1 00:00:08,250 --> 00:00:11,610 My name is Julius, I come from Prešov. 2 00:00:13,310 --> 00:00:15,390 Mainly from a family of musicians. 3 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:20,830 Our grandfathers, fathers were musicians, 4 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,830 both on my mother's and father's side. 5 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:33,140 And mainly they were musicians of a dulcimer music, the traditional music. 6 00:00:34,500 --> 00:00:40,100 They played violin, dulcimer, accordion, violas, basses. 7 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:46,650 I come from Prešov, our grandparents also came from Prešov. 8 00:00:46,990 --> 00:00:48,280 They lived in Prešov. 9 00:00:50,350 --> 00:00:55,770 And when we were little kids, we grew up with the music. 10 00:00:55,770 --> 00:01:00,880 Our grandfathers, fathers played for us, we listened to the music all the time. 11 00:01:01,260 --> 00:01:03,260 That's how I grew up. 12 00:01:05,150 --> 00:01:09,080 And finally, when I started the school, 13 00:01:10,570 --> 00:01:13,040 I got very interested in the dulcimer. 14 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:15,230 My grandfather played the dulcimer. 15 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:19,890 And since my father also played the saxophone, the clarinet, 16 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:22,660 he started teaching me the clarinet. 17 00:01:22,970 --> 00:01:26,200 I was about 7-8 years old then. 18 00:01:27,530 --> 00:01:33,960 And I didn't enjoy it very much, I was still drawn to the dulcimer from a young age. 19 00:01:35,610 --> 00:01:40,980 Then they also tried the violin, they didn't want such a big instrument for me. 20 00:01:42,730 --> 00:01:47,290 But I didn't enjoy anything else anyway, just the dulcimer. 21 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:55,020 So they decided to buy me a dulcimer, I started school and began to learn. 22 00:01:55,740 --> 00:01:59,290 The traditional Roma songs, at the beginning. 23 00:01:59,790 --> 00:02:01,680 Then I learned a sheet music. 24 00:02:01,770 --> 00:02:05,950 Of course, I had to learn when I wanted to go to school. 25 00:02:07,140 --> 00:02:10,350 And the years went by, one year, the second, the third. 26 00:02:10,730 --> 00:02:14,280 I also took part in the dulcimer competitions. 27 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:20,430 Then the children's folklore ensemble Šarišanček was founded in Prešov. 28 00:02:20,650 --> 00:02:23,120 I played the dulcimer there. 29 00:02:24,670 --> 00:02:29,690 There were four of us Roma from the family, cousins and an uncle. 30 00:02:29,950 --> 00:02:35,620 What we were was the base, a dulcimer player, a violinist, a bassist and a violist. 31 00:02:36,050 --> 00:02:40,220 We formed the core of that band, that ensemble. 32 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:43,890 And the others were all non-Roma. 33 00:02:45,020 --> 00:02:48,830 We were there until we were fourteen. 34 00:02:49,850 --> 00:02:53,820 After that, we went to an other schools. 35 00:02:55,760 --> 00:03:00,440 I joined the Ukrainian theatre as a professional at the age of 15. 36 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,320 I was also accepted there as a dulcimer player. 37 00:03:04,690 --> 00:03:08,360 The uncle left there, he went to Bohemia. 38 00:03:09,340 --> 00:03:12,400 They didn't have a dulcimer player, so I took his place. 39 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:16,350 Of course, I had to audition to see if I knew the sheet music. 40 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,140 They accepted me, I was already playing, I was reading the sheet music. 41 00:03:21,170 --> 00:03:23,980 And what else can I tell you about my history? 42 00:03:24,250 --> 00:03:28,240 Then I had to join the military service. 43 00:03:29,180 --> 00:03:34,090 Also, to the Jánošík ensemble in Zvolen. 44 00:03:34,450 --> 00:03:36,700 I was also a dulcimer player there. 45 00:03:37,710 --> 00:03:40,430 I was in the military service for a year, then I came back. 46 00:03:40,590 --> 00:03:44,920 I got married and then the children came. 47 00:03:45,890 --> 00:03:52,600 And then I started to motivate my first son as well. 48 00:03:53,820 --> 00:03:55,420 I put the violin into his hand. 49 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,120 He picked up that violin, and he still plays it. 50 00:04:00,670 --> 00:04:04,730 He also graduated, he has a bachelor's degree. 51 00:04:05,630 --> 00:04:09,160 Now he teaches violin at the conservatory. 52 00:04:09,310 --> 00:04:14,730 But since we have a family band, the Ďusi Band, I am the leader of that band, 53 00:04:15,530 --> 00:04:20,160 so I had to solve it by dividing them. 54 00:04:21,010 --> 00:04:26,880 When it was necessary to fill the viola, I put Kristián on the viola. 55 00:04:27,180 --> 00:04:33,290 He learned and now he plays perfectly, there are few violists like him. 56 00:04:33,900 --> 00:04:36,080 I am surprised and it makes me happy. 