Reading and studying the biographies of musicians and bands, one can see how thorny the path of music is. Nothing is guaranteed, but those who remain passionate and persistent enough will experience the most beautiful moments - they will live their music and share it with others. The young, energetic band Quiet Dogs from Nikšić is also at the beginning of their musical journey. They have already had the opportunity to share the stage with famous names such as Punkreas, Autogeni trening, Buč Kesidi, Nikola Vranjkovic, Sanitarium, Tanja Jovićević...
The band consists of self-taught musicians: Nikola Perišić (vowel), Milos Mrkaic (vowel), Momcilo Filipovic (rhythm guitar), Pavle Markus (bass guitar), Aleksa Sarić (guitar only) i Branko Pejanović (drums), and in an interview with "Vijesti", the drummer reveals how they met, what the biggest challenges are for them, describes the band's sound, talks about further plans and the upcoming album.
He says they came together through the formation of a scout troop and the “Tibor” Youth and Cultural Center, where they were brought together by similar interests and a very similar taste in music. Considering that they are still in school, they have to balance many obligations.
"Our daily obligations definitely present a certain obstacle to maintaining a routine, playing and composing music, but we are still at an age where you can set aside at least two or three days a week for something you truly love and that represents some kind of pastime and interest," says Pejanović.
However, the path of music is something we would always choose.
"We hope, as difficult as it may be, that we will constantly strive to ensure that our life path is directly connected to music," he points out.
What every band strives for, of course, is affirmation. There are many factors involved here: festival organizers who choose who to invite, including those who are not interested in the alternative scene; the need for the band to make an effort and create their own music and expression, rather than relying on covers; and the wishes of the audience. Bubnjar believes that the audience is “too lazy today to take a moment of their own time to listen to something new or something non-commercial.”
"I would highlight this as the biggest problem faced by all musicians who want to break into today's scene. Therefore, musicians themselves should recognize this and create some kind of balance between quality and melodies or lyrics that are 'catchy' (easy to remember and sing), because we believe that this is the best recipe for breaking into the scene we are familiar with today," he states.
Still, they are just starting out, but they already create a great atmosphere at concerts. They say they are largely surprised, but equally proud of the publicity they have received, considering that they are self-taught musicians and had no contact with instruments before forming the band.
"Of course, it took a certain period of time, but we certainly understood at the right time what the audience actually demands from performers on stage, and that is - absolute energy. As a band that has chosen a genre that requires a lot of energy, we are convinced that we will no longer have problems thinking about how the audience will react to our performances, but that we will direct all our thoughts towards how to perfect them", Pejanović explains.
He adds that the audience can expect the unexpected when it comes to recording their first mini-album, which also includes a new band member, solo guitarist Aleksa Sarić. They got that opportunity through the project "Rock and Roll Riffs" Dino Kapetanović, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Media.
"We could roughly say that everything will be finished within the next month or two, when a concert will be held in Zahumlje, Nikšić, to promote the album. As for the sound, we will try to be as innovative, specific and striking as possible, in order to awaken in the audience the desire to explore something new, something they have not had the opportunity to encounter before.", announces Pejanović.
He points out that it is obvious that hard-core has the greatest influence on their sound, but that there are certainly also traces of metal, punk and rap, "which works very well in harmony."
“So it can be said that our sound is a point where only the best characteristics of the previously mentioned genres intertwine and merge. The themes are usually based on events in society and the environment, and are mostly sarcastic in nature. Each text carries a certain meaning, which is presented in the spirit of metaphor and allegory, and sometimes it is a play on words, which leaves room for the audience to interpret it themselves.”, the drummer explains.
Even those who haven't had the opportunity to listen to them live will be convinced of this - they haven't released anything on music platforms yet, but they plan to take advantage of each of them.
"So far, we haven't had the opportunity to release something of high quality, and that's exactly why we waited to record our first album, because we believe it's the best possible material to put on all available platforms.", says Pejanović.
In addition to their first album, they will perform for the first time outside of Montenegro, at the "Superval" festival in Zagreb.
"We believe that performing at the 'Superval' festival will open up new avenues for us to expand our publicity, which is crucial for us. Our expectations are now much higher than they were in the past, because the concert at Rockstriction, which was actually supposed to be an indicator of how ready we are, went very well and gave us an enormous amount of confidence with which to present ourselves to the audience in Zagreb," he points out.
They believe that "the best way to please the audience is when your energies match, that is, if you transfer your energy from the stage down to the audience."
"In that case, you're sure to get only positive comments after the concert," Pejanović notes.
Finally, he says that they are currently only interested in enjoying creating quality music, "as well as spending their time in a purposeful way."
"However, we wouldn't mind combining fun and usefulness and making it something that could eliminate life's 'musts'," he said honestly.
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