„Blues will never die"wieninternational.at talked to Erik Trauner (ET), front man of the Mojo Blues Band on past hits, the future and why blues will never die.A few days ago the Mojo Blues celebrated its 30th anniversary with a brilliant concert in Vienna. What did this concert mean to you?A lot of people said to me: "It's your evening", because I am the last original member of the band. It was great to have 30 years of playing behind me. Now I'm looking forward to going on for another 30 years.In view of the fact that the formation keeps changing, how do you see the band's future? It's naturally a great upset when someone leaves, in both musical and human terms. On the other hand, it is also important for a band to reinvent itself. I cannot imagine remaining creative playing with the same people all the time.What would you say was your greatest success -- Rosa Lee in the hit parade?Musically speaking, Rosa Lee is not the most important thing we've done. In terms of popularity, however, it was immensely important because we were able to reach an audience that would not otherwise have known about us. Crossover hits are vital for artists. It's a shame that the mass media ignore blues, which is historically at the root of many musical styles, right up to hip-hop.What plans do you have for the future?I am hoping for great things from the new album "Thirty Year Blues Affair". All of the tracks on it are new. We have experimented a bit more this time. I believe in general that we should be more demonstrative, given all that we've done in the past. And that's what I'd like to do. No more understatement and small-time stuff. It's time to take our music to the people. The modern networking media make it possible. I've always dreamed as well of making a friends record with other musicians.Is the anniversary double CD a review of your work to date?More of a statement about where we are at the moment.How has your fan base developed over the last 30 years?Some of them are admittedly getting a bit long in the tooth, but we are also attracting young fans again. A lot of our fans are young people who have bought concert tickets for their dads, let's say, and then come along with them.What do you think of the blues scene in Vienna? There´s Hans Theessink and the Mojo and.........There's Hermann Posch and Sir Oliver Mally ... and also a lot of young musicians playing sessions in clubs. There's plenty of substance but it's a pity that the musicians themselves aren't better organised. You have to be willing to promote yourself. Lots of people fail to understand that being a musician is also a job. You can't just hang around and wait for someone to approach you. You have to have the courage to promote yourself. The media are also not very helpful with this type of music. There are more blues musicians than ever but the media aren't interested. There used to be blues programmes in the past although there were fewer musicians.Do you think that the Blues Spring Festival will help Vienna's international renown as a blues centre?I don't believe in putting the cart before the horse. These things have to evolve of their own accord. It is important first of all that there is a suitable infrastructure with programmes and a certain awareness. If information had been available, we would long ago have had the kind of blues festival that has been going on in Switzerland and Norway for years. This deficit has also been an advantage for us, however, because people have somehow zeroed in on us. A blues band today couldn't do that anymore.Blues without borders? What's happening in neighbouring countries?Obviously, there's some kind of interaction, if only through the concerts. We have good contacts with Germany but not so much with the eastern countries, with the possible exception of Hungary. There is something of a retro guitar hype in Germany and Austria: in Vienna there is even someone who makes Resonator guitars (editor's note: slide guitarist Gottfried Gfrerer).What do you say to the widely held view that the blues is somehow tragic?I don't think that the blues should be labelled in that way. It is so rich in American history, show and humour. It is meant to be entertaining, dance music. The blues used to be played in theatres and was thus socially acceptable. There's so many stories I could tell, funny ones as well. I can't understand it when people say that the blues is depressing..Do you still hold to your motto "Blues will never die"?Yes, I really believe it. This music has so much substance and its power has been demonstrated over and over again. It will not die. There must be something mysterious in the music that infects people again and again.
Author: [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]
Keywords: [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل] [فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]
Added: January 8, 2008



[فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]