Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - Preview ALEXANDER VELJANOV

Details: Written by: Sebastian Huhn; Published: 16 January 2009

Passionskirche, Berlin, Germany
19th February 2009
Alexander Veljanov

ALEXANDER VELJANOV is at home in Germany and Macedonia. For much too long he sacrificed the contact to his second home for his work. Suddenly he asked himself about his relations to his roots and knocked on Macedonia’s doors. “Due to the wars in the Yugoslavian countries, the situation was kind of paralyzed.” recalls the singer. “I still maintained loose contacts, but blinded out this part of the world almost completely. In 2003, I travelled to Macedonia in private. I reunited with old friends and started to work without pressure. With no record company in the back waiting for a product, I could do whatever I wanted.” The result of four years of work is ‘Porta Macedonia’. “The album comprises many world political thoughts from the Macedonian point of view and about me as a person. I evidently grew up in both cultures and sow how one culture got more and more saturated and reunited, while everything fell apart in Yugoslavia…

I dealt with the question of what is Europe and why there’s different categories of Europe. Perhaps this is my most political and personal album at the same time.” Not least because of this, Veljanov’s acting much more offensive with German lyrics as he did in the past and in hindsight is wondering himself, why of all countries in Macedonia he discovered the German language in this intensity as a means to expression. The Macedonian musician Goran Trajkoski - who’s most notable over here for his music score for ‘Before the Rain’ - helped him decisively with this work. Who liked DEINE LAKAIEN or Veljanov’s recent solo projects is going to find in ‘Porta Macedonia’ everything they’re looking for and yet they’ll enter an all new sonic universe. Veljanov slips Byzantine and orthodox elements in his music, his chant nearly sounding sacral.

Even though the album’s created in Macedonia, it’s far off from fulfilling the clichés of blaring Balkan formations or gipsy romantics. “With the title ‘Porta Macedonia’ to hint at where I come from. It was important for me to express, what I’ve learned in these 4 years and how I can share these experiences and insights with a person from here and one from there.”

Additional Concert Info
Doors open: 7:00 PM
Starts: 8:00 PM
Ticket fee: 31.50 EUR + Charges (Presale)
Ticket Hotline: +49(0) 30 780 99 810
Tickets as well can be ordered online at http://www.trinityconcerts.de/ or at http://www.eventim.de/