Silence on the streets... and then noise!

I have known "Masts" for thirty years, actually since the time when they were called "Joe and the Masts". The first concert I know of was held at the "Bunker" club, and it has been theirs ever since muzika the soundtrack of my life and the life of my family. This is not a classic interview, because it would be hypocritical to analyze the emotions caused by the release and listening of their new album. I realized that with "Jarboli" we share the past, the present and, I hope, the future in this city and this country. That's why I highly recommend you listen to the album Try a naked man, and I thank them for their honesty and perseverance.

"WEATHER" Has the source of inspiration for the poetic images and the musical background of your songs changed over the years and how?, from the first "Cheese legs" till today?

"MASTS": It is natural that the living world evolves and ages over time. So do we, which is not a surprise. So - yes.

Each wave of protests in Serbia received its own artistic representation. From the painter, from music to street art, theater or fashion. In 1991. they were "Rimtutituki" and new wave bands, Ekv, "Electric orgasm" or "Spine discipline", Your music was the soundtrack to the 1996 protests/97, your latest album comes out in the middle of major protests started by students in Serbia. Daniel somewhere described your work as fiddle heritage in a modern form. The songs have a clear social and political message.

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"Masts" try to play their best regardless of external circumstances. That's the only way you can have a decent band.

You were part of "Hat theaters", you collaborated with "Scrap", Zolt's paintings have always been an interesting visualization of music, Miloš Tomić's music videos were also part of a wave of young and creative people that you were part of. How is it today??

We welcome Ljudmila Stratimirović, Škartovce Žoleta and Prota. Jarbol Žolt currently has a great exhibition called "Stupid Monochromes" at the Rima gallery in Belgrade, which we highly recommend you visit, while Miloš Tomić emigrated to Slovenia with his whole family, which may have the greatest importance for the culture there. However, the other day, Jarbol Nemanja, under the pseudonym VRLI, released a new electro thing called "Nema Predaje" for the compilation Bunt 3. Such is the situation today.

What's left of Klipana in pudding, of a surrealistic musical form in Rhythm of the Heart on B92? As far as I remember, Bracus was the godfather of that name..

That's a blatant lie! The name could only have come up with Bilbo Blah himself. As far as we know, the death masks of the group members Klipani in pudding were exhibited in the Rex cinema at the "View of the Wall" exhibition from 1996.

U video-with the videos accompanying the release of the album, you returned to the basic picture - a band that plays in the basement. It also seems to me that the sound of the album is similar to the original, guitar, unpolished and raw. Is the music "The mast" track and describe your personal experiences, development and questioning of its place in Serbia at this moment?

You noticed very well that in the latest video-spots "Jarboli" they play live instead of being accompanied by a matrix from the album. On the one hand, it's more interesting for us, on the other hand, we think it better represents what we do. In the end, they show what it means to have a live band, which is more in the music itself than in the accompanying elements of the promotion.

Is music today a way to channel frustration and send a clear message to people and/ or the establishment?

It certainly is, but mostly for the individuals who make and perform that music. On the other hand, we notice that in a new situation, silence is a much more effective way to express an attitude. So, silence on the streets. And then the noise.

In your musical opus, you reminded a generation of the sources and classics of rock, in songs like "Dizzy Miss Lizzy", over "Devil" Đorđe Marjanović, and we also remember New Year's Eve in "Bozidarc", where you played in the atmosphere of sixties dance nights. From the beginning, you have defined your music as "Eastern European rock and roll". Is it like that today??

In principle, yes. We were lucky enough to see some of the important architects of the music we play live in concert at a young age, such as BB King, Buddy Guy, "Doctor Feelgood" and others, so we can draw from the source, understand and be sufficiently grounded in what we do. A house cannot be built without a foundation.

In the CBGB movie there is a scene where a group of unusual guys come on stage, and they are led by a tall man with an acoustic guitar. Those were "The talking heads", and that was exactly the experience I had when I saw and heard you for the first time. In the gigs at Rex you looked and sounded, in my opinion, the best, because I understood that area as your natural and original environment. To this day, I think you conveyed the atmosphere musically "Velvet Underground", and then "The Television", or "The talking heads", Patti Smith, as well as British bands like "gang of four" and others whose music you could dance to.

It is true that "Jarboli" make dance music with rhythm and blues, disco and funk. Without that dance element, we wouldn't be a good enough rock band. All similarities are coincidental and relative. So, still, first of all - Eastern European, autochthonous rock and roll.

The third aspect of your creative work is the poetic tradition, that is, cultivating poetry as an art form in various forms. "Masts" I perceive it as an artistic synergy of two troubadours. Daniel is through "Autumn Orchestra" and continuously affirmed poetry in his literary work, while Boris also had exceptional solo performances, performing poetry through the songs of Dylan and other rock poets. You are actually two troubadours., so I'm interested in how you fit two deeply intimate expressions into songs "The mast"?

From the beginning, we try to make what we sing clear to every listener. The words of our songs are good enough to end up printed in a book. As a result, they suffer various treatments without being convincing, even such that they are performed only with a voice and minimal accompaniment.

