As we have mentioned earlier, we did interviews at the Bear Stone Festival, including the organizer, Marin Lalić and two bands. Nenad Mandić, guitarist of Cojones band told us how he’s feeling at the festival, how he’s spending these two days and what’s going on with his band these days after the four-year break at the band.
How do you feel yourself in this area?
It’s fantastic. We came here with our families. We have young children from ten months to two and a half years, and everyone from the bands. So we came here with our kids and wives and decided to make this like a family rock and roll celebration.
It’s more like a vacation.
Yes, it’s definitely like a vacation. The perfect location for a fun vacation.
Which is the concert that you wait for the most?
Malady Lane from Zagreb, they are my friends. I’m looking forward to all the gigs, because like I said, we have young kids, and when kids are that young, you don’t have that much time to go to concerts, like we used to go. And now it’s been a while since we’ve seen some really great live rock and roll music.
What happened to you in these four years?
We played our last gig in Lubljana with Sleep. We opened for Sleep. It was a fantastic concert. And after that concert, we didn’t play much, and then the pandemic came, there weren’t any gigs. And we started our families, my daughter came first, and then the drummer’s son came last, and when the kids are that young, you can’t do what you like. You just do what you have to. Parent stuff.
So the kids are at the age, when they can go to festivals with you.
Yeah, they can, they’re still very young, but they can have fun and enjoy the nature, especially when it’s a festival like this. Beautiful nature and everything is safe. And it’s not a huge festival, with too many people, where everyone is walking into each other all the time. It’s more like a picnic.
Have you ever taken part in a festival like this?
We have played festivals like this, in Austria and Germany, but it’s never as beautiful is this. Because this is Croatia. This part of Croatia is fantastic. The festivals, where we played in Germany and Austria, are not as nice as here.
I was talking to Marin and we were talking about that this is somehow like you are in the 80’s, however I haven’t lived in the 80’s. And as a parent, as a musician also, do you feel any negative side of being unconnected to the world?
No, it feels perfect. Nobody can call me. Everyone that I need is right here with me. I think it should be one of the perks of this festival, that there’s no signal or Wi-Fi. Everything you have on your phone is here. You can use it, you can take pictures, and show your family after you get home. Everyone is always texting with somebody. I haven’t seen a person on their phone since I came here.
Yeah, I think we are the only ones who use their phones.
But this is for an interview.
And back to the music part, your last album came out in 2016. Do you work on something like an album or something else right now?
We started working on new material before we stopped four years ago. And then, when the organizer asked us to play here, we started working on those songs again, so it’s kind of taking off where we left, but with some new life and musical experiences, because we never really stopped playing. We didn’t have rehearsals or concerts, but I had the guitar in my hand every day, because I played for my baby and for myself. When everyone goes to sleep, then it’s time for me to take my guitar and my headphones, and play some riffs. I’m always recording something and we have some new material, but we take it slowly. We had one year to prepare for this concert, and we want it to be perfect. This is the same attitude we have for the new material. We have all the time in the world. We just want to make it great. So it’s going to be cooked slowly, but it’s going to be really tasty, when it’s done.
Do you have any other concerts in this year?
We’ve been asked for some gigs, but we decided that this festival was going to be an exclusive event for us, and that we’re going to do only this festival this year, and this is our gig. We’re coming back, and we’re happy about it.
How do you feel yourself before the concert right now, and before other festivals?
It’s always much more of a hurricane. You come in, you take the stuff and the equipment on stage and you have the sound check, go back, and then you quickly have a beer, and then eat something really fast. This is chilling. We’re here and we’re playing with the kids, taking a walk. It’s much more relaxed without all the hype.
So are you planning to come whenever it comes the opportunity?
Definitely. It’s such a great location, such a great organization. The people, who organize these gigs are fantastic. And I would really like to thank them again for having us here and giving us the opportunity to play our music again.
