Mika Male at Prostor Do 22Jun2013

Sometimes the music is not only music.


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I went to see Mika Male play at Spunk on Saturday, June 22nd 2013.

I have listened to them already before, last time being on ALU Cash&Carry day (Academy of Fine Arts open doors day) in May and it was very nice and I enjoyed their music but still I didn't like the very idea of hearing them in the daylight, in the afternoon shade and as a side show to Art exhibition, displaying music like craft - not that it wasn't great (because it was!) but because this felt inappropriate to ME - that whole assembly carried just too much normalcy and usualness and this are not adjectives I commonly associate with work of Mika Male.

Sometimes the music is not only music.

Harrison Wintergreen, Friedrich Nietzche, Sosuke Aizen, James Sidas - they all have something in common and I feel that I also participate in that something. I feel their soul-search and their imminent conclusions as my own. On the scale of life inevitability they have reached the furthermost step, the highest point of ability and excellence - and they just kept on going toward more, the invisible, the unfathomable, in the process of losing by winning.

One step back on that perilous ladder there is Samuel Vimes and he seems to have managed not to overstep. His knurd, property that they all share, is somehow - only just - big enough to bring him to higher most step but to somehow keep him still capable of social contact. That awe inspiring, precious spot, Sam Vimes in my mind shares with Mika Male Narrator*.

Mika Male make music so beautiful it really qualifies as music only to most simple layman. It is so rich, so simple in its complexity, so full of organic sound it really is more vision than sound. Picture, rather than musical composition. Listening to studio produced pieces with sounds of instruments interwoven with raindrops sounds and fragments of stories is just complete bliss. So that is why I wanted to hear them again, at night and in closed space, as main event, center stage.

So I went to see them play in Spunk.

But they did not really play in Spunk. As I got there I saw their gear already set in Prostor Do. I inquired on what brought on the change ("But sound is so much better in Spunk!!" ) and was explained that Spunk was too constrictive space for the band. I was already ready for everything after that explanation and few minutes later it was time to see if expectations match to reality.

They didn't match. The sound was great.

It was just beautiful. Orlan's wonderful voice. Dancing violinist. Passionate bass. Support guitar coming and going off stage. Exquisite jazzy drums, temperate and with brushes. Getting up and sitting down, going around picking up other instruments. Cooking with fire.

I loved how at one moment Orlan, in the middle of the song, said: "I don't hear keyboard." and he just got up and walked back to the mixer and adjusted the tone while music paused and audience cheered him on and clapped. And later on we could really hear the difference and it was better.

I love how he laughed to himself performing one of two new songs as he (seems to have) forgotten the lyrics for a moment.

I love how the music was so captivating I could not tell how long they were playing at all. I love how they played Nisam te pustio na vrijeme in the beginning of their set so the sadness will be already forgotten by the end. I loved Već smo bili ovdje as it rang in my soul pulling my hurt chords. I love how my friend that was out on a gig with me for the first time turned back to me in the middle of the set and told me: "I'm definitely coming along for more gigs!"

And it ended, beautifully and organically, just as it started - appearing and dissolving like a mirage it is - and later we stayed there, sitting on the terrace in the cool breeze after a hot summer day.

And I even got memento of the evening:

I loved how energetic the words "u ovih 14 katova smo sami" (in these 14 floors we're alone) sounded in Večeras smo sami that they performed for an encore.


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Sometimes the music is not only music. Sometimes the music is no music at all.


Just the void in my heart ringing with emptiness.


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* - "Mika Make Narrator" I consider the person sharing his stories through song lyrics. This does not have to be the lyricist, but I have not got enough information to confirm nor deny that this is the case. Instead, I'd rather hypothesize that Narrator persona contains described characteristics, and that actual lyricist can still be more rounded up, complete person, that can still be to a fairly high degree different from description above.

Music Thursday - Living A Dream - Zvonka Obajdin

I've known Zvonka for about as long as she is publicly a musician or maybe a wee bit longer. I know her as a wife, mother, banker, divorcee, girlfriend, mathematician, child, best friend and aspiring "singer-songwritter in constant search of people to cooperate with, both on my songs or somebody else's." She plays guitar and piano and she does it mostly performing her own materials. Beside solo work she has a band called SVEMIR (Universe).

I wrote about her before - when we were both re&considering our dreams and their place in the world - and I am constantly drawn to her work even though I incessantly tell her: "This is not my cup of tea."

Actually, it is exactly the cup of tea I'm intimately familiar with. But let's not tell her that.

Rather, let's have her present herself to us on this fine Thursday.

DF: You’re actively pursuing your music interest in the last few years – when you’re all grown up and real adult – and you’re doing it writing your own music and lyrics with no small success. How did this priority switch come about?

Zvonka:  Well, although a bit late, I finally grew up and decided to live my life instead of somebody else’s. I do not know how to put it better but... that it took a long, long time for me to accept to be – me.

