Seixas was born on 28 June 1945 in
Salvador, Bahia, to a middle-class family. As a child living near the United States consulate, he became fluent in the English language, and was introduced to early
rock and roll records of artists such as
Little Richard,
Jerry Lee Lewis and
Elvis Presley through his contacts with American diplomats' children around 1956. Presley's music in particular was influential in young Raul's decision to become a musician. At the age of twelve, Seixas formed his first group, The Panthers, later changing their name to the Portuguese-language Raulzito e os Panteras ("Little Raul and The Panthers"). They appeared on
TV Itapoan doing covers of Lewis, Little Richard and Presley, a style of music which was at the time called "cowboy music" in Brazil. In the mid-1960s, Os Panteras started backing some of Brazil's most famous pop singers of the time, such as
Jerry Adriani whenever they went to Salvador. Impressed with their talent, the stars would always advise Raul to move down south and take a chance in the thriving
Jovem Guarda scene. Following the promises of fame and fortune, the band moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1967. In the following year they released their first and only album on the
Odeon label (later EMI-Odeon), which included a
Portuguese language version of the Beatles' song "
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" among many original numbers. Without any publicity, the record sunk and the band disbanded. Seixas was totally shaken by the failure of the Panteras, and his return to Salvador. He wrote: "I spent all day locked in my room reading philosophy, with only a very feeble light, what ended up spoiling my eyesight [...] I bought a motorcycle and did crazy things in the street." After his former bandmates moved back to Salvador, Seixas made a living as an English teacher before being hired by
CBS, still in 1968, as creative director and record producer. In 1971, tired of writing and producing records by bland, commercial artists, he took advantage of a label director's vacations and produced
Sociedade da Grã-Ordem Kavernista Apresenta Sessão das Dez, an avant-garde album featuring himself, singer
Sergio Sampaio, samba artist
Miriam Batucada and
Edy Star. The record's mix of
Tropicalia, rock and roll and anarchic surrealistic experiments launched Raul Seixas as an icon of Brazilian counterculture. 1971 also saw the beginning of a relationship with esoteric author
Paulo Coelho, beginning with
Krig-Há-Bandolo in 1973. Through Coelho, Seixas was introduced to the work of controversial English mystic
Aleister Crowley, which influenced their collaboration. The influence extended not only to music, but also to plans for the creation of the "Sociedade Alternativa" (
Alternative Society), which was to be an anarchist community in the state of
Minas Gerais based on Crowley's premise: "'Do what thou wilt' shall be the whole of the Law." The project was considered subversive by members of the Brazilian military, which imprisoned all prospective members of the group. Seixas and Coelho are reported to have been tortured during their imprisonment. Seixas got into self-exiling himself in the United States following the presumed detention by government repressive agents, where his American wife of the time was living. (Seixas was legally married twice to Edith Wisner and Gloria Vaquer Seixas.) He has three daughters. He would later claim that during his exile he had met his childhood heroes
John Lennon and
Jerry Lee Lewis, although this claim has been disputed. ==Death==