Marc Jacob Cavazza, performing under the name Vazz, is a young artist based in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with a deep appreciation for art and culture that stems from something deep within his soul. He found his voice in rap, contributing to the local scene with two albums, a number of live gigs and artistic music videos. His songs are a blend of old school and modern, experimental sounds with lyrics that tell stories – of personal demons, comments on the current political climate, memories of childhood,  and self-confession. We discussed his songwriting process, his take on the Slovenian cultural and art space, and utopic dreams of a Woodstock-like festival once the pandemic ends. 

 

Where does your interest in music come from and how long have you been writing songs for? What drew you to songwriting, was it musical school or something else?

I don’t know exactly when it started because I’ve loved singing since I was little, played the guitar and then jumped into rap… I wrote my first piece in the eighth grade of elementary school, did poetry at school, maybe a couple of verses for a girlfriend, that kind of romantic stuff. I was always honest in my writing. But it wasn’t until later in high school that I started writing lyrics a bit more seriously, even going as far as to write down what was going on in my head. The more I wrote, the more material accumulated, and I had all these notebooks full of poetry. I delved into it, into what I wanted to write, and how much of myself I could put into my writing, in what way. I don’t think too much, I let my thoughts spill, and it’s a really therapeutic moment. I put everything on a piece of paper, all my internal struggles and things I wouldn’t otherwise share with anyone. But a blank page is so open and accepting, without prejudices. Now I write everything, not just rap. A diary, literature for myself, a bit of poetry… I like to write, I really found myself in that. Music is something completely different. I’m in love with it. I went back to playing the guitar, but I also like electronics. I’ve been in love with good parties for the past three years. The electronic community fascinates me. When people come to dance just for the sake of dancing, just for the music, nothing else matters. You’re just there, and your eyes are closed for eight hours, and the music touches you in a completely different way. People get together, relax, dance and push all their thoughts to the side. They’re there because of the music and let a wave of energy wash over them. This happens every time, either in electronics or in jazz. The body reacts differently to different genres. Jazz opens me up, and it feels sentimental. I can’t be still when I listen to electronics, and with rap, I’m focused on the beat and the lyrics, and a good song shoots through my heart. I think it’s the essence of music to unite. If you push everything aside, all the ego and everything that exists in the world that we burden ourselves with, and you put together only music and people, there is so much energy and love in the air – you truly can’t experience that anywhere else.

If you were to take on any genre other than rap, what kind of music would you do?

Singer-songwriter. I went back to the guitar, which was how I’d started out in music school, but at the time, I wasn’t mature enough for this instrument. Now I take it in my hands on my own and practice for several hours… Rap is currently ‘on hold’ for a bit. The last song I made was ‘Kaktus’ because I needed to get that out of my system. It was exactly the feeling I had back in summer: that no one was listening, no one knows what we’re feeling, everyone just wants more and more, new albums, a picture, I don’t know what. No one asks you what’s going on, are you okay, let’s get a coffee, something purely human. Everyone is so impersonal, especially in these times and with the politics that we have. So I’m going back to the guitar, poetry… But maybe I’ll save singer-songwriter for later when I’m older.

What’s your songwriting process like? Is it different for each song and where do you get most of your inspiration from?

Each song is definitely different. If we’re talking about rap, I get a beat or instrumental basis from one of the producers I work with. They create a variety of instrumentals every day, and the vast majority has a good ear for who would go well with a certain sound, so they then send them out. And then I just write when the lyrics come – and you never know when that will be.

Is it ever the other way around, that you have the lyrics first and a  beat stuck in your head and ask if that could be done? 

