Founded in 2010, Dear Telephone are Graciela Coelho, André Simão, Ricardo Cibrão and Pedro Oliveira. They were inspired by the 1976 short-film “Dear Phone” by Peter Greenaway, to express their will to decant soap operas and cheesy pocket paperback dramas through hard, frugal, minimalist compositions.
Their first EP "Birth of a Robot" was released by PAD in March/2011 and presented live in venues such as, Theatro Circo, Hard Club (with Anna Calvi) or in festivals like Optimus Primavera Club, Milhões de Festa, among others. They’re included in the compilation "Novos Talentos Fnac 2011" and represented Portugal in the August 2011 edition of "Music Alliance Pact." They spent the end of 2012 in the process of composing their first album – Taxi Ballad - which was released in May 2013.
This year of 2013, as well as part of 2014, was mostly dedicated to the album tour, from small theatres such as Centro Cultural Vila Flor – Guimarães or Powerlunches – London, to bigger concert halls like Casa da Música, to major festivals such as Primavera Sound - Oporto. The band ended the tour in 2015, with a series of concerts in venues such as Centro Cultural de Belém – Lisbon and a mini-tour in Belgium.
2016 was spent composing the second album, recorded in 2017 by Nelson Carvalho at Valentim de Carvalho Studios (previously EMI Studios), and released in october.