Sofia - 24.04.2009 - FINALLY :))

[manimal]

At last I will have the chance to see New Model Army in my homeland.





http://www.dercircle.com/

I received the news just few hours ago and it was a total surprize - of course, it made my day, my week, my month, etc. )

Still no info about suporting bands etc. is known, but I spent the afternoon hours jumping around at work. Fantastic news, just fantastic.

[manimal]

OK, guys, here is something I can brag about. )

Last night Justin gave an interview for his Bulgarian vulgarian fans - the organizer send me a message - and very soon it will be translated and published.

But in a summary, she told me that Justin said that basically they are about to finish working on the songs for the new album and ....attention... we, the vulgar Bulgars will have the honour to be the first audience to hear some of the new songs on 24th of April. )

He also said that the album will be released in September.

The full interview will be available till the end of this week.

Cheers!

[thelady]

But in a summary, she told me that Justin said that basically they are about to finish working on the songs for the new album and ....attention... we, the vulgar Bulgars will have the honour to be the first audience to hear some of the new songs on 24th of April. )

I`d love to do that one, as I`ve never been to Sofia so far; unfortunately I couldn`t find any affordable flights (even Wizz/Germanwings/easyjet) - is anyone else planning to go ?

He also said that the album will be released in September.

Sounds good for my birthday !

[manimal]

I`d love to do that one, as I`ve never been to Sofia so far; unfortunately I couldn`t find any affordable flights (even Wizz/Germanwings/easyjet) - is anyone else planning to go ?

Well, both Wizzair and Skyeurope fly to/from Sofia from the low-fare companies, I have used both of them several times - but I don't know if the dates of departure/arrival are fine for you.

Easyjet are also flying to Sofia, as far as I know, cause I've seen ads around, but random probably, since I've never used them.

I don't know exactly where are you from and where you'll be flying from, to give you a more exact advice. )

There is a Bulgarian airflight company - originally called Bulgaria Air ) - they are not a low-fare firm, but their prices are considerably lower than everyone else's. I am using them often, actually I will be flying from Brussels to Sofia after seeing Agalloch in Belgium, 2 weeks from now with them.
Here is their website: http://www.air.bg/en

I've just checked it: if you are flying from London they have a flight leaving on 23 of April from London and returning on 25th. The price is 177 Euro for the round trip, which is OK, I think. Again I don't know where you'll be flying from, but they have flights all around Europe from/to both London airports everyday, and also from the mainland (Germany, Belgium, France, Austria, etc.)

Now for hotels - the venue, where the gig will take place is situated on the way from the airport to the center of the city - it is exactly 4 km. from the center (which is why it is called "4th km. Party Center" ) ) It is situated on a round crossroad on this big way, that goes through half the city. The nearest and most known hotel is this one - Hotel Pliska - very close, virtually half a mile from the venue. It is an old hotel, tall building seen from afar. The prices as far as I know start from 30 Euro (single room) - if my info is not old, cause I've never stayed there. There are also many new hotels around, I guess, because the neightbourhood is quite busy.

As for Sofia - most of the sites to see are located in the center, but there is also a mountain, near the city, where people go often for a walk. The food and the beer are the cheapest in EU.

In any case, if you, or anyone, decides to come - you can rely on my cooperation and help throughout your stay from the very landing on the Sofia airport.

Cheers!!!

[manimal]

Just a quick note - there is another hotel nearby - Hotel CSKA, which is the hotel of the FC CSKA. I don't know how it is, and don't know if it still works, but it is cheap, I guess, and is also very close to the venue.

Actually there are many hotels or hostels in Sofia, and the distances are not that big - like I've already written above, the venue is 4 km. from the city center.

[manimal]

Well, guys - here is the interview, that I mentioned.

Unfortunately it is in Bulgarian - and since I don't expect any of you (except my Adashka Milla ) ) to know even a few words in Bulgarian - i will spend some time next few hours (or days) trying to translate it in an understandable way. )

[manimal]

OK, here it is in English. But...
First of all – have in mind that the text below is my translation in English of the text in Bulgarian. I don’t have the audio yet – so it is a translation from the Bulgarian text on the website, which is quite risky, but since it is the fastest way and there are interesting things in it, that I figured you may want to know, I’ve done it. So if there are any mistakes, or misinterpretations, syntax errors, grammar errors or anything else to blame on someone – blame it on your humble translator (me) and not the interviewer or (don’t even think to blame) the interviewed.



------------------------------------------------------


Q:  Hi, Justin, what’s the news about you and New Model Army?

