Bajaga: Again, music and our love for it pulled us out of everything

One of the most popular pop rockers from the area of ​​the former Yugoslavia, Momčilo Bajagić with his Instructors is considered a band that loves to play and is constantly on the road, performing dozens and dozens of gigs throughout the region during the year. That is why, in this sense, they are also among the hardest hit by this current coronavirus pandemic, which has made concerts and similar events possible around the world, although now they are shyly starting to organize themselves in a smaller format. When they can no longer be where they love the most - on stage, Bajaga and the Instructors turned to another option - the studio. They spent this time of the pandemic there, so as not to, as the popular musician says, "waste" time, and as a result, their new, 13th studio album is before us.

The new edition was published under the appropriate title "Ovaj svet se menja", and there were nine songs on it, among which are mostly covers of well-known old hits that Bajaga did either for other musicians or for plays, films and series, which is something that is often engaged in. In fact, the only song on the release that the audience hasn't had the chance to hear anywhere is the title song, inspired by this globally chaotic time. As for the others, Momčilo Bajagić, Žika Milenković, Miroslav Cvetković, Saša Lokner, Čeda Macura and Marko Nježić Kića breathed new life into Zdravko Čolić's hits "Tvoje oči" and "Moja draga", and "I fell on you". the track that Bajaga wrote while still a member of Riblja čorba, "Neither in the sky nor in the earth" - the title song from the film of the same name, the theme from the series "Open doors", as well as the song "Mladost" from the play "Zenidba i udadba", with modified text, where the mention of the deceased legend Arsen Dedić will surely evoke special emotions in the audience.

Bajaga previously stated that he had spoken with Čolić and Boro Đorđević regarding the new versions of their hits and discovered that they liked them, and he and his band recently managed to hold a concert in Skopje, the first after the performance in Osijek on March 7.

The new album also includes two tracks that were also created this year, for the needs of the film "Hotel Belgrade". The audience is already well-known for "Darja", with Miloš Biković as a vocalist, and the song "Kako se to naziva" can be heard in the closing credits of this production. The frontman of the band Irie FM Vukašin Marković (trombone, vocals), Vladimir Čukić (bass), Marko Kuzmanović (drums), Nenad Petrović (saxophone), Radoje Raća Milutinović (balalaika) and Zoran Alvirović Kina (acoustic guitar) are guests on the album.

The album was recorded, like the previous one, in "Studio O" of Oliver Jovanović, and the band continued cooperation with the famous producer Saša Habić. The cover, for which Vukašin Marković is also responsible, was designed to look like the pages of a passport.

Like the previous release "U sali lom", this musical material by Bajaga and Instructor is jointly published by the two largest record companies in the region, PGP RTS and Croatia records.

"The best always go with the best! Once again, Croatia records and PGP RTS join forces and release Bajaga's new studio album. In that triangle of greats, the happiest will be the listeners, because Bajaga sings inspired and fresh some of his songs that were sung by others, which were part of TV series and movies. Another pearl in the string of Bajaga's musical treasures, a ray of light in the pandemic gray...", said on the occasion the director of PGP RTS, Vladimir Graić.

"We've had the idea for a long time to make an album with some songs I did for other artists and the like, but we never had time, because there were always a lot of concerts and other activities that kept us busy. Then there was this whole situation with the coronavirus pandemic and everything that goes along with it, and that's how the excess time appeared that allowed us to do something. Because of all that is happening, we had to cancel over twenty concerts that were previously announced. And then we played a little bit in the studio, a little bit in the studio and slowly we got to the point of making a new album", says Bajaga at the beginning of the interview with "Magazin".

And your manager Gane Pecikoza influenced you to record this album?

Yes, Ganet's idea was to record it a long time ago, just like this album, with songs that have already been released, but in the form that someone else sang them, and they are mine or songs that I did for television series, movies, plays ... We liked that idea at the start, but we kept postponing it somehow, so that now in this period we realized that it was the right moment for that story. I think it was a smart move and that we didn't waste this extra time now that we can't have concerts.

The title is appropriate for this period "This world is changing", is it just inspired by the whole global situation or was it created earlier?

It's a commentary on all of this, yes, it's the first song and the title track. It's the only brand new song on that release and it was created just sometime in March of this year, gathering impressions caused by all this global chaos.

