Interview by: Mate BASIC

Compiled & translated by: Josip LONCARIC

With less than a week to go before the undisputed heavyweight of the Croatian music scene, Marko Perkovic Thompson, embarks on his latest tour Down Under, the megastar from the Dalmatian hinterland village of Cavoglave during the week spoke exclusively to the Croatian Herald's Mate Basic, directly from Croatia.

During this lengthy interview, Thompson spoke candidly about many of the issues that have been dominating headlines in some of the most internationally renowned newspapers, his new look band and many other topics that will no doubt interest the most fanatical Thompson fan.

Unconfirmed reports have suggested that ticket sales for the massive New Year's Eve concert at the Sydney United Sports Centre are fast approaching 4,000, while this week sales for the December 29 gig at Melbourne's Festival Hall hit 2,000.

With sales figures also reportedly strong in both Adelaide and Perth, the Croatian superstar is sure to rock the Australian Croatian community over the coming fortnight.

Let's take a look at what Thompson had to say on the eve of the much anticipated Australian leg of his 'Bilo jednom u Hrvatskoj tour'.

CROATIAN HERALD (CH): How have preparations gone for your upcoming Australian tour and have all of the travel and visa arrangements been confirmed?

MARKO PERKOVIC (MP): By the time your readers read this article, I expect our visas to be in our hands. There haven't been any problems with getting them, and our contacts in Australia have confirmed that everything will be fine.

The standard paperwork is being completed as required and I don't expect there to be any problems.

CH: How many touring people will be in your entourage?

- MP: There will be 13 members making the long trip to Australia, including my band, technicians and management

CH: On your recent tour in the United States and Canada, newspaper reports suggested that you were requested to submit translations of all of the lyrics from your back catalogue of songs that you may be performing on tour. Is this true and have you had to do this for your Australian tour?

- MP: That is not correct, nobody asked or requested that my songs be translated prior to the approval of my tour in North America, I don't know where this information came from.We requested our visas in the normal fashion and we received them. It was our initiative to translate the texts of my songs just to show people what my brand of music is all about.

CH: What can the Australian public expect from the Bilo Jednom u Hrvatskoj tour as opposed to your last tour in 2005? Will there be anything different in terms of entertainment or can we just expect a normal concert?

- MP: Well what can I say, except that I am not an actor or a sportsman, I am a musician and all of my entertainment involves music. As far as the organisers are concerned, there may be some other forms of entertainment on each night, but we'll have to wait and see. I have heard that popular Croatian rapper Shorty will be in Australia during my tour. His hit song 'Dodi u Vinkovce' is excellent and we may have the pleasure of having him as a guest on tour.

CH: In recent times your band has changed its image and also its members. How has the transition been and what have these individuals bought to the table?

MP: They have settled well and I am delighted to have them working together with me, not only live on stage, but also in the studio. My last album was recorded live in the studio with everything, including the drums happening in real time. Damir Liposek - Keks (lead guitar) and Fedor Boic (keyboards)- both former Prljavo Kazaliste members- have bought their experience. Tomislav Mandaric (guitar) and Damir Somen (drums) have also added some quality to the table, whilst only Tiho Orlic remains from my last tour. Not only do we play together, but we have also become great friends and our relationship is excellent.

''The lies that came from the Serbian and Jewish groups were unfair and totally uncalled for...''

CH: Can you explain to our readers where exactly the name 'Thompson' comes from?

- MP: During the homeland war, when I was a soldier in Cavoglave- which is in the Croatian hinterland - our brigade received some old guns from the USA. I was the only one that was given an old Thompson sub-machine gun, and as there were many Marko's in the group, I took on the nickname of Thompson. It seems to have stuck with me through my musical career.

CH: During your North American tour, there were reports of problems at all of your concerts, in relation to various Jewish and Serbian groups putting pressure on political parties to prevent your concerts from going ahead. How did you deal with this?