57 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:42,700 And I also put my younger, middle son on the dulcimer. 58 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:47,800 To follow in my footsteps, so that the dulcimer does not disappear. 59 00:04:49,370 --> 00:04:51,850 He also graduated, he finished the school. 60 00:04:51,940 --> 00:04:57,280 He is now studying dulcimer at the Academy in Banská Bystrica, he´s already in his second year. 61 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:01,100 I'm happy they like it. 62 00:05:03,460 --> 00:05:08,640 He plays the bass in the band, he is smart, he also enjoys the bass. 63 00:05:09,620 --> 00:05:12,090 And he also plays the piano. 64 00:05:12,670 --> 00:05:15,660 And finally Samuel, the youngest, came. 65 00:05:17,230 --> 00:05:23,950 At the age of three, he also picked up a violin in his hand and pulled and pulled. 66 00:05:24,330 --> 00:05:27,130 The three of us played at home, as a band. 67 00:05:27,130 --> 00:05:31,790 Not as a real band, but with the kids, I was motivating them, teaching them the songs. 68 00:05:31,820 --> 00:05:35,360 They tried the Roma, the Hungarian, the Slovak ones. 69 00:05:36,170 --> 00:05:38,800 We also practiced sheet music together. 70 00:05:39,210 --> 00:05:47,370 And he grew up here with us and now it's all gone into him that we're surprised. 71 00:05:47,700 --> 00:05:50,190 He joined the school where I enrolled him. 72 00:05:51,150 --> 00:05:57,070 Such a thing happened, that they were rehearsing him, the clapping, his sense of a rhythm. 73 00:05:57,820 --> 00:06:01,950 And he was tested by the director, Mr. Kakaščík. 74 00:06:02,570 --> 00:06:07,870 So not he was giving him the rhythm, but Samko was testing him. 75 00:06:08,830 --> 00:06:11,160 The whole room was laughing. 76 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:16,810 They accepted him, he couldn't even write yet, he learned to read. 77 00:06:18,380 --> 00:06:23,210 We were surprised that he was doing so well that year. 78 00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:26,130 He had a good teacher too, that's the basis, 79 00:06:26,130 --> 00:06:28,800 that a good teacher had him under her supervision. 80 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:31,630 During the first year he took part in some concerts, 81 00:06:31,690 --> 00:06:34,960 he had the first concert, the second concert, he learned. 82 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:38,830 My wife and I used to go to competitions with him. 83 00:06:38,850 --> 00:06:43,100 We still have to accompany him. 84 00:06:45,020 --> 00:06:49,180 We are hardly without him, so we are used to from his young age. 85 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:55,640 He finished the art school 86 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:58,330 and now he is going to the conservatory in Košice. 87 00:06:58,580 --> 00:07:01,550 We are very happy 88 00:07:02,670 --> 00:07:05,940 that she is already starting at the conservatory. 89 00:07:07,980 --> 00:07:13,040 Teachers have been demanding him, writing to us, calling us to see if he will really join. 90 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:16,680 - I want him, let him be my student. 91 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:19,090 So I told Samko to choose 92 00:07:19,170 --> 00:07:21,600 who he wants to go to, it's up to him. 93 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:26,050 So he chose a top professor. 94 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:34,330 So I hope he'll help him become even better violinist than he is now, so we'll see. 95 00:07:34,330 --> 00:07:35,920 Back to the military service. 96 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:41,550 I joined the basic military service and there was a military ensemble. 97 00:07:42,110 --> 00:07:44,440 The military art ensemble it was. 98 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:48,690 They danced, sang and the dulcimer orchestra must have been there. 99 00:07:49,540 --> 00:07:53,330 There was a turnover of people, after a year they went into civilian life 100 00:07:53,460 --> 00:07:56,110 and new people came in, it was necessary to fill the place. 101 00:07:56,110 --> 00:07:59,280 When a dulcimer player was needed, we were two dulcimer players there. 102 00:07:59,370 --> 00:08:03,480 And, when there were three violinists, there were three. 103 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:10,540 We didn't have a double bass, we had to take one from another company. 104 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:15,560 He knew the bass guitar, so we taught him how to play the big bass, the double bass. 105 00:08:15,630 --> 00:08:19,860 To have that set, the whole band. 106 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:27,240 That's why the dulcimer band was there, because it was a military art ensemble. 