Justin:  Well…I don’t know if you are aware, but just before X-mass something really important and … shattering happened. For quite some time we are an independent band – we have our own company ("Attack Attack Records"), our own tour management, etc…and all this business was ran by only one person, who unfortunately passed away (Tommy Tee, who died on 23.12.2008). This brought a profound change in the way the band works, and this change is still going on. Nevertheless we decided to keep moving on as planned with the recording of the new album. Just few days ago we finished working on all of the new songs and left the studio. After that we hope to tour in different countries around the world. And the news about New Model Army is that we’re gonna play in Bulgaria.

Q: Exactly. And that’s the main reason for this conversation. The anxiety of the fans here is huge, since this will be your fist visit to Bulgaria…

J: Yeah, and last year we played in Bucharest and it was great! I love to go to new places - places we’ve never been before… but actually I love Bulgaria, I’ve been there as a kid.

Q: Really?

J: Yes, in 1970  (note: when Justin was just 14 years old)

Q: On a holiday or…?

J: No, I was with my family – we were traveling through all Eastern Europe from Greece. I will never forget how beautiful Bulgaria is -  I just loved your country! I remember that we stayed in a small cooperative farm, haha! Don’t know why – probably this was the only place, which my father found for us to stay. I was still a kid and everything was new for me. And the Bulgarian folklore, sung by your singers… It is just… I don’t have words to describe it! We went to some kind of folklore performance there by chance and I was absolutely overwhelmed by the singing. Later in the 70s and the 80s the whole world knew about your folklore, but back then it was still unknown.


 Q: That’s right – “we’ve also given something to the world…”, as the saying goes. And how did it happen that you decided to play in Sofia?

J: The organizers came in touch with us – as if from nowhere, they just wrote that they would like to invite us to play in Bulgaria. And with the sad news of our manager’s death – we couldn’t do much, so we forwarded the message to our touring agent and everything was arranged… So we are coming! I think it will be a great concert!


Q: Do you plan to make something special in Sofia, since this will be your first show in our country?

J: Well, not really - we will just be the usual New Model Army as always. We are somewhat strange and… special enough as a band, I think. I can’t think of any other musicians that don’t fit into any particular musical genre. We’ve never had any hit-single, or hit-album anywhere in these 29 years, but we have a strong family of devoted and loyal fans from all around the world. Actually, I believe, some groups of fans from Great Britain and Germany will be coming to Sofia to see us live in the end of April.

Q: Are you serious?

J: Absolutely. Our most devoted fans follow us around the world and travel to all these different countries just to see us play, and especially when the place is interesting and not very far – as is the case with Bulgaria. When we were in Bucharest last year, there were like 20 people from all Europe, who came to Romania especially for our concert there.

Q: And can you tell me something about the setlist and which songs do you plan to play in Sofia?

J: We’ll definitely play songs from all our history, but we’ll focus on the new material. We’ll play few of the new songs from our new album, for sure. The truth is that every musician is most excited with the songs he creates now, with the new material, and not so much with the older stuff. And this is absolutely true for us and the way we feel for our songs. Some people tell us: “Hey, you are an ‘80s band, so you should play this kind of music from the 80s.” Well, no way! Just before Xmass we played in London, Koln, Amsterdam and Paris, and on every of these concerts we played only two songs, that were made before 2000 and the whole audience was perfectly happy. Right now, what is most important for us is our new album. Large part of it was written in October 2008 and deals with subjects as the crash on WallStreet and the global consequences from that crisis. That is what we need to sing about now, and not about some things that happened twenty years ago.


Q: How long are you staying in Bulgaria? As far as I know your concert in Sofia will be your only one in April – so you’ll have much free time hopefully?

J: We’ll arrive the evening before the day of the concert and we’ll leave on the day after the concert. So we’ll have two nights to spend in Sofia, which is great – usually we stay just for one night, and now we’ll have time to look around the city and meet new people.


Q: Yes, it will be great for us – your fans – to know if we’ll have the chance to meet you offstage too. How do you spend your time after a concert usually – do you go to your hotel immediately, or do you prefer to stay for some chat and photos with your fans?

J: Oh, we really love to meet with people. Usually it takes us 10-15 minutes right after we’ve played to take a breath and to refresh, and then we go out and mingle with our fans.

Q: Great! Will you say some words about the band and the guys we’ll see in Sofia?

