Luiz ‘Lule’ Bruno identifies several influences behind his long-running, genre-shifting underground music career, from sleep and meditation to Brazilian psychedelic music and Frank Zappa. The feature accompanies the release of his latest album, Cláudia Raia da Loucura, and presents his influences as ways of sustaining both creativity and mental balance.

– Sleep: Bruno calls it an escape from daily life and a source of inspiration for songs such as ‘I Wake Up Annoyed’.
– Staying sane: He describes mental wellbeing as a daily struggle and says he has meditated for 15 years.
– George Harrison: Watching Martin Scorsese’s Living in the Material World prompted Bruno to begin meditating.
– Arnaldo Baptista’s LOKI?: Bruno calls the 1974 solo album by the Os Mutantes co-founder Brazil’s greatest record.
– Frank Zappa: Bruno’s varied styles and sardonic lyrical approach are presented as showing Zappa’s influence.