Tagged: Croatia
The wrong country for a rocker
After about a week of regular “vacation” in Split, Croatia, I was saved from super-boredom by a visitor. Visiting me was young singer Vili Kovac who I got to know last year, and enjoyed yapping music with. This year he had a bit of more time on his hands to spend in Split. It’s been enjoyable and informative for sure.
[Haven’t got any pics of my guest, so I just stole one; This is from his video-shoot]
It’s been fun and interesting. I learned a lot about rock in Croatia, sides of the music business here and we also met up with one of his friend here, guitarist from the band StimulanS who told me a little bit more about the reality for bands – especially metal bands – trying to survive in this country.
It was pretty oppressive hearing about how things are here, cause eventhough it’s tough for musicians everywhere, it’s on different levels in different countries.
– There is nowhere to play around here. No rock clubs, venues, nothing. Promoters will only book you if you’re already a “name” and rather book the same artist ten times in a row, than take a shot at something new. And rockers are lazy asses too – they’ll rather just hang outdoors somewhere with their beers than support the bands that actually manage to get a gig. And then they will stand at the door and argue about the price and want it a few bucks cheaper. It’s a pain in the ass, you don’t get gigs here and you can barely get a record deal playing this kind of music.
Then I wondered howcome artists don’t try recording anything in English, to make it easier exporting and reaching a wider audience. The guys explained it with record labels being interested in fast buck, period. The faster and easier, the better. They are only interested in what will get airplay on Croatian radio. That’s the main problem – in short.
Like I said last year when I was here and learned about how things were, it’s really sad to hear, because there is great music here, talented musicians with the same fire and will to make it as anywhere else in the world, but it’s ten times harder to make it – especially if you’re playing metal.
This, for instance, is one of the bands Vili turned my attention to: Manntra. A mix between folklore and metal, members from a band that has had some success out in Europe, Omega Lithium, and a damn cool video – check it out:
I’ve watched a whole bunch of great videos the past two days from Croatian bands, and there’s true potential there for many of them to have a great career outside the country if they only got the opportunity. Somebody has to get the ball rolling, somebody needs to be brave and look outside the box and just take a chance to release and distribute music from here out to a wider audience.
I hope that will happen, maybe it might help when Croatia enters the European Union, who knows.
Either way, had two great, half-lazy, music-nerdy days in the company of a talented young musician who I really wish all the success he deserves. I love his voice and hope to hear a lot more of it in the future:
He sure as hell has the drive and the will to go places, while still maintaining an integrity that is rare in new, aspiring musicians – especially considering the circumstances mentioned above.
You would think that with the difficulties musicians already need to deal with here, that he would be willing to do anything people tell him in order to get an album out. But dispite his young age, he has a very clear vision of what he wants to do and what he will absolutely not do. Respect to that.
[His power-ballad single “Kraj” – which means “The end”. A compromise between what the label wanted and what he was willing to do]
Interesting days in the name of music-nerding, I just wish that my ability to speak Croatian was a lot better, as the language was the main barrier and the reason why I couldn’t get into any extended discussions. After two days of searching for the right words I was exhausted and I still hadn’t brought up half of the stuff I would have wanted to know. Maybe I’ll need to go and get evening classes in music-Croatian for next year. :-)
A day in the name of music
Well, for being a vacation where nothing was supposed to be happening except eating and sleeping, I had a really nice day yesterday – in the name of music.
“The Croatian dude”, i.e the singer I mentioned two blogs ago, Vilibald Kovac, came down to Split for a short visit. I was curious to meet him in person. A very nice guy, so yesterday was without a doubt the best day I’ve had since I got here. Ten days of just being “normal” is enough to drive me nuts! So, it was refreshing to meet this super-talented guy, share some music and talk about everything and anything related to the music business.It was a challenge for me though, cause although I know Croatian, sort of…, it was difficult to talk music because I’ve never used the language for that. So my brain was working full-time to find the right words. Exhausting. Still, it seemed most logical, otherwise he would have had the same problem with English, I assume.
I learned that artists here have the same label-bullshit to deal with that artists in other parts of the world also get headaches over. The contract is for 5 albums I think, and these albums are required to be in Croatian. So – no chance to get this talented guy out to a larger audience worldwide anytime soon. That sucks and most of all frustrating when you see and hear someone who could actually do very well out there.
The stuff that he did at “Idol” doesn’t really represent what he’s capable of, I think. Not even his latest single, although it’s a good song and he sings it well (I love that voice).
