Be careful what you wish for, maybe it will come true - says that old warning, and the members of one of the most popular rock bands from the area of the former Yugoslavia, Hladni piva, felt what that means. This year was very unusual for them, since they are used to having a bunch of concerts every year. Frontman Mile Kekin admitted that because of this, they had long planned to take a longer break in terms of gigs, and the coronavirus pandemic decided for them when that would happen. And now they miss concerts unimaginably. But the people of Zagreb are still optimistic. In the announcement of the new music video they released for the song "Rainy Sunday", they announced that they are preparing to return to the stage next year. Until then, the audience can expect some singles from Hladni piva, because when there are no gigs, at least they can work on new material. But first about the new video that is available on the YouTube service.
"It was filmed in a civil apartment in the city center, where 'Glembej' was allegedly filmed. So it's an old, well-preserved large apartment, and it's interesting that the owner of that apartment is a photographer who showed us the pictures he took for Hladno pivo, when we had our first interviews in 94 in the house store of that same apartment. He showed us about twenty pictures from the time when we were all still in our twenties, and it was very interesting. The director Nevio Smajić wanted, I guess, I hope it was his idea for the video, to show what musicians do when they are not recording and playing, but to make it somehow humorous and a little self-ironic, and this is how the video was created for the song 'Rainy Sunday', thematizing this year, which for all of us musicians is actually like one rainy Sunday, only a little longer", says Kekin, who is always in a good mood, with a laugh. In an interview for "Magazin", he talked about how the problem facing the whole world affected him and his band, how he will feel when he returns to the stage, the upcoming album, corrupt mayors and all his political involvement and the lessons we learned learned this year.
Why does a rainy Sunday dangerously lie as you say in the lyrics of the song, why is it dangerous to give in to it?
During my life, I wrote a lot of songs that use nostalgia as the main trump card, one of them is, for example, "Reno 4", where I nostalgically reflect on a past that was better, more beautiful and happier. And this is actually a song that has a counter message, which is that you should sometimes save yourself from that positive selection of memories that all people have. Naturally, it is a human's defense mechanism to remember only beautiful things. It happens very often if a man runs away from a relationship, there was a reason why he did it, but somehow he knows how to forget it and then he gives in sometimes, especially when it comes to rainy Sundays, filled with too much time and too few obligations, then he gives in so he sends a text message or calls his ex, which is not a smart move and that was the theme of that song, where I sang about rainy Sundays in a humorous way.
So too much time and too little commitment is a dangerous recipe?
Yes, as the English say: "Boredom is the devil's playground", i.e.: "Boredom is the devil's playground".
You mentioned that the whole year is like a rainy Sunday, how has all this corona affected you?
This is a difficult period for all of us, not only for musicians, far from it, but for the entire human race. I don't remember a time when the whole world had the same problem and the same enemy as at this moment. Even during the Second World War there were places where people lived the most normal lives, they were not affected by it. And this pandemic is something that stopped the whole world, we all suffer from the same worries, some more, some less... I don't know, in our country, for example, officials in public institutions have fewer consequences, and people who are private individuals and people like us who live from public appearances are a little harder hit. How to overcome it and fight? Well, probably by trying to do at least what you can. We can record new songs, release new videos and prepare for the next year, which I hope will be happier and more fun and concert-filled.
Yes, the announcement of this single is optimistic, because you said that it is a "reset before the concert euphoria of next year", so do you believe that next year things will come to their own?
I kind of have to believe that. I see that foreign bands have announced concerts for the second half of next year, so I want to believe that it will be possible until the summer, if not a little earlier, for some concerts to take place. Because otherwise there will really be too many hungry people here. I hope the vaccine comes soon. Of course, I'm no scientist, I don't have some information that no one else has, I follow the same sites as all of us, the same news about corona and that's all I can say. We are preparing as if the second half of next year will be normal.
Speaking of nostalgia, do you imagine that return to the stage since you surely miss the concerts a lot, with what emotions do you think you will welcome that moment?
So yeah, I don't think I was even aware of how much I missed them until this little setback. We've been playing for 30 years and we've been planning for a long time to take a one-year break from playing, so that people would like it, and we would like it, but that never happened. There were always at least 15-20 gigs a year. But now we had the opportunity to do it, to see what it was like and we didn't like something. And as for that first concert we'll have after corona, I'll probably cry that first part of the concert, and then we'll move on. (laughs)
How do you compensate for the lack of concerts, although it cannot be fully compensated, but some did online performances, you also had a song of support for everyone who is fighting with corona?
