Kultura / Culture
Magnifico, musician I love taverns, where anything can happen
Kafane u Srbiji nisu samo restorani kao na Zapadu. One su institucije kao da ih je Srbija izmislila Taverns in Serbia aren’t merely restaurants, as they are in the West. They are like institutions invented by Serbia
– Stvaranje novog albuma kod mene je prilično dug proces. Nisam to planirao u životu, verovao sam da mogu brže, ali nikad se ne desi brže. Novi album objavim svakih šest-sedam godina i već se navr- šava sedma godina od mog pret- hodnog albuma. U 2022. ću, na- dam se, završiti novi album. Tek na polovini albuma shvatim ku- da idem, kuda putujem i šta hoću. Zasad nisam još na polovini albu- ma. Uvek se prvo pustim kao na toboganu i usput lovim ravnote- žu i smisao svog rada. Uvek ka ete da veoma vo- lite Beograd. Šta je to što volite u gradu koji je, uti- sak je, veoma različit od vaše Ljubljane? – Mi koji smo živeli u Jugo- slaviji shvatali smo Beograd kao bitan centar za više od 20 milio- na stanovnika te zemlje kao publi- ke. Beograd je uvek bio i biće bi- tan u svakom pogledu, pogotovo kao središte umetnosti, muzike i filma. Oni koji su živeli u Austrou- garskoj tako su osećali Beč. Ako si
nešto napravio u Beogradu,znači- lo je da si uspeo da napraviš nešto regionalno i da izađeš iz svojih lo- kalnih okvira. I danas ga tako do- življavam. Vreme koje si proveo u nekom gradu i sa nekim ljudima, imao neke događaje i emocije, po- vezuju te s tim gradom. Meni se u Beogradu desilo mnogo lepih stva- ri i verovatno ga zato i volim. Beo- grad me je prihvatio i ja sam skočio u taj zagrljaj s najvećom radošću! I, naravno, šta bismo oba- vezno morali da poseti- mo, vidimo, osetimo u Ljubljani, vašem rodnom gradu? – Ljubljana je u poslednjih 20 godina procvetala, kao i cela Slo- venija. Kao da je neko složio lego kockice. Nikad lepši ni bolji nisu bili. Ljubljana je čista, pitoma za živeti, sporija je od Beograda, a to mi se isto sviđa, zato što sam i ja spor. Ona je pravo mesto za mir- no popodne uz kafu i piće, roman- tično veče. I zove se tako jer je ve- zana za ljubav i romantiku. Ja to osećam u Ljubljani.
I could easily move to live in the Belgrade of the first decades of the 20 th century. I even have the feeling that I’d be able to smell that spirit and atmosphere, see the characters and hear the Western sounds that were listened to by the musicians of that time… That's how the song Pukni Zoro emerged. There’s one song that you’ll hear in every Serbian tavern, that “most expensive” one, to which everyone simply must feel the passion of the sevdalinka spirit. “Aj, pa, pukni zoro…” [Come on, let dawn break]… not to attempt to persuade
you, this is something you must ex- perience for yourself. It was written by a musician who lives and works in Ljubljana. His mother is from Slo- venia and his father is Serbian. His name is Robert Pešut, though that name probably won't mean much to you, as we've all long since known him simply as Magnifico. Together with his band, he re- cently launched a tour that began in Belgrade and will culminate at the end of this year with a concert in his native Ljubljana. We caught up with him as he marks the end of the third decade of his career and began by asking about the next stops on his current tour… “After the concert in Belgrade, we will perform elsewhere in Serbia – in Niš and Novi Sad – and around the region. The most concerts have been scheduled in Slovenia. I always
conceive the performances with a new repertoire adapted to the con- cert scene, and they also include mu- sic for albums and songs that I com- posed for TV series and films. Now there are also songs that I’ll release on the new album.” Your musical oeuvre is a kind of strange retro chic disco hits jazz mix, which is a sound enjoyed by those with various tastes… How would you explain that, what’s the source of such varied inspiration? “I don't know if that’s called in- spiration to seek out genres. I’m not seeking a genre when I compose, but when I create a song, it has music and lyrics, so it offers its own arrange- ment and the genre is offered like a smokescreen for the song and the message it wants to send. I seek the
right suit for every song with the ar- rangement, which is why they differ so much. I’m actually incapable of writing and performing in a specif- ic genre, which I find very boring.” We can't talk to you without discussing the song Pukni Zoro. How does a Sloveni- an guy write a song that be- comes “the most expensive” in Serbian taverns? And how, for God’s sake, does it impact so strongly on all of us? And why does it sound like it was written a hun- dred years ago? ;-) “I wouldn’t want that song to im- pact anyone painfully! It’s somehow a kind of sweet feeling that touches me. That song is much bigger than me. It is sung in stadiums, for exam- ple, while I perform in smaller ven- ues. I believe that the biggest com-
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