Motus Vita Est (Glans Penissis #4)

Glans Penissis was the work of Zlatko ‘Vuka’ Vuković (R.I.P.) & Vedran Meniga (‘Nula‘ drummer), both from Šibenik (city on the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea).

Jadranko Mlinarić of Fanzini 80-ih made 2 issues available:

#4 (1991): gig-reports & reviews; ‘ interviews with ‘Motus Vita Est’ (Zagreb), ‘Oi Polloi’, ‘Ritam Nereda’ (Novi Sad, Serbia), ‘Schliessmuskel’, ‘Emils’, ‘Internal Autonomy’, ‘Mere Dead Men’; presentation of ‘Gottschee’ (Kočevje, Slo); presentations of Zagreb bands, and more…

#6 (1994): booklet with info/lyrics that came with ‘Nula’s tape Pobjedimo Laž (“let’s defeat the lie”); plus an interview with ‘W.O.R.M.’, presentations of local bands ‘Antitude’, ‘Apatridi’, ‘Enklava’, ‘Frontalni Udar’ & ‘My Life/ My Dreams’), etc.

Nowadays Vedran labels himself as a “publisher, journalist, DJ, promoter, organiser, producer, party-animal, underground music activist, sound provider and positive lifestyle supporter”… He’s the owner of Pozitivan Ritam (“positive rhythm”) agency and PDV recs (label). He was a pioneer of the MonteParadiso festival (Pula) and still organises festivals…<< (e.g. SeaSplash festival)

‘Motus Vita Est‘ was a HC/punk band formed in Zagreb ’88, Croatia (still Yugoslavia then; Croatian independence was internationally recognized in January ’92). The line-up at the time of the interview (after their first LP was released) was ‘Hogar’ Rade Preradović (vocals), Dalibor Knežević (guitar), Zoran Stojanović (guitar), Damir Mihulja (bass) & Nenad Koporčić (drums).

[Translation below; with help of Dejan Požegar]

MOTUS VITA EST [latin for “movement is life”]

(answers by ‘Hogar’)

I did this interview after attending a ‘Motus’ gig, and their first LP confirmed all that, i.e. the quality … /N. [???]/

Tell us a bit about the beginning of ‘Motus’.

The first rehearsal of ‘Motus’ was in the tenth month of 1986, I gathered some friends and suggested that instead of drinking and being bored, we’ld start with a band. It was a wild bunch but we lost it and split up; only to start again a year later.

Line-up changes?

There were a lot of changes.

Do you have any role-models or favourite bands?

Hogar: We don’t have a role-model and we all like divers bands. Personally I don’t have any favourites since ‘Dead Kennedys’; I even don’t have time to listen to other new bands poperly.

Many people talk about how your music used to be HC, and nowadays is crossover. How would you describe your music?

Well, listen…we’re a HC band but it would be a sin against music and ourselves if we’ld be limiting ourselves to a certain rhythm or way of playing the guitar. Depending on the atmosphere of the lyrics, we make music regardless of the style. The functionality of the music is important, not whether or not hammering is used.

You’ve released a lot of demos. Now there’s vinyl. How did you manage to realize it: through an independent label or self-financing, D.I.Y.?

We were financed by Sacro Egoismo from Vienna and everything else we did ourselves.

You appeared on the compilation-LP The Return Of Yugoslavia [Street Tuff recs & Sacro Egoismo, 1990]. I recently noticed that it’s sold by foreign independent labels; do you receive letters or calls from abroad regarding this?

The letters are coming in and have been arriving at a constant pace, because our tapes are being distributed a lot outside [of Yugoslavia]… It’s not like the Return LP it’s a turning-point for us.

Does your city support you? I was in Zagreb, most of the people love you, but still there was teargas used at your show. Was that a coincidence or are there problems when you play?

