Interview date: 03/26/2007
Rockline: From 1994 to 2000 the band worked under the wing of Rudolf Strnad. What was the reason for his departure? Kut Gas: Hard for me to say, because I came in after he left. He was the frontman, and at some point he decided to go his own way.
Rockline: After four years you got back together and picked up a few new members. Did you hold any auditions?
Kut Gas: First a sort of skeleton came together, the people who were already in the band before. Then you know how it goes, musicians have musician friends, and one recommends the other. Then you experiment to see if there’s a shared interest, and after that it starts getting more serious. Somewhere around there I also joined, on an invitation. I said yes because it seemed interesting.
Rockline: I read somewhere that the band is made up of highly trained musicians. Does that go for everyone, or is there a self-taught player among you too?
Kut Gas: I’m self-taught.
Rockline: Do you think it’s a shame that Ljubljana, or Slovenia, doesn’t have a jazz department at the academy of music?
Kut Gas: Yeah, you can definitely feel it. It’s probably a reflection of some general climate.
Rockline: Kut Gas is a really big band. It’s always hovered somewhere between 8 and 13 members. Do conflicts ever come up?
Kut Gas: Conflicts come up even between two people.
Rockline: Does the band lean more toward female or male energy?
Kut Gas: It’s like in life…The women dominate (he adds at the end, editor’s note.)
Rockline: How many of you are in the band right now?
Kut Gas: Right now there are eleven of us.
Rockline: You released your last album in 1998. Anything new in the works?
Kut Gas: At the moment we’re mostly busy with a stage concept. That means we deliver a live stage experience that this style of music, funk or soul, should have. Something that’s to be seen and not just heard. A proper concert, like the ones they used to do in America in the past. It’s a kind of special reproduction of that stuff.
Rockline: Will you record any original material, or are you staying true to covers?
Kut Gas: As far as our own music goes, there’s not really the time for it yet, because we don’t do this professionally. It depends financially on other things. If some impulse comes along, or it becomes clear we can make a good Slovenian record, we’ll do it. Even though we thought we’d manage it, so far we haven’t.. But no worries. We reproduce music for a certain circle of people. And that’s the circle of people we’re here for.
Rockline: Tomorrow, 03/28/2007, you’re playing at Ortu. The concert is dedicated to the recently departed blues legend James Brown. So will tomorrow’s set be made up mostly of his hits?
Rockline: I wish you success in your music-making.
Kut Gas: Thanks.
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