Cane about rock and roll scene in Serbia, the new album, the poetry collection “Crossed Words”…
On the first day of the Arsenal Fest on the Main Stage, Partibrejkers will perform, so we had a little chat with Zoran Kostic Cane.
You had your first performance in 1982. What was that time like? What was the atmosphere like for music, rock and roll?
Well, I can’t think about that now because it’s a beautiful day, and I’m enjoying a lot of gratitude towards God for giving me the opportunity not to be alone.
“Jugoton closed the door on you because there wasn’t enough rebellion in the songs,” and then a year or two later, you recorded material for a record that “no one wanted to release”… Considering that these were the early days of Partibrejkers, how did you feel about these rejections… And how do you view it today after more than 40 years of a successful career?
Well, it was terrible and pointless, and it’s still like that today. We’re not in the first league, no matter how much success we have and how good we are, but that’s just how it is, as they say, it’s the fate of people who play in that band, the fate of that story, those songs, and everything else. It’s always the same, just the years go by.
How did Rimtutituki come to be formed? Did working in that band contribute to the further creativity of Partibrejkers?
Well, no, it’s more of a battle to show a stance at that moment, I mean not a battle, peace brother, peace and all that. The libertarian aspiration has always been present with us, so it doesn’t matter whether something was or will be. We have always been present where people fought for their dignity and honor.
You’ve often had breaks in your work. Have you ever thought it was the end of Partibrejkers during those moments?
Well, yes, but then the next moment something doesn’t allow me to give up so easily. It’s always a struggle against unconsciousness.
Do you still “sit with buddies and drink beer”?
No, not really. But I still hang out with friends and talk to them.
When you look back, are you satisfied with the band’s work and what you’ve achieved?
I don’t think about that.
Are you perhaps preparing a new album for us?
Something, yes, but there are major difficulties.
What’s the rock and roll scene like in Serbia?
There are young bands, giving it their all. Until society screws them over.
Do you maybe have any successors? What do you listen to from newer domestic music, and which bands would you maybe highlight?
I don’t believe I have successors; everything is so unique and specific that it’s too much of us in our style to appear elsewhere. But, I mean, there are people who have the same themes as us – freedom, love, God, the state of society, and all that. Therefore, there are always successors; there are always kids who will follow the path we’ve walked.
Are festivals important and how much?
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Gathering people and all that, the opportunity to hear some music.
Recently, you also released your first poetry collection “Crossed Words.” Could you tell us more about it – what the poems are about, how the work on them looked like…?
Well, these poems talk about everything I mentioned in the previous answers to the previous questions. The very realization, freedom, love, forgiveness… Crossed words can be companions to a person through their loneliness, to be freed from it, to have a conversation with oneself.