Hey Stefan, thanks for having me on your blog. My name is Ivan and I used to play guitar and sing for Nikad, together with Neven who played drums and Krešo who played bass and also sang.
2. How and when did you first became interested in hardcore/punk?
Unfortunately, nobody from my school, neighbourhood or my family wasn't into any kind of alternative music when I was growing up. Although, when I was still in elementary school, I was briefly introduced to some Yugoslavian new wave and punk bands (KUD Idijoti, Azra...) and some mainstream punk and alternative bands from abroad (Nirvana, Ramones, Sex Pistols...).
But I definitely started to discover the world of punk rock when I went to high school. I remember I was seated next to a skater guy wearing Misfits t-shirt on a first day of high school. So through him and two other punk girls from my class I started to discover various bands.
Also, during that time in the early 90's, mainstream music industry started to sign a lot of alternative/hardcore/metal bands which were definitely quite influential for me (Rage Against The Machine, Helmet, Sick Of It All...). RATM were definitely a band that introduced me to radical politics.
3. What was the state of the local underground scene back then?
Similar to the wave of major labels signing bands that I previously mentioned, the local record company Croatia Records started it's sub-label called T.R.I.P. records which released albums from local underground bands (Hladno Pivo, Majke, Overflow...). I believe that's how punk music started to be more visible to kids in Croatia.
And then when you dig deeper you found out there is a bunch of small underground bands that you never heard of. During the war years, there was not too many concerts, but after the war ended, somewhere in 95/96, people started to do more local punk gigs and even the bands from abroad started to visit Croatia.
Since more things started to happen, more and more kids were into it and local punk bands started to pop up all around the country and scene kind of flourished. So the scene in the second half of the 90's was really vivid and diverse. A lot of bands, fanzines, shows...
4. A few years prior to Nikad, all members played in a band called Clean. What can you tell me about this project?
We basically wanted to make a first real straight edge band in Croatia. Prior to Clean there were a couple of bands with some (or even most) members who were SxE, and a couple of those bands even had some overtly SxE lyrics (Razlog Za, My Life My Dreams,...) but to my knowledge, Clean was the first all straight edge band in Croatia and we were all vegetarians at the time.
5. That band was vocal in support of a straight edge and vegetarian lifestyles. Do you still personally live by these ideologies?
Some members of Clean are still SxE and vegetarian. I've been SxE and vegetarian since 1996, went vegan in 2000 and I'm still going strong for 20+ years.
6. What sparked the decision to leave Clean and form Nikad? And what are the main differences between the two, for you personally?
I would probably say that musical differences were crucial. Three of us wanted to do something different so we formed Nikad. There are, of course stylistic differences and the fact that Nikad was not overtly SxE band, although, during the existence of Nikad, we were all vegan and SxE.
7. What were the biggest musical influences for Nikad at the time?
We were heavily influenced with all things HeartattaCk and Ebullition related. I think our biggest musical influences at the time were Portraits Of Past, Yaphet Kotto, Closure, Shotmaker, Union Of Uranus, Orchid, Swing Kids and the likes.
8. Your demo came out in early 2001. The demo was self-released under your own label "My Favourite Records", which also previously released a mini-album for Clean. The label is still active to this day, so please tell me something more about it, what motivated this idea and how it evolved over the years.
As most DIY labels start, we wanted to release music from our band and our friends bands. The first release was a mini CD from Clean, then we released the tape from our friends in band Essence and the last release of that period was a tour CD-R demo for Nikad.
I recently resurrected the label name when my current band Ponor released its albums so I can have something that sounds more professional than "self-released" written on the back of the cover. :D
9. The cover art for the demo was done by Krešo's mom and it is a piece that truly goes nicely with the band. Did she make the art specifically for you guys? What does it represent in relation to Nikad?
Krešo's mum was teaching an art class in elementary school at that time and was drawing and painting in her free time. Krešo found that painting and thought it would fit nicely as our cover art. I don't think it represents much in relation to Nikad except that it looked nice at the time. It might mean more to Krešo but he never shared that with us.
10. What was the initial response of the local scene to Nikad? Did you guys play a lot of shows locally? Any certain other bands you were close with?
I want to think people liked what we were doing, but I kind of believe Nikad was more appreciated locally after we disbanded. We played less than 10 shows in Croatia.
At the time we were close with The Farewell Reason and Outre from Čakovec, Man In The Shadow from Slovenia, Analena, Usud, Chang Ffos, Amok and Senata Fox from Zagreb. Both Krešo and I also played in Senata Fox at the time. And of course, we were close with Costa's Cake House from Germany and Children Of Fall from Sweden, both which we later toured with.
11. Already 2002. was a big year for the band. You released the self-titled LP on "Fire Walk With Me", which is a label that later put out records for bands such as The Saddest Landscape, Dominic, Van Johnson, etc. Tell me something more about this, how did you get in touch with Thomas from the label?
2002 was a big and final year for the band. :) Neven spent a couple of months during 1999 in Vienna studying German and he went to some shows there and met some local punks that we later became friends with (and are still friends with some of them 20 years after).
One of them was Thomas who ran Fire Walk With Me Records and also Yummy, a skate and record store. After hearing our demo and seeing us play in Vienna couple of times, we talked about doing a full length for his label which we did.
Why he decided to invest time and money into some Yugo kids doing silly music is still beyond me, but we're all eternally thankful and grateful to him. I guess he was just a great guy overall and I'm sure Nikad probably wouldn't be the band it was without Thomas. Rest in peace dear friend.
12. The lyrics you wrote on almost all the releases are powerful in their simplicity, but together with the instruments they manage to tell quite a tale. What inspires you the most when writing and how do you personally craft this "less is more" style? Is it something that you consciously aim for or is it simply the way you write?
