| 49 Hismission is tomakepeoplehappy and, indeed, after the nightsatwhichhecontrolsthemusic,nobodyhasyetgone homeunhappy. Eternallysmilingandirreparablyoptimistic,he is inlovewithgrooveandgoodmusic. PerodiReda, better known as DJ Peppe, this year celebrates half a century of life andthreedecadesofmakingpeoplehappy intheclubsofBelgrade... How will you celebrate this milestone birthday and how do you feel as a man who’s half a century old? “This year I decided to celebrate this“little jubilee”with a party under the working title“Half a century with you”. It all starts at Lasta for Sunday Matinee, then we’ll later move on to Kućica, where it will actually be an after party. Domestic and some foreign DJs will perform, at Lasta the house sound will prevail, while Disco & Funk will play a dominant roleatKućica. And Iwish formyself another half a century of the samegroove...” You are among the founders of the clubbing in Serbia. Do you recall those beginnings with nostalgia? What is the di erence between people then and now, in terms of how they hear and comprehend the music? “It used to be that clubbing and everything associated with it wasn’t available at every step, nor was it mainstream, as it has now become. Clubbing was a state of consciousness, an escape from reality for a night, dancing to the last drop of sweat withmineralwater andgoodcompany.Now, though, it is a big business that connects people and expands borders beyond faiths, social systems and political parties... It has certainly evolved...” Itwas always important to you for people to have fun. What is groove? How would you determine that to which one cannot remain calm? “Grooveisinman’sgeneticcode.Whenever Iplaysomewickedgroove I alwayssay“you only don’t dance here if you’re deaf or dead”. Groove is thedrivingforcebehindeverything, and everything revolves around it; it moves, createsanatmosphere, encouragesemotions and even creates businesses.When I think of groove, I always remember JamesBrownand his song“I got ants inmy pants and I want to dance”. He is the true de nition of groove.” Where are we compared to the rest of the world? “ We are not bad at all; I even think we’re aheadinsomeconcepts.I’veheardforeignerssay ahundredtimes“thisdoesn’texisteveninNew York”andIbelievethat’sreallyso.Wehaveserious,world-renownedfestivals, goodmainstreamclubs with local music, smaller underground clubs with current music from that domain… And we have people, whoarethemost importantpartofclubbing- talentedproducersand DJs, aswell as a listening, loyal audience that canonly be desirable.” AndSavamala?Somethingdangerous issimmeringthere... “Savamalaisexperiencingitsthirdreincarnationandtheopeningof severalnewvenueswithveryinterestingcontenthasbeenannounced forNovember. I think all lovers of clubbingwill be satis ed.” Njegova jemisija da usreći ljude. I stvarno, posle svirki na kojima puštamuziku niko još nije otišao kući nesrećan. Večito nasmejan, nepopravljivo optimističan, zaljubljen u gruv i dobru muziku. Pero di Reda, poznatiji kao DJ Peppe, ove godine slavi pola veka života i tri decenije kako u beogradskim klubovima usrećuje ljude. Kako će se slaviti taj jubilarni rođendan i kako se ti osećaš kao poluvekovni čovek? – Ove godine odlučio samda dočekam taj „mali jubilej“ žurkomčiji je radni naslov Pola veka sa vama. Sve počinje na Lasti na nedeljnom matineu, pa se posle selimo na Kućicu, gde će u stvari biti after. Nastupaće domaći i poneki strani DJ, na Lasti će preovladati haus zvuk, dok će na Kućici disko & fank imati dominantnu ulogu. A ja sebi želim još pola veka istog gruva... Jedan si od pionira klabinga u Srbiji. Sećaš li se tih početaka?Učemu je razlika među ljudima tada i sada – u tome kako đuskaju ili možda kako slušaju ili shvataju muziku? – Nekada je klabing i sve u vezi s njim bio dostupan na svakom koraku. Nije to bio mejnstrim kakav je sada. Klabing je tada bio stanje svesti, beg od realnosti na jednu noć, đuskanje do poslednje kapi znoja uz kiselu vodu i dobro društvo. Sada je to krupan biznis koji, doduše, povezuje ljude i širi granice van vera, društvenih sistema, političkihpartija…Svakako je evoluirao. Uvek ti je bilo bitno da se ljudi zabave. Šta je gruv?Kakobi ti shvatio ono na šta se ne može ostati miran? –Gruv je u genetskomkodu čoveka. Ja uvek kažem, kad pustim neki opaki gruv: „Ovde jedino ne igraš ako si gluv ili mrtav.“ Gruv je pokretačka snaga svega i oko njega se sve vrti, on pokreće, pravi atmosferu, podstiče emocije, čak stvara i biznise. Kad pomislim na gruv, uvek se setimDžejmsa Brauna i njegove pesme I got ants in my pants and I want to dance. To je prava definicija gruva. Gde smo mi u odnosu na svet? – Uopšte nismo loši, čak mislim da u nekim konceptima prednjačimo. Sto puta sam čuo od ljudi iz inostranstva „pa ovoga nema ni uNjujorku“ i verujemda jeste tako. Imamo ozbiljne svetski poznate festivale, dobremejnstrimklubove sa domaćommuzikom, manje andergraund klubove sa aktuelnom muzikom iz tog domena… I imamo ljude koji su najbitniji deo klabinga, talentovane producente i di-džejeve, kao i naslušanu, lojalnu publiku koja se samomože poželeti. A Savamala? Tamo se nešto opasno krčka... – Savamala doživljava svoju treću reinkarnaciju i najavljeno je otvaranje nekoliko novih lokala sa vrlo interesantnim sadržajem u novembru. Mislim da će svi ljubitelji klabinga biti zadovoljni. “Clubbing used to be a state of consciousness, an escape from reality for a night, dancing to the last drop of sweat with mineral water and good company. Now, though, it is a big business that connects people and expands borders beyond faiths, social systems and political parties,” says DJ Peppe, one of the founders of Serbia's clubbing scene Klabing je nekada bio stanje svesti, beg od realnosti na jednu noć, đuskanje do poslednje kapi znoja uz kiselu vodu i dobro društvo. Sada je to krupan biznis koji povezuje ljude i širi granice van vera, društvenih sistema, političkih partija, kaže DJ Peppe, jedan od pionira klabinga u Srbiji Tekst/Words: Jelena Pantović Fotografije/Photography: Mika Knežević
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