Location: Modra hiša / Ljubljana (Šiška) / Slovenia
Interview date: 01.02.2009
The band Obidil, from Železniki, released their long-awaited second studio album, “Stardust”, at the end of 2008. They cultivate a style that’s special for the Slovenian music scene, and overall the new album is a big evolutionary step up for them in every respect. You could describe Obidil as a kind of technically demanding blend of symphonic power metal, with a touch of gothic and plenty of experimentation, which puts them in the camp of progressive bands.
On the day of the premiere of their latest video, for the song Stardust, at the Čarli TV media house, once the band’s obligations were done, there was time for a short RockLine chat on the ground floor of the Modra hiša in Ljubljana’s Šiška. Joining us were the band’s singer Katarina Globočnik and brand-new Obidil bassist Matej Sušnik, a real “wunderkind” among Slovenian bassists.
RockLine: How was the video premiere?
Matej: Good. We survived, ha, ha, ha… So we’ve released our first video from the album “Stardust”, and it’s also called Stardust.
RockLine: Why the song Stardust in particular? Is it the catchier, more melodic track?
Matej: Yeah, because most of the tracks on the new album are progressive and can be a bit too demanding for the average listener. And Stardust has a singable, melodic chorus and with it we’re aiming to get noticed more on the Slovenian music scene.
RockLine: You said “progressive”. That’s not exactly an everyday thing in Slovenia. So Obidil are something special on the Slovenian music scene.
Matej: There’d never been a band like Obidil in Slovenia, which is why I stressed that word. Prospect are also prog in Slovenia, for instance, but that’s a different musical approach.
Katarina: Basically, other people pigeonholed us as “progressive”. The label didn’t seem all that wrong to us, so we adopted it ourselves. Personally, though, I find it hard to pin any label on Obidil. I listen to metal, and if through improvisation we managed to bring in certain elements that give us a progressive tag, we didn’t think beforehand about what would come out in the end. So basically we never set out to be “progressive”. We just play what we feel and want it to come out.
Matej: We in Obidil don’t worry about what we play. People usually like to have things pigeonholed, and they decided we’re progressive. They simply need that to find their way around more easily when they’re looking for music for themselves. Anyway, when it comes to listening to music, we in Obidil have completely different tastes. And those differences, that wide spectrum of everything we listen to, we try to build into the Obidil songs too.
RockLine: Between the two albums you went through quite a few lineup changes. How has that affected the band’s development up to this point?
Katarina: In a way we’ve matured in this period. We’re more focused on certain things we want to do. Right at the start, back in 2000 when we formed the band, we wanted to let loose in it. With that huge explosion of ideas coming out of us, we weren’t exactly great at organizing ourselves effectively, but today I can say we’ve successfully mastered that skill during this period too.
Matej: Otherwise, we in Obidil are involved in plenty of other projects, either as studio musicians or as members of other bands. In that sense Obidil is a kind of common point, a common denominator that unites us. And with that workload we sometimes run out of time to focus exclusively on Obidil.
Katarina: An important change happened. The first Obidil were great friends; that friendship connected us, and that’s why we came to be. The guitarist, bassist and drummer of the original Obidil actually grew up together from when they were little. They bought music gear together, formed their first band together at 12. I’m strongly attached to that friendship too, and when the first bassist left us, I had a hard time getting over his departure. Back then we had to rediscover our motivation. We actually needed quite a lot of time to take the energy that tied us together as hanging-out-and-being-friends under the Obidil banner and lift it to a new level. Right now quite a pile of notable things is happening for Obidil. We got a new space, guitarist Tomaž and drummer Klemen are busy sorting it out right this moment, we released a new album, we shot the first video from it. It feels like the energy we’ve been putting in all these years is finally coming back and paying off. Each of us still finds lots of motivation today, in the sense of seeing yourself within Obidil, feeling like an important part of creating the band and our music, and that drives us on. Recording the new album did drag on quite a bit, though. Because of the wait we started obsessing over details, and that wore us out unnecessarily to a good degree. But this release gave us a new boost and I think there won’t be any problems when we look for ideas for our next album. I’d like things to unfold in a relaxed, spontaneous way, so we don’t end up forcing anything.
Matej: You know, all of us in Obidil enjoy what we create in this band. It’s not set up commercially. Basically, what ties us together is that this “non-commercial” direction gives us more freedom to express ourselves as musicians and try out as many interesting things and ideas in the tracks as possible. We wouldn’t say no to a wide audience, but we’re also aware of our reach in commercial terms, given the current mainstream music scene in Slovenia. And then there are those other projects I mentioned, where we members make up for the commercial side of things.
Katarina: I should mention that I’m the only one in the band who doesn’t sing in another band at the same time. So I put all my energy into Obidil. Obidil gigs give me special pleasure. It’s a phenomenal feeling when you’re up on stage and you sense that flow of energy.
Matej: So the point of “Stardust” is that when a music lover picks up this record, they’ll gladly slip it into the CD player and listen. The album is absolutely not commercially oriented. Maybe that’s why it looks modest to some, since we’ve never really put much into the band’s marketing.
