INTERVIEW WITH STEREORUSH FROM BULGARIA

What is the name of the band and why did you choose this name?
Stereorush, because the word “Stereo” means polyphonic and “Rush” is a big explosion so  the name reminds melodies explosion.

What's the rule of every memeber?
- Nicola Filchev: vocals and piano.
- Kiril Milanov: lead guitars and backing vocals.
- Alexander Kirev: guitars
- Deyan “Dido” Nachev: bass, contrabass and backing vocals.
- Martin Dimitrov: drums and percussions.

Do you have a nickname and why did you choose it?
Deyan is called “Dido” because is easier than his real name, Nicola is “Nichi” that is a shorter name and Kiril is said “Al Capone” because he went in prison two months ago.

 Which kind of music do you play?
We play melodic modern hard rock with synphonic influences.

Why did you choose this kind of music?
Because this kind of music has energy and its power gives us emotions.

When did the band born and who did it form?
The band was born two years ago in 2011 by Kiril and Alexander.

Have you ever had musical experiences in other countries except Bulgaria?
Yes, we played at the Origo Summer Stage in Riga (Latvia) and at the Blue Rose Festival in Birmingham (England).

How do you feel when you play your music?
We feel spiritual orgasm.

Stereorush performance at BYF

What's the place where you would like to perform?
Rock in Rio and in the Madison Square Garden (USA).

What musicians inspire you?
We are inspired by many musicians but particularly Korean pop rock and Bulgarian pop folk artists.

What are your future plans?
We would like to play for the Queen of  England and Lady Gaga.

YES project participants activities

Mainly, YES project is music based on project but participants are not occupied with it all the time. They are distracted with other activities and events which help them not only to search inspiration for their music creativity but also to enjoy the moments and discover the world.

On Wednesday afternoon all participants and volunteers from all projects were gathering to the
Bulgarian Square. The Drum Circle involved all participants into exciting and absorbing drum playing atmosphere which made people cheerful. Lots of people gathered to see this event because strong vibes of drums flowed through the centre of Sandanski.

After the Drum Circle participants joined parade which moved through the city centre. This parade lead the youth to the Summer Theatre where the opening
of the Balkan Youth Festival was suppose to happen. The evening was very inspiring because audience was able to see different kinds of performances starting from hip-hop dancing, break dance to solo and rock bands appearances. The second day of the Balkan Youth Festival started perfectly, unfortunately, we weren’t so lucky with the weather. “Crush” band from Spain were not lucky because their performance on the stage was interrupted by heavy rain. Moreover, the Stage of Traditional Arts was ruined therefore we were not able to enjoy it.

On Friday morning was time to visit Melnik which is famous of wine and it is the smallest town in Bulgaria which is surrounded with mountains. After our arrival to the town the traditional dances took place and most of the people joined them. After the two hours of dancing everyone was ready to taste delicious wine which was relatively cheap and healthy. The last activity in Melnik was visiting the old monastery which was breathtaking.

Partipants of YES project in their free time are exchnaging  not only their musical experiences but also discussing cultural differences and similarities. Although, participants are from different countries, culturals and social backgrounds still their are able to understand each other throught music.

INTERVIEW WITH LAIME PILNIGA FROM LATVIA

What is the name of the band and why did you choose it?
The name of the band is Laime Pilníga that means “complete happiness”. We chose this name because usually a rock band has a sad name and we did not want to do the same.

What is the role of every member?
We are four:
- Ervins Ramins: vocals and acoustic guitar
- Marcis Vasilevskis: guitars and backing vocals
- Janis Olekss: bass guitar and backing vocals
- Elvijs Mamedovs: drums

Do you have nicknames and why did you choose it?
Yes, Janis is called by his surname “Olekss” because this name is so popular in Latvia.

What kind of music do you play?
We play hard rock music.

Why did you choose this kind of music?
Marcis:
Because my parents like this genre and they passed me the same passion for it.

Janis:
I like rock music despite my studies at the classical school music. You have to know that there does not excist any rock school music in Latvia.

When did the band born and who did it form?
The band was formed in 2006 by Marcis and Ervins.

Have you ever had musical experiences in other countries except Bulgaria?
Yes. We played many times in Estonia, Lithuania also once in Poland and Hungary.

What does the music mean to you?
Everything.

Laime Pilniga performing at BYF

What is the place where you would like to perform?
On the Everest but also all around the world.

What musicians inspired your music?
Marcis:
Music is divided by two categories: the good music and the bad music. We inspired by good music.

What are your future plans?
We would like to realize our second album so right now we are working on it.

INTERVIEW WITH WILL'N'SKA FROM LITHUANIA

What is the name of the band and why did you choose it?

The name of our band is Will'n'ska which expresses our affection towards beloved Vilnius city.

What is the role of every memeber?
-Ernest: guitar and the founder.

-Daniel: drums

-Andrew: bass

-Rafal: vocalist

Do you have nicknames and why did you choose them?

Daniel is Quadruple D, Andew is AB because of his inicials, Rafal is Rafa, Ernest is just Ernik.

What kind of music do you play?

We play alternative ska but we are still experimenting with different kinds of musics from reggae to metal.

When did the band born and who did it form?Our band was formed in 2012 October Ernest was that initiator.

