Francisco, el Hombre, live in Cotia in April 2016. From left to right: Juliana Strassacapa, Rafael Gomes, Sebastián Piracés-Ugarte, two unknown touring musicians, Andrei Martinez Kozyreff and Mateo Piracés-Ugarte.
Francisco, el Hombre is a Brazilian rock, Mexican, Brazilian and Latin American music band formed in 2013 by Mexican-born Brazilian[1] brothers Sebastián and Mateo Piracés-Ugarte in the city of Campinas, São Paulo.[2][3][4]
With three other Brazilian-born members,[5] the group mixes musical elements from both countries and others from Latin America, based on continental trips by the brothers, resulting in music sung in Spanish, Portuguese and English. They are self-defined as a "pachanga folk" band.[2][4][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]Rolling Stone Brasil [pt] described them as a mixture of Manu Chao and Nação Zumbi.[3]
Their initial Latin American tours were self-financed, improvised and ofter started with very few shows previously scheduled. They would always find opportunities to play in streets, squares, hostels, bars and birthday parties.[1][13]
After traveling around the world with their instruments, Mexican brothers Sebastián and Mateo Piracés-Ugarte moved to Brazil in the mid-2000s, naturalized themselves,[1] settled in the district of Barão Geraldo in Campinas, São Paulo,[6][7][12] and formed the band with the objective of "quitting jobs, college and every 'bond with
society'".[9] The name of the group was inspired by a figure of the same name of Colombian folklore,[13] known for his street performances of the accordion.[2][9][10][12][14]
Until 2015, they had already done two South-America tours, with the second being called "Mochilazo"[7] In the beginning of that year, after a show in Mendoza, Argentina, they were robbed and lost all their belongings, including instruments and documents. They only made it back to Brazil after an on-line campaign, help from friends and the local community, and funds raised via public performances with borrowed instruments.[5][10][15][16]
In April 2015, they released their EP La Pachanga!, with six original tracks.[4] The release event took place at the Centro Cultural São Paulo on 7 May, where they also recorded a video for the track "Dicen" (They Say), which featured Chilean singer Francisca Valenzuela[2] in the studio version. According to the founding brothers, the track was created so they could talk to their young nephews about dictatorship.[17] The EP also features the track "Minha Casa" (My House), the only totally in Portuguese written in Africa.[2]
In 2016, they started the campaign #VaiPraCuba (#GoToCuba), through which they planned to finance a documentary about culture on the communist island, while on tour in the country to take part in the project "El Sur Suena", at the festival "AMPM – América por Su Música" in Havana.[10][16][18] In the middle of that year, they did another Latin America tour.[6][14]
In June 2016, they released a video for the track "Calor da Rua", produced by Curumin and Zé Nigro, which deals with domestic violence and would be part of their debut album.[19] The album, titled Soltasbruxa, was released on 2 September. It was produced by Zé Nigro and it featured guest performances of Liniker and Apanhador Só, besides political lyrics with social commentary.[5]
In March 2019, they released their second studio album, Rasgacabeza.[20] In June 2020, they used a new single, "Despedida" (Farewell) to announce the departure of bassist Rafael Gomes, who had been with them for 6,5 years.[21] He was replaced in the same year by Helena Papini, a name suggested by Gomes himself.[22]
In October 2021, following a period of isolation, the band released their third studio album, Casa Francisco.[22]
Members
Current
Sebastián Piracés-Ugarte – vocals, percussion and acoustic guitar (2013—present)
Mateo Piracés-Ugarte – vocals and acoustic guitar (2013—present)
Juliana Strassacapa – vocals and percussion (2013—present)
