The team behind the studio "Stevi" and more recently the label Stevi Music, regardless of all the obstacles caused by the coronavirus pandemic, has been quite active this year in promoting the alternative music scene in Montenegro.
Until now, in their studio, they have recorded the materials of local musicians of various genres and helped their promotion, as well as the release and launch of that material to the public. Now they have expanded their activities with the desire to spread the word about their activities and experiences to as many people as possible, and all with the desire to create and gather as many people as possible in Montenegro, who, driven by enthusiasm, want to raise the state of urban and alternative scenes to a higher level.
A panel discussion was held in the area of CKZ "Ribnica" on the topic of strengthening and developing the Montenegrin alternative culture scene, in which, in addition to the founders of the studio "Stivi" Ivan Ivanović and Stefan Pantović, who are also members of the rock bands Bubnjivi and Parampašćad, Ilija Pejović also participated , who has been following the music scene through the media for many years, this time as a music editor at Radio Montenegro and a guitarist from the group Neon. As it was announced, a representative of PAM was also supposed to be present, but unfortunately he was prevented due to other obligations. The moderator was singer-songwriter Anja Zagorac, and the event was supported by the Fund for Active Citizenship.
The panel talked about the (absence) of local authors in the Montenegrin media, as a paradox, since in the opinion of those who spoke, more music is being created in Montenegro than ever, and of the kind that they characterized as alternative music.
It was said that this may not be the correct definition globally, but that in our country, the term alternative is considered to be music that is not so widely represented in the media.
"The paradox is that today it almost only exists and mostly alternative music is created, there are no more famous pop festivals," said Pejović. Ivanovic said that they are there, among other things, to send a message to the editors that they should recognize and promote new, local music themselves, especially since there is so much of it now.
"I also worked in some commercial media, and there, despite their editorial policy, we came to the conclusion that we must rely on domestic forces, because even if I personally do not recognize the talents and qualities of those people, I have to come to that by the very logic of things, because we certainly won't have the Rolling Stones as guests on the show every Sunday, but people who are much closer to me. First of all, this story should come to life in the commercial media, and they are part of pop culture," Pejović opined.
All the speakers on the panel concluded that it would be a good thing if there was an obligation to play a certain percentage of local music in the media.
"Thus, I, as an editor, will have to listen to more things produced here, so I will recognize much more of what is good." Also, something can't be a hit before it spins a million times, we are constantly waiting for a hit, we can't wait for it, a hit doesn't happen, it becomes," explained Pejović.
Ivanovic said that he has the impression that some media are afraid of the new and that a lot depends on the musicians' personal tastes.
"We had an example when Anja was a guest on a show, where they made it a condition for her to perform covers, and she released an album two days before that," he said, to which everyone present started laughing.
"Because someone is afraid of what she will perform in a live program, what if she sends a message that I don't agree with, that I don't like, for which I will answer... Someone brought you here to give you space, au things directly censor you," added the musician.
The mentioned Anja Zagorac pointed out that according to some research, radio still has a strong influence on the consumption of music, and that many people complained to her that they could not hear her songs absolutely anywhere.
Pejović's statement that most of the editors he knows are musically educated and that they choose what to broadcast based on that caused laughter among the speakers and those present.
"For a musically educated editor to not recognize modern music is completely insane. Music has changed drastically only in these three years that we have had a studio, and not... Do they want to say that what they learned 50 years ago - that? If they don't know and don't want to follow what's new, let them leave it to someone younger", said Pantović, who wondered how it is that Montenegrin rap cannot be heard anywhere at a time when there is more of it than ever and when that music the most popular globally.
The speakers also referred to the festivals, and Pantović said that the attitude towards local musicians in 95 percent of them is terrible and that local musicians are mostly invited just to get through as cheaply as possible and to be able to say that they support the local scene, without coming out in front of them. meeting even the most basic needs for a good performance.
The problem of space for concerts was also mentioned, especially for guest performances by larger bands, so Ivanovic said that Montenegro needs a serious Student Cultural Center, based on the example of the region, pointing out that some significant cultural movements originated there.
In the end, it was concluded that a lot of initiatives such as Studio "Stivi", Student radio KRŠ, Platform081 have appeared in recent times, which have already done a lot for Montenegrin conditions, but that in the future even greater unity and work is needed, so the speakers appealed to everyone who shares their enthusiasm to join them.
Musicians are not without fault either
The speakers drew attention to the fact that musicians are not blameless and invited them to create as much as possible. As a paradox, Pejović noticed that musicians began to rebel during the corona crisis, as he said, not because they were not recognized as authors, but because they were not in bars.
"There are also a bunch of musicians who only play covers, perform in bars and who don't care about this story, and they are called our colleagues. And they accept whatever is given to them, to play three chords on television and then find a stall for 20 euros and beer and that's great for them. We have to establish some standards ourselves," said Pejović.
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