Have you ever had musical experiences in other countries except Bulgaria?

Yes , we had concert in Poland at „Seven festival“ and in Riga (Latvia).

How do you feel when you're playing?

We are out of real life. It's like nirvana

What kind of music event would you like
to perform?

Rock am Ring, Big Day Out, Woodstock, Heineken festival, Jarocin, Sziget, Kazantip, NAshestvije

What bands inspire you?

First of all Muse, Leningrad, Lyapis Trubetskoy, Metallica.

What are your future plans?

We don't want tell you about our future plans but if we achieve them all you will certainly hear about it.

INTERVIEW WITH CRASH FROM SPAIN

What is the name of the band and why did you choose it?
The name of the band is Crash because we mix different genres.

What is the role of every memeber?
We are four:
- Mario: vocals and guitars.
- Raul: vocals and guitars.
- Dani: bass and vocals.
- Carlos: drums.

Do you have nicknames and why did you choose them?
Raul is called “Raul day” because his second name is Aday.

What kind of music do you play?
We play Pop-Rock.

Why did you choose this kind of music?

Because like we mentioned before every member likes different kinds of music and we love mixing them: Raul's style is classic rock, Dani likes indie, Mario loves punk music and Carlos prefers funk rock.

When band was created and who was the initiator?

The band was formed two years ago, in 2011, thanks to Raul then Mario and Carlos joined the band. Dani was the last one who joined the band which was two months ago.

Have you ever had musical experiences in other countries except Bulgaria?

No, we played only in Spain because we live in Canarian Islands and it is so difficult to go to other countries.

How do you feel when you're playing?

Our music is the expression of ourselves, our feelings and mental states.

What kind of music event would you like to perform?

We really would like to perform in Rock in Rio and Woodstock.

What bands inspire you?

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Simple Plan and the Beatles.

What are your future plans?

We would like to record the album, to make the videoclip and the tour around the world. 

               

The night of Italy, Turkey and Latvia

The second day of International Evening consisted of the rest participating countries which were Italy, Turkey and Latvia.

The event started with the“Italiani” who made a presentation of country landscapes and some of their local food. Afterwards the music part followed which made us nostalgic and absorbed us into this culture because of such well-known songs like “Nelbludipintodiblu”(In the blue ) and “La societa’deimagnaccioni” (The big “eater” society). Mainly they showed us their lovely city ‘’Orbieto’’ which charmed viewers with its tuffs and beautiful tunnels and caves in the end everybody was welcomed to try their worldwide known food like parmesan cheese, cheese bread etc.

The following team was from Turkey. They presented us a video  about their historical places, bridges and culture. They act a drama for us which is called ‘’sıra geceleri’’ and it includes local food ‘’çiğköfte’’ which is well known in the East of Turkey. In the conclusion, they introduced to us the father of Turks - Atatürk then they proceeded with dance and music.

The final participating country was Latvia. They began with the presentation, singing unofficial anthem called “Saule, Perkons, Daugava" (Sun, thunder, Daugava) composed by Latvian composer Martins Brauns. They gave a little glimps at Latvia people’s behavior and special animals like blue cow. At the end of the night we were ready to taste Italian, Turkish and Latvian cuisine.

To sum up, all the participating countries have introduced themselves and the multicultural party was coming towards the end. Thanks to the great organizers of YES projects all participants got to know not only Bulgarian culture and traditions but also they were exposed to the multicultural environment.

INTERVIEW WITH OLD ROCK CITY ORCHESTRA

What's the name of the band and why did you choose this name?

Old Rock City Orchestra. This name reminds our hometown called Orvieto which in Latin means “urbs vetus” (old city). This old city is located on tuff (type of rock made of consolidated ashes) that is why we named “Old Rock City”. The word “Orchestra” completes the name because of the classical overtones in our tunes.

What's the role of every member?
In our band there are four members:

-Cinzia Catalucci: lead vocals and keyboards

-Raffaele Spanetta: guitars and backing vocals

-Giacomo Cocchiara: bass guitar and backing vocals

-Michele “Mike” Capriolo: drums & percussion and backing vocals

Do you have a nickname and why did you choose it?
Yes! Michele is called “Mike” and Giacomo “The English man”. You have to know that the “Aural Moon Radio” American speaker wasn’t able to say the name Michele and called him Mike. Giacomo is called “The English man” because his mother is English.

Intervew with OLD ROCK CITY ORCHESTRA

Which kind of music do you play?
We play a kind of rock inspired by classic, psychedelic and progressive rock.

When did the band born and who did it form?

Our band was formed by Cinzia and Raffaele in 2009.

  
Have you ever had musical experiences in other countries except Bulgaria?
Yes, we toured across the Europe this summer. We played in UK, France, Holland and Belgium.

 Why did you decide to be musicians?
Because music is our passion. We have music in our mind, heart and soul.

  What does the music mean for you?
Music is an universal language that everybody can understand.

What's the place where you would like to perform?
We would like to perform at the very enormous rock event called “Rock in Rio” in Brasil.

Which artist you would like to perform on the same stage with?

We would like to play with P.F.M. which is an Italian progressive rock band.

 What are your future plans?

We have already recorded an album called “Once Upon a Time” and we would like to work on a second album. It would be great to be able to go on a tour, but the next time we hope it will be the World Tour.