J: Sure. We are together for quite some time already. It is true, that I am the only one from the very first lineup, who is still around, but presently it doesn’t matter because we are a band of five musicians now. A quintet. Nelson is on the bass (note from the interviewer: real name Peter Nice), with whom we are almost 20 years together now. Michael Dean is on the drums, Dean White is taking care of the keyboards, and the only one comparatively new member is Marshal Gill, and he is with us for 4 years already. I dare say, that this is the strongest lineup of New Model Army ever … or at least the one most united and solid.


   Q: And how would you present yourself?

J: Hahaha.. That’s a difficult one. Let’s see… Well… I don’t care what people think about me, you know. Everyone has his own personal opinion and perception of who I am, and especially when I am on the stage. It’s too subjective. What we most care for – I mean the band and myself – is to be who we are. We don’t pretend to be someone we are not. And it comes to my mind – the musicians who have made some stage image and some stage persona that they use in their shows – for them it is unthinkable to go onstage without their makeup and costumes, which help them turn into someone… or something else. Well, we are not that kind. Onstage we are the same people, who we are in our real lives.


Q: And who is Justin Sullivan in his personal life? Do you have family, kids, profession?

J: Oh, sorry, but that’s too personal.


 Q: OK, I won’t be impertinent. What happens with your projects outside New Model Army – I mean Red Sky Coven, or your work with Joolz?

J: Red Sky Coven is something that involves me, Joolz, Rev Hammer and Brett Selby – we play just for fun, because we are best friends for over 25 years. In January we had some shows in Germany and in May we’ll play few concerts in England. We do that every couple of years or so – not for the money, but because we are good friends, who love to spend some time together.
   And Joolz  - we’ve been working together for many years. She is known, not only for her books of poetry and prose, but also for being the first New Model Army manager in the beginning of the 80s. She has always been a member of our family. Recently we worked together on a record – she reads her poetry, while I create the musical background. And I am very proud with this record – it was released in the end of 2008 and is called "Spirit Stories". It seems like the combination of music and poetry will never become very popular, but this doesn’t mean that that one record is less special and unique.


Q: So will we have the chance to buy this album or any of New Model Army releases or merchandize on your concert in Sofia?

J: Honestly – I am not sure... The problem is called “luggage”. It was easier before to travel with as much and as heavy luggage as we wanted, but now it is quite different… If we were coming by bus, we could bring many discs and t-shirts, but now we will travel by plane, and we should first take care bringing the most important things – guitars, instruments, etc. Well, we’ll see however...


Q: We just talked about your projects outside New Model Army and it brings this question to my mind – what kind of music do you listen to recently?

J: Quite different kind of music. All of us in the band listen to various kind of music and… I would say – we don’t believe in genres in music. We listen to different things we like, and the genre doesn’t matter at all. Recently I became a big fan of Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age – his songs are quite interesting. The first time I listened to his music was some 6-7 years ago and since then I am more and more convinced that he is a great musician. I like PJ Harvey too, and also two folk-singers from America - Alela Diane and Gillian Welch. There is also a fresh new band from my hometown, Bradford - called New York Alcoholic Anxiety Attack. I like to listen to contemporary classical music from time to time.

   Q: And what are the bands, people or events, which inspired you to create New Model Army?

J: We started in 1979-80 and, very logically, our roots are in the punk-rock scene. On the other hand, England then was very unstable in political and economic way – huge unemployment, turmoil in the factories, and the division between Northern and Southern England was evident – we are from the North, so… I think these conditions affected us as a band tremendously in the beginning. But with time going on, we are changing and we started responding to things that happen in different parts of the world. We will always sing about the present, about now – even if it is not in a direct way.
 

 Q: Talking about inspirations – you’ve also inspired a long list of bands and musicians. Maybe the most well-known example is the Sepultura cover of “The Hunt” in their „Chaos A.D." [1993] – do you know that one?

J:  Of course – it is great!.

Q: And which is the best cover of an NMA song in your opinion?

J:  Probably the one you’ve just mentioned.


 Q: OK… You just said, that the new album will be out in September?

J:  Yes, we are almost ready. The new album has quite an eclectic sound, but then – most of our albums are that way – meaning that our music meanders through different genres and styles. And also there are all kinds of light and dark nuances, which can be felt in the new songs.  As it is with “High”, the producer is Chris Kimsey, and he is fond of guitars very much, so that will dominate in the sound of the new album, I guess. As for the lyrics – we sing about present matters and problems again. Two or three of the songs will deal with the crash of Wall Street and the global crisis, etc.

Q: Next year will be the year of New Model Army’s 30th anniversary.