In the beginning, I only had lyrics, notebooks full of them, and I was looking for beats, thinking about where I could put my texts. Once you start working, you see that there are so many beats out there. Not all of them are good, but it’s so much better to write the lyrics over a beat. It’s easier because of the flow, the phonetics and the rhetoric. It blends better. If I’m listening to a beat I go over the flow first, trying out the speed, the syllables, not yet the lyrics. When I see that I’m cool with the beat and I find a flow, I start writing. I freestyle, and I don’t think about it much. If I’m really into it and the beat ‘hits’ me, it goes pretty fast, and it’s easy. I follow my intuition. I don’t know if that’s a good thing, but for now, it’s paid off. I let the first idea flow over me and see what can be done in that direction. Not everything works, but usually, the first idea performs pretty well. Later, I might change something because of the flow, the pronunciation. I also know that when I record, I want it to be as good as possible, so it’s easier to perform. I also have some topics that I would like to write about, and I have them written down somewhere, or they’re stuck in my head, but they might go over the next beat I get. Once you’re comfortable, the rhyme isn’t too hard to find. I search for the rhymes deeper and deeper, but in the end, they seem to find themselves, which is the most beautiful part of the process for me – when you connect the story into a whole. I know what I want to say, I start a sentence, and I don’t think about the rhyme. In the end, it connects ingeniously with something that also flows with the thought. The important thing is that these thoughts have some weight to them. That you express something important, something that’s yours, and that it reflects some point of view or time in which you live. At the end of the day, the message is more important than the rhyme itself.

Hip-hop and rap are reflections of the streets and life itself, how did you find yourself in this genre?

It hits me. When I put on my headphones and hear that someone took the words off my tongue or that they’re thinking in the same way as me, I find myself in this music immediately. Rap is therapeutic. To hear someone say something in a way that you understand… You no longer feel alone. ‘Wow, I’m obviously not the only one thinking about this.’ There’s a security that lies in this genre when you see someone feels the same way you do, and they dare say it out loud. I think we artists are here to express all of this for others, so they can find themselves in our art. We may be representing a voice that not everyone dares to express, but many identify with.

How hard is it for you to be personal with your lyrics? Once you put something out there and other people listen to it, they can interpret it in their own way, not the way you imagined. How do you create this distance so that once you make your work public, it’s no longer yours but up for the public’s interpretation? 

‘Kaktus’ touches upon this to a certain degree. At some point, I have to distance myself because otherwise, I could just worry all the time. Some things are hard to write about. In my songs, I deal with topics that range from drugs, sex, my private life, family, my view of the world. When they come out, everyone can interpret them in their own way. Poetry is very helpful in this regard. You can be subtle and wrap things up in metaphors. I do the same with alter-egos. I’ve always had this idea that it’s not all me, that these are my alter-egos through which I express myself. It’s the ‘Pankrt’ in me, the ‘Playboy’ in me, but they’re all bits of me that I’ve cleared out of my system. They are, however, expressed from the point of view of a fictitious person. It doesn’t make sense for me to explain the lyrics to someone, or to explain every detail of the song. You have to hear that for yourself. The first time you hear a song, it might go past you, and the second time you read the lyrics you notice something you hadn’t before; the third time you may understand a new metaphor. But only the poet knows everything. That’s why Prešeren has always been so interesting to me. In school, we learn how to interpret individual works, but only he knows how he imagined everything, the thoughts he had, what he experienced at that moment. Thank God we’re different, and each of us accepts emotionally perceptible things in our own way. It saves me that no one really knows what I got out of my system, what I felt at the time, what I was getting rid of when writing that piece. However, it is difficult, especially with some heavier topics, because of the exposure. You expose yourself, you trust your listeners, and it’s as if you’re putting your story in the hands of thousands of people. And maybe none of them will hear or listen to it the way I would like them to. And I don’t know if all of them want to hear it, some would just like to listen to music. I wonder sometimes if I’m too personal and recently came to the conclusion that I don’t have this filter yet. I express everything that weighs on me. I still have enough distance that I know where the limits are, in what way I write about things. But when I need to get something off my chest, there’s no limit – it’s the brightest and the darkest things, but it’s up to me. Music and poetry are the media through which I choose to express myself.

How does Slovenian music or Slovenian rap affect what you create now? How many times does it happen that you hear an older song and you want to bring that essence back?

