Vlatko Stefanovski, guitar player at Beer Fest

Music takes me to the world of imagination

Autor: Neven Džodan | Foto:V.Lalić | 28.06.2009. - 00:02

Vlatko Stefanovski, one of the most famous musicians from ex-Yugoslavia, will perform on August 16^th at Beer Fest in Belgrade. In his interview for "Blic", this guitar virtuoso guarantees energetic concert at Ušće, announces his new album and explains us why he has no desire for being a celebrity.

– I am happy to play again in Belgrade. The audience will have the opportunity to see me at larger stage, with very good sound, and I will be playing with an electrical trio, so I believe that it would be very loud at Ušće. I hope to have good conditions for the concert, since two years ago we didn’t have any sound rehearsal, we had very strange amplifiers, so I hope everything will be better this time.

Are there going to be any songs from your new album "Thunder from the Blue Sky" on the repertory?
– We will play songs from the new album, together with the old ones, and I usually make the set list fifteen minutes before the concert. Sometimes I make certain changes during the concert, that all depends on my feeling at that moment, and also on the audience pulse.

Since you are playing at the beer festival, will you allow yourself few beers at the stage?
– No. While playing I do not drink, since the alcohol slows down my reflexes, and I wish to be fully concentrated when I am at the stage. After the concert, of course. I hope there will be few cold beers for after the concert.

It is well known that you enjoy in improvising, but how do you know you are not going over the limit which is acceptable for the audience?
– Well, I am trying not to exaggerate in my ego trip, but to dose it. I enjoy greatly in every improvisation, but one should now when to stop. I do not think about the length of certain solo part, but I try to be inspired and to transmit my good mood to the audience.

While playing the same song do you always feel the same emotions?
– I do have the similar emotion often. Those are mostly some abstract images, or the memories of some dear people, places or sceneries. In those situations I completely give myself to the music, we travel together and the music takes me to the world of imagination.

When you make new songs how do you manage to resist to the trends?
– I try to do and make something what means to me and what I like. These days I am working on one theme for a song and it is completely weird what is coming out of me. I am usually surprised by some ballad or some lively song, but those are only the reflexions of my life and my inner world. That process of creation is very strange and it usually helps me to know myself better. Sometimes I do not know why I have made a certain song in a certain way , but that song reveals all the emotions which are hidden inside of me.

How come ten years after releasing your famous album "Krusevo" you have released something completely different, a blues album?
– Miroslav and I are thinking to make "Kruševo 2", or whatever its name would be. We will continue that cycle without questioning our work. Everything else in connection to that is a pure satisfying of my interests and wishes, and about giving myself freedom to play with different music styles and streams.

Miroslav Tadić lives in America, you are in Macedonia. When do you rehearse your new songs?
– He comes here every summer, but we practice and communicate over the internet and that functions pretty good. Just recently I have sent him one idea which he elaborated.

You have your studio, how much time do you spend in it every day?
– It depends. I practice every day and I play guitars one to two hours, at least. Two days ago, I played and worked on some new ideas for eight hours. I love doing that, one could get a little bit tired from all of that, but music is a passion to me.

Are your wife, son and daughter critical and how much?
– They are my biggest critics and they know if something is good and which songs they like. My family is the first filter through which my new ideas and songs go through.

You have decades of successful carrier behind you. How did you succeed to push them through without any scandal?
– Well, I do not show my closets, shoes and my underwear to the media. I am trying to be normal in my life, and crazy in my music. Certain people do prefer more to behave in the opposite way.

Even though you are one of the most appreciated guitar players, it seems that you don't want to be popular at all cost.
– I am not that much of a star. I have my audience in the region from Bulgaria up to Austria, where I have concerts with thousand of people, but I think it is better to be a little bit below the radar, and not to be a part of the celebrity world. Very often one from the covers can't fill in not even a one discotheque. It is very easy to make the first album and to be on the cover of some magazine. It is very hard to last for 35 years and to be in the constant action. Try to make your 28^th album, and to be fresh at the same time.

Do you have some unfulfilled wish when it comes to music?
– I would like to work with great musicians like Jan Garbarek, Keith Jarrett, Vinnie Colaiuta… Not long ago, I had a session in Zagreb with Steve Lukhater. We are the same generation, 1957 and we have a lot of things in common. That year were born many famous guitar players, at that time the best guitar magnets were made, and some of the best guitars.

Are you satisfied with the critics of your new album? You sung the songs in English?
– I am not overjoyed because of the critics, but I am pleased with the comments of some great musicians. I graduated in English language and I can sing well without pretending to be an English man. Besides, my intention when making this album, has never been to reinvent the blues, but to enjoy in playing it.

Concerts for the blind You have played at very unusual places such as hospitals, reformatories.... – That was within the project called "Little day music", which I have participated in with great pleasure. My wish has been to play for the marginal groups and people who don't go at concerts. But the idea has started from actor Miki Manojlovic and the Center for integration, and their idea to see me playing at the Union of the blind people, and that has been a very nice experience.

Soon CD "Live in Zagreb" When the audience is to expect the new edition? – We are planning to make the album "Live in Zagreb", since we have already made "Live in Belgrade" (2000), and this would be the concert at Opatina, two years ago, with Miroslav Tadić, Teodosije Spasov and percussionist Svapan Čauduri. The material is ready and we will publish DVD and CD. That was an excellent summer tour, we were well prepared and that would make great album.

http://www.blic.rs/zabava.php?id=99262

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