INTERVIEW: IVAN MIHALJEVIC & SIDE EFFECTS

Howdy, Growlers. Last month I had the privilege of reviewing an album from Ivan Mihaljevic & Side Effects, a Croatian band that has since opened for Whitesnake and received numerous accolades for their progressive hard rock. I was able to catch up with dynamic vocalist/guitarist Ivan Mihaljevic and ask a few questions about their album Counterclockwise, his young but acclaimed career, and his experiences with rock’n’roll. Read on for Ivan’s touristy aspirations and a brutal critique of the Croatian music scene:

Mister Growl: Counterclockwise is your third full-length album with Side Effects. What separates this from your earlier releases?

Ivan: The most obvious difference is that this album is focused on songs with vocals while the previous two had a lot of instrumental pieces. We tried to make peace between those two things that we did earlier, so we made longer and more progressive vocal pieces with extended instrumental sections.

Mister Growl: You have mentioned before that Counterclockwise is a concept album. Could you describe the concept to people listening to your music for the first time?

Ivan: The concept is similar to The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. It describes the pitfalls of modern society. We talk about the unquenchable thirst for more, false friends, dealing with the death of someone close to you, anxiety and depression, but also try to give those situations a solution.

Mister Growl:  What is the Croatian rock and metal music scene like? How has it impacted your own music?

Ivan: There are some really good bands here, but they almost never get their opportunity to make a living out of it. The style of music that is currently mainstream in Croatia is utter bullshit. I tried to find a milder and less offensive word for it, but that's just the least offensive term I can come up with for those repulsive sounds. That's what gets served on the radio stations and most people will just listen to whatever's "in" at the moment. Yes, I am pissed off about the current situation. Hopefully, it will change for the better in the future.

Mister Growl: What have been the main influences on your guitar playing style?

Ivan: I'll start chronologically. Some of these guys aren't really great guitar players, but they definitely did have an influence on me at some point in my musical development. So, let's start with the list - Noel Gallagher (Oasis) - probably the reason I started playing the guitar, James Hetfield and Kirk Hammet (Metallica), Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Steve Lukather, Steve Morse...

Mister Growl: How did you meet the other members of Side Effects, Marko Karacic (bass) and Alen Frljak (drums)?

Ivan: I met Alen when we were still in high-school. Our bands rehearsed at the same place. I clearly remember when I first heard him play the drums. I think I've never heard anyone play that well before. Years later we formed a band together which didn't really last long, but when I decided to start up a new band, he was the first one I called and he said "yes".

I have no idea exactly when and how I met Karo. I've known him for years and I knew he was a great bass player, so when Alen and I split with our former bass player, Karo was our first choice.

Mister Growl: You were already playing major hard rock/metal festivals at the age of 18. How have you seen the metal scene or the music industry change since then?

Ivan:  It's hard for me to say. I did play Wacken Open Air at age 18, but I can't really say I understood how the industry works at that point. Now I have a better insight into how things work, so you'll have to ask me in 10 or 20 years. *smiles*

Mister Growl: The sadly defunct Funeral Rain Zine once called you “The Croatian Sensation.” If you could nickname yourself what name would you choose?

Ivan: That's a flattering nickname. I don't know. I've never thought about nicknaming myself.

Mister Growl: You once played with Les Paul at a venue in Times Square. As a New Yorker I’m very interested in hearing your thoughts on the city.

Ivan: Oh, that was an amazing experience. I've had a chance to meet and play with the inventor of the solid-body electric guitar. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to see much of New York. I've seen Times Square which was very impressive and a little bit of Manhattan. I'd love to be able to come to New York again as a tourist at some point and to be able to just look around.

Mister Growl: You have also toured Europe multiple times with the band Hard Time. What’s your strangest or favorite touring story?

Ivan: The strangest ones are usually border stories... I remember once they held us for 4 hours for no real reason at the Liverpool airport and we were late for a gig. It's funny how border police tend to mistreat musicians. I think most musicians hate airports. It's also funny that our worst airport story happened in Liverpool where the name of the airport is John Lennon Airport. We joked that they should hang a huge sign in there saying "No guitars are allowed at the John Lennon Airport!"

Mister Growl: What do you consider your greatest achievement to this date?

Ivan: A couple of them -  playing with Les Paul which we already mentioned, playing Wacken Open Air which was also already mentioned, playing the Italian Heineken Jamming Festival with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Noel Gallagher, The Cure, Evanescence..., opening the show for Whitesnake in Zagreb and having the album of the month in the biggest European guitar magazine Guitar Techniques.

Mister Growl: What are you working on now and what are your long-term goals as an artist?

Ivan: We're playing some live shows and working on some new material. Our long-term goals are to have fun and play music that we enjoy!

Many thanks to Ivan Mihaljevic for taking the time for this interview, and check out their music over at their official website:  http://www.ivanmihaljevic.com/

And you can check out Counterclockwise over at CDBaby and purchase the album as a download or in CD format:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ivanmihaljevicsideeffect 

 

 

 

REVIEW: PUMPS BAR

Mister Growl doesn’t yelp, let’s get that straight. Yelping is a sound too sissified to come from my masculine vocal cords. I have been known to yawp, however. My personal “Yelp” ban left me with only one possible course of action after recently visiting Pumps in Brooklyn: Write about the city’s only rock’n’roll strip joint on my metal blog. It’s not like my friends and fellow headbangers would mind, I mean strip clubs have been an important element of rock excess for 30 years. Where would Mötley Crüe be without strip clubs? And where would we all be without Mötley Crüe, besides maybe just a smidge happier and a lot more sober? As a non-ironic fan of clubs, especially ones with character and rock attitude, I will even excuse Crüe’s entire discography if it means one more place like Pumps in the world.

