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Portugal. The Man Explain The Meaning Behind Their Name

So that’s why! Portugal. The Man’s John, Zach and Eric stopped by On Air With Ryan Seacrest on Monday, September 11, and revealed why they named their band Portugal. The Man considering they’re from Alaska. 

The group — who have been recording together for years — met in middle school. 

“[We’ve] been doing this for a longtime,” Eric shared. “Actually, I grew up with some of these guys and Zach and I have been playing in basements since the ‘90s. There’s a lot of history.”

The group has 8 records to date but recently found major success with hit “Feel It Still.”

“This is a really, really long overnight success,” Eric joked of the group’s hit track. “It was interesting ... we work for a really long time on songs and this song took us 45 minutes or an hour … it was basically written in an hour.” 

As for why the group is called Portugal. The Man?

“Portugal. The Man is an alter ego … kind of like David Bowie created Ziggy Stardust,” they explained. “We always knew we weren’t going to be one person, we were always going to be a band, and we figured a country is one name for one group of people with one voice in the world … so we just thought Portugal would be a good name.”

Listen to the full interview above to find out if Portugal (the country) approves.