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Photo: Gregor Rajewsky
for a career. Instead he studied theatre at university and then
fled to Budapest to escape being drafted. Whilst in exile he was
surprised by the high level of Roma music and culture being pro-
moted in Budapest and this inspired him to begin building what
would become Kal.
“In Budapest I could feel myself developing into this artistic
person. Dushan and I got involved with producing Roma theatre
there and the people we worked with spoke such fine Romany. I
learnt Hungarian and was tempted to stay but when you are
abroad, your life as it was can be looked at from a distance, eval-
uated, and the fall of Milosevic was a signal to me that I had to
be back in Serbia to set up positions. Across so much of East
Europe the fall of communism meant little changed for the bet-
ter for the Gypsies and I wanted to get a cultural movement
going in Belgrade.”
“Back in Belgrade I re-engaged with my people’s music. Initial-
ly, I played it very badly but I knew I was onto something. I played
the kafanas ( bars), put everything into Kal, met great local talents
who lived in the mahala (ghetto), musicians who spend their
entire lives playing in restaurants or at weddings, no idea of the
bigger picture. That’s how Kal took shape.”
ast forward to today and Kal have released two impres-
F
sive albums, toured internationally, found Dragan’s
song Duj Duj becoming a staple of Fanfare Ciocarlia’s
Queens & Kings set, been remixed by many a Balkan
Beats wannabe DJ and become inspirational heroes
across former Yugoslavia. Not that the living is easy: Kal are yet to
get the break that will launch them to a wide public. This means
they have to tour relentlessly to earn enough money for the
band’s six musicians to support their families. A gruelling US tour
in 2008 found the band starting out in New York and gigging all
the way west to Texas, then all the way north to Seattle.
“Never again,” says Ristic. “That was too tough, too stressful.”
“Turbo-capitalism,” is Kal bassist Aleksandar Cvejic’s astute
observation on what he made of the US.
Ristic smiles wanly and adds, “Sometimes I have to carry so
much on my shoulders. I’m leading this band and so the guys are
looking to me while my wife and children are back home knowing
I’m away to earn a living. But I’ve also taken on this role of being
something of a spokesperson for the Roma and that means I get
asked to talk on social and political things, the problems of my
people. To be trying to do all this in a society as alienated as Amer-
ica is too much.”
Ristic sighs. When I met him six years ago he was a more light-
hearted man, always laughing, ready to take on the world. Today
he’s battered from such an undertaking, yet determined to keep
taking his rock ’n’ Roma agenda forward. “Coming here for Cele-
brating Sanctuary and as part of Gypsy Roma Traveller Month, now
that is more what Kal are about,” he says. “Maybe next year we can
tour the UK in June and really spread the word!”
Thanks to Max & Rita at Celebrating Sanctuary, Florence
Arpin, Sebastian Merrick, Rocky & Jake of Gypsy Roma Traveller
History Month.
www.myspace.com/romakal F
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