Stela Campos

Stela Campos began her musical career in 1989, as a jazz singer in nightclubs in São Paulo, the largest metropolis of South America. On her repertoire were standards like "Moonlight in Vermont," but also rather odd jazz interpretations of some of David Bowie's and Van Morrison's work. In the early '90s she formed the band Lara Hanouska, which she soon abandoned. Instead she became part of the band Funziona Senza Vapore, the bulk of which was made out of former members of the rock group Fellini. Campos recorded only one album with Funziona Senza Vapore, but the band attracted a cult following. In 1994 she moved to Recife, in the Brazilian northeast, where she re-formed the band Lara Hanouska with new bandmembers. With them she composed and performed songs mainly in the vain of Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth. In Recife, Campos also worked with Chico Science and Nação Zumbi, the leading band of the mangue beat movement. In 1997 she sang the title track of the movie Baile Perfumado, whose rich soundtrack got much attention at the time. Perhaps inspired by the musical cannibalism of the mangue beat movement, at the end of the '90s Campos grew tired of the guitar-based sound of her band and began to experiment with electronic music. Launching her solo career she released the artistically bold album Céu de Brigadeiro in 1999. During the following years Campos moved back to São Paulo and worked to refine her new musical sound, mixing singer/songwriter-styled rock, MPB, and electronica. Finally in 2002 she released her second album, the critically acclaimed Fim de Semana, on which her husband Luciano Buarque co-wrote several of the songs. Her third album, Hotel Continental was a consolidation of her new sound and musical partnership with Buarque.
— Philip Jandovský , All Music Guide