Those for whom our gig was intended love us and that’s important. We’re only in conflict with some wanna-be rock-critics. That teargas was thrown by some moron but it didn’t ruin our concert. The reason was that we kicked two people out of the band because they wanted to do commercial music. There were no excesses before and there won’t be any in the future either, because we cleared things up.

Speaking of Zagreb: are there any young bands that are progressing and could get somewhere?

There are cool bands and the more they try, the more they will achieve. The most active of the youngsters are ‘Hell’s Bells’.

Do you cooperate with Zagreb noise bands such as ‘Patareni’, ‘T.M.P.’ [Total Mošt Proyekt] & ‘Buka’?

No. Otherwise: what you listed is one band. [Dejan: same members – different projects]

What do you think about the Yugo scene as a whole? There are more and more great concerts and independent labels.

We have everything but there’s no significant progress: instead of tapes, records are made; that’s all. Those ‘independent’ publishing labels behave like Jugoton [national record-label/-company, pressing-plant and recordstore-chain], only they have less money. Their goal is mostly the same: to make profit.

You’re definitely one of the best Yugo bands. Do you happen to like and listen to any Yugo bands?

Thanks for the compliment. As for local bands: I like them just as I like foreign ones. The last few days I’ve been listening to ‘Ludilo’ [Dejan: “maddness/insanity”; trashmetal from Bosnia], ‘Distress’ [raw punk from Belgrado], ‘Overdose’ [Serbian HC/crossover/industrial band], ‘Hogari’ [Dejan: “punk/oi from Belgrado]; I also like ‘Gottschee’ [Slovenian thrash band]. There are many good and interesting ones.

About your concerts. You often play in Zagreb. Where else did you play in Yugoslavia?

The furthest away from Zagreb, we played in Koper [Slo] and Smederevska Palanka [Ser].

What’s your opinion about the concert at the Gallery, that you did to promote your album?

We played a standard [Dejan: quality-wise] set for ‘Motus’, we didn’t make any mistakes, the audience reacted well, even when there was teargas. I’m glad that ‘KBO!’ [Serbian punk band], ‘Zadruga’ [Croatian punkrock band], ‘Hell’s Bells’ [HC from Zagreb], ‘Ex-Sandra’ [Dejan: don’t know that band] responded to our invitation. ‘Zadruga’ pleasantly surprised me. By the way, I still didn’t get my amplifier fixed that got broken there. Not to forget: I really liked the attitude of the ESCE Gallery [important place of alternative culture at the time of the break-up of Yugoslavia] staff and the P.A. guy.

Have you played outside Yugoslavia, and if so: where?

The first time we played outside of Yugoslavia was in Vienna, at the Arena [venue] on 25/05/1989. Now we have promo-concerts in Austria in March. Besides Austria, we have only played in Germany. This season we have some more countries coming up.

Did you continue working after the release of the LP? Are you thinking of trying to reach a wider audience: you mentioned shooting a video for TV?

I will try my best to arrange as many gigs as possible and I believe that this should be echoed in the media as well, because HC is also part of the culture.

Anything to end with?

Oats to the horse and fuzz to the guitar.

Fanzini 80-ih

FANZINI 80-IH [unfortunately only accesible via fb] is an archiving-platform with material from the ex-Yugoslav fanzine-scene done by Jadranko Mlinarić from Zagreb (Croatia; Republic of Croatia = Republika Hrvatska)…

Brob

FANZINI 80-IH is a project to help remember the ex-Yugoslav fanzine scene. When I was contemplating the idea, I intended it as a space for reminiscing fanzines of that era. My intention then, as it is now, was not to create a megalomanic project but a small personal nostalgic archive corner in the virtual world. Whether I wanted to admit it to myself or not: time has shown me fanzines grew close to my heart, as part of my youth, an interesting and exciting part of history, especially when viewed from a temporal distance and the specifics of that era (when the fanzine-scene in question emerged).

