Srdjan Bulatović Exclusive Interview 

Author - Mag. T.C. Carlin/Tealartis

You created a unique blend of Balkan irregular rhythms and international influences, reflecting the beauty of the Mediterranean and the mysticism of the Orient. When composing, what inspires you and how do you come up with ideas and concepts?

When composing, the most difficult thing is to come up with a musical theme from which the elaboration of the entire work will start. How to find inspiration and in which direction to go? In my case, it almost always arose while I was playing a certain classical piece, or rehearsing it for a recording or a concert. Countless repetitions of certain complex performing parts of the composition would cause in me the unexpected creation of new musical ideas, which I would immediately write down. Sometimes the whole work would be created in a couple of hours, and sometimes I wouldn't even manage to finish it for months afterwards. The most successful works were those that were created in a couple of hours. What has always been important to me in my new music is that the work or a certain musical theme in it evokes emotion when listening on the one hand, and on the other hand that it contains a certain level of performing complexity.

What advice would you give to young musicians regarding the process of creating new pieces? Do you have any practical tips?

I have always listened to my wishes and needs, but no less important than that, I asked myself whether what I want to do is feasible and realistic or not. My creative process was born from the need to create something new, original, different, but primarily understandable and interesting to the modern listener. The creation of new works grows over time into a passion and constant musical research and journey into the unknown. The creation of a new work is a different process from the previous one. The advice I would give to young performers is not to listen to the advice of others, but to get to know themselves and their needs and creative desires, if they have them. Everyone knows themselves best, so they will know whether or not they need something new and original.

With an impressive repertoire of albums, how do you approach the preparation for recording an album versus preparing for live concerts? Are the processes connected?

Recording music and performing concerts require two completely different ways of preparing. You have to prepare much more seriously for recording a CD than for a concert. Both processes require highly professional preparation, but the recording remains permanent, while the concert is fleeting. The best indicator of a good recording is when you listen to it after a long time and realize that if you were to record it again, you would do it in the same way as the existing one. If that is not the case, then you made a mistake somewhere. For a concert you also have to be perfect, but the focus here is on creating instant enjoyment in your own performer and the enjoyment of the listeners themselves.

How do you design your concert programs? Do you blend your compositions with classical repertoire, or do you keep them separate?

I used to play separate solo concerts with works from the baroque, classical and romantic music eras. In a duet with Darko, from the beginning of our collaboration, I explored new possibilities in the combination of classical and flamenco guitar. So we went through a significant period of our own transcriptions of classical and film music. For the last thirteen years, we have presented ourselves at concerts exclusively with our own original works. Sometimes when concert organizers ask us to perform classical works together with ours at the same concert, we do it. But those classical pieces that we perform then are our original transcriptions of classical music for two guitars.

How does your audience react when you perform well-known compositions compared to lesser known works?

This question gave us the answer many years ago, that we should present ourselves exclusively with our works. Namely, we used to perform other well-known and popular works at our concerts, and only a few of our works would be shyly played and dragged through the concert program, suspecting that it might not be good enough and high quality. We were not sure how the audience would react to our work, which was unknown to them at the time, whether they would like it or not. To our great surprise, the audience accepted our works as well as those known from the concert repertoire. From year to year, we inserted more and more of our own works, so that at one point we would have several different concerts filled only with our music. Since then, we present ourselves to the audience exclusively with our works. In the end, the audience is the most competent to judge whether something is good or not.

What does a typical concert day look like? How do you prepare?

Depending on the importance of the concert, preparations can begin months before it actually takes place. Sometimes, rehearsals last for hours every day, and this can take months. The piece must be learned in a tense state, and each part of it must be musically and technically designed and rehearsed. As the concert approaches, the tension increases. But, if you have gone through each stage of rehearsal properly, then you don't need to worry. On the day of the concert, I try to rest as much as possible and not play. This is where I gather strength and the desire to get on stage and start playing as soon as possible.