NOVEMBER 20th 2023
QUASARBORN EXCLUSIVE
Band Photo Credit: Jovana Uzelac
MetalTitans own, Metal Mom Rita, had the opportunity to chat with the Progressive meets Thrash Metal, and add a hint of Technical and Power metal, you get the band "QUASARBORN" out of Belgrade, Serbia. Check out the interview below for more.
MT: The lineup for your band, tell us how each came to be with the band.
Luka Matković • Vocals, Guitars
Dimitrije Čuturilo • Guitars
Miloš Tomasović • Bass
Marko 'Tihi' Danilović • Drums
Tihi and I have been playing together since 2006, and in 2009 we joined Space Eater, one of the bigger Serbian thrash bands at that time. We then recruited Đorđe (ex-Quasarborn guitar player) and Tomas played bass with us as a live member in 2014. It was the four of us that formed Quasarborn in 2016 after we decided to leave Space Eater due to creative differences. In late 2019 Đorđe decided to leave the band to pursue his studies in psychology and his own musical endeavors, so we recruited Dimitrije, a local young and upcoming guitar player to replace him.
MT: Tell us how you came up with the name of the band?
At the time of our formation, I was really into astronomy and I was learning about quasars and was so impressed, I thought we had to have it in our name. Tihi (our drummer) came up with the -born part, and I liked it. Born of a quasar, the most energetic, mysterious thing in the universe. However, I find that people have a really hard time remembering it sometimes, haha.
MT: Who writes the lyrics, and where does the inspiration come from ?
I write all the lyrics, and the inspiration is basically drawn from my life and personal struggles. It’s a form of therapy.
MT: I see that you have Thrash associated with others, like progressive, Technical, Power, there is a lot to your band, is there a band that is thrash that made you decide this is what we have to do?
People really feel the need to put labels on music, especially in metal. And when they hear us, I guess we sound so different to what they’re used to, and they always try to put us in boxes, so we get those adjectives like “technical”, “progressive”, and even “power” thrash metal… It’s like, people hear me singing melodies, their first association is power metal, but I’ve never listened to power metal in my life, the melodies come from pop music. They hear weird riffs and rhythms, and they call us “technical”, but we don’t really try to play difficult stuff just for the sake of it, we only write what comes natural to us. The whole point of Quasarborn is to play and express whatever we feel, whatever we like, without limitations. For me personally, the most influential thrash band is Anthrax, I love the groove, the intensity and rhythmicality of the riffs paired with the melodic singing. But what makes Quasarborn Quasarborn is the mixture of everything.
MT: The Artwork was done by drummer Marko 'Tihi' Danilović, has he done other covers for you, and do you give him ideas to work with?
Yes, Tihi is our main visual artist! He has done all our covers, artwork and designs, and we let him do his thing, it’s another area where he likes to express himself artistically, so we just put our good faith in him, and we’re always really happy with the results. He really likes to push things into unexplored areas and experiment.
MT: I have read that your work, all members contribute to the songs, does that make it easy, or a little confusing to get it all done?
In the big picture, having all things considered, it has made things a lot easier, and more importantly, the songs flow much better. We’ve been playing together for a long time, and we know each other well. I have learned a lot from all the feedback from all the songs I’ve written over the years, and I was ready to change my approach personally. Tihi made a huge contribution, and so has Dimitrije, even though he’s relatively new to the band.
MT: How has the reaction been since your release of "Novo Oružje Protiv Bola" in September?
The reaction has been amazing! All the reviews range from 7.5/10 to 9.5/10, and the people really love the record. I love that everyone lists different songs as their favorites, but still love the album as a whole. And the songs work really well live too.
MT: Was it an easy process from writing the songs to getting it to the final stages ?
Actually, yes, because we’ve written the songs in a way that was natural for us as individual musicians and as a band. The biggest setback was me writing the lyrics, it took me almost a full year, since I’ve never written in Serbian before.
MT: You also had a guest vocalist on the song "Od Kolevke do rova", what made you decide to have another singer on this one?
We’ve been talking with Danilo of Nadimač to do a song together for at least ten years. I produce Nadimač’s albums and Tihi has been doing their artwork for some time now. It was Dimitrije who came up with the most of the song, and it had a very crust/hardcore feel to it, and no vocal ideas, so It was only natural to use that opportunity and bring Danilo in.
MT: Do you have tours planned now ?
Not full tours, but individual concerts in Serbia, at the moment. We will try to play as many shows as possible and play “Novo oružje protiv bola” live to people.
MT: You have been around since 2018? So you must have done tours before, do you have one that is a memorable one? Or one that wasn't so great.
Actually, the band was formed in 2016, but Tihi and I have been playing together since 2006. We’ve done two tours as Space Eater, and two as Quasarborn. Honestly, each tour is very special to me, not a single one was “worse”, or “better”, because we’ve always had a lot of fun, even though it is pretty tiring.
MT: What is the best part about being in Quasarborn?
The friendship and brotherhood we have developed, and the freedom and possibility to express ourselves musically with each other.
MT: Is it non stop everyday with the band, or do you still have a job?
We all have jobs, except for Dimitrije who is still a student. My job is very connected to Quasarborn, though, since I am a producer for mostly metal bands. And Quasarborn holds pretty high standards when it comes to the technicalities, so I guess it’s a type of promotion for me!
MT: Tell us something about the band that we might not know . .
That’s almost impossible, since we’ve always talked so openly about everything… Nothing special crosses my mind. Maybe the fact that we sometimes don’t touch our instruments for a month or two, due to lack of free time to dedicate ourselves to the band, and when we finally gather for a rehearsal it sounds like we’ve been playing literally every day, haha.
MT: What are your plans now?
Play as many gigs as possible to promote “Novo oružje protiv bola”, and then of course, start writing a new record!
Thank you for taking the time to do this interview, and we wish you much success with your new album.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to present ourselves!
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Words, views and opinions expressed in answers are those of the authors and do not reflect necessarily the official position, attitude or position of 𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗠𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗔𝗚𝗘 ᴳᴸᴼᴮᴬᴸ