Talking to: Napa
Credit: Lucas Coelho
Napa are a band shaped as much by their island roots as by their unlikely mix of backgrounds. Guitarist Francisco Sousa, once a computer science student; bassist Diogo Góis, trained in electronic engineering; drummer João Rodrigues, studied audiovisuals and multimedia; vocalist-guitarist João Guilherme Gomes, who comes from a business and management path; and the group’s youngest member, pianist João Lourenço Gomes is still finishing his studies. Together they form a five piece band whose differences somehow fit perfectly. Raised on the sun-drenched, sea-lined island of Madeira, they carry that warmth into their music: open-hearted, tropical, and deeply shaped by a place where the ocean is never more than ten minutes away. This blend of personality, upbringing, and easy sincerity helped their Eurovision 2025 entry Deslocado explode into a social media phenomenon, inspiring over 850,000 TikTok videos and resonating with listeners far beyond Portugal.
Napa’s sound is shaped by an eclectic mix of influences and a curiosity that refuses to sit still. The band grew up listening to Brazilian music “the samba, the bossa nova, the música do Brasil” sounds that feel surprisingly at home in Madeira’s own sun-soaked landscape. But their roots also stretch into the indie rock era they came of age in: “the Arctic Monkeys, The Kooks, all of that,” they say, along with the constant stream of new artists they keep up with, from hip hop to Rosalia. That openness naturally spills into their approach to collaboration. Their track with Jovem Dionisio marks their first true indie-rock crossover. “It’s so cool to join the two genres together,” they say, hinting that genre-bending is where they feel most at home “even if we probably won’t do any heavy rock metal.” For Napa, it’s less about chasing categories and more about following whatever feels exciting next.
At Dingwalls, Camden, Napa lit up the room with colourful lights, booming speakers, and a crowd that matched their energy beat for beat. The night ended in a surreal full circle moment as the audience belted Deslocado back to the band themselves. Before that unforgettable moment, I caught up with Napa backstage.
Representing Portugal at Eurovision 2025 is huge. What was it like to take the stage on behalf of your country, and especially your home, the island of Madeira?
It was great, we were very hyped about playing Eurovision and representing Portugal. It's probably the coolest stage that we'll ever play in that has that much technology involved, even the floor itself was a screen - that's not something you play on every day. So, it was a crazy experience. Also, the feeling of representing our country, especially our home, Madeira Island is unmatched. It was really cool, and we felt like Portugal and Madeira was on the stage with us
Outside of music, what’s something surprising fans would never guess about each of you individually?
Guilherme is a great cook, he actually cooks really, really, insanely good food. Whether it's chili or curry, he can cook anything. So whenever there is a birthday party or something, he cooks for the whole friendship group. Lourenço - nothing good to say about him. Just kidding! He’s a music prodigy, he was playing Flight of the Bumblebee at 9 years old. He’s really funny and brings joy to us all. Francisco is really into climbing. Diogo is really well organised, he brings the dad vibes and it’s really important in such a big group. Rodrigues likes to make us laugh at every opportunity!
Deslocado went viral on TikTok, inspiring hundreds of thousands of videos about moving and missing home.How did it feel seeing people from all over the world engage with your music in such a personal way through TikTok?
It was very unexpected, very fun and very fulfilling, because we wrote that song about leaving Madeira to go to study and work in Lisbon. That's the meaning of the song for us and all of a sudden it blew up and that meaning was expanded upon. Suddenly, it was about people from all over Portugal moving to big cities to study or work. Then, it was about leaving your home country to move across the world for so many different opportunities. We even saw some videos of people that were forced to leave their homes. So it was just amazing and very surprising. We were really, really happy with it and it was just such a great feeling. We feel like even if you're playing in a band, it's still good to have a degree in something so that you don’t lose focus or put everything in one basket
Where did you guys go, did you move to Lisbon to study or something?
The trend around Deslocado taps into a universal feeling of displacement. Was that feeling something personal to you when writing the song?
Guilherme writes the songs for Napa, but that feeling was shared amongst all of us and even outside the band we are best friends. We are in the same friendship group (which is composed of mostly people from Madeira) so we always hang out. Some of us have known each other for 20 years or 25 years. so, that feeling wasn't just ours. It was a feeling of the people. the people from there that move to study. You're not forced, but you are encouraged to go to a big city to study. So even if you like your new city, even if you achieve your goals studying, having relationships, friendships, or if you grow in that city, it's amazing, and you feel at home, like we do in Lisbon, but it's still not home. There's always that little something missing, and so that's what this song is describing. It's a gathering of experience from all of our friends and the people of Madeira, so it’s based on a true story.
