and we’re sure that if other interviews and more reviews in Brazil become reality, Forgotten Suns and Portuguese prog Rock will exist to a lot more Brazilian music lovers!! By the way, thanks for your precious help, Sergio.

Ricardo Falcão: Nuno was a self-taught kind of player, he was very inventive and he would be a good musician in the future, we wish him all the best in his chosen path. Nelsun as we call him; was really born to play drums, he had decided very early with the heart to be a musician, he has some Jazz formation and bands experience. He gave us more precision, balance, feeling, and a refined touch that really makes the difference plus great versatility… the band is now  much more homogeneous and felt finally complete.

Ricardo Falcão: All I can really say is this (since the whole idea is mostly in our heads yet): the first part of “Synthesis”, the story behind “Fiction Edge I (Ascent)”, is all about the beginning of life and the birth of the human race until our very present days, which means all that is external to us all, our jobs, people we love, people we hate, things… while the second part will be like a dive inside human mind, which is a totally different part of our existence (everyone’s got a mind, right?). So, after the second CD, the circle will close, and the essence of humanity will be finally revealed after thousands of years of knowledge search (laughs). This last part is obviously a joke…

Ricardo Falcão: Honestly I think that Metal music movement is the biggest responsible for the appearance of new Progressive music wave in the media, it’s the mix of progressive elements in the metal scene that helps prog bands to be exposed in bigger magazines, concerts and have  recognizement outdoors…this is one of the perspectives because we can see it also vice versa in a prog way from the roots!
Although that I think that people all over the world are more opened to listen to more than MTV’s and Playlists “Pay to Play” way and give more attention to music itself. A notorious work also is due to independent labels such as Galileo Records that bet in projects for the sake of art and of course all the websites and editions of progressive music worlwide.
The portuguese progressive scene is growing day by day, after such a long period of time with absolutely no prog band’s perspective in the horizon, things are changing and the prove are bands like: Fallacy, Classic Rage, The Symphonix, In Solitude, Hugo Flores, Hand Fated, Mad Hatter…and a word of encouragement should be made to all the projects that I believe, which are still in the “garage days” and are still unknown yet.
 

Sergio Motta
is a friend and partiner from the Progressive Rock And Progressive Metal Site

Ricardo Falcão - Guitars
Linx - Vocals
Miguel Valadares - Keyboards
Nelson Caetano - Drums
Johnny - Bass

Discography:
"Fiction Edge I"

Contacts / Info / Bookings
Forgotten Suns
Home Page
www.forgottensuns.com/

Fall of 1991 - Linx and Ricardo Falcão met in Highschool with musical dreams lurking in their minds. After a first attempt that misfired, they decided to form Forgotten Suns and, despite being only two, they started working on some ideas.

In the fall of 1993 a new member joins in: keyboard player Miguel Valadares. From that moment forward It became easier to develop more complex concepts. ...Still a bassist and a drummer were missing.

Winter 1995 - They came to find the fourth member, bassist João Tiago Martins. At this stage, a reharsal room (and fine kit) was required in order to make the former ideas shape into real music.

Fall 1996/Spring 1997 - The "Fiction Edge" project took shape thus creating a dire need for a drummer.The sixth auditioner got the nod: Nuno Sénica.

From spring to spring - Several gigs took place, streghtening the bonds between members, increasing experience and confidence levels. By that time big efforts had been made to improve the equipment.

Summer 1998 - Winning the first prize at ABS (UAL university) contest gave them the opportunity to mix their self-recorded demo CD with better conditions at a real studio.

Fall 1996/Spring 1997 - The "Fiction Edge" project took shape thus creating a dire need for a drummer.The sixth auditioner got the nod: Nuno Sénica.

Shortly after this, a studio in Sintra was built from scratch according to FS specifications: THE SUNRISE.

Great reviews in various European and American magazines to Fiction Edge Demo were made and a contract with Galileo Records was agreed shortly after.

The album Fiction Edge I was recorded and mixed between October/December 99.

The Band's proposal is always to create music that suits their element's personality and to tell stories, associating lyrics to musical atmospheres, creating the so called chemistry of progressive rock!

There was no tradition in portuguese prog music since the seventies with Tantra and José Cid. Now, with the new millenium on the horizon, Forgotten Suns have the arguments to expand their music worlwide to prog fans that never knew that Portugal could have such kind of music again.

Revelation or confirmation(to some of you) Forgotten Sun's Fiction Edge I(Ascent) is the piece  wich opens many doorways: from acoustic to electronic; or classic to metal..."and who knows..the future?"

Portuguese progressive music is back after many years...