Awarded and celebrated, Gilsons throw aside any resentment in relation to possible privilege

In a recent interview, José Gil, 31, João, 30, and Francisco, 28 -respectively son and grandsons of Gilberto Gil- told that when they decided to form a trio, they were a little goofy to associate, so directly, the name of the band with the grandfather . Gilsons? It brings the family’s surname, makes a clever joke with the English translation, it’s a beautiful balcony… But is it?

The insecurity was short-lived. They went ahead, the name stuck, and the Gilsons are now a success. If someone still fell into the easy temptation of including them among the “nepobabies” -a word that combines the terms “nepotism” and “baby”, and is used to define young artists whose careers are facilitated by famous relatives-, the more recent Grande Prêmio da Música Brasileira tried to bury once and for all any doubts about the genuine talent and musical identity built by the three.

José, João and Francisco were the great champions of the night, winning two trophies (Best Pop Rock Group and Audiovisual Project) in the most respected national award of the genre. The key to their success, says José, is precisely the group’s own identity, which does not seek to be like anyone else.

“We have a lot of our generation in the songs, we use modern elements, technology, and also old objects, like drums and nylon guitar. It is this mixture of traditional things from popular music with pop that defines our sound”, he tells the F5 the son of Gil.

With this formula, they have already released an album (“Pra Gente Acordar”) and an EP (“Várias Queixas”), have been selling out shows throughout Brazil and winning awards. Speaking of this recent award (perhaps one of the largest concentrations of musicians and celebrities in the post-pandemic), we saw there, on the night of the Gilsons’ consecration, the beginning of a wave of protests against President Lula’s socio-environmental policy.

The ceremony and the red carpet were marked by demonstrations by some artists, such as Emicida and Daniela Mercury, who protested against the proposed time frame for indigenous lands. The movement has been gaining traction and, days ago, Mateus Solano, Thiago Lacerda and other actors who supported Lula posted a video in which they said they were disappointed with the first 100 days of her government.

The Gilsons, who campaigned for the president and participated in the re-recording of the jingle “Lula lá”, are out of this wave, at least until now. “We remain very convinced of our position and our choice, but it is not a one-shot view either”, says Francisco. “We cannot forget that we live in a government that is in the midst of sequels”.

The conversation with F5 becomes discouraged when the subject descends to politics, and the three return to normality when they return to talking about music. They say they like Pitty, O Rappa and Bob Marley. They say that influences come, of course, from birth, and from living with names like Caetano, Bethânia, Rita Lee and other tropicalists. You know that thing about going to the bathroom and bumping into Bethânia on the sofa in the living room? They know.

After many months of the family together, confined to the Gil farm in the mountainous region of Rio, life seemed to be returning to normal, when the blow came: the illness of Preta Gil, Francisco’s mother, who has been undergoing treatment for cancer in her intestine.

The good news is that the worst is over. “She is now in a better and calmer moment. The radiotherapy phase is over, everything will be fine. We are all very close and united, that’s why today we are all here in the studio [no bairro da Gávea, no Rio, onde concedeu esta entrevista]. Some have already arrived, but others are late”, he jokes. The family is going on tour later this month in Brazil and on to Europe.