The fanzines I documented are all from the ex-Yugoslav region and were published before the end of 1991. People who want to make them available – and have the desire, will & ability – can get involved and help because every detail and piece of information is important: covers, flyers, reviews, information about the author/authors, correction of inaccurate statements, … Of course scans of entire issues (an inexhaustible source of forgotten information) are wellcome; because “What is not written down, did not happen.”. Anyone interested can send material to the page’s inbox or email.

This introductory page was inspired by a text I first saw in Oct. 1994, in the magazine Arkzin (#24; p. 21), originally published in Zips & Chains #9 (Jan.’ 94). This, with the listed 149 fanzine-titles, was the starting-point and the catalyst. I embarked with only 2 fanzines in my possession and a desire to find out how many of these 149 titles I could gather/archive. It quickly became apparent that it would outgrow what I called a “small nostalgic archive corner”. FANZINI 80-IH has, in my opinion, succeeded in doing the right thing, considering what it’s up against. Probably 99% of people who published their fanzines in that period did so the old-fashioned paper/physical form, the cut & paste way. From that time, only one was known to me (Platfuzz, which was made around the end of the 80s), that was using a computer and could to be stored electronically. For the rest of us the concept of a computer was pure science-fiction, which is why we were doomed to have our fanzines irreversibly damaged (fire, floods, theft, mold, rodents, loss, or anything else you can think of).

Note that FANZINI 80-IH is a one-man project that depends solely on the fanzine-contributions of good souls, without which all of this would lose its meaning. And that brings us to the next issue: a large number of people who were part of the fanzine-scene of the 80s have simply ‘grown up’ and consider that all this is behind them and not worthy of their time. Many of us ‘actors’ have left (because of drugs, unfortunate circumstances, illnesses or the war). There’s also a lot of of people unreachable (not computer-literate) or inaccessible for contact (old contacts invalid). ‘Different strokes for different folks.’ is a saying that could characterise the next plague: namely that there are those who have fanzines in their archives but are unwilling to share them with the rest of the world for reasons only known to them. There are also those who’re simply too lazy to go to the shed in search for their ‘treasures’, etc. However FANZINI 80-IH goes on!

As for the author: I’m Jadranko Mlinarić (°1967), into punk since 1978. My involvement in the fanzine-scene started quite late, in 1986. At that time I started my own fanzine Disgusting Cock, of which 3 issues were published (or 4; the third was a double issue). I participated in the first exhibition of Yugo fanzines in 1987 in Subotica. Early 1987, I started working on my fanzine T.S.O.M., which was conceived as a mini-fanzine (A6 format), more like an informative monthly publication. #4 was done with the help of a friend from Prijedor [Bosnia & Herzegovina], ‘Sexy’ Samir Bikić, the singer of ‘The Dissidents’, while I was doing military service. Upon my return from the army, another person joined: Krešo Golubić. At that time, the fanzine underwent some changes: it became one of the few fanzines that had text in English. It also came out as a split issue, with the fanzine Virus [Darko Kosalec] (from Zagreb). 9 issues were released.

Perhaps a small addition for a better understanding of fanzines in Yugoslavia: they were neither an unknown nor a new concept. They appeared long ago but mostly as an extended means of cultural activity, dating back to the era of dadaism. In the late 70s and early 80s, in former Yugoslavia, fanzines played a significant role in alternative culture and were expressing independent thought. That period was characterized by socialist rule [The philosphy of Tito – leader of the Communist Yugoslav Partisans during WW2 – was characterised by socialist workers’ self-management] when there were alternative cultural movements that sought to express their views outside official frameworks and were gaining momentum. This included music, literature, film and other cultural expressions separated from official socialist aesthetics. Fanzines related to the work and creativity of cultural groups and individuals emerged, e.g. Špu List, Wow, Izgled, Parsek, Maj 75, Westeast, Darko Šimičić, Goran Petercol, Linije, Playboyana, Pokušaj Poistovjećenja, Prvi Broj, Radovu U Podrumu, etc. Fanzines became a significant utterance of free speech and self-expression in an atmosphere that was often restricted by the authorities. It’s worth noting that during that time in Yugoslavia, no-óne was allowed to independently produce any kind of printed material without some political structure behind it, even if it was a youth-organisation! Fanzines were mostly created in the spirit of the D.I.Y. They often addressed topics that were unpopular or prohibited by the official authorities. This included themes such as freedom of speech, human rights, political freedoms and other social issues. During that era, it was not uncommon for people from the State Security Service (Služba Državne Bezbednosti or S.D.B.) to knock on people’s doors, conduct raids, make threats, etc. Given the specificities of each republic within Yugoslavia, the fanzine-scene varied from region to region. These periods of alternative culture and fanzines in Yugoslavia left a mark on the cultural scene, although the dynamics changed over time, alobg with the political changes that followed.