Obviously, this situation did not affect you at least when it comes to creativity, because talking to other colleagues of yours, some of them told us that they used the extra time to create, and others that they are so depressed because of everything that they don't even think about it?

Well, yes, I've already said before that it's not easy to create in those conditions, but it helped us a lot not to fall into that depression. Again, music and our love for it pulled us out of everything.

You are a band that is constantly on the road, that is constantly playing, how much do you miss that, how much do you miss concerts and what do you think about this idea of ​​online performances that has become popular lately?

How can I tell you, it might be good as a temporary solution, but I miss concerts a lot because I've been doing this business for four decades and I've never had such a break in my life. We are lucky that, by some chance, I don't even know how we managed, we did a concert on September 13 in Skopje, and that really meant a lot to us. There were really a lot of people, regardless of the conditions. Of course, there were complications with the organization, all those safety rules had to be respected, but we really respected everything and managed to make a concert that could be made. But I had no idea, only when I got on the stage in front of all those people did I realize how much I actually miss all of that.

You had a much larger selection than these nine songs that ended up on the album, based on which you chose what would end up on the release?

Mostly based on how the songs sounded. Maybe we could have added one more, but we didn't have an adequate solution, because I tried to make these songs sound a little different compared to the versions that people already know, how they sounded when they were first recorded. So for those for which we found the right solutions to be different - we recorded them.

In general, what do you think is the impact and impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the music and cultural scene in general, and what was the attitude of the state in this regard?

The situation is such that really music is the most affected. Music, theater, tourism, airlines, there are more, I will forget someone, but there are quite a lot of businesses that are directly affected by this difficult situation. I really don't even know how much the state can help here, maybe it can to some extent, but it is also important to keep in mind that the audience must also get used to a new way of functioning in all this. Because when we were in Skopje, we really managed to overcome all the obstacles, and there were some. It is a space that under normal circumstances accommodates between 10 and 12 thousand people, and at our concert, due to precautionary measures, there could be a maximum of three thousand people, a little less than that. And that is it. The audience really followed all the measures, it was really okay. But my opinion is that the crucial fact is that everyone has to get used to it - both the audience at concerts and similar events and people in general and the state to help those who are in the most difficult situation, especially theaters, for example, because it is very difficult for them. Even in those normal times, they were not doing very well financially, and now what can I tell you.

People must get used to this situation, and the state must help those who are in the most difficult situation, especially theaters, for example, because it is very difficult for them. Even in those normal times, they were not doing very well financially, and only now...

In an interview, you revealed that you will no longer play the song "Pada vlada" because it often happens that the song is misinterpreted. How often does it happen to you that people misinterpret other songs and how much does that bother you?

Well, it happens a lot, but I generally think that people should interpret them the way they want. But I said about the song "Pada vlada", first of all it is a text by Duško Kovačević that was written primarily for the film "Professionalac" and it was written to have a certain function in that film. It often happened that we played that song in another country and people enthusiastically accepted it and interpreted it in various ways, and the political situation there is unknown to me, because after all, I don't follow politics much in our country either. And then it's a bit awkward, the one who is in the opposition always likes that song, but the government doesn't, and when the opposition comes to power, they don't like it, but this one does.

On the new album, you also dedicated one song to the great Arsen Dedić, a track called "Youth"?

That's right. That song was written for the play "Marriage and Marriage", written for the Theater in Terazije, and since I believe that Arsen is definitely the greatest singer-songwriter from this area and the first singer-songwriter, the first man who sang his own songs, which he created, wrote and composed himself, it was simply stupid of me to leave out his famous song about youth, and here it is, one of my tributes to Arsen Dedić, whom I truly appreciate as one of the greatest artists from this area.

What would you say is crucial to accept to work for a theater piece or series or film, have you had a lot of such collaborations in your career?

Well, first of all, it's important that I like the script or that I know the people who do it well. I'm currently working on the music for my great friend and frequent collaborator Dušan Kovačević's film "It's Not Bad to Be Human" and it's going a little slower now because of the corona virus, but I expect to finish it in the spring.

You also announced the video for the title song from the album "Ovaj svet se menja", when can we expect it, has it already been recorded?

The music video for that song will be recorded these days, so when it is, it will be available on the YouTube service.