There’s a lot of that. And even the younger artists – I’m a big fan of the Slovenian scene. If it’s possible, I’m front row at all the concerts, or I’m somewhere in the back, but I’m there. Slovenian music inspires me, MRFY are crazy to me. I’m like a thirteen-year-old fan. Koala Voice too, as well as the more experienced artists, I exchanged records with Dan D for example. I grew up with this music, and it gives me a lot of drive, inspiration and insight into what kind of art scene we have. It’s so open, warm and connected. I also feel a huge amount of lost, non-existent nostalgia, which I couldn’t possibly have, but I’m 60 years old at heart. I’m always looking for something alternative; I’m not interested in what has already been heard. There’s a lot of music out there right now that’s just a bad copy of something that already exists – no judgement, you do you, but I’m looking for a new sound. I’m interested in something I haven’t heard anywhere yet. More audacity, more of yourself, more personality – this art is so beautiful, organic, distorted, that’s where the beauty lies. Today there’s too much make-up, too much digital; today there’s no scratching of vinyl, no scratching of a needle. Music has to be made not because it’s popular to make music right now, but because you feel you have to do it. There must be a lever somewhere, a motive for creating a work of art – I have something to say, can I say it? Be it through a sound or a lyric, whichever.

How important do you find the visual image of a song, ie. the music video? 

That’s where I’d maybe like to have a breakthrough. I like seeing when a serious music video comes out on our scene. I put a lot of weight on the visual, and I support making good music videos. But it’s not so much on me as the songwriter. My 100% goes into the lyrics, and the video maker put their 100% into the visual, Hyu his 100% into the beat. Every music video we’ve put out so far has been the visual image I’d want. We shot the video for ‘Playboy‘ with Urša Premik, and it was a cool project, friendly collaboration. We filmed it so spontaneously, and the result is crazy. I’m really lucky.

Speaking of ‘Playboy‘, you collaborated with Petja Zorec, who presented her new collection in the music video, which premiered at the Ljubljana Fashion Week, Urša Premik, who is an excellent photographer and this was her first music video, and Inja Zalta, who is an artist… How important is connecting different branches of art to you, the way you guys did? And if you could work with anyone else on any project, who would it be?

It’s so important. That’s the point of it all that we come together. It was crazy to me. We just hung out in the summer and vibed as friends, Petja approached me, and I tried on the new collection. We came up with the idea to present it that way. We were all for it, and we knew it was a project we had to do and when I look back on it… Hats off to the girls, also Tina (Novak), who directed and edited the video. As far as who I’d like to collaborate with… MRFY, and maybe visually with Kukla.

What is, in your opinion, something that the Slovenian cultural and artistic space currently lacks? 

Respect. From the politicians. We have so much potential… We are born from culture. Look at how many poets came before us, the architecture, Plečnik, even athletes! We are so good, and there is no support form ‘above’ – that’s the one thing that hurts me because the art community is so open and loving on the inside. I wouldn’t change anything on that level, but I would on the one ‘above’ us. More resources and more respect for other people, more opportunities for art and culture, more education in that direction. We all carry this artistic child within us, and the more life shapes us, the more it dissipates. It needs to be nurtured so that this childish inspiration doesn’t get lost.

 

What has been your favorite moment of your career so far and which piece do you like to perform live the most? 

Every gig is better than the one before it, so my favorite moment would be the last gig we did in Gala Hala. When it comes to gigs, I give it my all. We played the double bass, classical guitar, and we performed Individuum unplugged. Gajšt was a guest on ‘Pankrt’ playing the trumpet, and we had a live band and a DJ… Gala Hala was crazy. The song I love to perform live is definitely ‘Sekunde’. It’s completely unplugged, it’s nice and calm, and I like how we did it with the band. The arrangement is completely different.

What are you looking forward to the most when quarantine’s over? And what are your plans for the future?

The gigs, I’m excited about the gigs. Raves, concerts, hippies, revolution. I imagine that when this ends, it has to go down in history. I’d do a five-day festival in Tivoli, the way they did Woodstock. But yeah, the first normal concert that I get to play. I live for that day because I know that we’re completely prepared for it. We had a tour planned for Slovenia just as the first lockdown started, so we’d really studied and practised everything before that, and we have a repertoire for an hour and a half. In the future, I intend to focus on my studies and remain free as an artist, strive to work for the people and the culture, hang out with co-creators. Create quality art and share this knowledge that I have, that I’ve gained over the years and that I’ll gain in the future. I think it’s my mission to spread pay it forward.

You can find Vazz on Instagram @youngpreseren, Facebook, YouTube, or stream his music on Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Spotify or Apple Music. 