Pumps is tucked away on a dreary stretch of road that Bushwick seemingly doesn’t want to claim, so people started calling it East Williamsburg. There’s broken glass on the sidewalks and foreboding factories leering down at pedestrians until the glow of a neighboring gas station lures patrons closer, like that famous dock light from The Great Gatsby that Baz Luhrmann will recreate using atrocious CGI. The locale is not hip, it’s not fabulous, but it’s the exact quiet walk you need before and after a trip to a strip club to think of The Greater Truths. The ten minute walk (if you have short legs) from the nearest subway is perfect for an internal monologue about how the stigma of these establishments is just a hypocritical view of “evil” capitalism. Truth be told: Strip clubs offer a service. If the service does not interest you, move on. No need to demonize the patrons, the owner, and especially the workers. Everyone’s gotta make a living. I’m lucky enough to make a few bucks writing about metal albums, and those are the cleanest dollars I make. My day job is no better than someone shedding a little clothing to a song off ...And Justice For All.

Which they do at Pumps. I walked in with Metallica’s “One” playing loudly and three topless dancers performing in front of a long mirror, creating the illusion that the venue is twice the size. After the initial M.C Escher mirror mind-trick I was able to take in the layout: A long bar with 2 female tenders sliding drinks to eager customers and one long aisle to walk behind the stool-perched patrons lining the counter with a narrow lap dance lounge separated from the main room by a curtain of beads. Two beautiful motorcycles hang from the ceiling with assorted rock/sports related posters and knick-knacks decorating the walls. The dancers take turns twisting around two poles, leaving one to freestyle against the mirror or on the floor of the platform. There’s a refreshingly blunt streaming neon sign over the bar reading “If you don’t have money take your broke ass home!”

Which takes me back to this being a service. Remember, most services cost money. I don’t know what your job is, dear reader, but I assume you would not do your job for free, unless you’re a lowly intern, which means that you have all my sympathy. Unless you wander into Pumps without the ability or desire to spend some money, then my sympathy dries up like a mummified vagina. There’s no cover, which is awesome and increasingly rare, unless you get some glossy postcard for a Times Square strip club and enter a place before 7PM, which I’m not against but will definitely limit your ability to accurately enjoy the full splendor of any establishment. Beers are $7, stronger drinks are $10 or so. The bartenders live off of tips, as do the dancers. After each song the dancers on stage will stroll around the bar, say hello, and ask for a sign of your appreciation, which is a dollar amount of your choosing, as long as it’s one or above. Some will gripe about this practice, as there’s usually more distance between seats and the stage, affording customers less anonymity and privacy. I personally love it, and it makes the experience more personal and closes that gap between performer and patron. This is a small place to begin with, so it’s not like you’re gonna find a dark corner and camouflage yourself to ogle without detection. Cough up some cash and treat everyone right, which includes polite tipping and staying respectful. Lap dances are available for the standard $20, but the dancers are not topless, which I admit is a bummer. Still, if you want some conversation and friction this is a promising opportunity. You’re also welcome to buy a dancer a drink if you’d prefer more conversation and less friction, and they will usually opt for a $20 glass of champagne. These prices are pretty standard for this industry, so if you’re rolling your eyes at them you have my permission to stay at home and peruse the internet for nudity, which should take an exhausting .6 second Google search.

The staff of dancers is eclectic but leans toward Suicide Girl territory, with body mods abound and Manic Panic hair moving brightly in the black light. Still, if you’re searching for a certain body type or ethnicity they are very likely represented on a weekend night. All of the dancers were very friendly, offering chit chat if it was sought, or vaster discussions about art if you pay for their time. I won’t mention any names (since aliases mutate regularly in this business anyway), but the staff in general were fun and laid-back, cracking jokes about their Catholic roots while Rage Against the Machine blasted in the background.

One extremely talented performer, a dark-haired beauty named Mia, invited me to a Pumps-hosted event later in the week featuring an art exhibit and a burlesque show. I used to frequent Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School over at the Slipper Room, my favorite burlesque joint in the city, so the union of art and burlesque is totally my jam. I will cover Aubrey Roemer’s dynamic work soon as a featured artist on this blog, so stay tuned for that, because it features the Pumps Pin-Ups.

Anyway, I’m one of those annoying guys who is fifteen minutes early for everything, including the art exhibit. The Pumps owner (or manager, unsure which) was kind enough to not only open the doors to me, but give me a drink on the house for being the early bird eating the fuck out of the worm. He then said, “If you were wearing a Pumps shirt I’d have given you two beers.” I was wearing the Down “smoking Jesus” shirt. Frowny face. Still, little gestures like that are what make a business part of the community, and it did not go ignored. The burlesque show was sassy fun, showing off the singing/dancing/teasing talents of the Pumps Pin-Ups with smiles abound. Burlesque is one of my favorite forms of entertainment and they nailed the mischievous, playful tone that makes it so appealing.

I definitely recommend Pumps to anyone seeking a gentleman’s club experience more in line with my own blue collar working attitude. Scores may get all the Yankee players, and they can keep ‘em. Pumps get the rockers and metalheads who stop by Duff’s and Saint Vitus, though the clientele is diverse as well. I see Pumps as a positive life experience, one that discards the bells and whistles of polished, upscale clubs and succeeds with quality talent, personality, and a playlist that rocks harder than any other club in the city. It may not be glamorous and it may not be the Vegas strip, but I know Crüe would approve, and they’re pretty much the Roger Ebert of strip club opinions and insight.

Get more information on Pumps over on their site, including the address and happy hour times (with $4 beers, which is totally solid):  http://pumpsbar.com/