Conversation with musician and producer Dorian Jovanovic: At the core of everything is the desire to play and create music

The group "String Forces" promoted the remastered material for the album "Sogoli me" on a CD, and that act opened the opportunity to talk with musician and producer Dorian Jovanovic.

The music producer of the studio albums of the group "String Forces" is Dorian Jovanovic, who is also a member of the group from the very beginning and plays several instruments. Jovanovic used the period of reduced concert activities due to the coronavirus pandemic to listen to old recorded materials, and since his engagement in 2020, five albums of the group have been recorded live, and have been released in digital format.

With the album "Sogoli me" the process went in the other direction - the album was released in digital format in 2017, and now it has received a mechanical sound carrier, ie it has been released on a CD.

This week you promoted the remastered material for String Forces' "Bare Me" album on CD. Given that the album was released digitally in 2017, why did you do the remastering?

- For me, as a musician, it is always a challenge for me to go back to an older album or material, for the simple reason that time always does its thing and you will hear it with new ears and you will have new ideas. Originally, in 2017, when we released "Sogoli me", it was in a package with a bigger promotion, with a concert in MKC, with more guests on stage, and for the first time we decided to make only a digital edition, among other things because we did not have the finances for mechanical sound carrier. Times have changed, the time of mechanical carriers is going down in history and music on a mechanical carrier will become a form of esotericism (something that vinyl is already), but the nostalgia and tangibility of the format somehow has its meaning.

But here is the other side of the story, what I mentioned above: the opportunity to "visit" the material again and listen with other ears, three years apart. At first the idea was to be just a remaster, in terms of a new glaze on existing material, to make it more CD-friendly, but by the way it turned into a whole new mix of material. So the real title of this CD is supposed to be "Bare Me, Revisited", but I think that would have been too confusing for the audience, so it remained "Bare Me, CD Version" .

As a musician it is always a challenge for me to go back to an older album or material / Photo: Miladin Papoviќ

At one of the events held on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the independence of the country, after a long time, the group had a concert in Kurshumli-an. Practically, how does "String Forces" work and survive?

- "String Forces" functions as a group, above all, but the state of emergency in the previous year and a half had its price on group work. We were a large group of six people, and the work in the studio became complicated and somehow we all left time to show us when we will return to the common way of working. In the meantime, I used that time to pay attention to the materials we have recorded over the years at various performances, but there was never time to dedicate to them and see what exactly is there and whether it is worth doing something about it. Hence the series of digital releases of concert recordings, which are now available on our bandcamp channel (stringforces.bandcamp.com). Now, somehow, due to the performance in Kurshumli-an, we are slowly returning to the group work and new material will probably follow.

"String Forces" functions as a group, above all, but the state of emergency in the previous year and a half had its price on group work / Photo: Petar Ivanovski

In addition to signing behind the production of String Forces' five studio albums, you are known to be a multi-instrumentalist, and in addition to bass guitar and Chapman-stick, you also play on ut. What is common and what is different in the way these stringed instruments are played?

- It is common that all are stringed instruments, the "logic" is generally the same, but the instruments have a very different character. I see it more as a change of role, with the actor being the same. I would argue over the term "multi-instrumentalist", but that is not the topic of this conversation. The differences, on the other hand, which are most noticeable on the Chapman-stick, above all, in the way of creating the tone are so great, that I see it as a completely different instrument, which has no point of contact with other stringed instruments, although it is stringed. by nature.

The differences in the way Chapman stick is created are so great that I see it as a completely different instrument / Photo: Aleksandar Nikov

On a personal level, you recently received the "Warrior Malisha Draskoci" award, which will be presented to you on September 28 in Belgrade. What type of award is this?

- This is an award for special contribution to the development of world music in the region, dedicated to their famous musician, double bassist and educator, Vojin Malisha Draskoci. It was established in 2013, in order to inspire, develop and popularize the polygenre "music of the world", ie music and artists who are dedicated to creating music inspired by and in the spirit of traditional music. Among the other winners of the same award are the famous Vlatko Stefanovski and Vasil Hadzimanov.

Dobrila and Dorian duo / Photo: Dina Duma

Somehow in parallel with the work with "String Forces", some time ago Skopje Jazz Festival released the album "Apocrypha" by Dobrila and Dorian duo, and you are part of the band "Chalgia Sound System". Where do you get your energy from and with what desire and enthusiasm do you approach working with all these bands?

- Basically the desire to play, the desire to create music, at a performance or rehearsal or when you practice… Enthusiasm is incredibly enduring, above all, because what comes back makes you immensely satisfied, but never enough of it. On the other hand, it is not static either, the perception, the possibilities, the way постојано are constantly changing and so it gives itself strength, something like perpetual motion.

(The conversation was published in "Cultural Press" No. 98, in the print edition of the newspaper "Free Press" on September 25-26, 2021)

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