107 00:08:27,530 --> 00:08:31,520 Back then. there was a Slovkoncert, it was an agency. 108 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:37,210 They used to send us, for example, to the Tatras for three months to play. 109 00:08:37,450 --> 00:08:39,690 With complete strangers musicians. 110 00:08:40,570 --> 00:08:45,280 We didn't know each other, we met at that place 111 00:08:45,730 --> 00:08:48,300 and we got straight to work. 112 00:08:50,970 --> 00:08:52,520 We played in Prešov. 113 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:58,520 There was also a restaurant where a Roma band played. 114 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:03,160 There was a hut in Košice in Dargov. 115 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:07,260 We also met unknown musicians there. 116 00:09:08,460 --> 00:09:11,980 Eventually it ended up that I got tired of it. 117 00:09:13,420 --> 00:09:15,420 And, when my boys grew up, 118 00:09:15,620 --> 00:09:18,060 I thought, let's try to get it together, 119 00:09:18,460 --> 00:09:22,440 start our own band, see how it works. 120 00:09:23,070 --> 00:09:31,880 And it started with the first show for your library. 121 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:35,690 From what I remember, Samko was I don't know how old. 122 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:41,770 And he already started playing three, four songs with us on the violin. 123 00:09:43,620 --> 00:09:45,480 And so it went on gradually. 124 00:09:45,630 --> 00:09:51,040 We saw that it was possible, we weren't afraid anymore, we added more songs. 125 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:54,970 They kept inviting us to these performances, festivals. 126 00:09:54,970 --> 00:09:58,570 In Prešov there is a Roma festival every year, 127 00:09:58,620 --> 00:10:03,150 so we were invited there every year, as a Ďusi Band. 128 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:07,660 We also recorded our first CD together. 129 00:10:08,930 --> 00:10:10,730 The feedback was good, 130 00:10:10,830 --> 00:10:15,650 we had to send the CDs all the way to the USA, from where they requested them from us. 131 00:10:16,260 --> 00:10:20,670 So, we were surprised that there is so much interest in our music. 132 00:10:21,310 --> 00:10:29,620 Now we are mainly invited to the festivals by both Roma and non-Roma. 133 00:10:30,860 --> 00:10:35,370 So let's see, we want to continue developing with our music. 134 00:10:35,370 --> 00:10:39,370 Roma melodies 135 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:44,970 The way it works with us is that I am usually the one who reminds them 136 00:10:45,210 --> 00:10:48,760 of the older Roma tunes that come to mind. 137 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:54,780 Sometimes you forget about it, but I still get those thoughts. 138 00:10:55,210 --> 00:11:00,300 When I think of an old melody, I try to show it to them. 139 00:11:00,300 --> 00:11:02,970 Or we find that tune somewhere, 140 00:11:02,970 --> 00:11:06,620 everybody would listen to it, if it can still be found. 141 00:11:07,420 --> 00:11:15,300 But then we usually have new ones, we have our own song recorded too. 142 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:19,970 We have it on a music video we made ourselves, too. 143 00:11:20,700 --> 00:11:26,880 Most of the time Samko is so inventive that he makes up new arrangements. 144 00:11:27,290 --> 00:11:30,890 We compose it, we try how it sounds. 145 00:11:30,890 --> 00:11:35,520 If we like it, we keep it, if we don't, we change something, modify it. 146 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:39,530 But mostly by are inspired by those old Roma tunes. 147 00:11:39,630 --> 00:11:46,010 Also from Hungary, Hungarian melodies are very nice, so interesting, melodic. 148 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,190 So, we are drawn to that. 149 00:11:50,540 --> 00:11:54,490 My dulcimer 150 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:58,620 My dulcimer comes from Romania. 151 00:11:59,310 --> 00:12:03,690 It's a Romanian manufacturer, it has its own brand, Aurel. 152 00:12:04,730 --> 00:12:06,490 I got to the dulcimer 153 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:12,830 when we were traveling to England for an unnamed event. 154 00:12:13,710 --> 00:12:18,510 And since we already have contacts there, well-known musicians, 155 00:12:18,940 --> 00:12:23,360 we agreed that I don't have to bring a dulcimer from Prešov, from such a distance. 156 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:26,750 They lent me a dulcimer from there. 157 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:35,050 I just liked it, it has a good sound, it plays, it's in a good condition. 158 00:12:36,680 --> 00:12:42,120 So on the way back I bought it and we brought it to Prešov, Slovakia. 159 00:12:42,350 --> 00:12:47,840 So it came to me, from Belgium, but the manufacturer is Romanian. 