The Montenegrin music scene may not be large, but it certainly has something to be proud of, as we have performers with exceptional vocal abilities. Among them, for two decades, the former "Negra" - Jelena Kažanegra has stood out.
Jelena is one of the few singers who can boast a studio album. After that, she mostly released singles, and last week, after a three-year break, she presented a new song, “Srce kameno.” With this single, she once again proved her singer-songwriter talent, as she writes both the music and the lyrics.
Although she has not been active in recording in recent years, the reason for this was not only the pandemic, but also personal challenges from which, as she says, she emerged victorious, and she talks about them for Vijesti...
Jelena, it's been a while since your last single "Mjesečar". It's been six years since your penultimate single "Maslina"... Is it just the situation on the music scene that makes you release a song every three years?
As everyone knows, after the song “Maslina”, there was a lot of work and performances, but, unfortunately, our job was completely disabled by the corona. We didn’t work for a long time, at least I did. The situation was such that I didn’t even think about music, but about the health of my family, especially the elderly. At that time, my younger son needed me the most, and the older one had online classes, so I had a lot of obligations considering that all family obligations had to be followed up. When we were finally freed from all the restrictions due to the epidemic, I returned to performances. I wrote the song “Mjesečar” in the summer period when I slept the least, inspiration, night, hot summer and some unhappy love story struck, I wrote the lyrics and melody and went to my friend Bole Martinović towards the end of the summer, who made a great arrangement. Later, I offered Vladimir Grajić to release the song because in the meantime I had been working on a video with Dario Janković and that’s how the collaboration with PGP came about. I really worked a lot that year and, honestly, I couldn’t wait for autumn to take a break. Then an incredible scenario happened. In the morning, due to my carelessness, I accidentally spilled a pot of boiling tea on my entire hand. The burn was huge and an infection developed very quickly. It was during those days that I received an invitation to go to Sarajevo with my colleagues for three days to film a New Year's program for RTCG. I was crazy enough and eager to socialize and have fun with all of them that I went, even though both the doctor and my family were scratching their heads wondering if it was possible for me to do it. I went, and everything else fell into the background, only singing and laughing kept me going, and upon my return, I ended up in the hospital undergoing plastic surgery, in safe hands where the doctors and nurses did their best to treat the infection. A skin graft was planned, but when they told me that my younger son had an ear infection, I begged to be let go home, and they reluctantly let me go. All of these events are "to blame" for the fact that I ended up publishing a song once every three years.
With the song “Srce kameno” you continued your career as a singer-songwriter. What empowered you to become independent after more than two decades on the stage and to prove yourself not only as a good singer, as the audience has long known, but also as an author? After “Mjesečara”, which was your first singer-songwriter single, did you have any offers to work for others?
I have been writing since I was a child. I won awards with my poems. My greatest success at that time was first place at the very famous “Lim Poetry Evenings” in Priboj. That was when we were still in the FRY, and at that competition a huge number of works were submitted from all schools, and the legendary Mira Alečković was on the jury. It was a cycle of poems, three poems as a coded work, without names or surnames. Even then, I had the flu, but I went to Priboj with my teacher. When they announced me as the winner, I was in a delirium and barely went out to receive the award, completely unaware of what an achievement it was. All of this was covered in the media, for a while we even wondered how long it would last, but we were actually not aware of how big a deal it was. Later, I was a correspondent for the children's radio show “Dječiji budilnik”, where I recited my verses, but also represented every child who had the same gift.
When I first got into music, I didn't think I could create my own song. I was very young and I thought that only big producers make hits and that I didn't have much to think about. As the years went by, I started a family, gained a lot of life experience, and it was as if my brain had released what I had been suppressing for a long time. Melodies and lyrics came to me, it seems, on their own. For now, I'm keeping the songs to myself, which doesn't mean that one day I won't offer a song to one of my colleagues.
The composition “Srce kameno” is very emotional and talks about the end of a love. Everyone has gone through breakups and relationships/marriages that ended badly. Did a life situation from your environment inspire you to create “Srce kameno”?
The song “Stone Heart” was created as a result of summarizing life events of the last twenty years. When the others were able to celebrate that anniversary of their existence on the music scene, I was forced to sit at home due to my injury and worry about how the wound would heal better and I was not allowed to be exposed to the sun's rays for a single moment. There comes a moment when you have time to think and summarize all the events and people who promised you a lot, but none of it happened. I had the melody somewhere as a sloppy demo. After a year, I remembered that demo, listened to the melody and wrote the lyrics in ten minutes. The song was not written only for those whose hearts were broken by love misfortunes, on the contrary. Everyone who was betrayed in many ways will recognize themselves.
In your song you talk about a woman who is disappointed in her partner. Given that women are emotional beings and that emotions are the most important thing in relationships, when do they become hearts of stone?
As I already answered, it is not written only about a woman who is emotionally broken. This song should help you to get rid of everything negative, to throw out what is bothering you and move on. You should never harden your heart, on the contrary. You should strengthen your heart, but also soften it, to come out of every relationship wiser and to give it to the one who deserves it.
You have an album behind you, but also a lot of singles. You've been on the scene for over two decades. Considering that the Montenegrin music scene is small, we don't have a record label, festivals have closed down, and on the other hand, everyone can make music these days, how much harder is it to reach an audience because of all this?
I think that when you have a good song and it reaches people's hearts, it's not difficult. As for work, that's another story. The most important thing is to have good people around you who are hardworking and know how to support you on your performance. I've never had a manager, but I've been working my way up this time with the support of good people. On the one hand, it's harder, but they say that luck favors the brave, and it really is.
Your first album was released by the Goraton label, the single “Mjesečar” by PGP RTS. How difficult is it to make music without the support of a label?
Honestly, no record company has ever given me any significant support other than guesting on a few shows. As far as I can see, it's the same with my other colleagues. The only thing we're guided by is to leave a good impression on the listeners with our performance.
Bonus video:
