30 years passed since the recording of Besposlicari`s only material which was at the time released as a self-titled cassette. The swedish record label NE! RECORDS released this great material on vinyl three decades after its recording. The album fully represent the Pula Punk Rock wave of that moment, and with an excellent recording this album is truly a huge document of a time and a band.
For the first time, Pula Rock City blog is bringing you an exclusive interview with the band`s mainman Romeo Djomlija (guitar). He asked me to post the interview in both original language and in english, so I will post it first in croatian language, and for all you non-croatian speakers, just scroll down to the end of the croatian version.
Endless thanks to Romeo for the record and the answers
Questions and english translation by me.
Make sure that you get your record at this link:
CROATIAN VERSION
Možeš li nam kratko o početku Besposličara?
-Besposličari su nastali kao odgovor na glazbu koja se svirala početkom osamdesetih, u to vrijeme nisi više imao žestokih pravovjernih rock i punk bandova, sve je nekako postalo biznis, bandovi koji su `78 svirali punk su jednostavno nestali sa scene, ili su se promijenili u skladu s vremenom. Mi smo htjeli nešto suprotno, tako da smo se ja i Matić (vokal) dogovorili da radimo pravi punk band, kasnije sam uzeo Frica (bass) i Stipicu (bubnjevi) i to je bilo to. Ja sam Fricu rekao samo 2 stvari - prvo da svira jednostavno kao Dee Dee iz Ramonesa i drugo da uvijek mora imati rezervni kabel. Poslušao me je i kasnije napravio karijeru u Idijotima. A mi smo za 2-3 tjedna napravili kompletan program.
I još jedna stvar u vezi Ramonesa: danas je to neshvatljivo jer su Ramones postali prihvaćen kult band, ali sredinom osamdesetih oni su bili jako podcijenjeni, smatrani su za prevaziđen band, stvar prošlosti i svirati u to vrijeme muziku koja izvire iz njihovog nasljeđa je bilo totalno protiv struje.
Mnogi van hrvatske ne mogu vjerovati pod kojim su uvjetima nastajali i opstajali bandovi u Jugoslaviji. Pod kakvim ste vi uvjetima svirali u to doba? Prostorija? Instrumenti?
-Svirali smo pod odličnim uvjetima, susjedi su bili dobre volje i podnosili su glasan zvuk. Instrumenti su bili pravi, Fender je bio Fender made in U.S.A., ne Kina ili nešto, mogao si lako nabaviti polovne instrumente za pristojne cijene, a one priče da je vani sve bilo med i mlijeko su lažnjak. Šta misliš da su britanski teenageri odmah svirali na Gibsonu? Punk bandovi onog doba (Pušteni S Lanca, npr.) su bili srednjoškolci bez prihoda i svirali su na jeftinim instrumentima, ali svugdje je to tako, dok ne zarađuješ od sviranja niti ne sviraš na jako skupoj opremi. Uglavnom ako su ti starci dali neku kintu mogao si kupiti pristojan instrument, ako ne iza srednje škole si odvajao od plaće pa si onda nešto kupio.
I koncerti su u to doba bili avantura i band je mogao biti zadovoljan ako je sve proteklo kako treba. Jeste li imali problema oko koncerata, mozda neku anegdotu?
-Ma opet ta propaganda da onda ništa nije valjalo, to je laž, sviralo se po mjesnim zajednicama i bilo je odlično, milicija je došla kad je koncert trebao biti gotov i to je u biti bio jedini problem, da nisi mogao imati tri bisa, zabava i druženje su bili prvoklasni.
Anegdota? Na povratku sa koncerta u Labinu Matić je htio zapaliti cigaretu. Auto, zadnje sjedalo, noć, prepunio je Zippo sa benzinom tako da mu se to sve prolilo po rukavu i cijela je ruka planula, ali on je prvo staloženo pripalio cigaretu (sa ruke) i tek nakon toga uz Fricovu pomoć gasio plamen.
Kada su Besposličari prestali svirati i zašto? Ti si oživio jedan od najuspješnijih pulskih bandova ikada, a ostali članovi?
Zadnji koncert Besposličara je bio u Boškarici na nekom skupnom koncertu, Fric je odmah drugi dan otišao u Idijote, Sale ga je uspješno vrbovao. Ja sam nekako poželio svirati garage rock, punk scena je bila na zalasku i u biti rekli smo sve što smo imali za reći.
Agilni švedski izdavač NE! Records je u nekoliko izdanja oživio uspomenu na Pulski punk-rock 70-80ih, već su uglavnom najvažnije snimke tog doba konačno našle svoj prostor na vinilima. Je li to konačna potvrda kvalitete te scene i tog materijala?
