Borders are choking Culture. Interview by Info-Prim Neo with the Austrian musician Hubert Von Goisern and Zdob & Zdub’s lead Roman Iagupov

The Austrian musician Hubert Von Goisern is the initiator of the “Linz Europa Tour 2007-2009” project which plans to bring together musicians from different countries crossed by the Danube. The artists get onboard a ship, where they live and create shoulder to shoulder; from time to time they drop anchor in one of the 20 harbours along the Danube, transform the ship into a stage equipped with advanced sound reproduction systems, lights and monitors and get the show started. They reached the harbour of Ismail on July 26. The show featuring the famous Zdubs was also attended by Info-Prim Neo’s reporter. [- It takes a lot of courage to start such a project. How did you make up your mind to take so much responsibility?] [Hubert Von Goisern:] The project is an older dream of mine and nobody believed in its success in the beginning. I have been working a lot, and now I see it coming true. We got onboard the ship and set sail downstream the Danube. The main goal of our project is to meet with musicians from different countries and different cultures so as to enable the desired experience exchange. We started our journey on June 22 from Vienna and we anchored in Melk and Passau (Croatia), Orshova, Braila, and Galatsi (Romania), some cities along the Danube in Bulgaria, and then we’ll return to Romania – Tulcea and Slatina. Next on the list are Budapest, Belgrade, Novi Sad, and Bratislava. We will end this summer with a concert in Linz (Austria). For the next summer we will set sail for the cities upstream from Linz, until we reach the North Sea. The whole project will end in 2009 with a mega-show in Linz, Europe’s cultural capital, which is going to bring together all the bands involved in the project. This way we intend to enlarge eastward the cultural partnership of the regions along the 2889 kilometre long river. Music has always been a uniting element that knows no bounds, and cultural connections can lead to a better understanding between peoples. [Roman Iagupov:] The music freed Hubert and he is now sharing his freedom with other people. We interacted a lot. We had rehearsals together and we even played together. For us the Danube is a natural phenomenon which shouldn’t be affected because of the civilization, neither should it have borders along it. The Danube needs to be free. Music is a language that everyone can understand, no matter where they are from. Music should travel with no visas, no borders and without being stopped by barbed wire. I am tired of borders, of having to explain who I am, where I go, who I want to sing for; I am tired of the stamps in the passport and of everything that limits people’s freedom. [Hubert Von Goisern:] The way Europe lives and its attempt to unify is very important, exciting and even amusing. However, compared to the US, Europe is more ethnically and culturally diverse and it has more traditions. That is why it is obvious that in its aspiration for unification each country must keep its own culture. Nobody has the right to give away their principles, their traditions and their dignity as a people. The culture has to maintain peace among peoples. To be able to accept this musical diversity as one would be a great achievement. [- Has anyone before tried to implement a project of this kind?] [Hubert Von Goisern:] during the last 10 years there have been 15 attempts to realise a project like that, but it is not easy to create a project as big as this one. Apparently I was really lucky to go on with this project. In the 60ies and 70ies there was a project similar to this one, but it wasn’t as great and it had a different purpose. [- How did you choose the bands to play in the concert?] [Hubert Von Goisern:] We went through two research steps in order to select the bands. Firstly we chose the bands that I liked the most, which have the same vibes as I do. I didn’t make the choice based on logics or strategies, I just followed my heart. It was important to reach good communication so that we can collaborate in the future. Another requirement was that the band be from a place along the itinerary of our ship. [- How did the people receive you where you went?] [Hubert Von Goisern:] Oh, I have very nice impressions. This event was worth the effort even if there were a couple of towns that didn’t impress me much and that I don’t want to remember about. Everything has been going very well and I am glad that I took this adventure. [- What attracted you in this project?] [Roman Iagupov:] The project is phenomenal by itself. I think that there is a lot of room for improvement in the show business in Eastern Europe. There aren’t too many valuable performances produced in Moldova, Ukraine or Romania. The best shows happen in the rest of Europe. Though there are a few shows like that around here, they are popular mostly from the commercial perspective. Hubert’s project made me feel like a musician who can communicate artistically with other valuable musicians, who can accomplish his artistic potential within important cultural projects. This is how experience exchange happens; this is how we can feel the spirit of freedom, the spirit of Europe and the spirit of a high culture. And that’s the most important thing. I am bored to participate in mechanical concerts where you cannot learn anything, and where you don’t feel any spiritual satisfaction or artistic fulfilment. We have just started our collaboration. We intend to create some songs together and one video clip to leave to those who come behind us. A modern combination of the Austrian folk with the Romanian folk could generate a pretty interesting result. We will achieve something that even the politicians don’t manage to get. [- What else do you work on except for the concerts in “Linz Europa Tour 2007-2009” project?] [Roman Iagupov:] We actually have very many concerts, most of them open-air. The next week we will go to B’ESTIVAL, in Romania. We also have concerts in Ukraine, Russia, Romania and we will start our tour through Germany soon. We are travelling all the time. We would like a break when we could go to our studio and record some new songs, but our tour schedule is very busy, and we don’t have time for that right now. We hope that we will be able to record at least the song that we created with Hubert Von Goisern. [- That was an impressive collaboration. How long did you work for the song?] [Roman Iagupov:] In March Hubert spent 5 days with us and this is when everything began. We also had a few rehearsals before concerts. Everything worked out that well because we planned everything. In fact the Zdubs played a couple of songs together with Hubert. Among them there was Miorita (a song from the band’s repertory), one song of the Osoianu Sisters which was performed by the girls in Hubert Von Goisern’s band and one song from the repertory of the Austrian band. [- Aren’t you tired of travelling that much? Aren’t you tired of the tour?] [Hubert Von Goisern:] No, I am not tired. People and music give us so much energy that we don’t have time to get tired. It is good to be resonant; otherwise people might think that you are not enjoying what you are doing. In different places people have different mentalities and they react differently. I am glad that I have been with these musicians for 6 weeks already, that we are travelling on the Danube and it has some sort of purifying energy. The Danube scares away the bad spirits and keeps us in a good mood. [Roman Iagupov:] Here is where I understood that love and freedom are not myths and that they really exist. Hubert has a unique philosophy, and the more I talk to him, the more I realise these truths. Life is not only difficult, with a lot of problems; I saw the beautiful side of life too. This interaction with Hubert has been a very good experience for me.