It is a combination of two intimate stories, so it seems to me that the greatest successes of your band are the moments when those two inner voices agree. I'll make a joke., don't mind, that sometimes the intonation was a bigger problem when singing, especially at the beginning. It is, actually, was a real test for real fans "The mast"- Are you annoyed by the singer? - then you ask: which? It seems to me that intonation comes with age, now it is flawless.

The words of the songs are still the most important, and we tried to perform them as best we know how. We are glad that you have noticed the progress in our performing capacities. We will continue in that direction.

photo: promo

I was recently surprised when I was at a concert by a young band ( "They killed the butler."), from the wave of groups from the compilation Hali Gali, in the liberated SKC-u, heard a version of your song "Only sometimes". This generation is the soundtrack of student protests today. Do you think there is continuity from the nineties to today??

We are very happy for "Butlers", they are great and we welcome them very much. True, Jarbol Boris produced a lot of bands from the generation before today's Hali Gali music groups ("Nežni Dalibor", "Repetitor", "Multiethnic attraction", "Stuttgart Online"...) Jarbol Daniel feels like an uncle among those groups.

In the 92s, BXNUMX was a gathering place and channel for the promotion of various creative groups and individuals, where you yourself participated. What does playing and promotion look like? "The mast" in the digital age? Your performances and aesthetics have been from the beginning "Retro", ever since the spots in the gerontology center, you looked like pensioners among the youth from Serbia's Fast Bands. Popularly said - are you still "Retro"?

We never looked retro, but the way people who are not ready to humiliate themselves look. Who is to blame for the enslaved majority who humiliate themselves by following seasonal trends?

In what way are the political and social situation part of your aesthetics, as inspiration, or as a continuous struggle for "freedom". Your song "Parole" in fact, it is the best definition of the state of an individual in Serbia in the last 30 years, and probably longer.

Our songs are naturally connected to what is happening around us. One of the most important tasks of any culture is to leave evidence of its existence. "Jarboli" tried their best not to lose the necessary freedom to make songs as they think should be made, without conditions and consent to compromises. All in all, it is for some more serious study, but we, as authors, would not deal with it here.

In the new songs, the political message is very present, perhaps the most open so far. Is it a consequence of experience?, individual and collective, or what is the condition of that "parole" and is there any disappointment??

Most of the songs from the new album are more than 12 years old, which means that they are not trendy, but talk about universal phenomena in the society in which they were created. So things have not fundamentally changed, the only thing is that the processes have advanced and are manifested with greater cruelty. We're too old to be disappointed, and that's not a good thing when you have a band that still requires oomph and energy.

Themes of lack of resistance, energy, or apathy, penis energy, which disappeared through masturbation, did anger arrive today instead of sadness?? We are talking about the intense emotions that people have today when they follow student protests. Are we hardened?, or we have come to terms with delusions, a saying goes that every generation is entitled to ideals and delusions? It turned out that energy still exists.

What is happening today in the streets and universities is something completely new and incomparable to any previous experience. Much more essential, emotional and humane. We can just let go and enjoy the process.

Try a naked man different journalists interpret differently, you gave them that freedom directly through the message on the album cover. Why was that necessary?? Let's understand each other, I'm not looking for an interpretation of the title., but your message to the interpreters of your work.

Our message to the interpreters is that all but one are absolutely right. Isn't that fantastic!

It is the only and most beautiful love song "Winter". She closes the album.. Is it a message that we have preserved tenderness from "the harshness of the world"?

We don't know if that's the message, but the song is great!

photo: promo

At your concerts today, I recognize the faces of girls and boys from performances from the nineties. Today, these are girls in their prime, with the same fire in his eyes, and boys sometimes have less hair, many have children, great people who come to listen and watch "Masts". Now you play for two generations, How does that feel??

Unfortunately, modern stages have strong spotlights, which often prevent us from seeing the audience well. So again, it's great to be on stage and it's great to be in front of all of you. It's great that the concert happened at all, it's a small miracle that shouldn't be taken for granted.

How are the performances in the region?, What does a gig in Zagreb look like?, or do they know the songs??

For now, from the region, we only played in Zagreb and it was great. The audience knew the songs, even had desires. We played for a long time, a lot of songs.

How do you answer the question about the multi-year break in recording and playing?, how was the work on the preparation of the album? Is this album a symbolic Resurrection, Reincarnation, or return from voluntary isolation? Will we have to wait a long time again for new concerts and new songs??

The multi-year hiatus preserved the band. Namely, we cannot allow the change of members just like that. The album was recorded for a long time, in stages, in several cities (Vrbas, Dedinje, Palilula, Pančevo...), with a large ensemble (brass ensemble of the band "Ljubičice", Sonja Lončar, Ivana Smolović). It wasn't that easy to make the album sound like a whole, but we largely succeeded in that. The album enabled the return of the regular practice of band playing in the lives of the group members. Concerts are coming, and for a new album - for now we do not give any guarantees.