Location: Rock Cafe / Postojna / Slovenia
Interview date: 17.12.2009
Cosa Nostra are punk “delinquents”, three tomcats made up of Tadej Pomperger (vocals, guitar), Marko Cutorilo (vocals, bass) and Matjaž Obran (drums), who stick to their own groove and don’t give a damn about any trend. They use sharp, accusing language, and their anger is wrapped in the realization that today’s society has been completely devalued. These guys are no overthinkers or highbrow music researchers. Their character is all about authenticity and keeping it real, they don’t plant flowers and they don’t paint flying rhinos,… They give themselves over to garage noise and the kind of energy that chews you up from the first second, as the unbridled rage of Šentilj’s “rock n’ roll usurpers no. 1” pours through the speaker cones of the amps!
The trio had just come off the stage after their gig in Postojna, as part of the “Epic RockLine Contest”. The guys each smoked a cigarette, grabbed a mug of beer and joined us for a chat.
RockLine: What was your main motive that drove you here to Postojna for this contest?
Tadej: Basically, we saw the info on the internet. We signed up for the gig, not for the competition.
Marko: And we’re short on gigs right now, too. When we started playing about five years ago, we had like 30 shows in that year alone.
RockLine: You just got off the stage. How does it feel?
Tadej: Pure relief.
Marko: We’re very happy.
Tadej: Yeah. We’ve been rehearsing less lately because we’re short on time, and still, I think we played a really good show.
RockLine: Were you happy with the sound? Rock Cafe can brag about some excellent acoustics.
Tadej: Very. The sound was really good. Rock Cafe is a great club, too. Especially considering this is the first time we’ve played here tonight.
RockLine: Unlike your rivals Taking Over Mars, you brought both of your ladies along to back you up here in Postojna tonight.
(all: laughter)
Tadej: Well, only two, sadly, because there wasn’t enough room in the car for three, ha, ha, ha…
RockLine:How did the three of you find each other?
Tadej: We’ve known each other since we were kids. We basically grew up together. And then it just happened…
RockLine: What’s the state of punk rock in the Styrian end of Slovenia, where you come from?
Tadej: The scene is still alive, even though there maybe isn’t the same interest in it as a few years ago. Still, there are a few strong bands around our parts.
Marko: This part of Slovenia is probably characterized by being socially weaker, which is also why punk always does a bit better here than other kinds of music. Especially in terms of sheer conviction, which the bands express on stage or in the studio.
RockLine: That reminds me of the Prekmurje band Dežurni krivci, for example. A fantastic band, really. And what’s the support from the Styrian crowd like for your music, or for punk in general?
Tadej: As far as Maribor and its surroundings go, it’s pretty well sorted. All these little punk festivals that happen in our area, it all runs really well. Although, as I mentioned before, right now it kind of feels like the scene has had its fill, gotten a bit tired, and the response is a little weaker than it was a few years ago.
RockLine: What about abroad? Austria is right next to Šentilj. Do you play in Austria too?
Tadej: So far we’ve played in Austria, Hungary and Croatia. Though our gig at the Viva La Pola festival in Pula went wrong, because our drummer hurt his hand right before the show. Otherwise, they receive us pretty well in Austria. The thing is that Slovenian bands like us are a bit “exotic” there, a bit different, and the crowd is drawn to that. Anyway, we played at the club Explosiv in Graz. It’s a great club. It’s got everything. You can even record in it.
RockLine: Your attitude toward music is relentless. You’ve got a merciless character, you’re sharp, direct, you point the finger at injustice, you’re kind of executioners of untruth…
Tadej: We strive to create our own music, with our own character and a recognizable look. We’re not hung up on what other bands have made or are making. That goes for ideas too. We don’t even think much about whether an idea leans toward hard punk, or has a melodic touch, or elements of ska. That doesn’t matter at all. We try ideas out, and if an idea works, then that’s the one, that’s what we’re looking for.
RockLine: Here at RockLine, when we were sailing through your MySpace page, we were especially impressed by your song Kurbin sine.
Tadej: We recorded that song in Austria. The video and the song both. That track was originally meant as a sound check exercise. The song had no lyrics. Then, when we were in Austria, a situation came up where they asked us if we’d record a new song. We said we had one, and we had exactly this song in mind. And since we were in a big hurry and had no lyrics at all for it, we put the lyrics together in five minutes, right before recording started in the studio, sitting outside on the steps and scribbling something down.
RockLine: Spontaneity can count for a lot. Take the opening song of your show tonight, for example, which is simply called Cosa Nostra. Lyrics made of three or four words that you just spin around in different combinations. But it works, it does the job, it has an effect.
Tadej: Most of our songs are built on a single line when it comes to lyrics. A few words. We don’t complicate things with that. I think a few words, dictated through music of our kind, even with deliberate repetition, hit way more directly than if you tried to develop a message through some metaphorically disguised philosophy.
Marko: When a riff comes along, we build everything else around it.
Tadej: Usually we make our music like this: we get together at rehearsal, kind of “warm up,” and then a new riff comes out of nowhere, with no thinking at all, one we like, and then we build everything else on top of that riff.
Marko: Plus lyrics in four words, ha, ha, ha…
RockLine: In this style you don’t really need anything more anyway. You build on directness, without any solos and the like….
Tadej: You know, we used to try putting solos into songs too, but then we ourselves realized they were totally superfluous, really unnecessary.
RockLine: What are Cosa Nostra’s wishes for the future?
Marko: It’d be great to put out an album as soon as possible.
Tadej: The material is there. All originals. We’ve got 27 songs at our disposal. And I think we don’t need more than 30 minutes of material for our album to present our music, otherwise an album like that can start to bore the listener. And of course, we also want to get as many chances to play live as possible!
photos: Mojca Perdih
*You can read how the Cosa Nostra show went at the “Epic RockLine Contest” on 17.12.2009, at the Rock Cafe club in Postojna, HERE.
Photo Gallery
