Music can be spiritual as long as the audience is surrendering themselves to it and they let go of their ego.

Zahvalni smo što smo imali priliku da porazgovaramo malo sa Satorijem o tome ko se krije iza alijasa i samim počecima, kao i o njegovoj nama posebnoj muzici.

ENG: We would like to start from your very beginning, moment when Satori was born. Who exactly is Satori? What is his meaning, what he represents and what is his mission on this musical journey?

SRB: Želeli bismo početi od samog početka, od trenutka kada je Satori rođen. Ko je tačno Satori? Koje je njegovo značenje, šta on predstavlja i koja je njegova misija na ovom muzičkom putovanju?

ENG: My real name is Djordje Petrovic and I was raised with Serbian, Yugoslavian and Balkan music in general, but also Greek and Turkish music. My mother is from South Africa, so she definitely brought a more tribal spiritual sound in the family and all of those influences were really strong. When I grew up a bit, I bought my first guitar and I was making that type of music, those were my roots.  When I was 18 or 19, I discovered techno music, by the likes of Dave Clark. There is a festival in Amsterdam called Awakenings which is one of the best techno festivals in the world. I discovered for the first time, this experience of 2000 people in this warehouse, going completely crazy with kicks and high hats and raving until six in the morning. This is obviously very different than music from the Balkans that has a lot of instruments and emotions. I started Djing and producing techno music for a few years, but in techno music I missed the instruments, the folklore and the melancholy. There was a point where I began to combine those two, to combine the racy techno elements and traditional Balkan folklore music – that’s how I was raised, that’s how you see me now as an artist on stage.

SRB: Moje pravo ime je Đorđe Petrović i ja sam odrastao sa srpskom, jugoslovenskom i balkanskom muzikom uopšte, ali i sa grčkom i turskom muzikom. Moja majka je iz Južne Afrike, tako da je definitivno donela više plemenski duhovni zvuk u porodicu i svi ti uticaji su bili zaista jaki. Kada sam malo odrastao, kupio sam prvu gitaru i pravio sam tu vrstu muzike, to su bili moji koreni. Kada sam imao 18 ili 19 godina otkrio sam elektronsku muziku, poput Dejva Klarka. U Amsterdamu se održava festival Awakening  koji je jedan od najboljih tehno festivala na svetu i otkrio sam po prvi put ovo iskustvo od 2000 ljudi, ljudi koji su u potpunom zanosu i koji rejvuju do 6 ujutru.  Ovo se očigledno razlikuje od muzike sa Balkana koja ima mnogo instrumenata i emocija. Počeo sam sa DJingom i produkcijom tehno muzike,  ali u tehno muzici mi nedostaju instrumenti, folklor i melanholija. Postojala je tačka u kojoj sam počeo da kombinujem ova dva, da kombinujem raskošne tehno elemente i tradicionalnu balkansku folklornu muziku – tako sam odrastao, tako me sada vidite kao umetnika na sceni.

ENG: Each of your gigs is special, you can say that only by listening to your music you send people to another universe. So, tell us, where do you find inspiration for your work, and which genres u using the most?

SRB: Svaki vaš koncert je poseban, može se reći da samo slušanjem vaše muzike šaljete ljude u drugi univerzum. Recite nam, gde nalazite inspiraciju za svoj rad izvan muzike?

ENG: My biggest inspirations actually come from paintings. When I listen to other music which I like, I have the tendency to copy it, that’s the trap; you discover a good song, you kinda analyze it and then you copy it. But when you discover a painting and you analyze what it’s about, you try to make music for that painting because it’s very open for your interpretation. So when I see a painting, for example, from Picasso, I ask myself: ‘Hey Satori, can you make a soundtrack for this painting?“

SRB: Moje najveće inspiracije zapravo potiču iz slikarstva. Kada slušam drugu muziku koja mi se sviđa, imam tendenciju da je kopiram, to je zamka; otkriješ dobru pesmu, nekako je analiziraš i onda kopiraš. Ali kada otkrijete sliku i analizirate o čemu se radi, pokušajte da napravite muziku za tu sliku, jer je ona veoma otvorena za vašu interpretaciju. Dakle, kada vidim sliku, na primer, od Pikasa, pitam se: „Hej Satori, možeš li napraviti traku za ovu sliku?“

ENG: How many instruments do you use while playing?

SRB: Koliko instrumenata koristiš dok nastupaš?

ENG: I have a two keyboards and they control ten instruments, most of them are electronic. If we speak about acoustics, I don’t have any of those. In terms of my setup, I have two keyboards, I have a flute, I have a drum computer, so four or five instruments on stage.

SRB: Imam dve klavijature i one kontrolišu deset instrumenata, većina je elektronskih. Ako govorimo o akustici, ja to nemam. Što se mene tiče, imam dve klavijature, imam flautu, imam bubanj kompjuter, pa četiri ili pet instrumenata na sceni.

ENG: Who is the band from Space?

SRB: Ko je bend iz Svemira?

ENG: It’s what I create alone, but then I do it with more musicians on stage and it allows me to bring a different type of energy with my music, because some of my songs are not made for clubs and EXIT Festival’s Dance Arena. Some songs require more of a concert setting in order to showcase them. By having musicians and a band around me gives me an opportunity to make that kind of music which I also release. There’s a person on the cello and bass, one person on the guitar, one on the synthesizer.

