Ego Kill Talent

Ego Kill Talent is a rock group from São Paulo, Brazil, active since 2014. The band forms around a rotating instrumental approach, with members switching between parts and writing songs collectively rather than focusing on individual roles. Its name is a shortened form of the phrase “too much ego will kill your talent”, reflecting the group’s emphasis on a shared identity.

Formation and members

The band is formed in December 2014 in São Paulo by Emmily Barreto on vocals, Theo van der Loo on guitar and bass, Niper Boaventura on guitar and bass, and Raphael Miranda on drums and bass. Jonathan Correa and Jean Dolabella also play with the group at different points. Jonathan Dörr is the band’s original vocalist, leaving in August 2022 and being replaced by Emmily Barreto. Jean Dolabella leaves in December 2023 after spending much of that year absent from the band’s shows.

Many of the musicians come from other Brazilian rock acts, including Diesel/Udora, Sepultura, Reação em Cadeia, Pulldown and Sayowa. The band’s music is described as heavy rock.

Recordings and releases

The group records at Family Mob Studios and works with American producer Steve Evetts, who has also worked with artists including The Cure, Sepultura and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Its recording plan is based around a series of three EPs. “Sublimated” leads the first EP, which also includes “The Searcher”, “Same Old Story” and an exposed version of the title track. The second EP, “Still Here”, appears in July 2016 and includes a music video for the title song. A third EP is planned as the final part of the series.

Later releases include the song “My Own Deceiver” in 2017 and “We Move As One” in February 2024. “We Move As One” serves as the theme song for the Six Invitational world championship of Rainbow Six Siege and features Andreas Kisser of Sepultura and Rob Damiani of Don Broco.

Live activity

Ego Kill Talent plays material from all three EPs in concert, often performing songs before their release. In 2016 the band appears at Lollapalooza Brasil and the Maximus Festival in Brazil, sharing the bill with acts including Rammstein, Marilyn Manson and Disturbed. In 2017 it tours Europe for the first time, playing Download Festival in Paris and a first solo show in the Netherlands, then appearing as the pre-show for a System of a Down concert in Nîmes, France. The band also plays Rock in Rio in 2017.