THE MISSION NA TURNEJI V SLOVENIJI

 

Po več desetletjih se je skupina The Mission zopet vrnila v Slovenijo. V kinu Šiška se je ustavila na svoji evropski turneji z imenom Deja vu tour. Družbo jim je delala mlada nemška skupina Wires&Lights. Koncert je bil prestavljen iz leta 2022.

Ko sem prišla na prizorišče, sem bila zelo prijetno presenečena nad sestavo publike. Veseli me, da tudi mladina posluša dobro glasbo in všeč mi je bilo, da je bila množica ljudi, ki so jih prišli poslušat, precej starostno mešano obarvana. Videl si lahko tako najstnike v cvetu življenja, kot tudi "stare mačke", ki so svojo mladost preživljali ob ritmih te britanske dark wave skupine. 

Predskupina Wires&Lights je dokazala, da dark wave glasba še vedno nekaj velja. S pevcem, ki je glasbovno dobesedno rojen za tako zvrst so fantje razturili in občinstvo pripravili na to, kar je sledilo.

Na oder je prišla skupina The Mission. V dvorani je završalo, ljudje pa so se začeli zbirati pri odru. Sam prihod na oder je bil spektakularen. Odigrali so kar precej skladb, manjkali niso niti hiti, kot so Severina, Beyond the pale, Butterfly on the well, Deliverence in še nekaj jih je bilo. Dokazali so, da so mojstri svojega kova in niso razočarali. Publika je ves čas pela z njimi, frontman Wayne Hussey pa je imel pristno komunikacijo z ljudmi v dvorani. Moje mnenje je, da je bilo na koncert zares vredno priti in da smo vsi odnesli zelo veliko od njega. 

Opravila sem tudi pogovor s kitaristom skupine Simonom Hinklerjem, ki sem ga pustila kar v angleščini. Prepričana sem, da vas to ne bo motilo in da ga boste z veseljem prebrali.

1.How did The Mission come to be?

It’s a bit of a long story that’s well known. Wayne and Craig split from a previous band, had a bunch of songs demo‘d and were looking for a guitarist. I got a phone call from Wayne and joined the band. We rehearsed for a couple of weeks and went on tour. The first single, Serpent’s Kiss, went to number 1 in the indie charts and stayed there for a long long time. We were the proverbial overnight success.

 2. Why did you choose this particular genre?

There was no choosing genres. You just make the music, then other people – fans, business, press, invent which box they want to put you in. Genres have become much more prominent since streaming companies started interfering. I never look at genres, I just listen to the music and decide whether or not it pleases me.

 3. How do your songs come to fruition?

Wayne writes the songs 99% of the time and the band kick it around... adding bits and adapting it to a version that has the band’s personality. Usually, preferably, this happens before recording the song for release.

 

  The Mission - Over the hills and far away

 

 

  4. What’s it like to stand on such grand stages?

It’s always a thrill. I’m very lucky. I like the old theatre stages best, and I think those suit the band well, but small clubs are good in a different way, and arenas are great – if a little impersonal.

 5. From the begining until now...What all has changed in the music industry for you? What do you miss the most, if anything?

The music business has always been a cynical one, but I find it gets worse and worse over the years. I guess though, the worst thing that has happened is the way that streaming platforms have stepped in to blatently steal musicians‘ income. I loathe these people. This band made the smart decision long ago to do everything ourselves, involving as few outsiders as possible. I personally try to stay out of the business side, and I know that in the past we were ripped off for a lot of money, but now our affairs are run within our close group of people, which I find reassuring.

 6. How do your rehersals work/look like? Any special anecdotes you would like to share with us?

 We usually convein somewhere before the beginning of a tour, depending how long it has been since the previous tour. This time for example it was nearly 6 months since the last tour, so we got together in Belgium for about 4 days to pull it back together and work on a few older songs we haven’t done before or for a long time. We have quite a strong work ethic.

 

7. Let’s return to the year 1988 to the concert in Ljubljana in Hala Tivoli. I was a teenager back then and I want to say it was a truly amazing show. How do you look at it?

That was a long time ago, and at a time when we toured almost constantly, so memories of individual shows are foggy. I do however remember being in the former Yugoslavia, mostly because of the heightened security.

 8. Who are your musical idols?

 I was a young teenager in the early 70’s so initially I was brought up on the glam pop music of the time. But when I started taking more interest in music I was very much drawn to Bowie. My favourite band was/is The Faces. I picked up a guitar at 15. In later teens I heard a lot of British rock stuff such as Free, Led Zep, Deep Purple etc. Then punk came along and everything changed. I started in my first band aged 18 and have pretty much done it ever since.

9.  Compared to when you started playing and now, how did your life change?

I was in bands; good bands for about 8 years – playing pubs, small clubs, and an occasional gig in Europe. I spent a lot of those years unemployed and never had any money. When I joined the Mission my life completely changed from that, to being on television in the space of a couple of months. Those first 5 years established us among a lot of fans worldwide. A lot of these guys still come to see us now. This is something we, and they, have done together.

 10. Can you tell us a bit about your plans for the future?

 We don’t plan more than a year ahead...you never know what’s going to happen. That’s certainly one thing Covid taught us. This tour we’re doing now was supposed to happen 3 years ago. So yes, we are active for the rest of 2023...there are plans for a handful of gigs in the summer yet to be announced, then there’s a long USA tour starting around October, followed by about 5 big UK shows.

 

The Mission - Butterfly on a well Kino Šiška

The Mission - Deliverance Kino Šiška

Wires &Lights - Anyone Kino Šiška