Location: Rock Cafe / Postojna / Slovenia
Interview date: 18.02.2010
Come Taste The Band is a relatively new name on the Slovenian rock scene, but the lineup is made up of three musicians who have “breathed through” a good number of bands in their careers. Among them the Upper Carniola hard rockers Lady’s First, and in their musical enthusiasm and love of music, they fill their spare time by playing in several bands at once, like Lene kosti or Radio Zoo. The guys are developing an interesting musical story, built on a solid yet dynamic and wildly branching rhythm section. It doesn’t hide many funk impulses. On that framework hangs a guitar with classically minded rock moves, drawing inspiration from the good old school of bands that broke new ground in the seventies, making the radical (and, for those times, trendy) leap from the character of hard-hitting power blues bands to bands of classic hard rock swagger. For those of you who are a bit more in the know, dear readers, let me also stress that Come Taste The Band are not a “tribute to” Deep Purple band, but are developing entirely their own original music.
The guys say they couldn’t care less what style they play. They put their own enjoyment and letting loose first, whether they’re at rehearsal or on stage. In a really interesting, fun and witty chat, the guys sketched out how the band came about and revealed their short-term musical wishes and their musical vision.
RockLine: Where did you “sniff out” that the Epic RockLine Contest was happening in Postojna, and what drove you to enter?
Andrej: An “insider” connection at RockLine.
(All: roaring laughter)
RockLine: Come again?
Andrej: Yep. Seriously.
Grega: For a while our band was even named after that guy.
RockLine: Daniel Pavlica Band?
Andrej: No, no. The Daniel Pavlica Ensemble. That’s what we were called at the start, and that’s the name we entered this contest under. But then it didn’t go any further. Our original name must have gotten lost somewhere along the way.
Rockline: I’ll be damned if that isn’t a bland joke.
Andrej: No. Not at all. It’s a very salty joke. That same person then arbitrarily changed our band’s name to Brian Robertson Band.
RockLine: So where does Brian Robertson Band come from?
Andrej: Well, only that person knows.
RockLine: How did the three of you “get tangled up” together into a trio and decide to start a new band?
Grega: Peter and I have known each other for a long time. Later I met Andrej and asked him if he might be interested in joining us. So we started getting together for rehearsals, started jamming on stuff. And now we’ve already put together our own original music.
Peter: And the one to blame for all of it is Daniel Pavlica, ha, ha…
Andrej: Yep. He’s to blame. Because we had a band with Daniel. Actually, Grega and I answered his ad. Peter also came to our last rehearsal, but we didn’t manage to save the band.
Grega: Peter tried to rescue the situation, but it was too late.
Peter: Otherwise, Grega and I met when Grega came to me for an audition once…
Grega: Yep. That must have been about 8 years ago. Still in my first year of high school.
Peter: Yep. Grega came to us in 2000 or 2001, he was about 16 or 17 years old. We’ve been playing together more or less constantly since then, and we’ve gone through about 3 or 4 lineups together.
RockLine: Can each of you tell us about your musical background? What inspires you, and what draws you in when playing and writing music?
Grega: Let Andrej go first, since he’s the oldest among us, and the first letter of his name comes first in the alphabet, too.
Andrej: Well, if you insist. I kind of started my career with Lady’s First. Surely at least 5 years ago. Those were the years of that good old rock n’ roll. Then Lady’s First turned more toward heavy metal, and I’m a classic hard rocker at heart, so the vibe wasn’t as close to me anymore. So I said goodbye to them. We’re still very good friends today, though.
Grega: Peter and I played in Dark Light before, then we fell apart. Besides Come Taste The Band, I also play in Lene kosti.
RockLine: Lene kosti? Wait, wait, this is getting way too hot. How did you hit that jackpot in the lottery?
Grega: Man, it’s great! Okay, sure, there’s an age gap, but we get along as if we were right next to each other in age. We totally click. We really enjoy ourselves together.
RockLine: Does this “switching” cause you any trouble, since the two bands are totally different? With Lene kosti you have to take even better care of your look. A toxic look with leather and chains…
Grega: True, I’m not a hardcore heavy metal fan at heart, and when I’m not with Lene kosti I don’t wear metal gear, but the energy of Lene kosti suits me incredibly well. From the songs themselves, how they’re written, to the energy both at rehearsals and at live shows. Being in Lene kosti is a real challenge and a lot of fun at the same time. And there’s another factor. These guys have so many miles behind them that I always learn something useful from them. I hope we keep “rocking it” like we have so far!
RockLine: In Lene kosti you stepped into your father’s boots. Is he proud of you?
Grega: Of course. And now he’s the official photographer for Lene kosti and Come Taste The Band, so he’s kept in touch with his old friends that way, too.
RockLine: Just to pick the thread back up. Peter, please introduce yourself to the RockLine readers too.
