Nuno as a child... Nuno was well-behaved as a child in Poco da Areia, Terceira (hmm... why does he look so mischievous?). He had a fondness for American films, even visiting his neighbor to watch them when his family's set broke down.
There were rough times in the late 60's for the Bettencourts, though they are remembered by neighbors as having great dignity, Mrs Bettencourt especially, as being a great woman. Nuno will tell you how much he loves and respects his mom, calling her the "only woman that ever mattered to me"... Uh... this is, pre-Suze of course!
In 1969, his father emigrated to the States first to pave the way for his family; Ezequiel and Aureolina had decided a few years before that the States would provide better futures for their children. The rest of the family joined him in Boston, Massachusetts shortly after Nuno turned four years old. At some point after, Nuno's dad left, leaving his mom to take care of the family.
Nuno pursued sports in school, later giving it up when he decided he was too slight to become professional (ever see a photo of him next to Cam Neely?). His description of himself as "invisible" in school became fact when he gave that up too in his last semester, to concentrate on his music career.
From A Musical Family... Nuno's great-grandfather, maestro Mendes Enes, formed the first brass band on the Island of Graciosa.
Nuno's grandmother, Palmira Mendes Enes, was a teacher of piano and dance, also on Graciosa. After moving to Terceira, she formed the first jazz orchestra in the Azores.
Nuno's father,Ezequiel, was well-known on the island for his musical talent. He gave lessons to the children of the North American military station in Terceira, and played music in everything from country-western and pop-rock bands, to philharmonicas... For awhile in the 1990s, Ezequiel had a musical instrument shop called Central Street Music Shop around Boston.
Nuno was born last in a family of ten children, all of whom played at least one instrument. He credits their wide-ranging musical interests and talents for his own varied styles. At first he resisted learning music, being more interested in sports. His first musical passion was for drumming. Later, frustrated with his inability to play the way he wanted, he turned to bass. However, he found he was playing too many notes on this instrument, so finally in 1980, he chose the guitar. In between, he started picking up keyboards... Nuno is completely self-taught, though he's quick to add that living in a household full of musicians could only benefit him.
Nuno's brother Robert plays in bands, and joined Nuno for the background vox on "Fallen Angels". Robert's son, Donovan, assisted with the engineering and toured with Nuno as bassist for Schizophonic and is now his bassist in "Mourning Widows". Luis returned to the Azores in the '80s and has built up a strong reputation as a first-rate guitarist there... His brother John had at one point joined up with Gary Cherone's fraternal twin Greg for musical endeavors which included a Shakespearean play with music, while Paulo was working with Gary's younger brother Markus for about 8 years in a band called Flesh. They released an album on Nuno's Colorblind Records label, which Nuno produced. Paulo also joined the Schizophonic tour as backup vocalist, synth guitarist, and tamborine man... Nuno's sister, Teresa, is also mentioned in an article to be a semi-professional musician.
" Then there's 'Colour of Love', a sole writing credit to Nuno, that in another place may have got tagged by that hideous description, the 'power ballad'. 'Sounds like he fancies you quite a bit from the words,' I offer. "Yeah, it does, doesn't it? Sang it at our wedding and all,' she (Suze DeMarchi) coos, 'First song he played me when we met.' She thinks on it a little more: 'But hang on, that means it couldn't of actually been about me...' She trails off, and then yells across the room to said guitarist/father of her child: 'Hey, you! Bettencourt! Who's the damn song about if not me?' He reddens, and mutters 'Umm, just a generic girl....' and then he clutches for the Get Out of Jail card, 'Of course it was written for you, I knew I'd meet the girl in the song. It's like a psychic link.'" - Suze interview, The Drum Media May 1999
Nuno and Suze... Nuno first saw Suze in one of her Baby Animals videos on his way to soundcheck while Extreme was touring in Europe with Bryan Adams... He was impressed and decided to pick up their album. Two months later, a radio station in Canada mentioned to Nuno that Suze said something about him being good-looking while on the air.... he decided to see if she would like to write songs with him (!). He tracked her down through their managers, and called her record company to get her number... she happened to be there and they spoke. Just the previous day, she had been in rehearsal, and there was a poster of Nuno on the wall... after some teasing from her band, she kissed it (now you know how to meet him!).
They talked on the phone for a couple of months (I mean numerous phone calls, not just one really long conversation...), after which time Nuno invited her to the closing shows of the Stop The World Tour at Wembley Stadium, London on December 22 and 23. They met in the hotel lobby and felt so bonded that Nuno jokingly asked her to marry him after 10 minutes... to which, Suze declined. In between III Sides and Waiting For The Punchline, Nuno went to Australia for a month to visit with Suze. At a hot spring in the Azores, Nuno proposed once again, producing a diamond ring from the bottom and giving it to Suze.
On August 27, 1994, Nuno and Suze married at the Igreja Matriz de Vila Franca do Campo (a church) and had an outdoor reception at a private house on the Lagoa das Furnas, on the Island of Sao Miguel in the Azores. The ceremony was held in Portuguese, but the vows in English. Family and friends were flown in on rented jets, and the wedding, and celebrations lasted the week. Nuno's goodbye to bachelorhood was in the form of a concert on a game field in Vila Franca, with Extreme and Baby Animals (joining them on a few songs) playing to crowds of a few thousand. They took this opportunity to play "one or two" more concerts around the Azores.
On February 2, 1996, Suze gave birth to a baby girl. After two weeks and none of the names on the list seeming appropriate, they named her Bebe Orleans (very long story). Nuno was present at the birth, and wrote "Swollen Princess" for Bebe, and dedicated Schizophonic to her and "never sleeping again". They did learn that Bebe sleeps well to an Oasis record (hmm...)... Bebe looks just like Suze and has mastered the art of commanding a room... can't imagine where she learned that from!
Nuno's other girl in his life... That would be Max (short for Maxine), a miniature (shhh!) dachshund. She was a Christmas gift to Nuno. She probably thinks he's hers... Nuno found her a mate named Doug, and they had five "Dwarfs" during the production of Waiting For The Punchline... Max toured with Nuno for awhile, demonstrating her independance many times while Nuno was busy doing promos... I could be mixing up the Maxes, but Nuno credits Max with production on some live tracks for WFTP...