Photo credits: Urša Premik, Al Ninič Čeak

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SLO:

Od kdaj in kje tvoje zanimanje za glasbo in koliko časa že pišeš komade? Kaj te je potegnilo v to, da si začel pisat komade, glasbena šola ali kaj drugega?

Od kdaj, ne vem točno, ker od malih nog rad pojem, igral sem kitaro in potem malo bolj skočil v rap vode… Po mojem začetki glasbene šole, ko sem se srečal s kitaro, prvi komad sem pa napisal nekje v osmem razredu osnovne šole. V šoli sem pisal poezijo, ali pa kaj za punco, takšna romantična poezija. Saj je bilo iskreno, potem sem pa v gimnaziji začel malo bolj na ‘ornk’ pisat tekste, tudi kar sem sam mislil. Več kot sem pisal, več se je nabralo materiala, več sem imel teh zvezkov in se poglobil v poezijo in kaj si želim spisat, pa tudi vase, koliko lahko dam sebe ven in na kakšen način. Ne razmišljam preveč, bolj ‘spucam’ svoje misli na papir, gre za res terapevtski moment. V komad oziroma na papir dam vse, notranje tegobe in misli, ki jih ne bi delil z nikomer, bel papir pa je odprt in sprejemajoč, brez predsodkov. Zdaj pišem vse, ne samo rap-a. Dnevnik, literatura zase, malo poezije… Rad pišem, v tem sem se res našel. Glasba je sicer nekaj čisto drugega, v glasbo sem zaljubljen. Vrnil sem se h kitari, tudi elektronika mi je všeč. Zadnje tri leta sem zaljubljen v dobre žure, zanimiva mi je elektronska skupnost, ko ljudje pridejo samo in izključno plesat, just for the music, nothing else matters. Samo tam si in mižiš osem ur, glasba se te dotakne na povsem drugačen način. Ljudje se zberejo, se sprostijo, plešejo in dajo vse misli na svetu stran, tam so zaradi glasbe in pustijo, da gre čez njih val energije. To se zgodi vsakič, ali pri elektroniki, ali pri jazzu. Telo odreagira drugače na različne žanre, jazz me odpre, res je sentimentalen, pri elektroniki ne morem biti pri miru, srbijo me podplati, pri rapu sem fokusiran na beat, na tekst, dober komad me zadane v srce. Mislim, da je bistvo glasbe, da združuje – če daš vse stran, ves ego in vse kar obstaja na svetu, s čimer se ljudje obremenjujemo, in postaviš skupaj samo glasbo in ljudi, ko vsi odmislijo zunanji svet, je takrat toliko ene energije in ljubezni v zraku in tega ni mogoče doživeti nikjer drugje.

 

Če bi delal še kakšno drugo glasbo poleg rapa, kakšne glasbe bi se lotil?

Kantavtorsko. Vrnil sem se h kitari, s katero se je vse začelo v glasbeni šoli, ampak takrat še nisem bil dovolj zrel za inštrument. Sedaj pa jo primem v roke sam od sebe in vadim po več ur… Rap je trenutno nekje zadaj. Nazadnje sem naredil Kaktus, ker sem rabil to ‘spucat’. Točno tak občutek sem imel poleti, da noben ne posluša, noben ne ve, kaj čutimo, vsi bi samo še in še več, nove albume, sliko, ne vem kaj. Noben ne vpraša, kaj dogaja, a si okej, a greva na kavo, kar je nekaj čisto človeškega, vsi so tako brezosebni, še posebej v teh časih in s to politiko. Trenutno se vračam h kitari, poeziji, tak one man band ali pa z bandom. Ampak mogoče kantavtorstvo šparam za stara leta.

Kako nastane komad, kako se vsega skupaj lotiš? Je vsak komad drugačen in iz kje črpaš največ navdiha?

Vsak komad je sigurno drugačen. Če govoriva o rapu, jaz dobim beat oziroma instrumentalno podlago, od enega izmed producerjev, s katerimi sodelujem. To zgleda tako, da oni delajo vsak dan različne podlage in ker imajo v veliki večini dobro uho za to, kdo bi šel na to podlago, to potem razpošiljajo. In potem jaz samo spišem, ko pride – to pa nikoli ne veš, kdaj bo.