Fanzini.Hr is the website [accessible for everyone] that mainly deals with fanzines from Croatia (1990 to the present day). That is set up Marko Strpić [In Media Res fanzine] and Sebastijan Brumec. Marko & Sebastijan form the core of an archiving-team (consisting of various NGOs: Tabula Rasa, ACT – Autonomni Centar, Centar Za Dokumentiranje Nezavisne Kulture [“centre for the documentation of independent culture”]).

Jadranko Mlinarić

Proces (Izazov #4)

This ex-Yugoslavian zine was done by a Canadian with Croatian roots called Don. It was a great zine that started in 1983 and finished in 1986. Don later moved to Canada. The zine featured a shitload of international bands and was probably the best Yugoslavian zine at the time.

Dario Adamic

Izazov is Croatian for “challenge” The zine’s editor, Don Verbanac, resided on the peninsula of Istria (in Raša). The were 6 issues of the zine, in which Don wrote mainly on the world scene and little on the Yugo scene. He was also the singer of the band ‘Mentalni Nered’ (“mental disorder”). Nowadays he works in the field of architecture/ urban planning in Toronto…

Brob

In the late 70s and early 80s, punk-rock in Yugoslavia was very much centred in the cities of Ljubljana, Rijeka, Zagreb and Belgrade. What came later in the mid-80s was a decentralization of punk-rock, especially the proliferation of hardcore punk throughout the provinces and smaller towns. These were the initial beginnings of future generations of bands, zines, clubs and altogether standalone scenes in almost every part of former Yugoslavia. Note that the term “Yugoslavia” is used in an historical context to refer to the combined areas of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia & Serbia (incl. Vojvodina & Kosovo) which existed as a single entity until 1991.

The first issue if Izazov started in December 1983, co-produced and co-edited by ‘Jack’ [Drazen Kolić] (from Barban) and myself. We were living 30-40 km from Pula (the economic capital of Istria) that produced many popular rock- (e.g. ‘Atomsko Sklonište’) and punk-bands (e.g. ‘Problemi’, ‘KUD Idijoti’). The peninsula of Istria is multilingual and the only bilingual region in today’s Croatia. As such the original intent of Izazov was to include content in both Croatian and Italian languages, making it somewhat “transnational”. Aspirations aside this did not get realized mostly due to the logistics of distribution at the time, manpower needed for bilingual content and the primary target market being in Yugoslavia. And the core of everything was a D.I.Y. drive to create our own network within and outside of then Yugoslavia which grew each month after the first issue.

Although this was well before the internet, kids in Yugoslavia had already developed an informal system, locally and regionally for sharing and exchanging comic-strips (mostly Italian ones translated to Serbo-Croatian). Exchanging and sharing fanzines was the next level of distributing information for teenagers. These didn’t have to be produced in large quantities but just enough to distribute to different parts of Yugoslavia and then be passed on from one person to another…and then another.  Sharing content with others via a fanzine then became a platform for distribution of music, other fanzines and contacts for organising concerts. By 1984, there were 3 main fanzines in Yugoslavia….Vrnitev Odpisanih (“return of the write-offs”) from Ljubljana [Slovenia], 24 Časa (“24 hours”) from Belgrade [Serbia] and Izazov (“challenge”).

