Interview: Miloš Zubac, finding a contemporary poetry for Kosovo

We interview poet and singer-songwriter Miloš Zubac from Novi Sad on his latest highly acclaimed album Kosovske.

Miloš Zubac is a modern day poet who sets his myth-laden verse afloat on deeply reflective, impressionist musical waters. His latest beautifully evocative poems bridge the chasm between ancient myth and contemporary identity.

He observes it’s ‘perhaps the most important album I have recorded’.

Songs of love and beauty, the zmaj (dragon) and the vile (fairies) of folklore. A maiden drinks and sings at the ire of a dozen trespassing Turks under the eyes of a falcon hunting peace.

When I mention that his lyrical voice is a perfect match for a modern folk poetry reminiscent of Leonard Cohen, Miloš is honoured by the comparison. He says of Cohen:

He was a wonderful artist and a beautiful human being. He become increasingly important to me as he approached the end of his earthly life. And his mesmerizing posthumous album showed us that there is no end actually.

Of the quest between modernity and truth, he says:

It is not necessary to stop the search for truth at the expense of lyrical beauty – I would say that one kind of truth, perhaps the purest, is always contained in beauty and the language itself.

Miloš’ latest work sits critically between two poles – a liberal elite which would jettison Kosovo and Metohija in a moment to pursue our European destiny and a diehard conservative populace whose ears ring with ancient battle cries. His work speaks to both, perhaps satisfying neither. Did you hesitate or charge in entering this contentious arena?

You’re right. I can’t satisfy those who do not see any value in the Serbian tradition, and the heart of that tradition is in Kosovo’s cultural heritage. I am skeptical about that European destiny and European intentions and methods. On the other hand, my work of art cannot correspond to those who formed their entire human identities on the basis of national myths.

I did not hesitate to dedicate myself to Kosovo’s heritage in this way. Somewhere between ideological extremes, between our left and right, there is our beating heart. I address those who are centered in the heart.

When I mention that poetry in Britain is not the literary crown it once was and that there’s little communion with music these days, Miloš laments that Serbia is pretty much the same.

He is one of the few that combine music with true poetry, whether is its ancient folk or contemporary.

For me, music is much more a nurturing of cultural needs than entertainment. That doesn’t mean that culture isn’t fun. It can be but it doesn’t have to be. A great Hungarian writer Bela Hamvas said that entertainment is a way to make whole nations idiots. He was so right, of course.

While Miloš has not yet to tour the UK, in a way he is already present as music journalist Eddie Cooney presents his work to English listeners.

Kosovske has had rave reviews across art and music magazines.

Click below for more information:

miloszubac.bandcamp.com/album/kosovske

Stan Smiljanić

for The British Serb Magazine