There is always a great atmosphere at our gigs

Cult bar band Katapult will usher in the new year 2017 as befits musicians - playing on stage in front of their fellow citizens, as part of the New Year's Eve concert that will take place on December 31 at Vladimir and Kosara Square.

Frontman Goran Pejović Gula, in an interview with "Vijesti", announced an hour long concert and 15 songs from all six Katapult albums released so far, which will warm up the crowd before the star of the evening - Severina - takes the stage.

Catapult is known for, in soccer jargon, knowing how to take advantage of the home ground and make the audience the 12th player, creating the atmosphere of South American stadiums at their concerts in Bar. That's why Gula is a little bothered that he will be sharing the stage with Severina for the reception, he says that the atmosphere would be better if it was an independent concert by Katapult.

"These are the best performances, the best paid, and when someone invites us, we don't refuse. As far as I'm informed, a large number of visitors are expected, so we hope there will be a good atmosphere. There is always a great atmosphere at our concerts, videos on YouTube prove it. It's only a little awkward when we perform with a regional star because the audience is mixed, it's not just ours. When it's just ours, then it's phenomenal," points out Gula and adds that this is not the case only in his Bar.

"We had a couple of strong concerts on the side, for example when we were at the KIC in Podgorica. There were really no torches and the like, but it was still exceptional," says the singer.

And what Katapult's concerts are like, the audience can already feel it thanks to the Montenegrin band's latest release, the album "Katapult Live", which is available for listening on the YouTube service.

"There were recordings from two concerts - Bar and KIC Podgorica, we mixed it in Belgrade, selected 15 songs from all our albums. I think it sounds very interesting, completely different from studio recordings. The goal is for people to hear how Katapult sounds live : we are much harder, the guitars are in the foreground, the arrangements are different. I really liked the way it was done, we will see how the audience will experience it," says Gula.

He says that those songs are old for the Montenegrin audience, but they are new for the region, which Katapult is targeting with this release. All this using the charms of modern technology, and how things work today, Gula tried to explain.

"The publisher says that he is very satisfied with the reactions. They have their own measurement systems, I don't know how it works, but they have to see if the reaction of the audience is good or bad. You don't need to look at the number of views, it doesn't mean anything. Most of the views are bought , that's the least problem to buy views on YouTube. Rather, it's based on pure views, and based on that, the people from the publishing house told me that they were very satisfied. And the response of the radio stations that downloaded that material," explains the singer.

Fans of the bar band are certainly eager for new songs, and the famous rocker promises that there will be more next year.

"We have finished songs for the album, they are ready, the only problem is to do it properly, to maintain the standard in terms of production and arrangement. The songs are there, we just need to organize the recording, which is quite an expensive sport to something was done to be of high quality. But next year we will definitely release a new album, I think we will enter the studio in the spring", announced the singer.

He hopes to tour the region

Katapult has promotional concerts coming up, and he hopes to tour almost all of Yugoslavia. Interest, he says, exists.

"We have a scheduled promotion in Belgrade in mid-March at the House of Trade Unions and for now we have five or six invitations for performances in the region. We have Croatia, Sarajevo, Zagreb, Novi Sad, we will probably also have a promotion in Podgorica. It's going smoothly, it just came out, that is a new system, we are going to that marketing through YouTube. I didn't even know how it works, but everything is going smoothly as it should," the singer points out.

But on "Catapult Live", as Gula said, there were songs already well known to the Montenegrin audience.

He communicates with the audience through social networks

Gula recently discovered the charms of social networks and services like YouTube, so it is noticeable that he is increasingly active online to promote his music. He says that the mentioned sites are very important for people in his industry.

"YouTube is a very good thing, it's the easiest, best and cheapest system that everyone uses, as far as I can see, because it's much easier than trying to find three hundred TV and radio stations that we have, to play you a song", believes the frontman of Katapult.

He says that he has constant communication with fans through social networks and that it is an integral part of the job.

"People call, say hello, ask when we will have concerts in cities in Serbia and Montenegro, when new songs will be released. But most often they call to ask me for the chords of the songs, and I'm glad about that, it means that they like them, that they want to they play," reveals the singer.

Gula says he regrets that his band didn't have access to things like Facebook and YouTube before, which would have made it much easier to promote songs.

"Everything was different back then. Now YouTube has made it possible for people who are not involved in music to engage in music... If a person has quality and believes in what he is doing, I think that this system may work slower, but it is safer and better. It used to be difficult to enter festivals, to pass the jury. Here are some songs that are 20 years old and are still alive, but they barely made it to festivals. Let's say 'I hide myself inside myself' made it to the finals at Montevizia, half of those other songs never again we haven't heard, and that song has been going on for 10-15 years," he claims.