Leader Gino Yevdjevich became a professional musician in his native Sarajevo when he was 16, making a good living playing commercial music. All that changed in 1991, when the war in the former Yugoslavia began. With no money and precious little food or electricity, the local artistic community made art for itself -- and found it well received as locals braved snipers and bombs to get out of their houses.
However, he left for the U.S. in 1994 under the sponsorship of singer Joan Baez and ended up in Seattle starring in a play with music about the Sarajevo conflict, Behind God's Back.
The band Kultur Shock came after the play closed, playing acoustic music in restaurants. Advised by Krist Novoselic (who has his own Croatian roots in the Balkans) to play louder, they began doing so -- and found themselves thrown out of the restaurants.
After a brief hiatus, they returned to play Seattle clubs with guitarist Mario Butkovich, who'd been persuaded to move from his new home in Portland. Brad Houser (New Bohemians, Critters Buggin') took the bass slot, with Amy Denio and Jessica Lurie filling out the horn section.
In 1999, they recorded and self-released Kultur Shock Live in Amerika, which documented the outfit at the first full stage of their development. While the music they played was all traditional, the treatment of it certainly wasn't, with loud electric guitars complementing the twist-and-turn horn lines. It was, Yevdjevich admitted, "a party album," and though often impressive, it didn't do them full justice.
Changes in personnel ensued. Houser left, to be replaced with Masa Kobayashi from Tokyo, and a second guitarist, Bulgarian Val Kiossovski. With that lineup, they began to make their first studio record, along the way signing with Kool Arrow, the label run by Faith No More's Billy Gould, and continuing to play local gigs as well as touring up and down the West Coast. The album, FUCC the I.N.S., appeared in late 2001, followed by Kultura-Diktatura in 2004 and We Came to Take Your Jobs Away in 2006.
In October 2008 Mario Butkovic and Masa Kobayashi left the band and the new line-up included some already known to the band musicians like:
Guy Michael Davis - well known for his amazing bass work with the bands Sage (mid 90s), Guardian Allien and BenJovi, is the new bassist, he plays banjo and bunch of other strange instruments, considering he grew up in Indonesia.
Paris Hurley - a violinist extraordinair substituted for Matty Noble for month and a half during the summer tour '08. In the process of it she became part of the band and was a natural choice for the forthcoming "Integration" album and the touring season.
Amy Denio recorded and toured with the band as a sax and clarinet player on 'Fucc the INS' and 'Kultura-Diktatura' .*
The last album "Integration" is released in 2009.
* from the interview of Val Kiossovski for the Bulgarian online radio Tangra Mega Rock http://radiotangra.com/?page=int&lng=en&id=183
Kultur Shock are:
Gino Srdjan Yevdjevic (Bosnia)- vocals, trumpet, djumbek
Val Kiossovski (Bulgaria) - guitar, vocal
Chris Stromquist (USA) - drums
Guy Davis (Indonesia, USA) - bass, banjo
Matty Noble (USA)- violin
Paris Hurley (USA) - vocal, violin
Amy Denio (USA) - clarinet, saxophone, vocal
Mastika
Kultur Shock Lyrics
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rodiću ti devetoro dece
Da mi skineš sa neba sve zvezde
rodiću ti devetoro dece
Ai, mastika, mastika (4x)
Da me mažeš sa medom moj cvete
Da me mažeš sa medom moj cvete
pa me ljubiš od glave do pete
Ai, mastika, mastika (4x)
?, mastika, mastika
Ai, mastika, mastika (8x)
In Kultur Shock's song Mastika, the lyrics poetically describe the singer's desire for intimacy and affection from their lover using vivid imagery. The singer declares that if their lover were to bring them down all the stars from the sky, they would bear nine children for them. The repeated chorus of "mastika" emphasizes the passionate and almost primal nature of the singer's desire.
The second verse continues with the theme of physical intimacy, with the singer begging to be covered in honey and kissed head to toe by their lover. The use of honey as a metaphor for love and sensuality is a common trope in many cultures. The final line of the verse, "pa me ljubiš od glave do pete," means "then you kiss me from head to toe." This emphasizes the full-body experience the singer craves.
Line by Line Meaning
Da mi skineš sa neba sve zvezde
If you bring me all the stars from the sky
rodiću ti devetoro dece
I'll give birth to nine children for you
Da me mažeš sa medom moj cvete
If you smear me with honey, my love
pa me ljubiš od glave do pete
And kiss me from head to toe
Ai, mastika, mastika (4x)
Oh, mastika (4x)
?, mastika, mastika
Untranslatable, just repeats mastika (mastika doesn't have a direct translation, but is a strong liquor typically consumed in the Balkans)
Ai, mastika, mastika (8x)
Oh, mastika (8x)
Contributed by Elena O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Nao ox
Hopppaaa