160 00:12:48,990 --> 00:12:52,780 And we have other dulcimers, originally from Hungary. 161 00:12:53,260 --> 00:12:57,340 So we don't just have one, we have more. 162 00:12:58,730 --> 00:13:01,100 And since my son is studying the dulcimer, 163 00:13:01,180 --> 00:13:04,170 he bought a new one on order from Hungary. 164 00:13:04,460 --> 00:13:08,760 So that he has a good quality instrument, so we have more of it. 165 00:13:09,550 --> 00:13:14,300 Of course, from the beginning you need to practice, to learn. 166 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:18,830 Just like any instrument to master. 167 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:21,540 Once the hands are used to it, 168 00:13:22,090 --> 00:13:26,320 it is no longer a problem, where and how to play it. 169 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:32,760 Even on the piano you have to learn the fingering, that where to put it, the keys. 170 00:13:33,660 --> 00:13:37,050 Every instrument has its specifics, even on the dulcimer it works that way. 171 00:13:37,820 --> 00:13:41,320 First of all, he has to learn the fingering, drumming, 172 00:13:41,970 --> 00:13:43,560 and then it's not a problem. 173 00:13:43,820 --> 00:13:47,760 Traditional Roma music 174 00:13:48,060 --> 00:13:50,300 The way I see it, this dulcimer music, 175 00:13:50,300 --> 00:13:55,650 is that now few people want to continue 176 00:13:55,810 --> 00:13:59,550 the traditional Roma dulcimer music. 177 00:14:00,260 --> 00:14:02,410 That it is slowly disappearing. 178 00:14:02,670 --> 00:14:07,040 But I am surprised that non-Roma dulcimer bands 179 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:11,850 play at every celebration, every week. 180 00:14:11,900 --> 00:14:14,910 Because I also play with non-Roma. 181 00:14:15,310 --> 00:14:18,330 And almost every Saturday we play a non-Roma wedding. 182 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:22,320 And the only condition is the dulcimer band playing. 183 00:14:22,350 --> 00:14:23,940 And I am surprised 184 00:14:24,300 --> 00:14:30,000 that the non-Roma are dedicated to it, it works, it continues. 185 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:32,910 They don´t even want any kind 186 00:14:32,910 --> 00:14:36,140 of an electronic music. 187 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:38,440 They prefer the dulcimer bands. 188 00:14:38,980 --> 00:14:42,750 And here, among the Roma, they call us 189 00:14:42,750 --> 00:14:45,410 and there should be three bands at one celebration. 190 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:50,280 They demand personal songs with violin, dulcimer. 191 00:14:50,730 --> 00:14:57,580 We have lot of invitations, now it is a little better than it was two years ago. 192 00:14:58,730 --> 00:15:00,960 But it's going so slowly. 193 00:15:01,710 --> 00:15:03,800 Sometimes, in the time of our parents, 194 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:06,890 they called the dulcimer band for every celebration. 195 00:15:06,930 --> 00:15:10,780 It didn't have to be a dulcimer, a violin, a bass, a viola were enough. 196 00:15:11,930 --> 00:15:13,290 "Gypsies come play for us." 197 00:15:13,370 --> 00:15:14,920 They also used to go to the non-Roma, 198 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,800 there weren´t bands like that, only violins and dulcimers. 199 00:15:20,030 --> 00:15:24,120 We and the Roma language 200 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:29,020 Of course, I speak Roma, since we are Roma, we must know the language. 201 00:15:29,770 --> 00:15:35,820 But our young generation mostly speaks only Slovak. 202 00:15:35,820 --> 00:15:39,820 We don't speak Roma with them at home, only Slovak. 203 00:15:40,530 --> 00:15:45,930 But they understand, I talk Roma, my wife talks,my parents talk. 204 00:15:47,220 --> 00:15:49,330 Grandparents also talked Roma. 205 00:15:49,690 --> 00:15:53,580 Plans for the future 206 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:57,940 We are planning to release a second CD in the near future. 207 00:15:58,860 --> 00:16:03,470 I hope that we will still operate in the kind of lineup we are now. 208 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,920 We already have an expanded band. 209 00:16:07,340 --> 00:16:12,720 And I want us to play at various events, we are especially interested in festivals. 210 00:16:13,260 --> 00:16:16,360 Because that's where one shows up on stage. 211 00:16:17,890 --> 00:16:23,690 People perceive us better standing on the stage than at a party. 212 00:16:24,030 --> 00:16:26,830 There are performances, singing and dancing. 213 00:16:28,090 --> 00:16:29,880 It's better for us to play at a festival. 214 00:16:30,140 --> 00:16:33,900 We have enough of such an invitations now. 215 00:16:33,940 --> 00:16:37,230 We are glad that people have started to perceive us now. 216 00:16:38,650 --> 00:16:41,770 And that they want to listen to our music.