Interview with Dragan Matori by Joanna de Assis in September, 18, 2009

Dragan, you are becoming the most Brazilian Croatian of all, haha... You have been around with Nulla Osta in 2008 and God´s Cracked Skull in 2009. Which one of the tours did you like most and why?

Well, the first tour was quite special, because of the feeling of unexpected and unknown. That's always interesting, but on the other hand, second tour was really amazing. You know, to be able to see and hang out with all the people and friends once more... that was a great feeling too! Cannot pick which one was best.

Tell us about the Croatian underground scene. What does make it different from Brazil?

Croatia is a small country, but the scene is really huge. Dating from the late 70's when the first bands started to appear. Just in my town (which has population of aprox. 60 000) you can find 15 to 20 bands playing everything from rock, punk, hardcore, metal all the way to hip-hop, electronic. I'm talking just about underground D.I.Y. scene here! Main problem is that Croatian bands are not internationally known. In recent years Nulla Osta and many others are trying really hard to change all this with constant touring and playing outside of Croatia as much as possible. With this last line I also gave a hint about difference between Croatian and Brazilian scene. There are bands from Brazil playing around for years and years now, so there is something out there, a term called "brazilin hardcore". You cannot say the same for Croatian bands and scene. We simply don't have that kind of reputation.

Why do you like Brazil so much?

This is an easy question... the clime is great, specially to us Europeans, people are nice and friendly and the scene is interesting with a lot of bands, so it's easy to like !!

You told me lately that you play also in Homo Homini Lupus.  What is the news about this band? Are you the bassist as well? Can we also wait for a tour here?

I play bass in Homo Homini Lupus and we are almost ready to record third album before the end of this year. As you may know the second CD "What a fucking waste of life" released for Mexican label EBM Records you can also find in Brazil, because HxHxLx songs and releases were part of God´s Cracked Skull  project. As for touring Brazil... I received invitation from some people and we will come to Brazil, but for sure not in the next couple of years. World is a big place and we have many plans for the future..., but more about this subject when the time comes!

We know that in Europe there are always many hardcore/punk festivals, principally on summer. Which one is the most interesting for you? In which one did you like to play most? And in which one would you wish to play?

There are many summer festivals where we have never played, because that is the period of the year when I and my band mates have the most work and obligations. But of course we have intention to visit those festivals, which are mostly on the north of Europe, one day. The Monte Paradiso hardcore punk festival from Pula is a big part of our lives as we are the big part of that festival, so evidently is our personal favourite and will turn full age next year. Not many festivals have eighteen years long history.

Which one of your bands do you prefer and why? Tell us about the projects of each one.

I like to play with all my bands. I don't prefer one over another, because each band is playing different style. Nulla Osta is a hardcore band, while Homo Homini Lupus is more into crust - grind. I was also a member of a metal band called Mercenary  Cockroack, on the bass of course and we played death - grind. So with each band I enjoy in a different way. About the plans... In this moment I can say that both Nulla Osta and Homo Homini Lupus are preparing new material and that we'll record new songs in the next months. There's also a Greece tour of Nulla Osta coming' up. We'll hit the road in October of this year and after that we fly to UK for a few shows.

The best band, lyrics, book, movie and music.

The most appropriate thing to say is that I do not believe in idols and I don't have one. On this one I just can say that I have a lot of influences from different sources and enjoy reading, watching and listening to a lot of different stuff.

Among the bands you have played already through the years, which one was the best to share stage and backstage? Which ones would you like to play with?

Through the years we played with a really a lot of bands and would be impossible for me to list everyone here. I had an honour to share a backstage or even a van with a lot of pioneers of hardcore punk scene. No special wishes about to which I would like to play with. Every experience is a good one if you learn something from it.

A desire. A deception.

More releases, touring and friends worldwide.

Dragan Matori in one Word.

Lifelong optimistic.

Dragan Matori
E-mail: nullaostapula2002@yahoo.com
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