Hari Mata Hari, the alias of Hari Varešanović, who has a 40-year musical career and 16 albums behind him, as well as the best result achieved for Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Eurovision Song Contest, is recognized by various generations of all countries of the former Yugoslavia. In an interview with “Vijesti”, Varešanović looks back on his beginnings in Montenegro, as well as the importance of music in the Balkans
Hari Varešanović, better known as Hari Mata Hari, told "Vijesti" that he has been connected to Montenegro for 40 years of life and work, where he had, as he says, "the brightest and most beloved moments" in his career.
"I started on the terrace of the 'Galeb' hotel in Ulcinj, and then later in the famous MOC, which was the only hotel in Bečići. So I am deeply bound by my love for this country, as if all my songs were born there," begins the conversation this famous Bosnian-Herzegovinian singer, who believes that music has been and remains a bridge connecting peoples in the Balkans, adding that it was the same when he started his career in Montenegro.
"It binds, of course. And thank God that music still binds us, that there is something to bind us. We know what separates us, those are a few fools in this area, but... in any case, as people we have music, so it unites us," he explains.
Hari also reveals that music itself continues to motivate and inspire him to pursue his work even after a career spanning several decades, and then adds that he is particularly inspired by the good work of his colleagues.
"So, just like a painter goes to a museum every day and looks at the paintings of his colleagues, it's simply in that field that he is most inspired and motivated by the good work of others," explains Hari Mata Hari.
When asked about his music uniting different generations, Hari points out that no matter which of his songs we take, we cannot tie it to just one generation.
"They tell some stories that still continue today, and that happen to people today and happened then. It's simple love, simple emotion, simple closeness of young people," the musician believes.
Varešanović emphasizes that his goal at concerts is to give positive energy and take the audience back to the time when music was listened to on "big speakers".
"Now on phones and headphones you don't have that experience like you do on a device, so a live performance brings back that listening pleasure," he concludes.
"Being at a concert, that socializing between the artist you love and their songs and you with your team, friends, if you're in a square or some larger space, makes you all feel like one," says Hari.
When asked what makes the motif of love in Balkan music special, Hari replies that the Balkans are "a garden full of flowers of emotion."
"Our Slovenian emotion in expression is really specific. It's simply somewhere between that Slovenian expression, here on the western side, we're somewhere here, right between canzoni and chanson, somewhere situated, and the Orient," the singer describes, adding that it's "all mixed into one fine, new, Balkan variant of sound."
When it comes to his success, Hari believes that it is probably because it is based on that Balkan variant of sound, but he also adds that all Balkan performers carry a certain sub-expression that is never the same.
"Everyone in the Balkans, and regardless of whether they are from the Balkans, let's say, performers, authors, each of us has a sub-expression, an expression that is not the same, we all carry a certain stamp of the environment we come from. So, Sarajevo is a little different from Belgrade, Belgrade a little different from Skopje, Skopje from Zagreb, and yet it is something all similar to each other, and yet different," says Varešanović.
When asked about the importance of poetics and lyricism in song lyrics versus rhythm and sound, Hari said that everything is equally important to him.
"I think everything is equally important, in pop music itself, absolutely everything is important, the orchestration, the performance, the emotion of the performance, the lyrics, the tonality, the harmony, the composition, I think it's equal, but the rhythm itself is always important," he claims.
Speaking about the music of new generations, Hari said that he does not underestimate new music from young people, but that it should be given a chance.
"Young people have their own path, young people have something new of their own, and simply, I don't even know what's important, but in any case, we'll see if this new music will survive as time goes on, so we don't have to accuse it in advance. I give young people the opportunity to have their own youth, not just copy the youth of the '80s," concludes Hari.
Commenting on the quote by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche that "without music, life would be a mistake," Hari said that he was right and that music is the language of all peoples.
"Well, I think music is the language of all peoples, of the world, and therefore I have said everything, both language and love," he says.
"I started on the terrace of the Galeb Hotel in Ulcinj, and then later in the famous MOC, which was the only hotel in Bečići. So I am very much bound by love for this country, as if all my songs were born there."
Our Slovenian emotion in expression is really specific. It's simply somewhere between that Slovenian expression and here on the western side, we are somewhere there, right between some canzoni and chanson, somewhere situated, not to say orient"
"Young people have their own path, young people have something new of their own, and simply, I don't even know what's important, but in any case we'll see if, when time passes, this new music will survive, so we don't have to accuse it in advance. I give young people the opportunity to have their own youth, not just copy the youth of the '80s."
Our Slovenian emotion in expression is really specific. It's simply somewhere between that Slovenian expression, here on the western side, we are somewhere here, right between canzoni and chanson, somewhere situated, and the Orient.
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