Roger Duran Tunes was born in São Paulo, Brazil, and he is a true musician in every sense of the word.
Xtreme Blues Dog: one man band
What brings us to talk about Roger today is his musical career and current occupation: a one-man band called Xtreme Blues Dog.
This long-running project began over a decade ago, when he released “The Return of the Blues” with the help of the cultural association Symphony of Dogs. Since then this project has given place to the publishing of musical albums and tours all over the world.
In his biography he describes his music as “blues-punk-trash-garage-rock“. He sings and plays harmonica, kazoo, guitar and drums, all at the same time, in a truly amazing way.
"This one-man band shows my noisy and raw vision of the blues".
The challenges during the COVID-19 Pandemic
There is a lot we could say about the last ten years, so full of stories to tell that not all of them would fit on this page. So let’s condense the historical period a bit and place the starting point in one that is familiar to us all: the Covid-19 pandemic.
Roger had a 4 months trip in Europe cancelled due to it, so he was stranded in Brazil for 1 year. Then he decided to create a home studio and started doing live-shows online, about 2 times a month. After a while he also started recording new songs at home and making music videos for his one-man band project, as well as playing with the Trash Soul Swingers (Garage Punk Duo).
In late April he organized an online festival called Pandemic Monobanda, including 20 artists from many different countries around the world, which inspired him to start an online show called Mondo Mono, with music videos, interviews and live performances by one man (and one lady) bands. In late 2020, the cultural association he is part of, Symphony of Dogs, organized another online festival with various bands from all over the world.
The most challenging aspect of Roger’s music career during the epidemic, he adds, has been live streaming, which may be difficult owing to the many obstacles that can arise along the road, such as trouble with platforms, Internet connections, and other technical elements.
Roger also mentions how tough it has been to play without an audience, which is what generally gives him a rush of energy during concerts. Furthermore, he claims that it is more difficult to generate money from online performances than during a concert, and as a result, he had a very difficult year, moneywise.
"The sole perk of internet "life," was that anyone, anywhere could see my performances".
Nowadays, there are signs of a progressive return to normality, although he feels people’s apprehension about venturing out to crowded or closed locations.
He’s back on the road, and with each show, he feels the audience’s hunger for music. Finally, he just regrets that petrol prices have risen significantly, making touring more expensive.
