Marcelo de Campos Velho Birck is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, lyricist, arranger and guitarist, best known for his work with influential rock band Graforreia Xilarmônica.
Biography
Birck was born in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, on August 13, 1965. He is the nephew of both screenwriter and theater director Carlos Augusto de Campos Velho and film and television actorPaulo César Pereio, and his mother, Rosa Maria de Campos Velho, was the director of the Teatro de Arena de Porto Alegre. Having a penchant for music and arts since his youth, Birck later graduated in music from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, and then obtained a master's degree in music education at the Federal University of Goiás. In 1983, alongside his younger brotherAlexandre Birck, future TNT guitarist Luís "Tchê" Gomes and future Os Cascavelletes bassist Frank Jorge, Marcelo formed the short-lived band Prisão de Ventre, which lasted only for two years. In 1987 he reunited with his brother and Jorge to form, alongside Carlo Pianta, the cult band Graforreia Xilarmônica. After releasing two critically acclaimed albums, Coisa de Louco II and Chapinhas de Ouro, they broke up in 2000, but reunited after a 5-year hiatus. In 1988, Birck founded a more experimental and "performatic" side project to Graforreia Xilarmônica, named Aristóteles de Ananias Jr., alongside names such as Luciano Zanatta, Diego Silveira and Chico Machado. They have released a single, self-titled studio album in 1996 before disbanding the following year. In 2000 Birck teamed up with Thomas Dreher and Felipe Faraco to form Os Atonais; their first studio album, Em Amplitude Moderada, came out the same year, amid overwhelmingly positive reviews. Later that year he released his first, self-titled solo album. A follow-up, Timbres Não Mentem Jamais, came out in 2008. Birck has also collaborated with Jupiter Apple on his 1997 debut A Sétima Efervescência, arranging one of the musician's most well-known songs, "Eu e Minha Ex". He later returned for its 1999 follow-up Plastic Soda. In 2009 he was a guest musician on Rogério Skylab's live albumSkylab IX; he and Skylab wrote together the song "Samba de uma Nota Só ao Contrário". From 2002 to 2003 he served as a lecturer of musical analysis for the Santa Catarina State University.