Credit: Elmano Coelho
Being a tight-knit band, do you have any inside jokes or rituals that keep morale high on tour?
Well, we have a shot of whiskey before every show and we do a little chant like to hype ourselves up. I feel like that's our biggest tradition. Another tradition is, of course, to pick on Lorenzo. He'll always forget stuff, like we were halfway to the show and all of sudden he says ‘f*ck I don’t have my contact lenses!’ So I feel like that's the most classic thing, but also when we share rooms, Rodrigues always snores!
As a boy band, there’s always a bit of charm and style in play, who in the group is the biggest prankster, and who’s the “serious one”?
Cisco, is the most serious one, and Rodrigues is the prankster and the trickster of the band. He likes to joke around with us and mess with us a little bit.
If you could perform anywhere in the world, no limits, where would it be, and what song would you open with?
We would love to play the Red Rocks in the US, it's just so amazing. The Parcels played there, My Morning Jacket played there - it's such a cool venue in a natural amphitheater. It would be our dream stage. We’d probably open with Deslocado - to get it out of the way.
Your new collaboration Amor de Novo with Jovem Dionisio has a different energy. How did that collaboration come about, and what did you want to explore musically with it?
We have always been fans of Jovem Dionisio, they're a really cool Brazilian band. That collaboration came when Lorenzo and Guillermo were doing a Universal Music writing camp in Lisbon, and the agent of this Brazilian artist put us in contact with them and it went from there. First of all, It was amazing to collaborate with a band that we love. Secondly, Portuguese speakers from the other side of the Atlantic, so there’s this connection there. If you listen to the song as a non Portuguese speaker, you can get the nuances of the Portuguese and the Brazilian, so that was a fun experience.
What’s the next step for Napa after Eurovision and the viral success of Deslocado? Are there any upcoming projects or directions fans should know about?
We are preparing the new album right now, It's our third album. We're going to start recording it in a few weeks, and it should come out early next year, so we're very excited for that. We feel like this Eurovision entry has given us so much attention, so we are putting ourselves and our best into this album, because there's a certain expectation to be met. We are happy with what we have, and we're really confident. The album also comes from a place like Deslocado, a place of personal experiences.
Touring and festivals can be tiring, how do you stay connected to your roots and to each other while being on the road?
One thing that helps a lot is that, other than band mates, we are also friends, like longterm friends. We've been friends before the band and we will certainly be friends after the band, so that socialising time that we have apart with our other friends is enough to cleanse the palette. Naturally, you always end up making fun of someone in the group and unfortunately being the youngest one, that is Lourenço. He is the punching bag sometimes but we all love each other very much so it’s all fun and games. At the end of the day we're doing what we love.
Looking ahead, what does success look like for Napa, is it bigger stages, more collaborations, creative freedom, or something else entirely?
There’s a little pressure, because there are so many ears on us right now. But we feel like if we stay true to ourselves, people will see that in our music. Doing stuff like this already feels insane for us. Dublin was our first show outside of Portugal ever, and it was such a great feeling. So if we can keep doing shows in Europe, maybe Brazil, maybe the US, all over the world… that would be a dream. Honestly, there are Portuguese people everywhere, so if we’re lucky, maybe we can always find a few shows. In Portugal, we’re about to play these big venues in Lisbon and Porto, and that only happened because of Deslocado. It’s such an honor to play on a stage like that, especially with the creative freedom we have. Working with designers, having a say in the whole direction. That’s a big goal for us. Of course, collaborations are important too. We already have a few on our album, and there are more coming on this one…we can’t talk about them, so don’t try! Play shows, play with other musicians, and if we’re lucky enough, tour around the world - that’s the dream.
CLOSING PARAGRAPHS:
Napa’s story is rooted in the small, funny details that shape a band long before the big stages arrive. They began as Men on the Couch, a name born in a basement rehearsal space full of sagging sofas and late-night jam sessions. When the time came to rebrand, they sifted through more than 250 names before landing on Napa, the fabric used to upholster couches, a suggestion from their producer who happened to be sitting on one at the time. Even that choice wasn’t without its quirks, as they joked, googling “Napa” still leads you to car parts and NASCAR.
Their evolution from English covers of Kings of Leon and Two Door Cinema Club to writing in Portuguese came just as naturally. As the band explained, English often pushed them toward familiar, overused phrases, whereas Portuguese allowed for greater honesty and nuance. It also aligned with a wider resurgence in Portugal’s own music scene, where indie, rock, hip-hop, and pop sung in Portuguese have been thriving again. For Napa, switching languages wasn’t just a stylistic decision, it was a way of expressing themselves more fully while joining a cultural wave they felt proud to be part of.
Written and interviewed by Melvin Boateng
Opinion