The main criticism received from Yugoslav readers at the time was that the first 3 issues of Izazov had mostly foreign content and very limited Yugoslavian. This was in part an outcome of the process of establishing initial contacts and network-building across Yugoslavia. And as it turned out, there was a lot of interest in domestic hardcore/punk, especially promoting and supporting one-another across Yugoslavia.

Unfortunately, we parted ways after the 3rd issue when ‘Jack’ started Stres fanzine and myself continuing Izazov, mostly due to the logistics of living in different geographic locations and balancing our time with another common project, ‘Mentalni Nered’ (also known as ‘Hardcore Macht Frei’) which was the first HC band in Istria. I maintained the graphic layout established with the previous issues: punky, edgy, gritty and chaotic whereby each page was more or less customized with its own graphic collage.

The Yugoslav content began increasing with #4 (June 1984): it included an interview with ‘Proces’ from Subotica (Serbia); scenereports from Ljubljana (Slovenia), Belgrade (Serbia), Zenica (Bosnia) as well as Belgium, USA (Alaska & Michigan), Italy and Denmark; band-bios on the ‘Wretched’, ‘P.S.A.’, ‘Inferno’, ‘Zyklome-A’, ‘Mau Maus’, ‘Disorder’, ‘Chumbawamba’, ‘Apostles’, ‘The Fiend’, ‘Kuolema’ (Fin) & ‘Razor Blades’ (Den); and reviews (vinyl/tape releases from around the globe).

In the fall of 1984, I released one of the first pan-Yugoslav punk compilations on tape: Noć Nad Jugoslavijom (“night over Yugoslavia”). The working-title, To Je Jugoslavija (“this is Yugoslavia”), can be seen as a promo on the rear-cover of Issue #4.

Don

Issues 4, 5 & 6 are available on the www. Some contents of #5 (’84): reports on the Yugoslavian, Macedonian, Norwegian & Finnish scenes; interviews with ‘Dead End’ (Toronto), ‘Dva Minuta Mržnje’ (Novi Sad, Yug), ‘Odpaki Civilizacije’ (Ljubljana, Yug), ‘Sköl’ (Zagreb, Yug); and a lot more. And #6 (’85): ‘Civil Dissident’ (Oz), ‘Giuseppe Carabino’ (Subotica, Yug), ‘MG-15’ (Malaga, Spa); Toronto & Italy scenereports, etc. etc.

‘Proces’ was a HC/punk band from Subotica (north Serbia, near the Hungarian border) that included ‘Mirko’ Stoilkov Mirčez (guitar), ‘Sudar’ Dragan Sudarević (drums), ‘Branko’ Branislav Vučković (bass) & ‘Zlatko’ Kesi Bradarić (vocals). The interview below (May 25th 1984 – Youth Day [one of the biggest holidays in socialist Yugoslavia; Tito‘s official birthday]; the first all-day concert with punk bands from all over Yugoslavia in Ljubljana.) was translated by Don.

Tell us a little about ‘Proces’. When were you formed? Why?

We formed at the end of 1979 but we had difficulties with band-members coming and going. Some were kicked out, others left to form their own band; and so the band was not established until 1982. Since then we have changed 2 singers.

You have been around for a while now. What/who were your influences when you started and have you approached punk differently since then?

At the beginning our influences were the (Sex) ‘Pistols’, ‘Paraf’ (from Rijeka, Croatia) and ‘Nade Iz Inkubatora’ (from Subotica, Serbia). Our views on punk haven’t changed that much since we have been tied to the same views from the beginning. This means onwards with punk. Nor have the ideas of the band changed since the band-members have had the same ideas so nothing much has changed along the way. (Don: For context, many Yugo punk bands that started in the late 70s and continued into the 80s eventually changed their outlook and/or musical orientation.)

What are your thoughts about bands changing style from 70s punk to hardcore or to post-punk so as not to garner criticism from their public? Try to consider ‘Proces’ if possible.