RockLine: You probably badly need live shows. Is anything going on on that front?
Matej: Like I said, there’s actually no grand plan for gigs at the moment.
RockLine: Matej, you’ve got quite a bit of live experience as Metalsteel’s bassist. Given that Obidil now have a video out for Stardust, is there a spark here worth fanning, in terms of spreading the Obidil name?
Matej: Well, you know, MetalSteel is different. We have a loyal fan base that follows us. The difference is also that we’re all kind of close in age, we’re students. In Obidil the differences between us are bigger. It’s harder to focus on the band, also because of all the other projects.
RockLine: So Obidil’s debut got a younger brother, “Stardust”. How does it feel? Have you grown?
Katarina: The songs on the new album are more expressive in their motifs and more clearly defined. The album is much more mature and of course better. With the debut we didn’t have as much experience. Not even when it comes to sound production.
RockLine: The new album came out as a self-release. How come?
Katarina: It was actually a tough decision. The label we put the debut out with was very interested in releasing the new album. The problem was that we wanted a technically high-quality product and the budget for that was too low. While we were deciding how to move forward, the studio Ork was just starting to open up. So we were invited along. Basically, in a way so we could learn together. Us and the studio. To try recording one song. It also mattered that the studio’s producer, Saša Kisovec, really liked our music. So we recorded a kind of test version of Stardust. From that test recording to the final recordings for the album, you can really hear and feel how the production was upgraded across the board, and how the studio Ork itself developed along the way.
RockLine: Katarina, you write the lyrics. Which themes do you most like to touch on?
Katarina: By the time I get to the lyrics, the song drafts are already done. I draw inspiration from the mood I’m in after listening to the drafts of our future songs. I connect things with events I go through and thoughts about those everyday experiences. Since the music is technically more demanding, I have to be careful how I shape the verses for singing.
Matej: Yeah, our songs don’t exactly follow 4/4 molds. It’s interesting, because we have to watch that aspect so the vocal lines fit the rhythm of the tracks. It takes a lot more concentration and care.
Katarina: It’s true, though, that once you’ve picked a theme, you play the draft and sing along and try to spontaneously find words that you associate with that theme, and that’s basically how the draft of the final lyrics comes about.
RockLine: The album cover is really interesting too. It feels mystical.
Katarina: At first we had a computer-made design, then the idea came up to bring in an amateur painter. So we gave Peter Kačar one of our tracks to listen to, and he was supposed to paint whatever it made him think of, so create something based on the feelings he got while listening to that track.
RockLine: Matej, you’re reportedly preparing material for your own solo studio album?
Matej: Yep. I brought in Klemen Markelj, Obidil’s drummer. I’ll take care of the basics, the arrangements for keyboards and bass guitar. Klemen’s on drums. Benny from MetalSteel is also helping out. Really, everything’s going in a way that I’m drawing tremendous drive and feeling a creative spark, and juggling several projects at once isn’t hard for me right now.
RockLine: Will it be a fusion album?
Matej: Not just fusion, really. I’ll throw in lots of genres, from industrial to progressive rock to metal, and of course fusion too. The guitars will be recorded by the best guitarists in Slovenia. The album will be fully instrumental. People who’ve heard the first recordings say it would be great music for a film.
RockLine: We started with the video, so let’s finish with it. Let’s finally get something more concrete about it.
Matej: We shot the video in Piran and Železniki.
RockLine: It’s got some deeper idea behind it, Katarina walking down the street…
Katarina: Yes. Those parts with me on the street were shot in Piran.
Matej: With the video itself, we didn’t want the visuals to take the lead over the music. The video is shot so that it steers the listener toward the music itself, or keeps them with the music. That’s how we approached it. The video serves the music and not the other way around. The shoot had an interesting start, though. The day started badly for us, I mean the day of shooting the video. Then when we got to Piran everything turned around. People cooperated with us phenomenally on the street and a real street party developed with the locals. At first, though, things went so wrong that if luck had turned its back on us then, this video probably wouldn’t exist today.
Katarina: The basic message of the video and of the song Stardust is that it’s worth sticking to your principles and fighting for the things you believe in.
RockLine: And to wrap up. What are Obidil’s plans for the future?
Matej: First a gig at the Roxly bar in Ljubljana, and after that the future for us is for now more or less shrouded in fog. We’re not a strictly organized band.
Katarina: Everyone in the band would love to play live, though, so we’ll do our best to make something of it.
Matej: Basically we just go with the flow, with the energy that steers us. But playing live would definitely be a welcome thing. It gives you a kind of spiritual food as a musician that keeps you going. Today’s premiere of the Stardust video on Čarli TV also gave us some validation, a new boost. In that case it’s not hard to wake up at nine, sit down in the studio and work till midnight. Because you’re simply full of creative energy. You know you’re working in the right direction and you know you’ll reap what you sow.
Interview by: Aleš Podbrežnik and Rok Klemše
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
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