Dear readers, today we are excited to introduce you to the band that won third place with the song called "Son of no desire"during the second edition of "On The Music Waves - International Song Contest", we are talking about Black Idol.
After playing together in various bands since elementary school in their hometown of Kruševac (central Serbia), Aleksa (vocals) and Uroš (guitar) moved to Belgrade, where they decided to express their love for various musical genres, especially progressive metal. They were joined by Timur (drums), Vasily (bass) and Aleksandar (guitar) in 2023 and started working on their debut EP. The band has a versatile sound, switching from progressive rock to prog metal with great ease. Black Idol will soon officially release their first single "Son of No Desire" which was recorded at Down There Studios (Belgrade) with producer Uroš Milkić, while the mixing and mastering were handled by Linus Corneliusson and Tony Lindgren, producers of Fascination Street Studios (Sweden).
Enjoy your reading!
Hi guys and thank you for being here. Congratulations on your podium at the second edition of "On The Music Waves - International Song Contest" with the song "Son of No Desire". How did you feel when you found out you had won the contest?
Uroš (guitar): We were all absolutely thrilled. I believe everyone who applies hopes to win, but being a prog metal band we didn’t really feel too confident because we suspected there would be many other more attractive, mainstream acts. At the same time, we saw how serious your jury was, which did give us a glimpse of hope and in the end that same jury ended up motivating us to keep going with this. Their recognition means a lot.
To introduce our readers to your musical style, we want to start by asking you what is the genesis of the band and what are your musical influences?
Uroš (guitar): We share love for music which is dynamic, story-telling and profound. One of the bands which influenced all of us at some point was Porcupine Tree, which showed us what rock and metal songs can sound like and that you don’t have to stay within the confinements of the genre. There are also other bands like Radiohead and Muse, which are not in the same genre, that influenced our musical thinking and expanded the horizon of possibilities for us.
In that sense, we try to write music which we enjoy ourselves and prog metal is just a label closest to it since we have to somehow prepare people for that 7-string guitar roar before they play our songs.
Introduce yourself. What about your artistic path?
Vasily (bass): I had quite an unusual artistic path. I started learning music when I was 6 and my first instrument was the accordion. I studied for a long time and finally, more by inertia than anything else, I received higher education at the conservatory in this area and I also studied there for two and a half years as a symphony orchestra conductor.
While studying accordion, I picked up bass guitar for the first time in high school and didn't take it seriously at first, it was more of a hobby compared to everything else I was doing then. My friend gave me my first bass guitar and I started developing an interest, not only in classical and folk music, but also in rock and jazz. Then I started to play in the school youth jazz orchestra and in different bands. Gradually I realized that I like playing and writing music related to rock and jazz much more than classical and folk music. When I started my first band, "Quinte Sense", we didn't understand what kind of music we actually played and much later we realized that it was kind of progressive rock.
Tim (drums): My name is Tim and I’m the bands’ drummer. My path was kinda strange, because for a long time music has been only a hobby for me. When I was a teenager, I didn't have access to real drums, and I drummed with chopsticks through the air along to my favorite music.
In high school, I worked part-time at a gas station in the summer and saved up for my first real kit. I had never seen a real instrument live before, so I bought almost the first one I found and had enough money for, put it in my parents' garage and spent whole days there. In my second year at university, I realized that music is the only thing that brings me happiness, and drums are the only thing that I was good at. So I decided to forever associate myself with playing an instrument.
I still graduated from the university and became a biotechnologist. Immediately after that, I moved and entered the St. Petersburg Institute of Culture, which I quit six months later, and then entered the Mussorgsky College for the pop and jazz department. I graduated from college with honors and after that I worked playing in different bands and teaching drums.
Aleksa (vocals): My name is Aleksa and I started nurturing my love for music since I was really young. Luckily my parents kept me on track.
My main path is doing anything I can musically, whether it is being involved in songwriting, playing an instrument, or whatever role I have to be - I can assume it.
Uroš (guitar): I play guitar and write lyrics in our band. I started playing around the age of 16 and then gave up guitar for 2 years because I felt so disappointed by my high school band breaking up. I started studying Psychology at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade and after my first year I realized that I miss playing music so much that I have to get back to it. I graduated from the Faculty with flying colors, but somewhere down the road I realized that no matter how interesting it is, Psychology will never make me happy the way playing music does. I decided to pursue happiness, no matter the cost. My influences include Porcupine Tree, A Perfect Circle, Akira Yamaoka and Radiohead, among many others.
Alex (guitar): I am a full-time musician, music producer and occasionally live sound engineer. I have spent 10 years studying classical piano before switching the focus of my studies to music production. I have recently completed my master’s degree at London College of Music. Guitar is quite likely my biggest passion and although a self-taught guitarist, I have been playing for the last 15 years and still continue to push myself to progress.
What led you to write music together for the first time?
Uroš (guitar): My nagging! After the initial band lineup broke up, I’ve spent many months looking for people who are both talented and willing to devote themselves to making this kind of music. After what seemed like an endless search, Tim and Vasily joined the band last summer. I’ve known Alex since 2017 or so, and I wanted to play in a band with him ever since, but there were no opportunities for that until last year. Luckily, we all clicked both as people and musicians and the music people will hear on the EP is the result of that.
Aleksa, vocals
How was the name "Black Idol" chosen?
Uroš (guitar): It was a result of my “doom scrolling” on the bus. I came across a painting by Czech painter František Kupka, named “The Black Idol”. I loved the atmosphere presented in the painting and I thought its name was equally powerful. I was certain that the name was already taken, but to my surprise it wasn’t! The guys also liked it and that’s how it came to be.
What other artistic projects are you currently working on?
Tim (drums): I play in an ethnic/pop/indie band called Karelia (Карелия) that is not too famous, but has a good fanbase.
Vasily (bass): At the moment I am involved in two more projects: the progressive rock band "Quinte Sense" and the world music project "Karelia", alongside Tim.
How has the Belgrade music scene challenged or benefited you artistically and individually?
Alex (guitar): The Belgrade music scene has been growing in the past few years and is showing a lot of potential to develop more in the future, with many bands and artists emerging out of it with interesting and original music. This is something that likely couldn’t have been said a few years ago as there is an obvious increase of musicians, bands and even venues.
Although, as it is still a developing music scene, finding musicians willing to take the same path might pose a challenge at times, as the amount of people involved is somewhat limited.
Having a rich and developed music scene is quite important as it creates an environment where artists are encouraged to continue writing and performing music, knowing that there is an audience ready to recognise and support them. It might also encourage more people to pick up an instrument and start creating.
Alex, guitar
What is the general creative path of piece writing for you?
Alex (guitar): It usually starts with an idea someone has, a riff, a chord progression or a full section of a song, which we then send or play to each other, shaping it and adding to it, to get it to a state where we’re all happy with what we have. Quite a lot of the work in the early stages is done in front of a computer with our guitars as it allows for the most control and instantly recording and arranging ideas. However, once the initial demo is created, we go through all of it in rehearsals in the studio, as being primarily a live band, this is the setting for which we create all of our music.
Do you already have inspiration for your future songs? What themes are you going to touch on?
Alex (guitar): Son of No Desire will be the first single of our debut EP. As the song itself, our first release delves into some of the darker and more difficult topics in our lives, the way we deal with them, and the effect they have on us. This relates to many internal struggles we face on a daily basis, but also some horrific issues on a larger scale in our society, such as war.
Tim, drums
An album (or artist) that changed your life and… what does it represent for you?
Tim (drums): I can tell you about a musician who has had a huge influence on me. His name is Benny Greb. If you're a drummer, you probably already know that name, otherwise put everything aside and Google it right away. When I still had little idea about how to play the drums, I accidentally found a YouTube video of Benny playing solo at the Meinl festival. It was a 13 or 14-minute solo in which he played with his hands, brushes, sticks and did things that I just couldn't believe. I was in a trance throughout the video. It was a moment of almost divine revelation. It showed me how drums can and should sound in the hands of a real master.
Vasily (bass): I like artists who manage to create their own musical and semantic worlds. I would highlight Radiohead, Porcupine Tree, Opeth, IATM(Iamthemorning) and Dikajee.
Aleksa (vocals): The answer would definitely have to be Porcupine Tree and everyone involved in the project. The way that everything comes together, musically, emotionally is something that I never felt before first hearing them. That was the moment I realized that music was what I wanted to do.
"Son of No Desire" is the song that you presented at the "On The Music Waves - International Song Contest" . It seems to talk about inner conflicts and the feeling of emotional disintegration, while also exploring the endeavor to reconcile one's emotions. The song addresses themes such as battling negative thoughts and the challenge of expressing one's feelings. Could you explain what message you pass down through this song?
Uroš (guitar): As I imagine most lyricists do, I would also like listeners to give the lyrics and the song their own meaning. That being said, you are pretty much on point there, the song is about the internal struggle, mainly with the thoughts that I believe most people battle when it comes to navigating through life. The pursuit of our own happiness can take its toll on us and those around us, and perhaps make us wonder if what we are pursuing is happiness after all. The song doesn’t provide an answer, but it is rather there to hopefully inspire thinking about these things and relieving that pressure.
click the image above to listen the song "Son of No Desire" by Black Idol
Uroš, guitar
What can you tell us about this single? Is it the preparation for the launch of your debut EP/ALBUM ? When will the video be released?
Uroš (guitar): It will be the first single of our upcoming debut EP. We will publish it with the video in September. The plan was to publish it in May, but due to some delays regarding video production we were forced to move it to September. There will be three more songs on the EP and we will publish them by the end of the year.
What are your musical goals? What do you desire?
Uroš (guitar): We want to connect with people through our music, to find solace in knowing we are far from alone in all the woes we experience, both individually and as a civilization. Hopefully, we will get the chance to present our music live to a lot of people and record our debut album next year. Anything further than that is hard to determine right now.
What does music and making music mean to you? Tell us about the power of music.
Aleksa (vocals): Making music, and being involved in music in any way, makes me feel like anything is possible. I know it sounds cliche, but for me it is the most flexible of all the arts, even the most subtle of sounds can have me feeling a certain way.
If you got the chance to write a song based on your favorite book. What book would that be and why?
Uroš (guitar): One of the books which gave me enormous inspiration over the years is “The Aleph and Other Stories” by Jorge Luis Borges. As the main lyricist of the band, I draw inspiration from art which pulls me in and compels me to immerse myself in it completely, and when writing lyrics for our band, I hope to achieve, at least to some level, what Borges achieves in these stories. The short story form I find extremely relatable to songwriting, as songs are essentially stories which have to be told in a limited time frame. Luckily, we play prog metal, so that time frame can vary significantly!
Have you already done any concerts? What was your most memorable live show?
Uroš (guitar): We haven’t done any concerts in this lineup yet, as we are waiting to release the first single before we start performing live. There were 3 concerts done with the previous lineup during which we played early versions of some of the songs that will be on the EP. The reactions were great, but the shows we are preparing for this fall are surely going to be much more memorable, both for the audience and us.
We would like to imagine your music as a metaphor with certain colors, particular scents, images of scenery … How would you describe yourself?
Uroš (guitar): Since the idea for our name came from the painting “The Black Idol” by František Kupka, I think it is best you look at it. The symbolism we would like to endorse here is that the way to the statue itself can be both destruction and salvation, depending on your view and interpretation. Reaching the statue is the goal in any case and it can be perceived as getting to the essence of one’s journey and we hope that we arrive at the essence of what our music can be in time.
Vasily, bass
Overall, is there something you wish more people knew about you?
Uroš (guitar): Well, taking into account that not that many people know about us right now, it would be nice to change that first, haha! What people coming to our shows and interacting with us should know is that we are going to be honest with them, on and off the stage, and that we will be more than happy to hear what they think of our music.
We close this interview with our usual question: what is Art and who are the artists in your opinion?
Aleksa (vocals): Art is a culmination of all emotions compressed and let go into the atmosphere, and an artist is someone who is the medium in this.
Thank you for taking the time to talk with me guys! I wish you much success and for your dreams to come true! We hope to see you in Italy for a live show!
Our warmest thanks to Art-Waves for their support, we promise front row seats to all the shows we play in Italy!
To keep up with BLACK IDOL and listen to more of their music follow them on:
Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/roUUJhRZg3YMfkC88
Facebook: https://facebook.com/blackidolofficial
Interview by Marianna L. for Art-Waves
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