Zoran Predin, a famous Slovenian musician and artist who spent 43 years in the legendary band “Lačni Franz” and achieved many successes, is recognized in the region as a man of great musical talent. In an interview for “Vijesti”, he reveals the legacy “Lačni Franz” left behind, warns of the cultural threat of artificial intelligence, and what it feels like to be the center of a feature-documentary film.
Zoran Predin, the legendary Slovenian singer, told "Vijesti" that it is a strange feeling to be the central focus of a documentary about his life. The feature-length documentary "Praslovan" was performed last week at the Cultural Events Center of Ribnica, as part of the Underhill Festival, in front of a large audience. Predin adds that although the film is excellently made, it cannot fully show all aspects of his life and career.
"It's a film. It's a feature-documentary film. It has to be a story. About a career, about a man and about a time, and I think 'Praslovan' did an absolutely great job of that. However, we must not deceive ourselves here. There is a lot that is not said. Because in the function of stories, there is simply no room for some things. The story has to have its own meaning," said Predin.
He adds that, depending on the narrative angles, three or four more documentaries could be made that tell different stories.
"We could probably make three or four more different documentaries. And through a different story. When you are the main character of such a story, you experience things from the first person and I watched that story with my own eyes. Now I watch from the third person. I watch myself in some situations and it's a strange feeling. However, now I see a lot of things that I didn't notice then," explained Predin.
Speaking about the legacy of the band "Lačni Franz", Predin said that they left behind basic values, but also songs that want to change the world.
"Those basic values, if someone has decided to be a singer-songwriter, to live off their songs, then those songs should be ones that carry a message, and the messages must be such that they want to change the world for the better, they must be critical in various ways," Predin pointed out.
He added that "Hungry Franz" was loved by people who were kindred spirits and who loved their style.
"Lacni Franz and our nine albums were of such a kind that we were loved by people who were kindred spirits with us, who meant something to our humor, something to our provocation, something to our engagement and those things. So I think that in this time of the reign of some physical and psychological marketing that we imported along with that democracy, the worst is over. Now some things are already transparent and I think that no one believes anymore that quality is something that gets the most likes," hopes Predin.
Predin explained that at the beginning of his career, overcoming the language barrier was the most important thing for success in the former Yugoslavia, but times are different now.
"Yes, there is also the language barrier, that was perhaps the most important thing to overcome in the beginning, but yes, there is the problem of who listens to the lyrics and that now, recently, this radio-friendly 3-minute format has actually made meaningful lyrics impossible. And I think that the internet now, while it is still somewhat free, is a good option for a new scene to return through various portals," said Predin.
In comparing Montenegro with Slovenia, especially in similarities such as geography and Slavic origin, Predin finds many similarities.
"I agree, we are similar in many ways and we have shown that sometimes the fact that you are small is an advantage, because you can organize yourself better within your small size, so to speak. The cooperation of us small ones in quotation marks can lead to excellent results, because we do not threaten each other, especially if we remain quite pacifistic towards our neighbors. So, we have no desire to harm anyone with our armies, because that sounds like a joke and it is a joke," Predin said with a smile.
He adds that there is musical potential in Montenegro that has not been recognized due to mediocre media.
"I think that the fact that the average media does not write about the new Montenegrin wave of quality young bands does not mean that they do not exist. We just need to look for them, we need to find them, and that is exactly what I am talking about, since the average media is always problematic because they are ruled by capital or the state, alternative media is where we need to look for new things, so that the fact that there is apparently nothing better in the foreground after Njegoš, is now just a question, so to speak, will the legendary Njegoš remain intact, and new little Njegoši will appear," Predin analyzes the music scene.
Commenting on his previous statements in "Vijesti", Predin said that people are capable of overcoming negative media myths, despite malicious influences.
"These myths are always exciting, because the media loves myths that sell the media, and if there are none, they can even invent them or they can hook onto something somewhere, and from that create some kind of new myth or something that is written and read about. I think that, as they say, the childhood diseases of our democracy are on the wane and that we no longer fall for the tricks of those myths and those things, that some of those things are returning to normal, that the traditional way of life, discovering one's own identity is now clear and accessible to everyone, and that some kind of harmful nationalism can no longer be built on and built upon. We have all learned what our identity is and everyone accepts that on an intimate level as much as they want, and the rest is a matter of thinking with their own heads. Those of us who do it have no problem with that," explains Predin.
Predin warns that myths are not such a danger today, but a lack of understanding of historical context and strong political correctness can be harmful to culture.
"I would also include some etiquette, some sense of humor, and, say, eroticism as a means of combating pornography. Some things have simply changed. Some songs we sang in the '80s, which had erotic content, are inappropriate today, because they have become offensive. I agree that every time has its own correctness that has emerged from specific things, for example, the 'MeToo' movement, the exploitation of women, patriarchy, which is a system that has no place in the 21st century, when we realized that, in fact, we men are feminists too, and at that moment we arrive at this completely new situation," Predin points out.
He adds that the situation is complicated, but that it is up to us to assess the situation ourselves, otherwise we could damage our culture.
"We simply have to judge for ourselves what amount of political correctness in this time actually makes sense, and what amount is harmful. Especially harmful is the one that forces some things, as if novels that were written 150 years ago are being corrected, and now some passages are being thrown out that are not politically correct today. That is a crime. On the other hand, we should objectively understand that not everyone is familiar with past times and some of the values that were valid then, and the lack of such political correctness today can very easily offend someone. And it is difficult to be smart about it, but I think that understanding etiquette in that example is absolutely necessary," advises Predin.
Continuing his analysis of the postmodern era, Predin said that human creativity and human touch provide greater quality than artificial intelligence.
"In my opinion, analogy is the salvation of humanity in these matters. Artificial intelligence, which is superior in many things, has the disadvantage of being artificial, of not being human, so there will be both. Everyone will decide for themselves whether a live performance with an acoustic instrument or an electric guitar is what fills their soul or whether technological superiority will be something that will take them to seventh heaven. That is a matter for the individual," said Predin.
Criticizing artificial intelligence and its role in the current music industry, Predin pointed out that the motif of love in the songs remains very human.
"It's very difficult to write one good original love song. There are a billion of them. Very sincere, some are even very good. On the other hand, love is one thing that still has a positive status. Lennon-like status, if you will. In interpersonal relationships, it actually carries that baton through generations. I'm not afraid of love. And some are afraid of love. Because it seems like something is ruling your mind and feelings, and that it's something that a smart person shouldn't allow. And they don't have the courage to fall in love. Love is a tremendous energy. It's a basic human thing. Artificial intelligence doesn't have the ability to fall in love, at least not yet," concludes Predin.
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