SRB: To je ono što sam kreiram, ali onda to radim sa više muzičara na sceni i to mi omogućava da donesem drugačiju vrstu energije sa svojom muzikom, jer neke od mojih pesama nisu napravljene za klubove i EGZIT Dens Arenu. Neke pesme zahtevaju više koncertne postavke kako bi ih prikazali. Pošto imam muzičare i bend oko mene, to daje  mogućnost da napravim onu vrstu muzike koju i ja puštam.Tu je osoba na violončelu i basu, jedna osoba na gitari, jedna na sintisajzeru.

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ENG: Apart from the music we can’t go on without mentioning your unique fashion style. Tell us, what is it saying about you, can we say that hat is your trademark?

SRB: Osim muzike, ne možemo nastaviti bez da spomenemo vaš jedinstveni modni stil. Možemo li reći da je šešir vaš zaštitni znak?

ENG: Yeah, it’s all made by my brother, he’s a hat designer, so I’m wearing all the hats he designs for me, so it’s very personal. There is definitely a certain personal value in them.

SRB: Da, sve je napravio moj brat, on je dizajner šešira, tako da nosim sve šešire koje dizajnira za mene, tako da je to vrlo lično. Definitivno postoji određena lična vrednost u njima.

ENG: Is there any place where you didn’t perform but you would like to and which place left the biggest impression on you?

SRB: Da li postoji neko mesto gde niste nastupali, ali biste želeli i koje mesto je ostavilo najveći utisak na vas?

ENG: The place I’ve never been to and wanna perform is EXIT Festival Dance Arena, so I’m super excited for that one, because it is a place where I always wanted to play. It looks really beautiful on videos and pictures, very impressive.

SRB: Mesto na kojem nikada nisam bio a želim da nastupim je EXIT Festival, Dens Arena, tako da sam veoma uzbuđen zbog toga, jer je to mesto gde sam uvek želeo da nastupam. Izgleda veoma lepo na video snimcima i slikama, veoma impresivno.

ENG: In addition to having great sets, tell us how many of your tracks you put through the set and did you or are you planning to release some new music soon?

SRB: Osim što imate odlične setove, recite nam koliko ste svojih numera stavili kroz set i planirate li uskoro objaviti neku novu muziku?

ENG: During my shows, a lot of things are improvised, so many things are as new for me as they are for the crowd. Most of the time I don’t play the song as it is, so it’s hard to say that I play, for example, 20 songs during my sets. Some of them don’t even have a name, it’s just creating in the moment. Then something interesting happens, something that exists in that moment. Also, I am working on a new album now and next year I’ll release my third album.

SRB: Tokom mojih nastupa, mnoge stvari su improvizovane, tako da su mnoge stvari za mene nove kao i za publiku. Neke od njih čak nemaju ni ime, već se samo stvaraju u ovom trenutku. Onda se desi nešto zanimljivo, nešto što nastaje u tom trenutku. Takođe, sada radim na novom albumu i sledeće godine ću izdati svoj treći album.

ENG: The man behind Satori is Djordje Petrovic. We would like to know little bit more about him, like what is his favorite food, book…?

SRB: Čovek iza Satorija je Djordje Petrović. Želimo da znamo nešto malo više o njemu, koja mu je omiljena hrana, knjiga…?

ENG: My favorite food is oysters. It’s not even food, it’s more of a delicacy. I’m laughing about it now because I just had them an hour ago with my friend who is sitting next to me right now! Cevapi were my favorite food, but I stopped eating meat, so I miss that and pljeskavica.

SRB: Moja omiljena hrana je ostriga. Nije čak ni hrana, više je delikates. Sada se smejem zbog toga što sam ih jeo pre sat vremena sa mojim prijateljem koji sada sedi pored mene! Ćevapi su mi bili omiljena hrana, ali sam prestao jesti meso, pa mi nedostaje i pljeskavica.

ENG: Do you believe in energy, deeper connection with people as much as you believe in your music?

SRB: Da li verujete u energiju, dublju vezu sa ljudima koliko verujete i u svoju muziku?

ENG: They call my music spiritual, but I don’t really believe in that. I believe all music can be spiritual as long as the audience is surrendering themselves to it and they let go of their ego. Brian Eno said it beautifully – the reason why we like religion, art or sex is because they give you a chance to surrender, to be you in the moment. And music gives you that chance, too. Balkan music and Goran Bregović can be equally spiritual if you just surrender to his blues and beats. My crowd is just more open to surrendering compared to a crowd at a more commercial club where people don’t really come for the music, but to socialize and other stuff. When the crowd comes to my sets and lets go, it becomes a special experience for them and for me. People forget their daily life and work and blend in. I do believe in a deeper connection, but I don’t think that my sound is necessarily the only one that has that.

SRB: Moju muziku nazivaju duhovnom, ali u to ne verujem. Verujem da sva muzika može biti duhovna sve dok se publika preda njoj. Brajan Eno je to liepo rekao – razlog zašto volimo religiju, umeetnost ili seks je zato što nam daju priliku da se predamo, da budete u ovom trenutku. I muzika ti daje tu šansu. Balkanska muzika i Goran Bregović mogu biti podjednako duhovni ako se predate njegovom bluzu i ritmu. Moja publika je samo otvorenija za predaju u poređenju sa publikom u nekom komercijalnijem klubu gde ljudi ne dolaze radi muzike, već da se druže i druge stvari. Kada mnoštvo ljudi dođe na moj set i prepusti se, to postaje i za njih i za mene posebno iskustvo. Ljudi zaboravljaju svoj svakodnevni život i posao i prepuste  se. Ja verujem u dublju vezu, ali ne mislim da je moj zvuk nužno jedini koji ima to. 

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Autor: Igor