In 2020 you released the album Shoganai. Can you tell us a little bit more about the
album?
That's right, our first full length album "Shoganai" saw the light of day on the 20th of April 2020. The album came out in circumstances well known to us - the beginning of a global pandemic, the fear in the society and the cancellation of all events related to art in general so also to the music.
Everything of course influenced the promotion itself. Maybe on the business side we released the album at the wrong time but we also felt it was the right time to give people something that is
close to our hearts and what we have been working on for years. Given that these are quite personal topics, more complex songs, but having in mind that this is our first album - in a way we were really relieved.
You know what it's like when you have a group of perfectionists for whom the song "is never good enough" or “the mix needs to be fixed a bit more”… We definitely learned from that experience when it is wise to stop and say "This is good, let's move on!" and actually be happy with the final product. As for the album itself,
we can start from the name and then grade according to the form itself. "Shoganai" is a Japanese phrase that in free translation means “It can’t be helped,” and in the interpretation of life examples, we can define it as a kind of philosophy. It is inevitable that every person will at some point in life experience certain tragedies that will hit them hard at that moment, and in a later period redefine them as people. We will also all find ourselves in certain situations that are beyond ours controls / something we can't influence ... In those moments we will be sad, depressed, very affected and extremely sensitive, but the key is not to completely surrender to such feelings, but to accept the factual state of affairs, let’s accept that unfortunately we couldn’t have had any influence on that certain event, we reconcile with ourselves and move on - redefined, stronger, more experienced and more stable into a new chapter of life. All sorts of tragedies have happened to us in recent years, our friends died, we broke off relationships with loved ones at the time, we had quarrels with each other and that culminated in a personally charged theme, aggression, motives related to life, death, love, relentlessness, depression, feelings of guilt, insanity, but ultimately a way out of that dark deed life with the support of loved ones and each other. That would be SHOGANAI in one of our westerns interpretations, we hope that the audience that listened to the album also recognized the emotion that was brought in
every aspect of this edition.
How was 2020 for you? Having in mind the pandemic and the whole situation developed
around it...
Ah, that 2020…. We mentioned that in the full swing of the pandemic we kicked out "Shoganai", now we will say more about that. Specifically, at the end of 2019, we had a detailed plan for the promotion of the album and
of course we wanted to strike on all fronts. But one small virus had some plans of its own
so it all fell apart - the promotion of the album locally with a bigger concert in Zagreb, of course with concerts in other domestic cities, repetition of a foreign tour with the promotion of a new album, perhaps the possibility of playing with some larger and more famous foreign bands, merchandise and much much more… Of course that whole set of circumstances affected us, but we tried to use the time for some other things, so with rehearsals and everything else we managed to do what we have wanted and planned for a long time - our studio. ‘Silversound Studio’ was created, our new
‘Workshop’ in which we started working on new material and where we have unlimited creative freedom and as much time as we need. Some members have undergone certain changes in their lives - Ivan became a father, some have changed jobs… These are all crucial changes that aspire to some new mutual adaptation, better time management and consequently a better way of communicating between ourselves.
The most important thing is that after all we remained a group of real friends and that we continued to operate as a band. We have not given up under the pressure of many challenges and we are extremely proud of that!
Having in mind that you didn’t have a chance to promote the album properly, should we expect a fierce and loud album promotion in Močvara?
Enough ink has been spent on this ill-fated promotion… We will put this in short - we are eager to play more than ever, we want to give listeners a live experience of listening to the album “SHOGANAI” in whole and finally enjoy our favorite place, and that is the stage. It will be fierce, it will be loud, but don't hate us in case we don't jump and break the stage… It's been too long and we want to first enjoy the concert and interact with our dear listeners, everything else is just a big plus.
What is your plan for 2021 and 2022? Are there any new materials you are working on? It seems
maybe you have a tour in mind?
The plans we defined earlier will actually be worthwhile for the future, of course if the situation in the world / industry will be brought to the level we will be able to go on tour with at least minimal risk and present the album along with new songs to the rest of Europe. It’s all in the plan, but the question is when will it be achievable. Our music develops and grows in proportion to our thinking, our general understanding of the music, the experience and the knowledge of new skills. We believe that the band can progress as much as our musical frames are wide, and fortunately we are not the types of people who will get stuck in a strict genre and a template kind of work. We are already open to exploring new spheres and incorporating them into “our sound”. Furthermore, there are new songs! We won’t give away too much, but we can say that this time we are focusing more on social themes, and in terms of music / genre, you can expect a more mature, dynamic and refined arrangements. We are working on the concept we can't yet talk about but you'll find out more soon!
Many thanks to dear Dina and the rest of the team from dipARTicle for the opportunity for this interview, hopefully we'll see you at the concert!
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MBurns & Pale Origins will play in Močvara on the 17th of September.
For more info, click here.
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Photos: Pale Origins