Je kdaj obratno, imaš najprej ti tekst in poveš, da si imel v glavi beat, če bi se ga dalo narediti?

Na začetku sem imel samo tekste, zvezke polne besedil in sem iskal beat, razmišljal, kam bi lahko dal ta svoj tekst. Potem pa enkrat začneš delat in vidiš, da je beatov ogromno. Niso vsi dobri, je pa veliko boljše tekst pisati čez beat, zaradi samega flowa, fonetike in retorike. Da se lepše zlije. Če jaz poslušam beat, že točno vem in grem najprej čez flow, sprobavam hitrost, zloge, teksta še ne. Ko vidim, da mi je beat kul, in imam flow, začnem pisat. Freestyleam, malo si zmišljujem. Če sem res pri stvari in me beat ‘pogodi’, gre kar hitro in je enostavno. Sledim intuiciji. Sicer ne vem, ali je to dobro, zaenkrat se obrestuje in ne popravljam veliko. Pustim, da gre prva ideja čez mene in vidim, kaj se da narediti v tej smeri. Ni vse dobro, ampak po navadi se ta prva ideja kar dobro odreže. Mogoče potem kaj spremenim zaradi flowa, izgovorjave, vem tudi, da ko snemam, hočem, da je čim boljše, da bom lahko odrapal tudi v živo. Imam tudi kakšne teme, o katerih bi si želel pisati, in so nekje zapisane ali pa bivajo samo v moji glavi, pa bodo mogoče šle čez naslednji beat, ki ga dobim. Ko si enkrat utečen, same rime ni težko najt. Iščem jih vedno globlje, ampak se na koncu najdejo same, kar mi je najlepši del pri procesu – ko se ti poveže zgodba v celoto. Vem, kaj hočem povedat, začnem stavek in ne razmišljam, kaj se bo rimalo; misel zaključim in jo želim nadaljevat, da se bo rimala končnica. Na koncu se genialno poveže z nečim, kar je tudi z mislijo povezano, v našem lepem jeziku je besed, s katerimi lahko ustvarjaš, itak ogromno. Važna je vsebina, da gre za podkovane misli, ki imajo neko težo. Da je to nekaj pomembnega, tvojega, da odraža neko stališče ali čas, v katerem živiš. Vsebina se mi na koncu dneva zdi bolj važna, kot sama rima.

Hip-hop in rap sta odraza ulice in življenja samega, kako si se našel v tej zvrsti?

Zadane me na polno. Ko v slušalkah slišim, da mi je nekdo vzel besede oziroma da razmišlja na enak način kot jaz, se takoj najdem. Rap je terapevtski. Da slišiš, da nekdo nekaj pove na način, ki ga razumeš… Ne počutiš se več samega. ‘Uau, očitno nisem edini, ki razmišlja o temu.’ Neka varnost leži v tej zvrsti, ko vidiš, da nekdo čuti enako kot ti, pa še upa si to povedat namesto tebe. Umetniki smo tukaj zato, da namesto drugih vse to izrazimo in se potem oni lahko v naši umetnosti najdejo. Mogoče predstavljamo nek glas, ki ga ne upa vsak izrazit, se pa bo veliko ljudi s tem poistovetilo.

Kako težko pa ti je biti oseben s svojimi besedili? Ko enkrat nekaj daš ven, in to poslušajo drugi ljudje, si oni to lahko interpretirajo čisto po svoje, ne kot si si ti zamislil. Kako vzpostaviš to distanco, da to delo, ko ga enkrat daš v javnost, ni več tvoje ampak ga vsak lahko dojema na svoj način? Je to težje s tako samoizpovednimi komadi?

