Zoster: We have never been more advanced, and closer to self-destruction

The band Zoster from Mostar was once considered one of the most popular bands among the Montenegrin alternative audience. In the wake of hits such as "Ko je jamio" and "Banana State", the band from Mostar often performed in these parts, sometimes at festivals, sometimes at clubs.

Since the release of the last album "Srce zavrelo" four years ago, it has become less frequent, but now fans will be able to catch up. It was announced that Zoster will play on May 9 at Independence Square in Podgorica, as part of the Europe Day celebration, and frontman Mario Knezović revealed in an interview with "Vijesti" that he will perform at the upcoming Lake Fest. In a detailed conversation, the singer talked about his relationship with the Montenegrin audience, as well as the music, the past and the upcoming album of Zoster, and in particular he referred to the current political situation in the world, intuitively, because he says he is not an expert.

What can people expect at the concert in Podgorica?

Well, by default, the best of Zoster, we are now in the phase of preparing a new album and we are playing some best of, we are finishing the promotion of the album "Srce zavrelo", we have been playing it for four years now and it has really become part of our repertoire, and the audience is also... that is the beginning and end of one of our cycles and phases. We expect fun and all that standard, we don't promise anything too much, but it's not like we won't do anything either.

You are always well received in Montenegro, in one period you often visited, then you took a break, we haven't seen you for a while?

It's not targeted now, but it's probably a little bit so as not to satiate the audience, there should be moderation in everything. We are satisfied with how we played the last album in Montenegro, we will play the same at Lake Fest this summer. I think we'll put an end to "Heart Boiled" now.

What is your relationship with the Montenegrin audience, it seems that people here really like you?

As it won't be good, we just clicked. We also feel really comfortable there, and we also feel how people welcome us and have been with us from the beginning. And we come honest and they receive us that way.

You are performing on Europe Day, on the day of victory over fascism. What does that day mean to you, since you have dealt with such topics in songs?

It says enough that it is the day of victory over fascism. And Nazism is an evil, it is already written that way on paper, it is declaratively evil. And on the other hand, that part of Europe is also noble and not based only on anti-fascism. I was born 30 years after that, they told me that, I only know what they told me, I wasn't there, but I'm glad that there is some new idea about a Europe of free man and free thought and prosperity, all the opposite of what are fascism and Nazism declaratively.

There is a lot of mention of the strengthening of the right in some European countries, do you agree with what they said from Laibach that the Balkans are the future of Europe?

I don't know, I'm honestly not that knowledgeable and well-read about it, but I think it's a bit controlled, it didn't just happen by itself. European countries are national, they have a deep national consciousness, it is not like the USA, which was created as a European colony. Europe has a deeper, fuller tradition of the people, and I think that this awakening is dosed, you know the one when the vaccine works, and these emigrants who were released, as if in a way, to wake up exactly that. Not all of Europe is the same, we cannot now say that the colonial powers are European and the rest of us are equal. We were never slave owners, nor racists, we never had the opportunity to be. I think that a moderate approach should be taken, to overcome that. I don't think there's going to be a new Hitler, but... Ugh, to tell you the truth. (laughs)

The new Hitler may not, but the dangers are there?

I'm not smart. A lot of things are hanging in the air in the world, there are a lot of nuclear missiles... We have that madman in Korea, for whom we don't know if he has it - maybe he doesn't, maybe he's bluffing, maybe he does - who knows. Let him joke with him a bit, the world will go in three mother's feet. The human race has never been more technologically advanced, and never closer to self-destruction. Even Hitler could not do what is being done today, he could not rock nuclear weapons and extinguish all life on Earth, let us live in enclaves for the next 500 years. Will it happen? Of course I hope not. I think that in this context, Europe, the European Union and all of us together, must have its own policy in relation to the world, with a positive attitude, not at the expense and against anyone, but Europe must somehow position itself in all this, so that it does not serve only American interests . Or Russian. I think he should have self-awareness, and whether he will succeed is the question. And then maybe chaos could happen like in the former Yugoslavia, and whether that will happen is another story. But again, I have to say that I'm not a man who knows, I speak more intuitively, so I don't know how much I really know. I have two twins of two and a half years old, now I am most interested in that.

When it comes to the album "Srce zavrelo", what are the impressions from this distance of time?

It's great, that's why I'm saying - these are some of the final concerts and I can see how it went down well with people, over time people accepted the album the way we marketed it, kind of unpretentious, but they loved it.

That album brought certain changes in your sound, will you continue in that direction?

Something similar yes, but I don't know honestly... I'm sure it will have something to do with it, but exactly how similar it will be I don't know and that's something that's exciting for us, because now we're getting into it, we're playing a little bit, and what will get out of it at the end... We will somehow recognize whether it is that or not and then it will be something new, we go intuitively.

How far has the work on the new album come?

We recorded some demos and it's really interesting for us now. We are currently in four cities: Sarajevo, Mostar, Široki Brijeg, I'm in Zagreb and now we're hunting for time, it's the first time we're working like this to send tapes over the Internet, we're listening and when we figure out what and how we're going to record and publish it.

Do you have any plans, by when we can expect the album?

Not at all, we decide for ourselves, we don't depend on anyone. The idea is to release at least one single by the summer, but we can't promise anything, such times have come.I wish Gavrilo had happened to the Czech Republic and not to us

During the story about world political current affairs, Knezović also referred to the history of the area of ​​former Yugoslavia and the mentality that rules it.

"We were always irrelevant in that world story, we just thought we were important. And we never knew how to protect ourselves from all those big world changes. We didn't know how to work it out, but we always ran into each other, but at someone else's expense. And they left a bloody trail that dragged on until this war, and somehow it's as if we don't own ourselves, as if we don't rule ourselves, that's a little sad and regrettable to me. Look how the Scandinavians do it well, everything goes well with them there. And we imagine that we are I don't know what. As much as you shouldn't underestimate yourself, you shouldn't overestimate yourself either. So, I'm not saying that we're badass, but it's not good to brag that we're some kind of force, because we're not fucking. With us, we constantly go from extreme to extreme, that is the "boiling heart", we go with emotion, we go with our heart... I am rooting for more of a balance to be made with reason. To be rational, smart, so that whatever happens in the world we know how to deal with it, to know how to protect ourselves. I don't even mean to be on the wrong side or to watch someone do evil, and we stand aside, not in that sense, but just not to be pliable as we are. I would like that there was a Gavrilo in the Czech Republic, and not here. It's too big a price for us, that we are so brave. Like a father who likes to drink in a bar, likes to spend there, to honor and amaze everyone, and then comes home to the children without pay. You are good to everyone, except your own," said the Zoster singer. Montenegrins and Herzegovina are the same

Have you been in contact with bands from Montenegro or is there someone you particularly liked?

The Books of Books are a cult team, isn't it, Autogeni training is a great band for us, but since lately I've been more involved with children than listening to music, I don't know what they're doing right now. Rambo Amadeus we grew up on, Miladin Šobić, these are all iconic names. From the recent ones, we know about Freedom, who played with us in Split, I haven't listened to them personally, but I heard that they are very good. There's also Who See, of course, and that reminds me - and the Monteniggers. I am from Hercegovina, we are not much different from Montenegrins, neither mentally nor physically. Herzegovina, Dalmatia and Montenegro are Mediterranean, they have that certain flair, the trick is everything, everything slowly, as we will - we will easily...