It was very odd and pretty scary to be 35 and tell somebody all of the sudden – anybody, even to myself – “I am a musician”, and not to have anything behind that notion except maybe 2-3 recent song drafts and rudimentary knowledge of playing the guitar. Not to have almost anything behind me except that and a feeling that this is what I really would like to do all my life, whatever may happen. Also it was scary listening to people say that I’m “throwing away everything I have worked so hard to create” –career, companions, life habits - but of course, nothing was thrown away that wasn’t already redundant. It is hard to remember that feeling or to describe it well because in this 5-6 years my life changed so much, in so many ways, that remembering it feels like a "past lives" séance [laughs].

I’d like to say one more thing about that. I could not have done it, release the album and have so many successful performances and great band [!!] and everything if supportive people were not by my side at that time. Friendship and support are things that count and I am grateful to everyone who gave me their support.

DF: You learned to play the piano as a child and you never played it until now. What was it like - hiding music inside you for such a long time?

Zvonka:  It was like keeping your head below the surface until you run out of air.

It was all documented in a blog I wrote for years (about 4, most intensely from 2006. to 2010.) and I removed it from the web and archived it for personal use [smiles], and maybe, with one future release some of those scriptures will re-surface [winks]. 

DF: As much as I know you I know you are vastly tolerant person but also Obersturmführer in work process itself - how is it working with musicians as opposed to working with bankers and businessmen? Is this yin to your yang, does it create versatility in your day, or does it frustrate you a bit sometimes?

Zvonka: Working with musicians is EXCELLENT! People who really love music are hard-working, diligent people. I do not know many people who present as archetypal  decadent R’n’R stars. Most of people I work with are very committed to music; they work, practice, get on time to rehearsals, try hard, are enthusiastic, passionate, good-willed… that’s what it looks like when you love it, right? [smiles] Man, you should see us rehearsing – some times we work for 4 hours with no pause and it catches us unprepared that we have to leave so other band can use the rehearsing space – we could play and work more. [smiles]

I did work with some people that, although talented, were also uninterested in real work or absent in some way… but that people usually gave up on themselves before I could even give them up. As a rule, people propelled by passion do everything and make time for everything, even if they are not naturally organized or systematic.

I’m a big believer in synergy and stuff like that, I love playing with lot of people, I love exchanging ideas and mixing energies, I love when we have guests on stage and above all else I love and appreciate what I get from other people, what they give me through their playing with me or when they participate in some way.

I have to say that in current band lineup you just cannot tell who’s the most diligent one – everyone is willing to participate to the fullest and they do not mind hard work. Similar climate exists during co-operations with different bands.

If I would have to compare it with my day job (IT & banking), I could say that music people are even more trustworthy and more industrious – because their work is one of love, what you cannot always say for this other segment. Some are just “working it off” and that’s the part that frustrates me the most.

DF: Album SVEMIR was released in 2012. and is still highly praised, but – after the love audience showered you with during every performance of “Ne sjećam se kiše” how did it happen that it wasn’t on the album?

Zvonka: Well, there were some conceptual and technical issues at the time but both album and Ne Sjećam Se Kiše single are available for download form our bandcamp page.

DF: You have played A LOT lately – both you and The Band – and you’re getting more and more relaxed and finely tuned as a team. There's already bunch of videos uploaded to Youtube. What are your plans for 2013.?

Zvonka: In the nearest future there will be SVEMIR at Brazil on 08Mar2013 and at 30Mar2013 at Spunk/Prostor Do but we intend to apply to every-each-one million festivals in the region during spring and summer and we’re also going to play in clubs both in Zagreb and around and we’ve already started negotiating that [smiles]. Great thing about this band is that we can play in many different spaces and in different acoustic and electric setups. We – four of us - can fill up any classical band stage, but on the other hand we can use a bit of electricity and have electric guitar and bass plugged in and I can play acoustic guitar and Matko can just use shakers, tambourine or bongos – and we can play our whole repertoire like that. We can also play in smaller number, if someone is sick or something, just three or two of us and I can play solo, just like real old-school singer-songwriter [smiles]. That’s what I call Band!

And that's what I call beautifully fulfilled person on the fast track to become extremely accomplished musician - so, hear her sing some more, come to their concerts, notice and adore!

Snow globe - Stronghold and Nasty @ Spunk 06Feb2013

Human mind is a glorious thing.

Some time ago my car broke down and I've gone to the shop to inquire about somebody looking into it. It was still under legal guarantee and also I can be quite civil when the need arises so I went there in good faith and with nary a worry in my mind. I spoke to sales representative, we looked over the car, done paperwork and it all went well. The only thing left for me to do was to come in early next morning and leave the keys and car to service personnel and I went home serene and pleased.

Next morning I walk into the shop at appointed time and there over the counter is the most gorgeous guy I've ever seen.