Kaktus se že malo navezuje na to. Na neki točki se, kot rečeno, distanciram od te igre, ker drugače bi se lahko samo sekiral. Težko je pisat o nekaterih stvareh. Obravnavam tematike od droge, do seksa, do privat življenja, družine, mojega pogleda na svet. Ko to pride ven, si vsak lahko to interpretira po svoje. Tukaj mi je v veliko pomoč poezija, kjer lahko vse subtilno zakriješ z metaforami, jaz to počnem še z alter egi. Vedno sem imel to idejo, da nisem vse jaz, da so to moji alter egi, skozi katere izražam sebe. To je Pankrt v meni, to je Playboy v meni, ampak vsi so delčki mene, ki sem jih sčistil iz sistema. Govorjeni pa so v smislu fiktivne osebe. Če jaz nekomu razložim tekst ali pa še bi ti šel razlagat vsako podrobnost v tekstu, kako globoko gre, nima smisla. To slišiš. Prvič slišiš komad in gre mogoče mimo tebe, drugič lahko bereš tekst in opaziš nekaj, česar prej nisi, tretjič mogoče dojameš kakšno novo metaforo. Ampak samo pesnik ve vse. Zato mi je bil vedno zanimiv Prešern. V šoli se učimo, kako naj bi si interpretirali posamezna dela, ampak samo on ve, kako si je vse skupaj predstavljal, kaj je v tistem trenutku mislil, doživljal. Hvala bogu, da smo si različni in vsak po svoje sprejema čustveno zaznavne stvari. Rešuje me, da noben zares ne ve, kaj sem jaz ‘spucal’ ven, kaj sem takrat čutil, česa sem se reševal, ko sem spisal komad. Je pa težko, še posebej neke težke tematike, zaradi izpostavljenosti. Ti izpostaviš samega sebe, se poslušalcem zaupaš – kot da bi več tisoč ljudem dal svojo zgodbo na pladnju. In mogoče noben od njih ne bo te zgodbe slišal ali poslušal tako, kot bi si jaz želel, da jo. In ne vem, če vsi želijo slišat zgodbo, nekateri bi radi slišali samo glasbo. Se vprašam kdaj, če sem preveč oseben, ampak sem pred kratkim prišel do sklepa, da zaenkrat tega filtra nimam in dam ven pač vse, kar me ‘tera’, imam pa vseeno toliko distance, da vem kje so meje, o čem lahko pišem in na kakšen način. Glede tega, kaj pa razčistim pri sebi, pa meje ni – gre za najsvetlejše in tudi najtemnejše stvari, je pa to na meni, glasba in poezija sta mi medij, preko katerega se lahko izrazim.

Kako slovenska glasba oziroma slovenski rap vpliva na to, kar delaš sedaj? Kolikokrat slišiš kakšen starejši komad in si rečeš, da bi to pripeljal nazaj?

Tega je ogromno. Pa tudi ostali mladi – jaz sem velik fan slovenske scene. Če se da, sem v prvi vrsti na vseh koncertih, ali pa stojim nekje zadaj, ampak sem tam. Slovenska glasba me navdihuje, MRFY so mi nori, kot trinajstletna fanica sem. Koala Voice, pa tudi bolj izkušeni, z Dan D smo si izmenjali albume. Jaz sem odraščal na tej glasbi, daje mi ogromno zagona, navdiha in vpogleda na to, kakšno sceno imamo pri nas. Odprta je, topla in povezana. Ogromno imam tudi neke izgubljene, neobstoječe nostalgije, ki je niti ne morem imet, ampak jaz sem po duši star 60. Iščem nekaj alternativnega, ne zanima me to, kar je že slišano. Trenutno je zunaj veliko glasbe, ki je samo slaba kopija nečesa že obstoječega – no judgement, you do you, ampak jaz iščem nek nov zvok, zanima me nekaj, česar še nisem nikjer zasledil. Več drznosti, več samega sebe, veliko osebnosti – ta umetnost je tako lepa, organska, popačena, ravno v tem je lepota. Danes je preveč šminke, preveč je vse digital, danes ni praskanja vinilke, ni prasketanja igle. Glasbo je treba delat ne zato, ker je to sedaj ‘in’, ampak zato ker čutiš, da jo moraš delat. Nekje mora bit vzvod, vzgib za nastanek umetniškega dela – jaz imam nekaj za povedat, a vam lahko povem? Pa naj bo to preko ‘sounda’ ali pa besedila, bilokaj.

Kako pomembna ti je vizualna podoba komada, torej videospot?

