Original Project: instrumental music project co-conceived, co-created, and performed by Luiza Fernandes, who also participated in the musical production of the EP with the group.

Berberes features Maranhão native Luiza Fernandes (guitar, acoustic guitar, and vocals), Guarulhos native Juliano Gentile (guitar, acoustic guitar, and vocals), and São Paulo native Mica Farina (viola, guitar, and vocals). The project is a meeting of soundscapes in original compositions that explore intersections of rhythms and themes through plucked string instruments. With minimalism and counterpoint, complemented by voices and percussion, the band released its first EP, Justinberberes, supported by the Music Promotion Program of the São Paulo Municipal Department of Culture.

The title Justinberberes is a playful wordplay that didn’t quite work out. It refers to the group’s early days, when they rehearsed “portably” with three guitars in Parque da Água Branca, interacting with passersby along the way. One day they had a show and needed a name. “Berberes” was sonorous, almost barbaric, “foreign to Greco-Roman civilization,” and reflected their musical influences. They initially added “Justin” as a clever joke, but audiences started calling them “Justin Biebers” or just “Biebers,” so they dropped the Justin. The original name remained for the EP to tell the story.

“Berberes” also references the nomadic peoples of the Sahara Desert, mirroring the trio’s itinerant sonic influences, which they describe as “semi-Moroccan post-rock guitar music.”