- MP: This was an unfortunate and unexpected situation, purely because we didn't expect this kind of treatment from the media. The lies that came from the Serbian and Jewish groups were unfair and totally uncalled for. If we were to speak about all of these things that happened to me and my entourage, then this interview would go on for days. I will however pick out one particularly upsetting incident, which involved an article from the world-renowned New York Times daily newspaper printing that a Nazi from Croatia is coming to tour America with his Nazi band. They labelled my concert in Zagreb earlier this year as a Nazi gathering and that amongst other things, I saluted Hitler and preached a Nazi message to the public. Obviously this was completely untrue and anyone who was at the concert knows that there was nothing like this, nor has there ever been in any of my concerts. I felt that when my first concert in New York was completed, everyone that was not Croatian would see that this was purely a rock concert about love for your homeland, your family and most importantly, for God.

CH: How did Croatians in Canada, including the family of your Canadian-born wife, react to the bad publicity?

- MP: It was hard for everyone and it was a big shock to her family and friends and also my friends in Canada. It hurt everyone associated with me, including my fans, and I still can't understand where it came from. Regardless of this, I don't think that for example, the Jewish people feel offended by my music or against my music or indeed the Croatian race. As for the Chetnik factions, we all know why they do what they do, but there is little that we can do apart from go about our business.

CH: How have sales gone for your last album 'Bilo jednom u Hrvatskoj'?

- MP: Really well, it has sold well over 100,000 copies, which is even more than my previous album 'E moj narode', which was a record at the time of its release. This perhaps explains why there has been such interest in this world tour.

CH: Are you aware that there is a campaign underway in Australia by certain sections of the Jewish community and the Serbian community similar to what you faced in North America?

- MP: To set the record straight, I have never offended the Jewish people in my songs and I reiterate the point that I don't think that this lobby against me is a reflection of the Jewish people but rather certain factions of their community.

CH: There are some strong similarities between your latest album and the work of classical composer and conductor Jakov Gotovac. Would you say that you have been influenced by his work and his style and have you tried to create this sound in your last album?

- MP: I haven't consciously thought about this link with Gotovac and his music, but I suppose there are some similarities. The only time I have directly used it was in the song Geni Kameni, which uses a popular refrain from the 'Eros s onog svijeta' opera. We are both from the Dalmatian hinterland and that particular region produces a particular sound that is similar throughout the region. It is important to remember that Gotovac was an opera musician whilst I am a rock musician. Maybe you can compare elements of the two styles, I guess that is up to the individual.

CH: Why is there such a strong link with you in the global media regarding your association with the Nazi-Hitler regime, when it is blatantly obvious that there has never been such a connection in your music?

- MP: I have no idea why this is the case, again I stress that there is no ill-feeling between the Jewish and Croatian people, but rather these false reports arise from certain individuals with their own agenda. I think that there are many similarities between the Croatian and Jewish people, one obvious being our religious beliefs regarding the old testament of the Bible, with the works of Moses and Abraham. We also fought for many years in order to have our own independent nations. I have no control of the media and what they publish, I am more concerned with what I do on stage. Likewise, if fans of my music choose to wear certain paraphernalia that may offend some people, I don't have any control over this.

“I don't want the Croatian youth to have a complex about our music!”

CH: In Croatia in recent times, concerts held by non-Croatian bands or singers such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and 50 cent have had varying crowd figures and responses, whilst your concert in Zagreb earlier this year saw a sold out Maksimir Stadium turnout (in excess of 60,000 to watch your concert? Do you think this irritates people, that you can attract such strong support, whilst international acts struggle?

- MP: I really don't know what the reason is that certain media is frustrated or angry with my music. Like I've said before, my music is about love for one's family, one's homeland and God, which is perhaps different to more conventional pop music.

CH: What are you expecting from your tour in Australia this time around, as opposed to last year?

- MP: I have insisted with my promoters in Australia that this tour must be technically suited to my music, which includes the venues that the four concerts will be staged. I don't want our youth to have a complex about our music, so that they think that our production and performance is somewhat backwards. I want them to able to bring their friends to the concert so that they can see that Croatian musicians can make an excellent spectacle just like other popular acts from around the world.

CH: How much of a profit will you make on this tour in Australia?

- MP: No idea. That is up to my management. I am concerned with my music and not with the financial side of things. For this I have management that is in charge of the financial side of things.

CH: Marko, thank you for your time and we look forward to seeing you in Australia.

- MP: Thank you and I can't wait to see everyone in Australia.