That’s a bit of a fucked up question. If we think that our lyrics can be carried along with a different sound like hardcore, then we will play that way. It’s an issue of personal taste. After all, everything remains punk without having to divide into 77-type punk, oi or thrash.

Do you think that you will be changing in the future in the same way that punk has been changing?

We don’t plan to change in any which way as our lyrics match the type of music we play. Punk cannot sell-out, only the people that play punk change or sell-out. Then that is no longer punk.

What do you think about the punk scene in Yugoslavia and in Subotica?

In Subotica there’s no punk (scene). (Bands such as ‘Nade Iz inkubatora’ – “hope from the incubator” – and ‘Marselyza’ – “Marseillaise”) are trying to separate themselves from punk saying that they’re only influenced by it. We’re the only ones that define themselves as punk. In Yugoslavia, punk is slowly getting onto its feet. Independent cassettes, fanzines are being released under the control of and in the right hands; so there won’t be any commercialization. Collaboration is fine but the provinces are lacking their own scene and connectivity.

Does punk in Yugoslavia have any meaning or is everything that we are doing in vain? What do think about punk-shows being shown on television?

Everything starts off from a single point and then one part sells out and the other part stays true to itself. Punk has its reason for existence in Yugoslavia, though not in the same was maybe as in western countries. Maybe it might seem in vain but if two-three people like what we’re singing about, then that is not in vain. Punk-shows on TV? If you mean those street-discussions with punks, I don’t know what to say. Everything is based on “nobody loves me and that hurts me”. For example: at the youth-festival this year in Subotica, there was a panel-discussion led by Vidmar. (Don: Igor Vidmar was a prominent Slovenian music-journalist and instrumental to the promotion of punk-rock in Yugoslavia). So afterwards there were no conclusions made and everyone just stuck to their own beliefs. It doesn’t help to just talk and theorize about punk, make accusations or defend it.

‘Proces’ doesn’t like labels such as HC, oi or orthodox punk but ‘punk’ itself is a label. What do think about that?

People like to add labels because when labels are mentioned they know what it’s about. Now, whether punk is a label or not, it doesn’t matter. This can also be called surrealism since surrealists considered a scandal as the strongest weapon against social inequality, exploitation of man over man, militarism and similar. Many try to find the origins of the meaning of punk while others interpret it as a shortcut for their hatred toward punk.

Has ‘Proces’ made any studio-demo? If you haven’t, do you plan to make any?

We don’t have a demo right now nor will we make any, as we do not want anyone to make money off of it. There’s lots of money required to record … Soon, we will make some working recordings with a homemade mixing-board and ordinary cassette-recorder for informational purposes. (Don: Later, ‘Proces’ would appear with 2 songs on Izazov’s compilation, Noć And Jugoslavijom – Night Over Yugoslavia.)

How did you come to the idea of writing a song about Beirut (Beirut ‘83)?

Beirut ‘83 is about our perspective of the situation in Beirut. Since we have never been there, the song may sound a bit ‘poseur’ (posturing) but that’s just our perspective as outsiders.

What do you think about Yugoslavia’s position in the world and the situation within Yugoslavia?

We haven’t given it any thought.

What’s your song Gospodar (“master/lord”) about?

We won’t play that any time soon.

Have you played anywhere else other than Subotica? Do you plan to?

We played in Ljubljana. And even though we didn’t perform that well, we’re very glad that such a concert was held with many bands from all over Yugoslavia. Similar concerts should be held in other cities. (Don: On May 25, 1984 – Youth Day / Tito’s Birthday, the first all day concert with punk bands from all over Yugoslavia was held in Ljubljana.)

Do you think punk will improve?

There is not much necessary in punk except for the need of scenes in smaller towns and some larger cities too. Punk is here and will exist as long as there’s a need for it.

Anything extra to say?

‘Proces’ = Oi Zdenko (bass), Mirčez (guitar), Sudar (drums), Ciklama (vocals)