J:  Yes, that’s right… but there is still some time to get to this point, hahaha!


Q: Are you planning to celebrate this ocasion.

J:  We’ll probably do something special, but we’ll think about it next year, not now.

  Q: OK then... do you want to say something to your fans in Bulgaria before your concert on 24th of April?

J:  I am very excited about our visit in your country. I personally know two or three Bulgarians who came to see us in Istanbul and other European cities, when we’ve played there. And they’ve said to us “Why don’t you come to play in Bulgaria?”, and our response always was – “We’d love to!” And especially for them and our Bulgarian fans and their devotion to us through all these years, I am very, very happy that we’ll come and play for you at last!


---------------------------------------------

That's it. Again, I should appologize for any mistakes made in the hurry by me and again I must point out, that you should accept the text above more as a retelling of the interview, because in fact, it presents my English translation of the Bulgarian translation of the interview in English. So I hope not much was lost in all these translations…

I dare to think that the “two or three Bulgarians who came to see us in Istanbul and other European cities” from the last paragraph of the interview, are actually me and my friends. I was so very lucky to spend some hours with the band in Istanbul on couple of occasions after their concerts there, and the last time – last summer, they’ve remembered me (maybe because I was the only one with the NYAAA harpy t-shirt both times), and I wouldn’t indulge in that thought too much… but actually we said exactly what Justin talks about in the interview - “Why don’t you come to play in Bulgaria?”, and they said – We will hopefully!

[jc]

Thanks for the translation. Would love to see Sofia, currently making enquiries so you never know...

Cheers

jc

[manimal]

Thanks for the translation. Would love to see Sofia, currently making enquiries so you never know...

Cheers

jc

You're welcome.
If you need any help, info or advice - pls, send me a message and let me know.

Cheers!~

[Brother Wolf]

Thank you for this, great stuff to read.

[Coumarin]

enjoyed reading this, thanks for the translation manimal

[lfran]

   Yeah, thanks very much for all the time you put into this. Much appreciated.

[welsh_beard]

Myself and MartyD are booked up, as is Aideen and Speedy.

Looking forward to it.

J / B

[manimal]

Myself and MartyD are booked up, as is Aideen and Speedy.

Looking forward to it.

J / B

welsh_beard, great. If you are coming on 23.04 evening, you'll probably travel in the same plane with the band.
If I am not wrong - the arrival (Bulgaria Air flight) is in the late evening hours, but if it is convenient for you, we can plan a meeting in a pub somewhere, the afternoon before the concert. Anyway we'll stay in touch till then.

Something I forgot to mention before - there is a kind of a promotion now ))) hehe, till 15 of March the tickets for the concert cost 25 leva (BGN) - which is s.th. like 12,5 Euro. After 15 of March tickets will cost 30 leva (15 Euro) and on the day of the concert (24.04.) - 35 leva (17,5 Euro).
Now for our currency - Leva - in 1997 we had a huge economical/financial/political crash in our country and since then we are in a currency board regime, which stipulates that no matter what happens (war, disaster, Apocalypse, Lucifer, Jesus Christ, etc...) - our currency Leva is tied up to the Euro in an exchange rate that is roughly 2:1 (exactly it is 1,96 Leva=1 Euro) and every other currency is calculated through its exchange rate to the Euro - meaning that now 1 GBP (due to its great fall recently) is exactly 2,10 Leva.
(This IMHO is partly the reason that we managed to delay the effects of the global crisis up to now. Bulgarians are actually not very impressed with that crisis wave coming from the West, since we have quite some experience with creating crisis on our own and living in constant alert of financial crash, so luckilly we've learned some lessons from the past.. )) Hehe)

You can exchange currency in banks, and banks are everywhere in Sofia - also (especially in the central part) there are these exchange booths usually with big sign "Change" on it - and you can exchange money there too. Since the calculations are very easy (especially exchanging Euro) - noone will try to fool you. ) But if anyone anywhere offers you some different rate than the ones above - you can tell him "Razkarai se" (which means literally "bugger off") )


HERE is a map of Sofia in English - if you search for "TSARIGRADSKO SHOSE boulevard" - which is a big road cutting the map from the center to the SouthEast part of the city - somewhere in the middle of this loooong road you will find a circle crossroad called "Aviation Square". The building right next to it (shown in red colour) is the concert venue. )

More tips later. ))

Cheers!
 

[marty.d]

Myself and MartyD are booked up, as is Aideen and Speedy.

Looking forward to it.

J / B

Your not wrong J / B, I'm well looking forward to it.