Mogoče bi si želel naredit nek preboj. Rad vidim, ko na naši sceni pride ven kakšen hud video. Dam veliko na vizualno, podpiram, da se dela dobre spote. Ni pa to toliko na meni kot tekstopiscu, jaz dam mojih 100% v tekst, snemalec njegovih 100% v video, Hyu recimo njegovih 100% v glasbeno podlago. Vsak spot, ki smo ga dali do sedaj ven je bila vizualna podoba, ki bi si je želel. Spot za Playboy smo snemali z Uršo Premik in to je bil hud projekt. Bilo je prijateljsko sodelovanje, tako spontano snemanje in rezultat je nor, res sem srečen.

Ko sva že pri Playboyu, sodeloval si s Petjo Zorec, ki je v spotu predstavila svojo novo kolekcijo, premierno na Ljubljanskem Fashion Weeku, Uršo Premik, ki je odlična fotografinja in je bil to njen prvi glasbeni spot in Injo Zalto, ki je umetnica… Koliko pomena daš na povezovanje različnih vej umetnosti, kot ste to naredili vi? In s kom bi še sodeloval, če bi lahko, na kakršnemkoli projektu?

Ogromno. To je point vsega, da se združujemo. Meni je bilo noro, poleti smo se družili in ujeli prijateljsko, pristopila je Petja in sem probal novo kolekcijo in smo prišli na idejo, da se jo tako predstavi. Vsi smo bili za, vedeli smo, da gre za projekt, ki ga moramo narediti in ko pogledam nazaj… Kapo dol puncam, tudi Tini (Novak) v režiji in montaži. Sodeloval bi pa z MRFYji, mogoče vizualno s Kuklo (Kesherovic)…

Kaj bi rekel, da je ena stvar, ki jo trenutno v slovenskem kulturno-umetniškem prostoru najbolj primanjkuje?

Spoštovanje. Od politikov. Toliko potenciala, kot ga imamo mi… Rojeni smo iz kulture, koliko pesnikov je za nami, arhitektura, Plečnik, celo športniki! Tako dobri smo in od tam ni nobene podpore – to je edino, kar me zaboli, ker smo znotraj nas tako ljubeznivi in odprti. Na sceni tako ne bi spremenil ničesar, od ‘zgoraj’ pa. Več sredstev in več spoštovanja do drugih ljudi, več priložnosti za umetnost in kulturo, več izobraževanja v tej smeri. Vsi to nosimo v sebi in bolj, kot nas življenje oblikuje, hitreje se to razblini, manj si v sebi umetniški otrok. To je treba negovat, da se ne izgubi tega otroškega navdiha.

Kaj je tvoj najljubši trenutek kariere do sedaj in kateri komad najraje izvajaš v živo?

Vsak koncert je boljši od zadnjega, tako da zadnji koncert v Gali Hali. Na koncertih dam ven vse kar imam. Igrali smo na kontrabas, klasično kitaro, Individuum unplugged, Gajšt je bil gost na Pankrtu na trobenti v živo, pa live band in DJ… Gala Hala je bila res nora. Najraje pa v živo izvajam Sekunde, čisto unplugged, res je lep in miren in mi je všeč, kako smo ga naredili z bendom, aranžma je čisto drugačen.

Česa se najbolj veseliš, ko bo konec karantene? In kakšne imaš načrte za prihodnost?

Najbolj se veselim špilov! Rejvov, špilov, hipijade, revolucije. Predstavljam si, da ko se tole konča, se mora zapisat v zgodovino. Jaz bi naredil petdneven festival v Tivoliju, na varianto Woodstocka. Ampak drugače prvega normalnega koncerta, ki bo, živim za ta dan, ker smo res v nulo pripravljeni. Ravno, ko smo šli v prvi lockdown, smo imeli planirano turo po Sloveniji, tako da smo res vse naštudirali in zvadili, repertoarja imamo za uro in pol. V prihodnosti se imam namen posvetit študiju in ostat svoboden umetnik, se trudit delat za ljudi in kulturo, se družit s soustvarjalci, hodit na koncerte, delat kvalitetno umetnost in deliti to znanje, ki ga imam, ki sem ga dobil z leti in ki ga bom še dobil – mislim, da je to moje poslanstvo, da delim to naprej.