Me (Anje West) and my husband Kym Ambrose (vibes) formed the band 16 years ago. There was only one other musician (a Brazilian) doing this in Queensland when we started. We've basically gone from being a bossa-nova cover band to an international touring group with a repertoire of original material heavily influenced by the music of Brazil. Great times!
We sound like...
Think of Da Lata, Astrud Gilberto, dancing on the beach with waves lapping at the shoreline and wind whispering through palm fronds.
Our first gig was... at a (now gone) restaurant in New Farm, around the corner from where we lived. We hassled until they gave us a go, then they gave us a residency after the first gig.
When did you settle on the group’s name?
I always wanted to use ‘Madeleine's Couch' sometime, somewhere. It was an old band name my dad never used. Kym added 'The View From' at the front and we loved it because it didn't box us into a specific musical genre and made people think of somewhere nice.
In the studio we...
Work really efficiently together. We have incredible musicians in our band, most of whom we've been playing with for at least 12 years. Every recording we've ever done has been finished within a few weeks.
If we could tour with anyone...
Our dream came true over the summer of 2012/ 13 when we toured in Brazil with our dream rhythm section of Marcio Bahia (drums) and Mazinho Ventura (bass). An incredible experience for us playing shows with two of the most highly regarded musicians in the country in our band! [Ed’s note: Marcio will be performing at Saideira Brazilian Festival]
To date, our most embarrassing moment was...
The time in Brazil when we spent three hours on the most exquisite soundcheck we've ever had, only to have the venue cancel five minutes before showtime because they didn't think enough tickets had been sold. It was our first gig in Rio.
The View From Madeleine’s Couch play the Saideira Brazilian Festival at Club Greenslopes Mar 15.