It depends on the musical style. As for Cold Beer, we're kind of a band that one should experience live. We did have a concert for a magazine here online, but for us performers it's like a slightly longer sound rehearsal without an audience. What makes a concert is not only a performance on stage, that you come and play your songs, but that you have people's reactions, that you also have some moments where you make a mistake, then correct yourself, catch yourself, then fly out of rhythm, forget the lyrics... Everyone those little incidents are also part of the concert, and without that, it's all kind of bare, of course. Which doesn't mean that we won't do a concert like that, so we'll try at least in that way so that people don't forget us. We will release another single here and there, I hope. Far from it, as you said, that a virtual concert can replace the real one, but it can remind people and make their teeth grow even more before the real Cold Beer concert.
So you're working on new material, a new album?
Yeah, that's all we can do, like I said. When we can't play live, we can prepare for next year by making songs. And now, we're done with this, let's move on - a new single that we'll release in the spring. We are working again with Deniken, with whom we made several strong albums, from "Shamar" to "Book of Complaints" to our debut "Džinovski". Therefore, the work is in full swing and we plan to finish it by the summer.
In the meantime, it even came to the point that you got involved politically, how and in what ways?
I decided to openly support, together with my wife, a then small party called Mozemo, which was created from various activist city movements, a green-left coalition, and with our involvement we managed to get seven of our representatives into the Parliament. That's why I'm very happy, because they are quality people. This is mostly a team that has proven itself in the fight against the most corrupt mayor of this part of the world - Milan Bandić, they managed to do a lot of positive things in the city assembly and now they have moved that way of working to the state level. After that I finished my part of the work and went back to music, and my wife stayed in politics as the president of the New Left.
It is not easy to fight for the title of the most corrupt in this region, I am not sure that there are no equally "good" competitors in our country.
It will be a dead race, yes, yes... The funny thing about our Bandić is that he has an incredible amount of money. The budget of the city of Zagreb is like the budget of all other Croatian cities together, so that should be kept in mind, it is not only about the amount of corruption but also about the amount of capital that it has at its disposal.
Last year we talked at this time, you said that 2019 was marked by climate change and the rise of the right, and then you said that you would like us to be a little smarter in 2020. So were we any smarter?
A lot has changed since then, that was the conversation before the pandemic... I don't know if we're smarter, but I think we've realized how sensitive and vulnerable we are as a society to viruses like this and other earthquakes. I think that we have come to our senses on this issue, that we have all realized how important it is now to have our own water, our own clean air, our own land, our own production, at the moment when, for example, the borders are closed overnight. That is perhaps one of the rare positive sides of this pandemic, that we have become a little more aware of it, at least some of us. There are some people who will never understand anything, but at least some of them have understood how important it is to have their own production of food and everything else.
All this corona thing cleared some things up?
Yes, yes, even then it can be seen... I mean, all these years of negative selection in society means that the system cannot cope under such a blow, in such a sudden crisis. In all positions, you have people who came through relatives and connections, and not because of their abilities, and that is very important. For years, we have been convinced of the illusion that capital, that is, the market, will solve our problems. We all trusted the logic of market capitalism. And in the end, when something like this happens, we all turn to the state to help us. To the same state that should be financed by taxes. Obviously, not to prolong, capital and private ownership, privatization of various, above all the health system, is not the solution when such situations arise. You must have publicly available healthcare and education in order to deal with future crises that will come. And it will happen for sure, this is just the beginning, climate change is already visible, other viruses... We must prepare for the next attack and learn something from this.
Whether to be a chronicler of events all his life or to get involved in politics
Many artists, probably disillusioned with politics, distance themselves from such engagements and, as they say, do not want to be "tainted" by politics, even the members of your band said that they would not engage like you. Do you think we should still get involved if we want change and not just stand on the sidelines?
That's a good question and there isn't really a right answer. I would never force people who do not feel it as something innate to engage in politics just because Mile Kekin said it was a very good thing. That's why everyone has to clear things up with themselves. I thought about it a lot. For years, in fact since I can remember myself and as the frontman of Hladni piva, I have been constantly saying something about this policy, I warn, I am engaged, but at some point a person comes to a position where he has to decide whether he will just be a chronicler of events for the rest of his life or to try to influence the composition of those people who rule with your name and your work. After much thought, I also decided that this is the moment when I have to do something more than constant warning, and well, it had results, thank God, and we now have a much more decent parliament than we would have had it not been for all of us, not only me but also people around me, engaged and supported this option.
Bonus video:
