Author: Sandi Sadar Šoba
Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Interview date: 12.10.2013
Sentiments – that’s what floods over me when I remember the greatness and all that untapped potential that blew across the Slovenian scene years ago, and then, after the breakup and parting of ways of the two key poles of Intimn Frizurn, never fully materialized. There were all kinds of more or less failed attempts to reanimate the original corpse, but the fact is the chemistry of the core members just couldn’t be recreated. And then, somewhere in the back corner of the parietal part of the cerebellum, something new started taking shape – Joko Ono, about whom I couldn’t decide whether they fully convinced me or not. The jazzy rhythms and total musical mindfu(n)k were replaced by more direct, simple punk rhythms and melodies. A female singer grabbed the mic and brought a fresh new wind into the band, one that blows even stronger after Saturday, October 12, because the self-titled debut EP by Joko Ono has made it into the world, and it will set the course from here on out. An exceptional intimate gig, where the guys and the girl squeezed out their absolute maximum as always, surrendered to the flow of thoughts and lyrics, and presented the entire studio debut without holding back, with a few changes – the key piece was missing, guest Jaka Burger, who on this happy day of revealing all the details of the debut was replaced, flying-substitution style, by the excellent vocalist of Dead Dildo Drome, the fearless Šero. Everything else was just as you could imagine and wish for – good vibes, cake and a neatly, aesthetically wrapped record, which was also the reason we could invite the drummer and one of the key architects of the project, the excellent Igor Iskra, for a chat.
It took a long time for you to turn from a transitional period of reconstructing your musical expression into something new. What was going on in that time? What was going on with you and your band? What is Joko Ono, and what do you stand for in 2013?
Igor Iskra: As for calling it my band – it’s not my band, it’s us. What happened was that when we fell apart as Intimn Frizurn, when Milan (Jerkič, former singer, editor’s note) left, or rather when we split up, we searched for a replacement for a long time, but no replacement worked out in a satisfying way. Then we did one guest spot, where Živa came in, and we clicked really well, and when it turned out the Intimn Frizurn material didn’t suit us anymore, we started pumping out punk and all these riffs, which everything grew out of, and which we realized suited us perfectly. At that first rehearsal at Dušan Hedl’s place we picked up a little book of CZD lyrics – this was around the time of recording the Rokerji pojejo pesnike records – and next to those two liters of wine, Živa picked out her words, which we could build everything around, and that’s how it all developed. Two songs are actually hers – Moj svet and Kri – and the rest is by CZD singer Bojan Tomažič. That got recorded and we worked from there. We’d already had plans to record everything a good year ago. One reason it didn’t happen back then was commitments. We were all too busy, and it was also better to take our time, think it through and do it so that today it can be what it is.
The final product is here – an EP with seven tracks that lay Joko Ono bare right down to the core. The first difference I notice is that you’ve gone from a progressive note to a completely HC punk foundation, with a Jello Biafra undertone, and that there’s significantly more social criticism. How did the genesis play out, idea-wise, in Joko Ono, and what can we expect going forward?
Igor: Like I said – when Živa came to rehearsal, it dragged along with it the fact that we started pumping out relatively simple punk rhythms and HC, and she had next to her those lyrics we’d offered her. CZD lyrics are so timeless and have that punk note you mention – the social stuff, the criticism. If you listen to Moj svet or Kri, it’s easy to tell there’s not that much social commentary in her lyrics, because Živa speaks from within herself. Maybe we wouldn’t even know how to write lyrics like that ourselves, but they said exactly what we can’t put into words best. And the music was maximal and intense. I dare say we’re tight, and we always try to be, and now it all clicks, but people have to come and see for themselves at our gigs that it’s really so. The direction of Joko Ono was set pretty spontaneously, and we didn’t deliberately draw up a plan and say we’d be punk from now on. As for the road ahead – we’ll see, because first we have to make songs, as the phase of creative idleness has been going on for a long time and we haven’t devoted much time to writing. The ones on the EP are a kind of cream de la cream, the ones that seemed the punchiest, the most perfect, the most complete, and that actually suit us best. Going forward we can head more in the direction of Moj svet and Kri. When we were recording the record, collaborations with guests also came totally naturally – with Borut Marolt (singer of Niet, editor’s note) and Jaka Burger (singer of Corkscrew, editor’s note). Jaka comes by here at the place pretty often, and we get a bit loud. We got both of them a bit involved in the whole thing, because since we were hanging out together anyway, the guys helped us round out these songs, which was really excellent.
Now let’s talk about the EP itself. Joko Ono as Lennon’s companion. How come you chose the name of a woman who in the rock world is synonymous with breaking up one of the biggest bands of all time, if not the biggest, as the name for the record too?
Igor: Dunno. Honestly, it was more of a joke. Živa came to rehearsal, proved herself to be a very direct and convincing young woman, and at some point in the pub we said she’s like Joko Ono. We didn’t have a band name yet back then and it seemed cool to all of us, we all agreed on the random name, and the name stuck and stayed. The fact that Yoko Ono is also connected to Lennon and carries a certain specific spirit in the background is even better. That’s exactly why we stress that it’s Joko with a J.
You’re without the Y, but with an EP …
Igor: That was Andraž Kajzer’s idea, so thanks to him for that!
After such a long time during which guys constructed the music, you got Živa into the band. What’s it like working with a woman? How does Živa fit in the band? What kind of chemistry has she brought with her?
Igor: Živa is awesome, because she brings us that something extra. If we ourselves are kind of rationalists who make music and are sort of the engine, she’s that little piece of our soul that gives us that something more, which is what makes the whole thing actually work. Without her we’re less, and Živa is that addition, the spice that makes everything the way it should be. She’s the cherry on top of the cake, and that cherry is as important as everything else. One doesn’t exist without the other – that’s what I’ll say! Živa is a natural stage talent, and that’s also why we stayed together, because that’s our foundation. In the past, in the Intimn Frizurn days, we were used to being a much more rational band. We were systematic, and maybe we wanted that something more, which simply didn’t happen – at least not between us. But Živa is simply an animal – she gets on stage, smashes everything, and maybe the fact that she’s a woman convinces even more, energy-wise. She knows how to scream and has a really powerful voice, and I think people aren’t used to that. One goes with the other, and of course we in the background have to work hard for it all to function, but without her this would be a totally different band.
You and both Žigas from the Intimn guys had a shared past before Joko Ono, but what’s Živa’s musical pedigree before Joko Ono?
Igor: Živa hadn’t played anywhere before. She just had the desire. I don’t know! Maybe it was a spark and a wish in the cerebellum, and she met Žiga (Rangus, guitarist, editor’s note), and he invited her to rehearsal, and she gladly took him up on the invitation, and that’s how it all started. When she started screaming into the mic, it was all so spontaneous and heartfelt that we knew right away this was it, really. I know it all sounds like a cliché, but it really all came at the right time – right when Milan and I started drifting apart creatively and everything with the Intimn guys was going down the drain, something completely different happened, and for me it was the perfect solution. When I start making some music and we’re feeling it, I just look at Žiga Rangus, who starts cracking up uncontrollably, and I know we’re on the right track. When Živa started screaming, we just looked at each other and knew that fateful spark had jumped, and then the grind and the work began, because nothing you hear now came together overnight.
The EP is woven from seven moments that you wove with your blood, sweat and know-how. The whole thing started taking shape a year ago. How did it all go down, and what are we getting today – content-wise and musically?
Igor: We wanted to mark it all, and every band that writes songs wants to record something, leave something behind, or have a reason for someone from outside, someone else, to hear your music and come to a gig. In the last phase we decided on an EP, which we thought we’d make sooner, but it didn’t happen right away. The songs were done, we had the material ready, and then the decision was made to record the EP with Matej Gobec. Matej came to rehearsals, suggested a few tweaks, and then we went to his place to record it all, and besides the production work he also did the mastering, and we’re really happy with the final product. Mark Divjak – the guy’s a real savage, seriously (laughs) – designed the record for us. Once we’d made the cover, we decided we’d try to turn as many songs as possible into video form too, with help from Luka Jenko and Andraž Kajzer, who’s a journalist anyway, a manager, not exactly ours, but a really valuable advisor who helps us steer it all, gives us useful advice and is our sincere companion and friend.
The first track I ever came across was Konec, which also closes your album …
Igor: We did think about opening the record with it, in the style of – the end is beginning is the end. But in the end Konec landed right at the end of the record, damn it. (laughs)
There were quite a few gigs in the meantime, you played plenty of stages, and you also performed with Slovenian poets – I’d especially highlight the collaboration with Dejan Koban, one of the most potent Slovenian writers.
Igor: He’s really hardworking and puts in the effort.
There was Rokerji pojejo pesnike, the rockers who sang poets. So what’s the plan for the leap from that poetic past into 2013, or even beyond, into 2014?
Igor: We have to get moving and get all those songs that have been marinating for quite some time out of the pan. The bassist has had a kid, I’m working too much, we all have our commitments. We’re all getting a bit older, really, and since we don’t make a living from what ties us together, and we only play when someone calls us, it takes longer to get the wheels moving from the dead point. We don’t have as much time anymore, or rather we have to take a bit more of it than before, we have to get down to work, write new songs, and that’ll be the guideline going forward. Maybe that’s also why we did this intimate gig on our home turf, because we’ve played so many gigs that it’s honestly funny. Usually it goes the other way around – bands put out a record first and then tour – but we’ve sort of wrapped everything up with this. We need to keep creating. We have the desire and we’re thinking more and more actively about testing our strength abroad, because in Slovenia there’s nothing more for us beyond what we’ve already tried, including variations and upgrades. I think the reactions abroad would be just as nice, and we’d also meet some new, different people while hanging out, and see a world we otherwise wouldn’t.
Before I let you go to today’s flow of celebrating your firstborn’s birthday, let’s wrap it all up with the standard dedication, meant for our readers, and your finishing touch will be completely your own …
Igor: I just want everyone to listen to the Joko Ono EP and form their own opinion. I hope you’ll dig it, and then pass the word on. And if you don’t dig it, well, damn, you just don’t like it (laughs). We always try to give our creative maximum. Try to be honest and learn to love each other! What can I say? There’s a chronic shortage of that, and that’s also why all the things we squeeze out onto the record are what they are. If there were more mutual respect, and less scrounging and greed and all these things that cripple us as humans and make us disabled as people, which have always been here, the world could actually be a better place. We’re not perfect either, but that’s something else entirely, worth its own new chapters …
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