My knees felt weak. I blushed. My palms turned to ice and all of the sudden there was so little air in the room I had to breathe twice as much to get any oxygen.

He spoke and what came out was one most pleasing, reassuring, velvety, perfectly appropriate voice to go with that body.

I fumbled with the keys. Searched for the documents. Tried to get my bearings at least for the purpose of finishing simple conversation. The air was electric. Time stood still.

In a few moments we finished our dealings, smiling and shaking hands and arranging for me to be contacted immediately as the car is fixed so I could get it and go along with my day. It was a pleasant exchange and it felt shared. We went about our business.

I never saw the guy again but I kept this scene preserved inside myself as in a snow globe.

Beauty and appropriateness. Surprise. Excitement. Arousal. Velvet. Electricity of air and feeling of connection.

I told this story a thousand times already and I will tell it a million times more. I just put my hand inside me and grab my snow globe and shake and reality becomes engulfed in billion shiny sequins of pleasure and hope.

But... why am I telling it now?

There was this punk gig last Wednesday.

I've felt a bit down lately so I thought some Belgian/German downbeat hardcore could lift my spirits and there was this Nasty concert announcement. It was supposed to be at Attack! but luckily there was a shout on event page telling that the gig was moved to Spunk. So, when I'm already going to Spunk, why not have a drink with a friend at Prostor Do.

So I met my friend there and we had a beer and chatted a bit and she tells me this and that and my melancholy melts and there really is a crowd in front of Spunk and in the next minute concert is starting and we go over and....

.... and this year Christmas comes really early for me because there, center stage, stand no other than Stronghold!!!

I've listened to them in January last year as they were opening for Pure Stems Pack and I loved them, then and there. I loved them so much I even got myself to contacting strange people to procure Stronghold's only and unattainable release. I loved them so much I even made a visible note to myself to try and see them again.

And here, now, unexpected and unannounced, on the day I seriously need my spirits to be lifted, there they are!

And they were f***in' great! Although Spunk acoustics are dreadful and there is too much smoke and not enough light they were great and there were so many good-willed people there and so many true fans and mosh pit and everything. They even had new (and extremely nice looking) T-shirts. As my friend bolted immediately as they started as "this was all too loud" for her after their set I went out alone to get some air and met a friend I haven't seen in a millennium so we got to catching up a bit and later we got back in to see if Nasty are going to start soon and as it happened my friend knows Stronghold frontman so we got introduced.

... and this is why I was telling that story from the beginning:

In all this happiness and excitement and pure joy served on the day of my thorough discontent there was even icing on the cake. I could hear my sentimental and overwhelmed self inside as I was shaking guy's hand: "OMG!, OMG!, OMG! Heissocute! Heisevenmorecuteinpersonthanheisinadistance! Hishandsaresowarm! I'mneverevergoingtowashthishandeveragain,ever!"

... and this is the moment that got glassified for my new snow globe.

In the end there even was Nasty concert.

They had some problems getting here as they were waylaid by some skinheads in Bulgaria (or so I was told) and they looked seriously tired and worn out and I was moved with their presence and with their candor. Singer talked quite a bit and he spoke a lot of love and peace and goodwill and he thanked us for being there and it felt awkward and lovely at the same time. And then they played and jumped their hearts out! Well done, guys!

Catholic Spray at Spunk 15Oct2011

Last night I went to see punk/rock gig at Spunk.

On Last.fm event page there was an interesting poster and a short blurb announcing the performance of some young Parisians and Zagreb/Sendai kamikaze The Welcomin' Committee in Flames and that alone piqued my interest.  And although it could be argued that this attains to my recent proclivity to check out all things Japanese - even when things clearly mean people - this was not the case. Word on WCIF's energetic performance and fun showmanship caught up with me long before now. Only thing left to do was to go and check for myself were the commenters rather generous on account of friendship and units of alcohol ingested and it turned out this was not the case.

The Welcomin' Committee in Flames most definitely delivered as expected and then some as they managed to, against all odds, sound and look great while performing in mere five square feet of smoke filled space. They were fun to watch, in good spirits, visually show-oriented, sexy. Their music still got across as firm, aggressive, dance and anthemic stuff of legend even though in far from perfect acoustic conditions. It was a pleasure to be there and I was very content with this gig as time well spent even before "main attraction" got to the stage.

And it was good that I was already so pleased...

... because main attraction sucked to high heavens.

As it turned out, Catholic Spray sport no more than beautifully ingenious name. Although they look as if they're making music and prowl the stage fairly confidently they sound like a bloody mess; unclean, withheld, noisy and broken. The horrible shrieking was too much for me so I left a bit of abruptly but driving home I decided to give them another go on account of discrepancy sometimes found in judging someone's music from live against recorded performance. I listened to their stuff two times more on last.fm and on myspace and they sound as bad here as they sounded live. I can imagine other people having taste for music like this but I could not stomach it, even as there was no effort spared on my part.