lly left to take care of her. How do you view your upbringing today? - Growing up is part of life and I wouldn’t change anything about my upbringing. I believe that I am who I am today precisely because of what I went through. When Mirna was born my life changed; I became more responsible. My wife Eni and I raised Mirna from an early age in such a way that we had a friendly approach to nur- turing. Our Mirna has a character a lot like Eni, but physically she’s like my clone. To- day when I look I’m very pleased with the kind of person Mirna has developed into. I don’t think I’m a strict father, and I think the primary role of every father should be to support his child. After your parents’ divorce you lived in Australia for two years. You went to anEnglishschool,thenwhenyoucame back to Istria you couldn’t remember a word of your mother tongue. How does it feel to learn your own native language twice? - Very interesting. That also certainly contributed to my formation as someone who at one point became a transmitter of some emotion. You must have breadth to your worldview. Fortunately, my life was con- ceived in such a way that travelling to new places became normal in my childhood. I think I actually owe my creativity to that. How do you remember Australia? - Australia is a beautiful country, but you have to take into consideration that I lived in New South Wales. This is the best part of Australia to live in. And to this day my heart still flutters when I hear INXS, Kylie or Midnight Oil on the radio. As if that was some other starting point for me. You’ve lived in a harmonious marria- ge with Eni for 25 years. That’s a major success. What is the secret of such a marriage? - Relations stagnate with many, but we are lucky that our relationship is constantly progressing and we always have good times together. Being kind to your wife shouldn’t only be for Valentine’s Day. Little signs of at- tention can show a woman a lot. Spending 25 years in a marriage without major turbu- lence really is a great success, and one that makes me extremely proud. You’ve spoken about the fact that it can never happen for Eni to leave the house and you not to kiss her, that you always hold her coat etc. Why are go- od old manners no longer popular? - In the times in which we live, it’s not easy to fight for a moral vertical, because wrong things are given too much impor- tance. If a slower, less burdened rhythm re- turned again, I believe some manners would also return.
- Yes, but those are distances I don’t feel because I’m always walking with my dog, a German boxer called Mango. I love spend- ing my spare time with him. Mango helps me a lot physically, and also in the psycho- logical sense. You have been in music almost all yo- ur life. How did you discover that need in yourself? - Very randomly. I didn’t think I would work in music because I didn’t think the tal- ent I have was something special. In the end the complete opposite turned out to be the case, with some important people saying this was actually something special and that I should continue along the road of a mu- sician who sings. The 1980s were the most creative ye- ars for music, both locally and on the world stage. What is it like nowdays for creativity? - Creativity never suffers due to social circumstances. Creativity is always there. It is more about how that same creativity is received in such a large sea of information. Reaching the listener today is simultaneous- ly easy and extremely difficult. We live in an oxymoron world. Opposites have begun co- operating and complementing each other. These times are also difficult for parents, be- cause the image children receive from the world and the image that they want to of- fer them are opposites. Your daughter, Mirna, studied journa- lism. She once also interviewed you and you said it was the best interview ofyourcareer.Whichquestionimpre- ssed you the most? - Well, for instance the question:“How would you evaluate yourself in your life so far?” Those are very difficult introspective questions that a man struggles to handle, and it is the duty of a journalist, if we are to be honest, to cause an imbalance in their interviewee, in order to more easily extract exclusive information. Thestoryofhowyourparentsmetisan incredible one. They apparently met in a hospital, actually collided. Your fat- her was blind at that moment, awa- iting an operation. How do you see those strange forces that govern us; do you believe in fate? - I believe and I don’t believe, as Baja- ga would say. Archaic traditionalism has always played an important role in the Balkans. But with the arrival of instant en- cyclopaedias on a computer people can see that there is simultaneously another philosophy of life. So that confusion is al- so part of my being. Unfortunately, your parents later di- vorced. You lived only with your mot- her for a long time. You were practica-
that the audience here has a very big role. You’ve often mentioned having sta- ge fright before every concert. Is that still the case? - I don’t feel stage fright in the classical form and can’t feel it because of my aware- ness of my quality. However, the emotional experience and discomfort I feel every time before I stand in front of people is something completely different. This is about me won- dering, regardless of my awareness of what I’ve done and given, whether I deserve it. What do you like the most in our ca- pital city? - Although I once lived in Belgrade, to- day I can’t tour the city in a relaxed way, because I usually come here to work. But when I look at Zagreb and Belgrade from the ’80s, I see that those two cities lived sim- ilarly. They considered cooperating, expand- ing horizons, tried to get to know one an- other in order to better realise themselves. As Mirko Ilić said – Zvečka, Kavkaz, Blato, and in Belgrade, SKC Academija and vari- ous parties on Dedinje; that was our inter- net. We did not have Facebook, or Twitter to find out what’s going on. You had to go in medias res, where the action happens, where everyone goes. It’s just that there was nothing set up, we all went out to the same places because we understood each other very well. Concerts require stamina, both physi- cal and psychological. How do you en- dure them? Do you still walk five to eight kilometres?
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