Peter: Well, they say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. My father is a drummer too. He played in loads of bands. Actually, I’ve grown up with that my whole life. I kind of caught his syndrome too. I used to play in three or four bands at the same time. But that doesn’t work. You can’t handle it. Right now I’m also involved in the Rockomotiva project. Come Taste The Band took part in it too. First on Tuesday, 16.02.2010 at Roxly in Ljubljana, and also with Maki (Matjaž Živkovič – Maki, vocals, The Dinkers, editor’s note) in Grosuplje at Pri Pujsu, the former Groš. In this project four bands are joined together, and that’s how we perform together.
RockLine: How does a song come about in Come Taste The Band?
Peter: I think the same way as in any other band. Every time you have to show up with some initial idea. Usually it was Grega who came to rehearsals with the ideas.
Grega: The idea comes before you get to rehearsal.
Peter: Then we record some “jam” in our rehearsal space…
Andrej: If you compared a song played at the first jam with what it grows into after two or three months, you’d barely realize it’s the same song.
Grega: Yep. A song like that ends up changing by about 70% from the basic idea, or the first version.
RockLine: You play a really interesting version of rock music, one that’s less common by today’s trends. You can feel the funk. The dynamics of the rhythm section are outstanding, there’s some blues in there too, Andrej covers a lot of sonic space with his guitar sound and style… Do you listen to old seventies rock, or did you develop the style you’re presenting and offering with your music right now without thinking about it at all?
Grega: We honestly don’t think much about the whole thing. Especially not about what’s going to come out when we start playing at rehearsals. We just do what feels right.
Andrej: Each of us also listens to some older music, so that’s going to have some influence.
Grega: Everyone puts a bit of themselves into the music and then comes what you hear. Kind of a musical mix of all three of us.
Peter: And we try to make the songs as varied as possible. Of course, the priority above all is that we create what we like.
Andrej: If I made my own music alone, it would never sound like what I play in Come Taste The Band. Here the tastes and approaches of all three of us intertwine, and then something comes out that none of us expects. So sometimes we surprise ourselves. And I personally really like that.
Peter: In any story like this, you need people who complement each other. If everyone’s looking in the same direction musically, then…
Grega: …it gets stiff.
Peter: Queen would be nowhere near Queen if Freddy Mercury were the only one in that story. Our goal is not to repeat ourselves. You know, we don’t want to build some style and then cling to that formula like a drunk to a fence.
Grega: We’re totally unbothered about style. Funk or punk, we don’t care. The main thing is that we have the guts to satisfy our own enjoyment first, and only then look at everything else.
Peter: The whole thing will get shaken up even more, because we’re planning for a fourth member to join us.
RockLine: On which instrument?
Peter: Keyboards.
Andrej: We’re looking for the kind of keyboardist who has long hair….
Grega: … and a little goatee and thinning hair up front, and wears a tracksuit and a leather jacket.
Andrej: We’d take a keyboardist like that into the band right away.
Grega: Yep. Because there really aren’t many keyboardists like that.
Peter: We’ll put up an ad.
RockLine: When can we expect the first studio album?
Peter: When we win this contest, ha, ha…
Grega: Yep. And if we don’t win here, then we’ll finish writing 12 songs and…
Andrej: …wait to win some other contest, ha, ha, ha…
Peter: As part of the Rockomotiva project, an album recording is on the horizon for us. Not seriously. There’s a plan.
Grega: But we still have to polish at least 4 more songs.
RockLine: So, how does the audience take it all when you’re on stage? The day before yesterday you played at Roxly.
Peter: At Roxly we ran into an unexpected turnout. It was packed. It was Shrove Tuesday. The response was great and it was nothing but positive energy. Even though you had to buy a ticket for 3.00€. So, a package of four bands. It was almost a bit much. I played with two bands. First with Come Taste The Band and then with Radio Zoo. And by the time I played with the last band, people were slowly leaving the venue. It was a weeknight, after all.
RockLine: Here in Postojna tonight you had really good sound. You worked really well together. How did it feel on stage tonight?
Andrej: The PA was great.
Peter: Even earlier, when we listened to the soundchecks of the two other bands who’ll follow us here in Postojna tonight, we were pleasantly surprised by this place.
Grega: Let me just say that Ljubljana can hide in shame when it comes to a venue like Rock Cafe in Postojna. Neither Orto Bar nor any other Ljubljana club comes close to Rock Cafe.
Andrej: It’s hard to find such an excellent venue, so well “put together,” as the one at Rock Cafe. And as for the sound tech, the sound guy. If nothing else, he’s an outstanding character. You can tell him something and he won’t get all puffed up or arrogant, he listens to you and tries to help find a solution. In that respect too, this club here and now proved itself beyond all our expectations. The sound guy is great. Well, except for “Youwda” (Tomaž Frelih “Youwda”, guitar – Lady’s First, editor’s note). He’s just untouchable, heh, heh, heh… Okay, “Youwda” doesn’t have as much patience as this sound guy from Rock Cafe, but anyway, he’s very good at his job too.
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
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