Since English is not our primary language, we were trying to be brief, make some points and be poetic at the same time. In addition to that, our songs were quite short so we couldn't fit more lyrics even if we wanted to.
13. There's a sample quote from the movie "City of Angels" in the song "This Letter Says". Is there any specific connection between the two?
That is a typical song about lost love and hearts being broken. I thing Krešo came up with that sample and it fit the mood and lyrics nicely.
14. You also recorded an amazing cover of "Hidden Wheel" by Rites of Spring. Any particular reason you chose this song? Were there any other runner-up covers that didn't make it to the LP?
Besides being influenced by the current bands at the time, we were all fans of the late 80's emo and Dischord stuff from that era. Even today, I would say that Fugazi is the best band ever, and huge infuluence to my music taste, politics and worldview.
We were considering doing a cover from one of the bands from that era and eventually went with Rites Of Spring. I think it also has to do with knowing that Thomas, who was about to release the record, was also a big fan of the band. :)
15. The same year you joined forces with Children of Fall with who you released a split titled "Four Symptomatic Poems Of A World Gone Insane". Tell me something more about this collaboration.
16. There's an interesting piece of text on that split, in short, about bands coming from less privileged countries and whether or not they get equal treatment. What sparked this essay and who wrote it? And did you ever feel this on your skin, seeing as how you are coming from the Balkans that were engulfed in war just a few years prior?
I can't really remember who exactly wrote the text, but I'm sure it was one of the COF guys. We were not too concerned with that matter, but it is the fact that most modern music after WWII onward is Western-centric and mostly sang in English and for that matter band from different parts of the globe (South America, Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa...) just didn't have the same treatment.
17. On a similar topic of the text on the split, there's this mood circling around Nikad that you guys would have been a much more popular band if you were from the "west". Realistically, you could easily stand shoulder to shoulder next to Orchid or Yaphet Kotto. What does it even mean to be a popular screamo band? And does it even matter to you? Are you happy with the noise your band managed to create?
I really don't know what would "popular screamo band" mean. We were never bothered with anything but playing the music we liked and hanging out with like minded people. The opportunity to travel around playing shows and having our music released in physical format was just a bonus.
Of course, it is always flattering to find out that someone liked what we were doing, but it was never our intention to be popular or whatever. But I still do like the music we did and I'm quite proud what we achieved considering we had no clue what we were doing. :D
18. If I remember well, you played a show in Switzerland with Children of Fall, was this part of a larger tour? There are also two live recordings from France, which can be found on the "Spiruline: Quelques Traces..." compilation. How often did you manage to play shows outside of Croatia?
It turned out we played more shows abroad than in Croatia. The main reason is that we went on two European tours, one was a 12 day tour with Costa's Cake House and another one being a mammoth, 41 day, destined to doom, tour with Childeren Of Fall.
19. If Nikad could do a split with any band that was active at the same time, which one would you choose and why?
We had a plan to do a split 7" with Costa's Cake House contributing one original track each and one cover track of each others band, but that never saw the light of the day. CCH eventualy did a Nikad cover that is included on vinyl version of their 555 album.
I also wish that split with COF was released on vinyl as it was intended.
And if I could choose any active band at that time, I think a split with Yaphet Kotto would be nice. :D
20. Looking back at your time with the band, would you do anything differently?
Not really, I'm satisfied how the things worked out. A lot of nice memories and a lot of life lessons.
21. What was your most memorable Nikad moment?
Uh, that's a hard one... Being able to meet wonderful people all around Europe, seeing places I would probably never visit otherwise, holding the LP in our hands for the first time...
22. When did your last show take place? And what prompted the band to end afterwards?
Our last show was on June 6th, 2002 at Wommyn Not Chicks Fest in Vienna. That room in EKH was filled with friendly faces and was quite an emotional experience. We decided a couple of months earlier that we'll play the last couple of shows and end the story with Nikad, mostly due to personal reasons.
23. Probably the most important question in this interview, how does it actually feel to be ran over by a Volvo?
It feels exactly how that song sounds like. :) We decided to keep that rumbling, driving song as an instrumental and partly name it after the Volvo GL240 that Neven's father let us borrow when we needed a ride.
24. What have you been doing nowadays, 20 years after Nikad? Do you have any future band plans?
I've never stopped playing in band all these years. After Nikad disbanded, we continued with Senata Fox all the way until 2014. In 2003 I joined Amok and after Amok broke up, we formed Ponor which is still going on.
Neven went to play drums in Radio Free Isaac, and when they disbanded he played piano in Don't Mess With Texas and later again drums in Storms. He had a brief stint as a drummer for a local mainstream emo punk band Kinoklub.
25. What are your current favorite bands? What about all-time favorites?
My musical taste is quite eclectic and I listen to everything from easy listening electronica to most primitive death metal and grind. My favorite bands at the moment are Wrong, Tame Impala, Maniac, Gouge Away, Sect, Mannequin Pussy, Caribou, Burial, Gulch, the list goes on...
My all time favorites are Fugazi, Helmet, Coalesce, Shotmaker, Union Of Uranus, The Promise Ring, Rage Against The Machine, KUD Idijoti, Earth Crisis, Snapcase, Integrity, Minor Threat, Los Crudos, Strain...
26. Time for you to ask a question!
I'm just here for an interview, no questions asked. :D
27. All things come to an end... Do you have any final message to the readers?
Thank you Stefan for showing interest in Nikad and doing this interview. Dear readers - be kind, stay punk and go vegan. ;)
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Disclaimer: This interview was done way back in April 2021, but has stayed in my drafts due to reasons unknown. It coincided with the interview I did with Johan (Mihai Edrisch/Celeste), a rather big milestone for the blog, and I rode that high into oblivion basically. Thanks again to Ivan for the patience.
