The Montenegrin rock scene has recently been richer for another release. The Podgorica band Breed released their debut release, an EP called "1/2", which was well received by the audience and critics, not only in Montenegro, but also by Serbian music critics. Branimir Lokner assessed that it is the work of experienced musicians who know what they want.
As the name of the release suggests, this is only the first step and a continuation of the EP can be expected soon, as the band has no shortage of material after three years of work before the release of their debut.
"The band was created in 2020, it was founded by me and Filip Radević (drums). Soon he joined us on guitar and vocals Filip Đurašković and we immediately started jamming on some existing themes and realized that we understand each other well musically", says the bassist and vocalist Ivan Jokanović.
Lokner's impression that they were experienced musicians was correct, since Jokanović and Radević were previously known to the audience from the group Beatz & Rhymes, while Radević and Đurašković were also in the group Emily Rose. It was a significant basis for Breed's original work, and the songs took their final form after the guitarist joined them Đuro Masoničić.
The people from Podgorica describe their sound as a combination of different genres, from ambient, through blues and soul to experimental rock. Radević says that for the first edition they chose compositions that are close in terms of ambience.
"When we finally reached the desired shape, we went to our friend Andrije Pejović in the studio and recorded these tracks. Of course, there were new moments during the recording, so we refined certain parts of the tracks, because working with Andrija is always inspiring, and since he knows us, he had an influence on the final product, both as a recording artist and as a producer and as a guest accompanist. vocals. Our friend and experienced drummer and percussionist was also a guest on percussion Vladimir Nikolic, who added his stamp to all three compositions", says the drummer.
Đurašković points out that they are satisfied with the reception of the songs so far and that it is important for them that their works reach as wide an audience as possible with diverse musical tastes.
"We received a lot of feedback and it is very important for our further work. The promotion has just started, so we hope to receive many more criticisms and suggestions, because we are certainly not closed to external influences... It is certainly important for us to have found ourselves on Lockner's review site 'Time Machine', because we follow his work . This is a man who is still discovering very talented bands from the region and the whole world," he explains.
Breed tickled the imagination of listeners and now the EP "2/2" is expected, which should be released later this year. The band says that we can expect a similar atmosphere and form as on the first release, so a combination of genres and songs with lyrics, but also without lyrics.
"We are not slaves to genre definition, we will not limit ourselves, but we will be guided by the impulse that is present with us during the work on the compositions. As for the lyrics, when there is a 'may or may not' mindset, because it is very important to us that the lyrics communicate with the music in the best possible way and that they tell the same story together... When I say 'the lyrics don't have to', I mean the moment of creating purely instrumental music, which is close to all of us, and we do not have any pressure that the text must also be present in the composition", explains Masoničić.
In addition to the continuation of the EP, the band plans to promote the published and unpublished material at concerts, and hopes to be invited to one of the festivals in the future.
We are witnessing the growth of the Montenegrin scene
Montenegrin musicians often talk about the fact that our small scene is quite active and of high quality, especially if you take into account the conditions in which it operates, but that media attention is not always adequate. Jokanović has a similar attitude.
"I think we are witnessing the growth of the Montenegrin scene. When I say rock, I also mean other genres: hip hop, alternative, metal... New bands are appearing, and they are diverse in genres. There are harder and softer sounds, and it seems to us that hip hop is expanding again. The impression is that everything has been raised to a slightly higher level and that a lot more videos are being recorded than before, as well as that the awareness of musicians is slowly being raised that they need to be a little more involved in order to be present in the media. Because the media, as usual, still puts the regional scene in the foreground, which is really still more visible than the domestic one, because more is invested and more serious work is done. For the most part, we are satisfied that we are getting some space and we hope that, if we continue our work, we will reach the audience we need to reach", concludes Jokanović.
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