Interview with Guitarist & Vocalist Nikola "Niki" Dochev Bojakov of Eufobia (Bulgaria)
By Mick Michaels
COSMICK VIEW: Hello, Niki! Welcome to The Cosmick View. Thank you for taking some time out of your day to chat with me, it's greatly appreciated.
Nikola “Niki” Dochev Bojakov: Greetings from Bulgaria! I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to say a few words to your readers.
CV:
Do you feel Heavy Metal music in
general is viewed differently by fans in Europe compared to fans elsewhere,
especially in America, and if so why?
NIKI:
Well,
it’s hard for me to say, because I have never been to the United States, but I
don’t think that the metalheads in America are very different from us. I’ve
traveled many times across Europe, I’ve got lots of friends from all over the
world, I’ve even visited Kuwait twice and I know that we are all basically the
same. I’ve got more in common with an Arabian metalhead, than I’ve got with
lots of my fellow countryman. On the other hand, here on the Balkan Peninsula
people do everything with a lot of passion and for this reason the local metalheads
usually go totally crazy during the metal concerts, while the western Europeans
often prefer to relax and enjoy the show.
CV:
What do you feel makes Heavy Metal
music so alluring to the fans? What is it about the music that personally resonates
so strongly with you?
NIKI: Metal
music resonates with my pure basic emotions. Deep down inside people are still
animals and we need to go wild from time to time. My favorite music is brutal,
but honest, because life is not a fairy tale. I would have been a very different
person, if I hadn’t listened to such kind of music and I don’t think that I
would have liked myself.
CV:
Has
Metal splintered into too many sub-genres in your opinion, thus, making it
harder for newer bands to actually classify themselves as one style over
another? Is it confusing for fans as
well?
NIKI: Does
it really matter? Is it really important to know precisely what sub-genre of Metal
music we listen to? I don’t think so. I’m not even sure what kind of music my
band plays. Some say it’s death metal, others say it’s thrash metal, but it
doesn’t really matter, does it? Metal music should have no boundaries. I
personally listen to rock, grunge, punk, black metal, death metal, hard core,
grind core and basically to everything that has an electric guitar in it and I
like them all. The more unusual and original it sounds the better.
CV:
How would you describe the current state of the music business considering we
are now living in a COVID aware, and
maybe even feared world? Have things drastically changed
long-term for artists and bands given the recent pandemic? What are your
thoughts?
NIKI: The
world has gone mad in recent years. It has started to look a lot like the
dystopia, which George Orwell had described in his famous novel “1984”. The COVID-19
pandemic and now the war in Ukraine. Everything has drastically changed, not
only for the artists and the metal bands, but for almost every honest man on
this planet as well, because the people, who are in charge of politics nowadays
live isolated from society and they cannot understand the problems of the
ordinary people, but we will survive. I’m sure about it. It has never been easy
to make such music, but I believe that the hard times make people stronger and
if some bands didn’t survive, it would only mean that their members weren’t
motivated enough to continue with the music.
CV:
What do you feel makes your band and its particular approach to songwriting
work? What keeps the band together and making music?
NIKI: Our
friendship is probably the reason why the band still hasn't broken up. Every
band member is more motivated to be a part of Eufobia today than ever before,
actually. Don’t get me wrong! We argue sometimes, but each and every one of us respects
the others and adores the music that we make. These arguments are actually an
essential part of the creative process. We're not afraid to experiment when we
compose our songs, and this makes our music more interesting and unusual.
CV:
On a more global view, how do you see your band’s music and songwriting
separating itself from just being another Heavy Metal act?
NIKI: I
don't think that Eufobia has ever been a typical Death Metal band. We would
certainly never change, just to become more popular. We'd rather stay true to
ourselves and hopefully, the people will appreciate us for what we really are.
CV:
Can an artist truly be unique? Some would argue there is no such thing as being
unique; that it’s nothing more than a compounding of influences making an
artist who or what they are. Would this then say that artists today are
destined to be just copies of those who have already come to pass?
NIKI: For
me, making music is a very personal experience. When I compose the songs for
Eufobia, I don’t try to copy any particular band, but on the other hand, every
musician is influenced by the music that they listen to and this is the reason
why there are lots of bands which sound very similar to the great artists of the
past.
CV:
Are there life lessons to learn being in a Heavy Metal band that you feel
cannot be taught elsewhere? If so, what are they?
NIKI: The
first lesson that one must learn is that the life of the musicians is not like
in the movies. There’s a lot of misery involved, but at the end of the day it's
totally worth it, because the Metal music gives us the opportunity to transform
the negative energy of the world around us into beautiful music and meaningful
lyrics.
CV:
What do you feel makes someone a “rock
star”? Does being a rock star automatically make one iconic or are the two
completely different in your opinion?
NIKI: I
don’t know what makes someone a “rock star” and honestly, I don’t really care.
I don't want to be a rockstar, otherwise I would have chosen another type of
music to play. I just want to make good music and reach the people who would
like to listen to it. Besides, there are some really good bands that are rather
unpopular and lots of shitty bands that are very appreciated by the tasteless
crowd.
CV:
What's next for you? What can fans expect to see coming as the world looks to surmount
a new normal laced with a load of restrictions?
NIKI: It’s
obvious that the things are not going to get better soon, but the show must go
on. Right now, the promotion of the new album is our main priority. First, we're
going to shoot another music video and then we're going to make a tour in our
homeland. We’d also like to goon another tour across Europe, but we still
haven’t booked anything. We’ll see. It’s a bit complicated at the moment.
CV:
Thank you again Niki for spending
some time talking and sharing with our readers. It was a pleasure. I wish you
all the best and continued success.
NIKI:
Thanks! The pleasure was all mine.
Check out Eufobia at:
Official: https://www.eufobia.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Eufobia/
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