Jupiter Apple

Flávio Basso (26 January 1968 – 21 December 2015), better known by his stage name Júpiter Maçã and by its English-language variation Jupiter Apple, was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and filmmaker.

Before beginning a solo career in 1994, he was already known for being a founding member of bands TNT and Os Cascavelletes, both pioneers of the Rio Grande do Sul rock scene in the mid-to-late 1980s/early 1990s.

[1] Flávio Basso was born in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul on 26 January 1968; his father was a physicist and his mother a teacher of German descent.

[2] He learned by himself to play the classical guitar when he was 13 years old,[3] and cites Paul McCartney, Syd Barrett, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger and Brian Jones as some of his influences.

[4] In 1984 he formed the rockabilly band TNT alongside his childhood friends Márcio Petracco, Felipe Jotz and Charles Master, being later joined by Nei Van Soria.

[9] In 1997 he signed with independent label Antídoto to release his first solo full-length album, A Sétima Efervescência, which counted with guest appearances by his former Os Cascavelletes bandmates Frank Jorge and Alexandre Barea, and by Graforreia Xilarmônica guitarist Marcelo Birck; with a heavily psychedelic and experimental sonority comparable to Pink Floyd's 1967 debut The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the album was critically acclaimed at the time of its release[10] and in 2007 was ranked 96th at Rolling Stone Brasil's list of 100 Greatest Brazilian Music Records.

[11] Its follow-up from 1999, Plastic Soda, came out through Trama, and unlike its predecessor, it was fully sung in English; to reflect this, Basso signed the album as Jupiter Apple.

In 2006, six of Basso's songs – "Um Lugar do Caralho", "Querida Superhist x Mr. Frog", "Canção para Dormir", "The Freaking Alice (Hippie Under Groove)", "As Mesmas Coisas" and "A Marchinha Psicótica de Dr. Soup" – were included in the soundtrack of the animated film Wood & Stock: Sexo, Orégano e Rock'n'Roll, directed by Otto Guerra.

[26] Known for his extravagant lifestyle, Basso struggled with alcoholism and drug abuse (he claimed he took Diazepam and used LSD and cocaine on a regular basis) throughout most of his life, and was undergoing a treatment for cirrhosis on his later years.

Basso's semi-fictional autobiography, A Odisseia: Memórias e Devaneios de Jupiter Apple, co-written by Juli Manzi, was published posthumously by Azougue Editorial in 2016.

Another biography of the musician, Júpiter Maçã: A Efervescente Vida e Obra, written by journalists Cristiano Bastos and Pedro Brandt, was published on 5 September 2018 by Plus Editora.

[45] A compilation of demos and outtakes dated from the recording sessions of Uma Tarde na Fruteira, Sugar Doors – A Jupiter Apple 4-Track Experience, came out in February 2023 by Monstro Discos.