Ira came together in São Paulo during 1981 when guitarist Edgard Scandurra joined forces with his friend, bassist Dino, vocalist Nasi (Marcos Valadão), and drummer Charles Gavin. The group took its name from the Irish Republican Army while also drawing on the Portuguese word for anger. Following a series of appearances at bars and universities, Warner signed the band in 1983, resulting in the release of the debut single “Gritos na Multidão” backed with “Pobre Paulista.”
In March 1985 the ensemble adopted an exclamation point and brought in Gaspa (Ricardo Gasparini) to replace Dino; at the same time Charles Gavin left for Titãs and André Jung, also formerly of Titãs, took over on drums. Their first full-length album, Mudança de Comportamento, appeared on Warner and moved 50,000 copies. The follow-up, Vivendo e Não Aprendendo, reached 165,000 units and gained further exposure when “Flores em Você” was featured in the Globo telenovela O Outro, pushing the band into a stretch of heightened media attention.
On 6 January 1988 Ira! opened the inaugural Hollywood Rock festival in Rio; technical difficulties that day left the musicians frustrated enough to wreck their dressing room. Four months afterward they completed Psicoacústica, an album that incorporated hard-rock and rap elements and was viewed as noncommercial despite selling roughly 60,000 copies. In 1989 Edgard Scandurra issued the solo project Amigos Invisíveis, on which he performed every instrument, before Ira! delivered its fourth album, Clandestino, whose gentler lyrics helped it sell 30,000 copies.
Through the early 1990s the group flirted with breakup yet still produced Meninos da Rua Paulo in 1991 and Música Calma Para Pessoas Nervosas in 1993, both of which strengthened their catalog. After switching to Paradoxx they released 7 in 1996; the same year Scandurra returned with another solo effort, Benzina, issued by BMG.
