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Zanimljivosti ZP Izdvojeno

Hrvoje Bubić: LEFT TO STARVE INTERVIEW

 

Left To Starve je osnovan 2013. u Karlovcu, možete nam reći kako ste se upoznali i došli do ideje da osnujete bend?

S obzirom na to da Karlovac nije veliki grad i da nema puno ljudi koji su zainteresirani za sviranje ovakve glazbe, nije bilo problem okupiti nekolicinu istomišljenika. 2013., a i prije, počeli smo istraživati razno razne žanrove ekstremne glazbe te se ubrzo razvila ideja da se sami okušamo u kreiranju autorskih pjesama. I doista, nakon prvotnih rokada, formirala se stabilna postava u kojom smo ostali do danas.

Vaš stil glazbe je sludge metal (pravac metal glazbe inspiriran grungeom, op. prev.), na tragu bendova kao što su Acid Bath, Thou, Eyehategod, Iron Monkey. Molim Vas, recite nam nešto o svom glazbenom stilu.

Budući da nismo enciklopedisti metala i njegovih sub-žanrova, ne možemo ti reći puno o razno raznim anegdotama i kontekstu u kojem nastaje sludge-metal. Međutim, kad si već spomenuo Eyehategod, istaknuli bi interpretaciju njihovog zvuka prema kojoj je on okarakteriziran kao mješavina Black Flaga i Black Sabbatha. Navedeni bendovi, izuzev Thoua, njeguju taj južnjački zvuk s kojim se ne možemo u potpunosti poistovjetiti, niti ga u zadnje vrijeme preslušavamo. Što se našeg stila tiče, u zadnje vrijemo smo bliže doom-metalu (pravac metal glazbe inspiriran Black Sabbathom, op.prev.) nego sludge-metalu navedenih bendova, što je, usudili bi se reći, u skladu s europskom tradicijom sporog zvuka, ukoliko ista postoji.

Zasad ste izdali 3 EP – a (Live In Mochvara, Praznina, Left To Starve), split album s Eaglehaslanded, dok je Vaš debi album Nikada Se Nisam Bojao Zmija izašao je 2019. Koliko čujem, Vaš prvi EP se prodao čak u 1000 primjeraka!

Haha, pa sad da se prodao… Priča s prvim EP-om ide ovako. Nedugo nakon šta smo izbacili prvi EP, naš prijatelj Denis Mikšić je otkupio ili dobio, nismo više sigurni, pozamašan broj kazeta dječjeg zbora Resice. E sad, s obzirom na to da smo iste godine išli i na prvu turneju, odlučili smo, uz pomoć prijatelja s DIY hc-punk scene, presnimiti poprilično velik broj tih kazeta. Ne znamo ni sami koji je stvarni broj tih kazeta bio, ali bilo ih je puno. Isto tako, valja naglasiti kako ih sigurno nismo prodali 1000, dobar dio njih smo podijelili organizatorima i bendovima koje smo susreli na prvoj turneji i koncertima nakon nje. Prodati 1000 nosača zvuka nam je i dan danas nedostižan cilj haha.

Imali ste turneje po Europi. Kakva je po Vama scena u inozemstvu u usporedbi s hrvatskom scenom? S kojim ste imenima (bilo inozemnim, bilo hrvatskim) dijelili stage?

Tako je, imali smo nekoliko europskih turneja od kojih je najduža trajala 28 dana! Što se tiče usporedbe s hrvatskom scenom teško nam je pronaći neke značajne razlike iz više razloga. Prvo, već neko vrijeme živimo u Zagrebu koji je, u odnosu na ostatak Hrvatske, dosta dobro umrežen u glazbene tokove, barem kad je riječ o DIY hc-punk sceni, zbog čega nam ne nedostaje kvalitetnih stranih gostovanja, a i lokalni bendovi svojom kvalitetom mogu parirati stranim izvođačima. Drugo, većinu koncerata smo svirali i sviramo po skvotiranim prostorima, stoga je zbog manjka resursa i represije prema istima diljem Europe, teško pronaći kvalitativne razlike između lokalnih i europskih skvotova, već se razlika prije svega očituje u samom broju takvih prostora. Međutim, ako već moramo izdvojiti neku razliku, onda bi to svakako bila razlika u političnosti scene, posebno ako radimo usporedbu lokalne scene s primjerice, scenama u Njemačkoj ili Španjolskoj. Mišljenja smo da se određene probleme koje lokalna scena tolerira ili joj prolaze „ispod radara“ u navedenim državama ne tolerira. Često puta smo čuli da su Nijemci uštogljeni, ili da imaju tisuću i jedno pravilo ponašanja, ali činjenica je da u navedenim primjerima postoji znatno duža tradicija antifašističkog i aktivističkog djelovanja zbog koje na tim scenama postoje mehanizmi nošenja s raznim problemima poput seksizma, rasizma, sivozonaštva i sl. To je nešto što na lokalnoj sceni nedostaje zbog čega se ostavlja prostor djelovanja potencijalno štetnim praksama i akterima. O navedenom problemu je bilo riječi na nekoliko tribina, ali nitko se nije, uključujući i nas, ozbiljnije uhvatio u koštac s ovom problematikom. No dobro, ovo je tema koja iziskuje detaljniju analizu koja bi sadržajno premašila gabarite ovog intervjua.

Da li uz Left To Starve, imate još nekakav projekt, band?

