Losers

In the days before and during the last weekend, two events took place, whose subject is the subculture, make it rock ‘n’ roll, of the new generations, coming from this piece of the Balkans. The events Underground Sound Festival and Loser Fest ’02 ended almost at the same time. The recently established Underground… (Supported by the same enthusiasts who move the Rock Fest forward for years) happened in the only rock club that Skopje has– Lady Blue, and there is a possibility for it to move to Stip in December. The other one is the already popular Loser Fest ’02 (under the umbrella of the strong Taksirat and a background that promoters like the Lithium Records can provide) that happened one week before the start of its big brother, and took place in the Youth Cultural Center, the only larger space in the city that opens the doors for the “filthy music form”.
Thirty bands were playing on the two festivals and there were 4.000 people in the audience, which is not a small number, especially if one knows that in the club in the center of the city there are always a large number of visitors, and on the other hand, the YCC, the rock ‘n’ roll “wasteland” wasn’t visited in such a large number (about 1500 sold tickets) in two years. In those two years, some people “experimented” with the space, the same who thought that YCC shouldn’t be visited by “the crowd who may disgrace the image of the institution”. All in all, if we keep in mind that the public was informed about the events through several simple posters placed in downtown Skopje, and almost nothing else, this course of events may be a surprise for some people. We will exclude the numerous minutes dedicated on the festivals on the local radio stations– although it is surprising that the Channel 103, whose sphere of interest should be precisely the underground Skopje scene, didn’t cover the events in any way.
Of course, nobody that has some common sense, especially nobody from the subcultural (i.e. underground) environment doesn’t expect the interest of the electronic media in the country, but it is surprising that even the more distinguished, like Arhangel, Kismet, T.B. Traceri forgot about it. These means that they have lost the feel for one specific, creative engagement of the generations, who perceive the things from a different angle and channel their youth energy in a different way, is an absolute stupidity that reoccurs persistently. As if one doesn’t want to learn the lesson that: the rebelliousness and the different sense of the new generations do not deserve the attention of the “wide media offers” that is supposed to be a reality. At least until (we suppose) the moment when the discography business includes them, which is an abstract notion in these conditions. Therefore, it is clear that the “noise” and the different thinking (and the different “social lyricism”) will remain totally ghettoized, as a rule, and will warm the souls of the obviously not small unanimous tribe.
And that’s it. Although, for the sake of the truth, some part of it will probably be recorded and it’ll be very valuable for the collectors. In this case, that is the Loser Fest 02 compilation that united the Lithium Records, on one hand and the unbreakable ones from the fanzine, i.e. MAGAZINE, Cor.Cordis. But, these media is not only meant for the fans but also, logically, it is also meant for the people who create the music air, it should be their obligation, but in fact they would disappear in the labyrinth of the ignorance and the lack of desire for something else, something different than the worn out repetitions. And that’s the end of the story.
So, who are the real losers now?
It is clear that the outcast, regardless of the feeling in their throats, should still be proud of their deed. At least they are not drowsy and they articulate their message loud and clear. They directed their energy towards creating something. Only the narrow-minded should feel threatened by their “destructiveness”. Exactly they are the ones, the people who don’t feel any need of adventure, who are the real losers.
Extraordinarily enough, the conditions in our dear Macedonia have never been more ripe for fruitful channeling of the youth energy and the lines, the cries that are wrestling with the reality, where the hope is buried. The one that they say dies the last. The hope of the generation that points a finger in the mirror, but also the hope of the over-ripe generation as well.
Therefore, not as a slogan, but as a simple suggestion (which, if understood the right way, becomes a necessity) try to hear and to disseminate the crude distorting, imperfect and strong messages of: Siniac (winners of Loser Fest ’02), SK 02, Dedicated for Life, S’klet, Jason, Karburatori, Point Blank, D.N.S. Ekipa, Skandal, Morwen, Mizerija, Epoha… For all of you who experience life right now.