"You're looking for a good story?" asked Max Ohlenschager, who hosts a popular culture program on Radio Netherlands. We''d met the previous evening when we interviewed the same band on the opening night of the Access 2 Amsterdam music conference. I''d asked him about bands worth checking out, and now he was pitching me a story. "How about a Bulgarian hardcore called Artery? They live in Amsterdam now and mix rock and folk music. They use bouzoukis!" It sounded like a good story so Max made a few calls and I was soon sitting down with singer and bouzouki master Yanko Brekov and manager David Shorey to talk about Artery and their CD, Balkan Underground.
Artery began their unusual odyssey ten years ago in the newly post Communist. Yanko Brekov started the group with Nicolay Hubenov on bass and Deian Monev on drums. The band was a hit on the emerging Bulgarian rock scene. The band made some recordings in their homeland, of which their 1996 release Yellow Dusty Boredom remains in print. Looking to expand their horizons, the band relocated to Prague in 1997. It was while in the Check Republic that Brekov began writing songs in English and bringing his Bouzouki to gigs. The band moved on to their current home base of Amsterdam in late 1998. Artery took on even more of an international flair by accentuating the Greek/Balkan elements in their sound as they found a receptive audience for their folk flavored sets among British and American expats. Artery have become a fixture on the Dutch "Irish Pub" circuit. The band is managed/mentored by American musicologist David Shorey. His houseboat on the Lijnbaansgracht is the group's
home base, practice space and from time to time, mode of transportation.
"We play all kinds of music," Brekov says of the Artery sound, "from folk to new modern
heavy metal to hardcore. Lately we're trying to combine all these styles. My father is Greek and I play bouzouki now. It gives a different flavor than the rest of the hardcore bands," Yanko pauses, then continues, " you can't really call it hardcore. More like a Nu-Metal with
the oriental elements." Daivd Shorey elaborates saying, "You can't really call it anything. It's new and it expands the boundaries of the mainstream rock. That's been very interesting to try to market because the mainstream rock scene is very focused."
Artery have not relied on the rock establishment to build their following. In Amsterdam, Artery has built a loyal following based on their reputation as an innovative folk act.. Yanko admits "we've basically promoted ourselves as a folk - oriental band. The first year in Amsterdam, we
played with Australian Kate Flemming. She was a singer and guitar player with a more folk rock style. When she left, we changed to a three piece and played only Oriental and Greek pieces. Lately, we've started playing harder stuff again and people really like it."
While the band is doing well in Holland, their sites are set on reaching ever larger audiences. Based on their experiences playing around Europe, Yanko thinks the band could take on America at some point. "American seem very open to our music," Yanko relates. " They seem to really understand it in a way. I've been hearing from Americans that the issues in America are the same as what they were under communism with us. With all the young people being in jails and the strict (drug) laws. It sounds like how it was in Bulgaria with the Communists." Brekov''s view of the U.S. may sound distorted to some. David Shorey went on to explain that many Americans living in Holland are there to escape the Zero Tolerance drug laws back home and influence of the born again Christian movement. "They don't want to live with those restrictions."
The Balkan Underground CD documents Artery's fusion of east and west. The 17 songs on the CD defy description. Guitar leads are mostly replaced by Yanko's bouzouki. The rhythms bounce between exotic and straight on rock. It's a sound that is joyous and uplifting, even if Yanko's vocals reflect a healthy cynicism when it comes to politics.
The band's turn toward a harder sound was prompted by more travel and personnel changes. Yanko took the band back to Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. "It was nice to see friends and family and mothers to cook for you," Yanko says of Bulgaria. "There are starting to be places to play and the equipment is getting better. We started to play with Phillip again in Prague and he decided to come back with us." Phillip had played with Artery during their earlier sojourn in Prague, but began his term of mandatory civil service just before the band moved to Holland.
The other recent addition to the band is Clyde Shorey, their manager''s teenager who was talking guitar lessons from Yanko. The new incarnation is building on the Balkan Underground fusion and taking it to harder places.
Artery''s music touches on universal themes that transcend national boundaries and cultural divides. Like the blues, Yanko says his "is a music that came from pain and poorness." Like the blues, Artery''s music offers relief at the end of a long week. Their shows offer a cathartic experience. "It's a happy music anyway," Brekov adds. "At the end of the day people want to drink and to dance to deal with the pain." Manager Shorey adds "People end up on the tables dancing! It's an ecstatic musical experience." Yanko gives a sly smile and adds, "Lots of girls show up."