The stage of the world opens and closes its doors. The audience comes and goes, but there is always music on stage. However, sometimes she is in the front rows and illuminated by spotlights, and sometimes she is pushed into a corner and only a few people notice her. Still, there it is. Maybe now the place has been taken by kitsch spectacles in which male and female performers emphasize something completely different, but one of the longest-standing bands on the Montenegrin scene, "Perper", is still fighting and living its music.
The frontman of this group, Nikola Radunović, believes that there are many problems concerning music today, such as the lack of support for local musicians, empty halls for legendary bands and the turn to superficiality.
"I am happy because I see that there are bands that have started to work, to record... But these are all individual attempts and they do not have adequate support. "There is no more serious publishing house or media to stand behind Montenegrin bands and performers," said the frontman of the band "Perper".
He says that he is sorry for that, and that they went through it alone, and in an interview with "Vijesti" he further reveals what he thinks about the Montenegrin music scene today, the culture of going to concerts, the performance with the orchestra as part of the "Bar Chronicle", about which he says that he was interesting.
"It's an incredibly demanding endeavor when you have 70, 80 people on stage. It's not even easy to voice it. It was challenging for me - that's why I accepted. They wanted us to perform our song 'Goro moja'. I was interested to hear how they would play it. Tamara (Rađenović) she invited me to be a guest. She wanted to spice up that concert with one of our songs, even though she sang songs by various international artists. It was a really nice experience and I think the reactions were great. I'm glad that the recording remained and that the event happened at all", said Radunović.
The singer's appearance on the stage really surprised the audience, and the song took on a completely new dimension with the orchestra. It was a unique opportunity and one of the most interesting moments of the Montenegrin music scene. However, it can be concluded from Radunović's answer that this is an exception. The singer points out that as long as "Perper" lasts, he is not sure that much has changed.
"We started at the time when turbo folk started and all these horrors that hit us. Now it's all similar, but packaged in a different form. However, there are bands that play more normal music, and I'm looking forward to that," comments Radunović.
He believes that music is no longer important to people.
"It is more important to them what a certain singer is doing, how she looks and whether she has applied eyelashes or silicones, what kind of heels she has, whether her fur coat is this or that color... and then people go to watch these 'shows'." Although I don't follow it, I see that they try to show something in terms of production to that audience. The bottom line is - where's the music? Those are some very strange songs, very strange messages,” he says.
He thinks that the generation that grew up in the 2000s "is in a terrible problem, because no one exposed them to normal music... unless they somehow felt it themselves or their parents introduced them to some normal trends".
Radunović says that his children grew up with the music he listens to. His two sons have a band called "Prism". One is a drummer and the other a guitarist and singer. However, as he says, he does not interfere in what they do.
"I already interfered too much by being their parent and by the fact that they grew up with music that I also love. Also, we go to concerts of other performers together," he said, adding that he was happy "that they are doing it."
He points out modern technology as one of the advantages of playing music today.
"Unlike the time when we started when we couldn't record music at home and on computers, technology has already advanced so much that people have a chance to record albums and songs a little easier than it used to be the case," explains Radunović.
It is easier for musicians in this respect: they can create at home and share music on music platforms, promote themselves through social networks, although all of this brings with it special challenges. However, the fact remains that the point of playing music is to perform your art in front of people. In this context, Radunović talks about the presence of Montenegrin musicians at festivals.
"I'm sorry that people don't really understand that it's a huge thing to invite a band to play. Today, the concerts of Montenegrin musicians are reduced to some local clubs, some strange celebrations where usually people will invite one, two, three musicians... the band is always too much for them or, maybe a band, but they play almost for nothing, and that's really a disaster" , points out Radunović.
He believes that there should be an awareness that local musicians should be invited to play, "especially those who try to record something".
"It's a great thing and the best promotion. It gives the wind at the musicians' backs - to see that what they are doing makes sense. It would be pointless if Montenegro only had the songs 'Makadama', 'Katapulta', 'Perpera'... there were of course more of them, so that no one gets angry... 'Roli', 'Jozef K.' and so on. There were interesting records, but it was all a long time ago. We recorded our last album in 2008. Although we have been through all the worst years and in spite of so many years of service, this scene that is in effect today and all the circumstances under which all this is happening, kills the will a little," says the frontman.
This year "Perper" was part of the program of the City Groove festival.
"I'm sorry that the bands that appear don't have a place to play. City Groove festival opened its doors for them. There are others who invite some from Montenegro and that is nice. In principle, if they don't play here, no one will see them in Croatia, Bosnia, or Serbia. A few countries need to deal with it, that is, the people who organize events here, do music shows... to promote people from this area", notes the "Perpera" singer. It seems to him that the City Groove festival is in huge trouble "because it doesn't have adequate support to make all this happen".
"First of all, financial. We know that they brought world names: 'Simple Minds', 'Cukera', 'Morchibu'... I follow what they do and I'm always happy to come. But, it's sad when you come to a 'Simple Minds', a band that fills stadiums outside, and in Montenegro there aren't 1000 people at that concert, even though it's almost for nothing. So we're a little off track on all issues, including these musical ones. But, well, I hope they will correct it", expects Radunović and remembers the last concert of the group "Toto" that he attended.
"The last time they came to Belgrade, a multi-million city, the hall was half empty. Maybe not even a fifth of the hall was filled. "Probably now, if they do world tours, many musicians bypass this part of the region, because they realized that they like something else here," Radunović points out.
He gives an example of going to a concert David Gilmour from "Pink Floyd" in Rome, where the tickets were sold out. For the "AC/DC" concert in Vienna, which he almost attended, he says that there were probably 80 thousand people present.
"In some other areas, the culture is a bit different, especially when it comes to those legendary bands and performers. In those more normal environments, people go to listen to normal music, they know what is good, they like to come from other countries, to hear a top performer", explains the interlocutor of "Vijesti". He points out the Sting concert in Sarajevo last year as a positive example.
"The hall was full, people came from Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia," he recalled.
Nevertheless, he concludes that in principle the situation is "tragic".
"If some semi-talented performer from this area comes, let me call him that, without wanting to offend anyone, he will fill sports centers and stadiums... and it's not about musical reasons," he points out.
Finally, when asked if he has anything to add, he hopes people are reading.
"I see that no one has time to read, watch, listen... But if they listen and read, let them listen to good music and read good books and normal texts - I think that one day they will be happier because of that," concluded Radunović.
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