Alec Mendonça was born in New York, U.S.A and raised in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, with the tender age of six (6) he ''stole'' his mom's The Beatles' HELP! and could never let go. After some looking around he found what would change his life forever, SUPERTRAMP'S BREAKFAST IN AMERICA & BOSTON (Debut LP), he had never heard such accomplished musicians playing such pop and hard rock tunes.... when he was 14 years old he started playing the bass more professionally but had a luthier bass, home made, not bad, but not good either. When he turned 18 years old, his Grandmother asked him If he wanted a car or a real good bass... his answer was : A Bass.... he got a Fender Jazz Bass Special at the time then he never stopped. I've always known music runs in the family, Alec is also cousin to Cláudio Roditi, a very famous trumpet player who moved to the U.S.A in 1976 and began the arduous process of establishing himself in the highly competitive atmosphere of the world's jazz capital. He quickly broke into the local circuit, performing and recording with Joe Henderson, Charlie Rouse, Herbie Mann, Tito Puente, McCoy Tyner, and Paquito D'Rivera. His solo work SYMPHONIC BOSSA NOVA with Ettore Stratta and the Royal Philharmonic earned Roditi a Grammy nomination in 1995. So, as you can see, music really runs in the family. After having to take care of family business for almost 15 years, Alec is back in full force with his newest band : N.O.W. The recording sessions are taking place in Volta Redonda & Barra Mansa, Rio de Janeiro Brazil. Every week I have to drive more than 50 miles to record and create the arrangements of the songs, I must be honest, sometimes I thought of quitting, due to sheer exhaustion I was afraid of sleeping at the wheel, since I had to wake up at 7:30 a.m. and sessions took almost the whole day to finish, I left my son and wife alone in several occasions because taking them along was not an option. After so much struggle things are finally paying off, recordings of the drums, keyboards, vocals and guitars are almost done, I'll be putting up some new tunes by the end of the year, until then, it will be very, but very worth waiting as you won't believe your ears when you hear the news.... N.O.W. is formed by me,   Alec on bass and vocals : I am responsible for all of the songwriting, backing vocals and arrangements and I also play the bass in all the songs. The lead vocals will be a surprise. I must say the songs were simply popping up in my mind like a dream or something, that's what really gave me the get go...   Philip Bardowell on Lead Vocals : Philip Bardowell ex-Unruly Child, ex-Magdalen (post-House Of Lords group), ex-Peter Criss and Ace Frehley of KISS and presently Places Of Power came on board in June. Alec sent Phil some samples of the songs and he loved it! Then Philip started recording the lead vocals for N.O.W.'s demo CD in Gary Grifin (Beach Boys) studio in California. It is simply a joy to work with this more than gifted vocalist!   Caio de Carvalho : Professional guitarrist Caio came on board to complete the formation and does it in spades. Caio has recorded more than 200 albums to date amongst production, arrangements and compositions. His crafstmenship, intimacy and bluesy/rock feeling on guitar is well known in Brazil and the U.S.A.   Carlos Ivan : He's a very crafted and talented guitar player, who put lots of different nuances in the songs, some very different guitar arrangements who sound so different from what we've been hearing nowadays, a very unique player I must say.   Jean Barros : Plays all the keyboards on the new upcoming album, a truly gifted keyboard wizard that has played with the major Brazilian artists, now I have the utmost pleasure to work with him.   Eric Leal : Plays most of the drums, whenever it is the real thing or pads, he has got it all!   McCoy : A natural songwriter that has been helping me for decades to write the most amazing tunes. He's got a natural skill in writing great, different tunes and I can say that he completes the void with very detailed tunes and he is responsible for my only co-written song : LONG HARD WAY.   Our upcoming demo CD is about to happen, lots of outstanding news and music coming up. Stay tuned! When you give up your dreams . . . you give up your life.