Imamo nekoliko. Pavle (bubanj) i Dominik (gitara) sviraju u hardcore punk bendu Rules, Vuki (vokal) tu i tamo vrti dub pod imenom Sumanut, dok Roko (bas) svira u black metal bendu Phezulu. Postoji tu još nekoliko projekata sa strane, no navedeni su najozbiljniji.

Za kraj, koji su Vam budući planovi, novi album? Znam da ste bili u Splitu (3.10.2020.), kada ćemo Vas opet vidjeti?

Nadam se uskoro! Bilo nam je super u Splitu i nadamo se da ćemo uskoro opet imat priliku svirati kod vas. Što se tiče planova za budućnost, u procesu smo završavanja novog albuma kojeg bi trebali snimati krajem ove ili početkom iduće godine, a nakon tog ćemo vidjeti. Čekamo da se smiri situacija s covidom-19 kako bismo mogli planirati buduće turneje i koncerte.

ENGLESKA VERZIJA

Left To Starve was founded in 2013 in Karlovac, can you tell us how you met and came up with the idea to form a band?

Given that Karlovac is not a big city and that there are not many people who are interested in playing this kind of music, it was not a problem to gather a few like-minded people. In 2013, and even before, we began to explore various genres of extreme music and soon the idea developed to try our hand at creating original songs. And indeed, after the initial castlings, a stable line-up was formed in which we have remained to this day.

Your style of music is sludge metal, on the trail of bands like Acid Bath, Thou, Eyehategod, Iron Monkey. Please tell us something about your musical style.

Since we are not encyclopedists of metal and its sub-genres, we cannot tell you much about the various anecdotes and the context in which sludge-metal originates. However, when you have already mentioned Eyehategod, you would point out the interpretation of their sound according to which it is characterized as a mixture of Black Flag and Black Sabbath. The aforementioned bands, with the exception of Thou, nurture that southern sound with which we cannot fully identify, nor have we listened to it lately. As far as our style is concerned, lately we are closer to doom-metal than sludge-metal of the mentioned bands, which is, we would dare say, in line with the European tradition of slow sound, if it exists.

So far you have released 3 EPs (Live In Mochvara, Praznina, Left To Starve), a split album with Eaglehaslanded, while your debut album Nikada Se Nisam Bojao Zmija was released in 2019. As far as I hear, your first EP was sold even in 1000 copies!

Haha, so now it’s sold out… The story with the first EP goes like this. Shortly after we released the first EP, our friend Denis Mikšić bought or received, we are no longer sure, a large number of cassettes from the children’s choir Resica. Now, considering that we went on our first tour the same year, we decided, with the help of friends from the DIY hc-punk scene, to re-record quite a number of these cassettes. We don’t even know ourselves what the actual number of these tapes was, but there were a lot of them. Also, it should be emphasized that we certainly did not sell 1000 of them, we distributed a good part of them to the organizers and bands that we met on the first tour and concerts after it. Selling 1000 soundtracks is still an unattainable goal for us haha.

You’ve had tours of Europe. In your opinion, what is the scene abroad like compared to the Croatian scene? With which names (either foreign or Croatian) did you share the stage?

That’s right, we had several European tours of which the longest lasted 28 days! As for the comparison with the Croatian scene, it is difficult for us to find some significant differences for several reasons. First, we have been living in Zagreb for some time, which, compared to the rest of Croatia, is quite well networked in music, at least when it comes to the DIY hc-punk scene, which is why we do not lack quality foreign guest appearances, and local bands can parry foreign performers. Secondly, we have played and still play most of the concerts in squatted spaces, so due to lack of resources and repression of them across Europe, it is difficult to find qualitative differences between local and European squats, but the difference is manifested in the number of such spaces. However, if we have to single out any difference already, then it would certainly be a difference in the politicality of the scene, especially if we do a comparison of the local scene with, for example, scenes in Germany or Spain. We are of the opinion that certain problems that the local scene tolerates or passes under the “radar” in these countries are not tolerated. We have often heard that Germans are stiff, or have a thousand and one rules of conduct, but the fact is that in these examples there is a much longer tradition of anti-fascist and activist activities due to which in these scenes there are mechanisms to deal with various problems such as sexism, racism, greyness. etc. This is something that is lacking on the local scene which leaves room for potentially harmful practices and actors. This problem was discussed in several forums, but no one, including us, took this issue more seriously. But well, this is a topic that requires a more detailed analysis that would exceed the dimensions of this interview.

In addition to Left To Starve, do you have any other project, band?

We have a few. Pavle (drums) and Dominik (guitar) play in the hardcore punk band Rules, Vuki (vocals) plays a dub called Sumanut here and there, while Roko (bass) plays in the black metal band Phezulu. There are several other projects on the side, but these are the most serious.

Finally, what are your future plans, a new album? I know that you were in Split (October 3, 2020), when will we see you again?

I hope soon! We had a great time in Split and we hope to have the opportunity to play with you again soon. As for plans for the future, we are in the process of completing a new album that we should record at the end of this or the beginning of next year, and after that we will see. We are waiting for the situation with covid-19 to calm down so that we can plan future tours and concerts.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Student morskog ribarstva u Splitu, član umjetničke udruge Dadanti gdje obavljam funkciju voditelja glazbenog odjela i glumačke družine Banana Split. Bavim se poezijom, glumom, glazbom, novinarstvom i performansima...