Quite incidentally, he played a song that he had performed live some time ago, a slightly downtuned version of Queen’s epic “The Show Must Go On“. His vocal performance on that left me absolutely speechless, and I rarely get speechless.
Seriously. I took a quick look at the very humble guy that was sitting right next to me with his hair in a pony tail, looking very “everyday-normal”, while I was listening to this VOICE that was out of this world. It was hard to imagine it was the same guy!
But if I could play it for you guys, you would understand why I’m all “Holy-fucking-shiiiit!” here! You never know – maybe fate brings this guy out of Croatia someday and to the stars where he, in my very humble opinion, belongs.
Two more songs from the “Idol”challenges:
Alright, I really didn’t want a Justin Timberlake-song in this blog, but the guy spiced it up to be a rock-version, so OK then. ;)
[Tip: Check out the scream at1.21]
This one was chosen for him by the jury for the finals. From what he told me, he was very sick that day and had to get shots and all kinds of shit to even be able to stand upright that day. If I hadn’t known that, I would never have guessed, not based on this interpretation of a song that’s so hard to cover (and get away with).
Vacation in Croatia, but still rockin’
Funny to be “back” to writing here again, got used to the Firewind-blog after all the gigs the past few weeks. It’s been hectic travelling from place to place – cause while the band can just pass out whenever they want on their tour bus and have their driver take them to the next venue, I have to take care of the logistics myself. :)
It’s a good thing I got such kicks from the shows, or else I have no idea how I would have survived that crazy lifestyle.
Right now I’ve had a chance to sleep – get LOTS of sleep here in Split, Croatia. For once, I’m NOT travelling to go to any gigs, I’m just having a vacation like normal people.
But I was just sent a video by a young, Croatian singer who I’ve been in touch with back and forth for about a year. That will be the theme of today’s blog. Maybe a bit unusual, but I’m on vacation, that IS unusual, for me. :)
There is a version of American Idol in every European country, and last year I was watching a few of the Croatian episodes when I was here to see my dad. I missed most of it, think I only had a chance to see maybe 3 or 4 episodes altogether. There were two “rockers” in the competition, but one of them stuck out more than the other.
First of all, his crazy NAME! If you think that people in Croatia normally go by names like “Vilibald” you’re wrong. Actually, the hostess asked his dad why they gave him such an unusual name and I think he answered that he and his wife couldn’t decide on a name for their son and so they just picked the name that was in the calendar the day he was born – and went for that. It just so happened to be Vilibald.
Pretty cool when you think about it – cause there’s NO way you’ll ever forget a name like that. Couldn’t be more rock’n’roll. :)
Secondly, the guy had one hell of a voice!! Holy shit, for such a tiny guy, there was a lot of voice and although he seemed very shy in the interviews, he came alive when it was time to rock the audience.
[A heartfelt version of Deep Purple´s “Soldier of Fortune”, one of my favorite songs ever]
I had to go back to Sweden before I knew how the contest ended – but I asked my dad to watch the last episode cause I wanted to know how the Vilibald-guy had done in the finals. Of course, he didn’t win. Rockers rarely do, usually when it comes to business and selling a new artist, they want something more mainstream to sell to an audience consisting of anything from old ladies to teenage girlies.
Maybe he would have done great with the girls, but maybe not so much with the older record-buying audience.
I don’t remember exactly how I got in touch with the guy, but I think I found his dad on Youtube or something, who in turn gave me the contact info to Vilibald and I’ve kind of followed his challenges on and off ever since.
Being an artist in Croatia is difficult to begin with, if you want to make it internationally, and even moreso if you want to ROCK. The guy wanted to record a real hard rock album but, of course, was not allowed to.
However, he sent me this video a few days ago, that he just completed and I guess it’s a good compromise. It’s a power ballad that works with a wide audience and is still rock. He didn’t sell his soul 100%. :-)
Of course, it had to be in Croatian, cause I assume it’s a record company requirement, but I thought I’d share the video with you guys eventhough you won’t understand a word of what he’s singing (just pretend it’s death metal, you never understand a word of any of that either, no matter what language it’s in…!).
So, it’s just interesting to follow a new, up and coming artist this way, and maybe with the new rules of the cyberworld we’re all part of, the guy might actually attract a bit of attention beyond the borders of Croatia. Seems to me like the world is getting smaller each day, who knows. Either way, I’m keeping my fingers crossed! :)
[Vilibald hanging out with Tim Ripper Owens]
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR 