When you
hear that the new power of rock is spreading around Zaječar it is clear that
we’re talking about the band HCZ. Not promoted enough, but for already four
years not giving up on their goal. Lyrics painted in black humor, parody and
local patriotism are one of recognizable elements of this young hardcore/metal
band. It is time to get to know this raw power – Hard Core Zaječar.
1. Greetings HCZ! This year you’ve recorded the song
“Zaječarsko Pivo”, it is a great promotion of local beer. What does the company
say about that? Have they sent at least one promo package?
A: Greetings to you to! The song has been posted
on a ''Zaječarsko pivo'' Facebook page and we think they liked it. They
promised us a promo package and eventualy some cooparation in the future.
2. A bottle of beer would now go down well, but
let’s cut the comedy. You’ve performed in many places around Zaječar. Tell us
about the hardcore/crossover scene in that part of Serbia. Which one of your
gigs left the best impression?
A: We can not mention any other local HC band at
the moment. The gig in Niš with Raw in Sect(Greece) was a wonderfull experince,
but our favorite gig was in Knjaževac with Overdrive and Seljačka Buna.
3. As we’ve heard, your lyrics cover many themes,
but most of them are humorous. Who writes them, and how important is that humor
and parody for you?
A: Most of the lyrics were writen by lead singer
Ivan. Humor and parody is very important because we think that's the best way
to comunicate with the audience.
4. Your music leaves an impression of a very raw
production. If the sound production would have been at the higher level, would
the band be more popular and have more fans? Do you find that the sound
production is irrelevant comparing to being loyal to your idea?
A:All the songs are recorded by guitarist Željko
in his room (also known as ''Studio Šlajmara''). The band at the moment has no
money for some studio recordings, but we think that the audience responce would
be biger if we had proper production and promotion. Some great band's also
started with shit production, and it has been proved that is not very important
for some loyal fans.
5.Let’s make a digression and go back to your
beginnings. Tell our readers more about your founding. When and where was the
band established, who are the members, and have they changed since the
beginning?
A: We are school budies and very good friends.
Zaječar is a small town and we know eachother for a long time. We are in some
way forced to stick together. In 2010 we decided to form the band and the band
is in that same line-up. The band members are:
Ivan - Lead vocal
Željko - Guitar, Vocal
Aleksandar - Drums
Stefan - Bass
Aleksandar - Drums
Stefan - Bass
6. The band has planed to add another guitar to the sound. We are searching the right person at the time.We’ve read somewhere that HCZ plays “Zaječar’s hard core”. Is there something specific about that term? Tell us more about it.
A: We drag infuences from Serbian HC bands for
it's lyrics themes but music is different. Since there is no term for that kind
of combination we decided to call it like it's our own genre. HCZ stands for
Hard Core Zaječar.
7. Which Serbian and international bands had the
most influence on your music? What the HCZ crew listens to at home?
A: We all listen do different music. SMF, Tool,
Lamb of God, Messuggah, Hatebreed, The Casulties, Halid Bešlić, Safet Alija,
Južni Vetar can be heard in our presence and many more...
8. We could hear some cover song on your
performances. Do you plan to continue working on that in future or do you plan
to base your work particularly on authoring songs?
A: We have enough our own songs now and are now focused
on our own material.
9. What are your plans for future? What’s cooking in
HCZ’s kitchen?
A: We have few gigs planed at the time. In our
kitchen sarma is the best thing that we can offer.