In the sea of popular mainstream music, there is always an island of avant-garde, transgressive music that pushes the boundaries of quality and defines new genres. This island in Montenegro is represented, among others, by the band “Mučin”, who with their fusion of Oi! direction and melancholic post-punk are setting new rules in music, which can be expected with their new EP, which will be released on August 14th.
"Mučin" is made Nemanja Grbović (vocals, guitar), Đorđije Njunjić (drum) and Veljko Vučurović (bass guitar), and it should be mentioned that although this is a new band, its members have a well-established career behind them.
Namely, Njunjić and Vučurović have many years of experience playing for the punk band "Punkreas", while Grbović was a member of the thrash band "MKZP".
As Njunjić told "Vijesti", we can soon expect the release of another single from the announced EP, after which the remaining songs should be released.
"The EP will be released on August 14th by the Zagreb-based Geenger Records label. They have already released the video we recorded for the lead single 'All Meaninglessness Is Its Existence', another single called 'Nameless' will be released in about ten days, and then the rest of the songs from the EP," announced Njunjić.
He further explained that the audience can expect four new songs as part of the new EP as well as planned videos for the new tracks.
"There will be four songs, just like on the first EP. After the two singles are released, two more will follow them, and for one of them we are planning another video to accompany it. We plan to continue working on videos for the remaining songs," adds Njunjići, emphasizing that the new EP was recorded in Grbović's studio, for which he says he has special creative freedom.
"The EP was recorded at Nemanja Grbović's, singer, guitarist, and band producer's home studio, which he calls Studio G, and some bands have already recorded at his place alongside us, because I assume they feel the same energy as we do when we record our songs. Without pressure, without limitations, we strive for production and sound the way we think our band should sound. So, creative freedom that we wouldn't necessarily have if we worked at someone else's," emphasizes Njunjić.
Speaking about the choice of musical direction, Njunjić explained that it is a fusion of the Oi! genre and atmospheric post-punk with elements of gothic. According to him, this fusion came about because that is the music the band members listen to the most.
"Well, the way we classify ourselves now, i.e. since the beginning of the band, it's been a kind of fusion of Oi! melancholic sound, and atmospherically there's a lot of post-punk, even gothic. You can really find everything. We decided on a direction or directions because it's the music we listen to the most privately and it gave the path that 'Mučin' took, but even with other bands, it never necessarily leads you creatively into a one-way street, because music is like that and we and the audience feel and find what each of us personally carries within ourselves. It's a common mistake in perceiving genres, that when you decide on one, people think it's rigid, but for a few bands I can draw a clear genre line even in punk, metal and all other subgenres," said Njunjić.
About their song "All Meaninglessness Is His Existence", Njunjić says that it is about the meaninglessness of understanding man's existence on Earth, stating that people hide behind false idols due to their insecurity.
"That the song is more about the meaninglessness of today's understanding of human existence on Earth. With that, the concept of religion, faith in human existence and love as the most sacred moment in existence. Because of their insecurity, people hide behind pseudonyms, false profiles, false idols in the end and God as a symbol of something that will save them in this and the next life. In general, the concept of life and death is often paradoxical, and it occurs in times of social regression, decadence, loss of meaning, and fashion. As a band that somewhat reflects on these things, we try to describe these personal and social states through music. The state we describe would be today's modernity and zeitgeist," explains Njunjić.
He said that the formation of the band is connected to the love for the music they listen to as well as their sense of novelty.
"The formation of the band is related to the love for the music we listen to, as well as the feeling that we have something new and different to say outside the framework we were in before. In the end, it is the experience and the gradation of years in the band, because every difference between the members is at least 10 years and brings a fine synergy of tones, colors and understandings, and that is very beautiful in a musical sense. Nemanja and I had a history of playing through the band 'Gnar' which stopped when the corona started, while Veljko and Nemanja are now getting to know each other musically and that is the richness of playing," said the musician.
According to Njunjić, the goal of "Mučina" is to creatively expand the field of activity, such as working on the band's complete visual identity.
"Our goal is to expand our field of activity as creatively as possible. While working on the EP, in a conversation with my friend By Dimitrije Vučinić, I didn't even know he was willing to get involved in the story. The result of those conversations was the video he made for the single, and now we are working together on the band's complete visual identity, which includes VJ-ing, video animations, video settings, and I think that this story is slowly becoming multimedia because we want to establish a visual language that will accompany all of this, in addition to the musical one. I must also mention that he is a visual artist Dejan Radulović "The guy who did the EP cover is also interested in collaborating with us, so we're glad that people from other artistic spheres recognize themselves in this story, and of course everyone is welcome," he explains.
According to Njujić, the effort put in is more important than quality and quantity, which is why he appreciates local and regional bands that invest their creative and physical efforts, but he warns about the lack of quality infrastructure that would be a basis for new bands.
"As long as there is a need to create, there is no need to talk about quality and quantity. Every work must be appreciated, every cent that people spend on their creation, all the effort, both mental and physical, that people put in should be valued. In recent years, people in all genres have had the need to express themselves and that is what is most important. In general, as long as I have been following the scene, which is about twenty years, we lack continuity, first of all in the bands, then in the scene as such, and after that in the infrastructure, whether it is self-organization or institutional. On the other hand, what is most difficult is that bands have a hard time deciding to go on tour, which is a huge minus of our scene. The huge pluses that I see are the emergence of new young bands, as well as some organizations that have never existed before, like DKC Pomorandža," Njunjić points out.
He says that there will be no end to their creativity, so the audience can expect new songs as well as a new visual identity.
"We will constantly make new songs and EPs because we have a lot of them, all of which will be accompanied by video material. As I mentioned, we are building a visual identity around this story and we will devote a lot of time to that. Physical releases are announcements, records, cassettes and of course concerts. Dates are already being set. A great concert in Nikšić in August has been confirmed. And then by the end of the year we have Zadar, Zagreb, Novi Sad, a lot of things that are still happening, so it will be fruitful for the band until the end of the year, and plans are already being made for next year in terms of gigs and festivals," announces the musician.
"We have sensed the impulses of the regional audience and we are very satisfied"
When asked what new they bring with "Mučina" besides their long experience with music, Njunjić says that the novelty is a different approach to music.
"First of all, the approach to music. I see that people from other spheres are interested in the band, which is very nice for us. We have sensed the impulses of the regional audience and we are very satisfied, and that will continue. It is difficult to talk about innovations in today's world. But the recognition of the work and effort and the desire to do this has, I think, already been accepted by the audience, and that is the most important thing. There is a different approach to playing and writing lyrics, which gives us the creative energy to try something we haven't done before," explains Njunjić.
Bonus video:
