Drugs, aliens and psychedelia: When a cult possessed Brazil’s greatest musician

Tim Maia had already lived a storied existence by the time he picked up a book laying down the doctrines of “Rational Culture”. One of Brazil’s greatest living artists, he found the manifesto in his friend Tiberio Gaspar’s house, flicking through it under the influence of some mescaline he’d taken. By mid-1975, Maia had converted to a cult, and was producing audio propaganda at a rate of knots.

Erratic decisions and behaviour followed Maia throughout his career. But we can’t blame the drugs for that (although they certainly helped). In 1974, Maia had been let go from his contract at Polydor, after demanding they let him release a double-album, leaving him free to pursue the project he wanted.

Before the events of 1974, he’d garnered a reputation as the foremost Afro-Brazilian artist working in the country, constantly developing new sounds, blending the influence of American rock and more traditional Brazilian pop, samba and baiao.