Ta pulska scena je uvijek bila drugačija od Zagrebačke ili Riječke scene. Možda je Istra takva zemlja. Okruženi morem, odijeljeni planinom Učkom, jedini prolaz je u Trst i Sloveniju, I tako smo ti mi kao Besposličari imali dosta koncerata u Kopru. Boris Furlan je kasnije izdao prve singlice KUD Idijotima.
Iako predviđam odgovor, osjećam se dužnim pitati te: hoće li doći do nekakvog makar i krnjeg reuniona Besposličara u svrhu promocije ploče?
Naravno da ne.
Budući da te sad imam tu, koristim priliku da te pitam isto za The Spoons; hoće li uskoro biti nekog reuniona?
Vjerovatno nikada, pjevač Brunetto je Ljubljani a sa ostatkom banda se rijetko vidim. A osim toga zadnjih desetak godina ne mogu podnijeti classic rock bandove, vratio sam se ponovo u punk rock vode.
ENGLISH VERSION
Please tell us in few lines about the beginnings of Besposlicari.
-Besposlicari were formed as an answer to the music that has been played in the beginning of the 80s, and at that time there were no more true intense rock and punk bands, everything became business, and bands who played punk in 1978 simply disappeared from the scene or they changed according to the times. We wanted to do something completely opposite to that, so Matic (vocal) and me agreed to do a real punk band, so we were joined later by Fric (bass) and Stipica (drums) and that was it. I told Fric just two things – first one to play simple as Dee Dee from the Ramones and the second one, always to have a spare cable. He listened to me and then later made a career in KUD Idijoti. We made the complete program in just 2-3 weeks. One more thing about the Ramones: today it`s incomprehensible, because Ramones became an accepted cult band, but in the mid 80s they were underrated a lot, they were an overcomed band, a thing that belongs to the past and playing a kind of music that has roots in their heritage was completely against the wave.
A lot of people outside Croatia cannot believe under what conditions the bands started and survived in Yugoslavia. Under which conditions you played back in time? Rehearsal room? Instruments?
-We played under perfect conditions, the neighbours were of good mood and tolerated our loud sound. The instruments were true ones, the Fender was a Fender made in U.S.A., not a Made in China or something, you could procure yourself a second-hand instrument for a good price, and all the stories that abroad was everything milk and honey are simply fake. Do you think the british teenagers started playing on Gibson`s first? Punk bands of that time (Pusteni S Lanca i.e.) were high school students without any income and they played on cheap instruments, but everywhere is like that, until you start making money out of music you don`t play on an expensive gear. It was mainly if your parents gave you some extra money that you could afford yourself a decent instrument, if not, after high school when you started working you put apart some money from your wage and then buy yourself something.
The concerts were also an adventure back then, and the band could have been satisfied if the thing ended the good way. Have you ever had problems around gigs, maybe some anecdote?
-Well, it is that wrong propaganda again, which says that nothing was good, that`s a lie, we played in our local community clubs and it was great fun, the police came just when the gig should have ended and that was basically the only problem, you couldn`t play three encores, the parties and the friendship among us was first class.
An anecdote? On the return from a concert in Labin Matic wanted to light up a cigarette, in a car, backseat, night time. He overloaded his Zippo lighter with lighter fluid, and it all spilled on his jacket sleeve and the whole arm set up in flame, but first of all he steadily lit up the cigarette, and only then started to extinguish the fire on his arm together with Fric.
When Besposlicari ended playing and why? After that you made one of the most important band of the Pula scene, and the others?
The last Besposlicari gig was at the Boskarica ex-madhouse, on a gig with lots of other bands. Fric went to KUD Idijoti the very next day, Sale Veruda recruited him very successfully. I somehow desired to play Garage Rock, the Punk scene was at its very end, and in fact we said all that we had to say, so there was no reason to continue.
The agile Swedish label NE! Records revived in few releases the memory on Pula`s Punk Rock of the 70s-80s, mainly all the most important recordings of that period found their right space on vinyls. Is that the ultimate confirmation of the quality of that scene and that material?
-The scene of Pula was always different from the ones in Zagreb or Rijeka. Maybe Istria is that kind of country, surrounded by the sea, naturally divided from the rest of the country with the mount Ucka, and the only and faster way out was through Slovenia to Trieste. So as Besposlicari, we played a lot of gigs in Koper (Slovenia). Boris Furlan (Slovenia Records owner) later released the first KUD Idijoti singles, the first underground vinyl releases from Pula.
Even I can foresee the answer, I feel obligated to ask you: will there be any - at least with a truncated line up - reunion of Besposlicari for the promotion of the record?
-Of course not.
And as I got you here right now, I will use the opportunity to ask you the same for The Spoons: will there be any reunion soon?
-Probably never, the singer Brunetto is in Ljubljana (Slovenia) and I rarely meet the rest of the band. And beside that, the last ten years I can`t stand classic Rock bands, I actually got back to Punk Rock.
Thank you very much Romeo, it was a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to make this interview with you. I wish you all the best in the future and more and more good music coming your way!
