ZAGORO MOJA
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Hrvoje Bubić; Jason Tarpey Interview
Hrvoje Bubić
First, could you introduce yourself to our readers and say something about yourself?
Hi, I am Jason Tarpey. I sing for Eternal Champion and I work as a blacksmith in the Texas Hill country.
Could you tell me about your beginnings as a musician? As far as I can tell, you first started playing in punk/hardcore bands.
Yes, I first started playing music with my friends in eighth grade, we played the talent show and that was about for that band. A few years later I started my first hardcore band Far From Breaking and we were together from 1998 until January 2004. After that, I was in Iron Age which was active from 2004 until 2011, we still played shows sporadically until 2019. I still love hardcore and go to shows when I can.
In 2008, you founded the heavy metal band Eternal Champion. How did you meet and come up with the idea for the band?
Yes, we are influenced by sword & sorcery and Cosmic Horror, writers like Robert E Howard, Karl Edward Wagner, HP Lovecraft, and others of that ilk have influenced us and their stories imbue the songs with an emotional weight that is needed to impact the listener.
The theme of Eternal Champion is based on the fantasy genre of writers like Michael Moorcock. Could you tell us what the band’s influences are, whether musical or literary in addition to the writer mentioned?
Yes, we are influenced by Sword & Sorcery and cosmic horror, writers like Robert E Howard, Karl Edward Wagner, H.P. Lovecraft, and others of that ilk have influenced us and their stories imbue the songs with an emotional weight that is needed to impact the listener.
The Ravening Iron album cover was made by the famous illustrator Ken Kelly. How did the collaboration come about, and which illustrators did you also collaborate with?
Ken Kelly is my favorite painter of all time and so it was a dream come true to have him paint a scene from my book The Godblade. It was arranged by our label no remorse and I can’t thank them enough for making it happen, especially before the master artist passed away. May he rest in peace.
We’ve also worked with Adam Burke, who painted our debut album cover. We’ve also worked with Burney, who is a friend of mine and did the cover for Retaliator, Terminus Est, and the insert artwork for Ravening Iron. He also has worked with us on a number of other projects like shirts and art prints. We also have worked with Nils Mosimann and plan to work with him more in the future.
Eternal Champion is considered a key name in the revival of traditional heavy metal. What is your opinion on this, as well as on the revival of traditional heavy metal?
We didn’t plan to revive anything and while we are flattered that our name comes up so much in the conversation around traditional heavy metal aren’t much concerned with tradition or the tropes around heavy metal. We play epic heavy metal, which is still a very niche genre of music but it allows us to not be confined by traditions or genre tropes, and allows us to explore more freely.
Besides Eternal Champion, are you active in other music projects? If so, tell us more about it.
No, at the moment, I’m not in any other active bands. Eternal champion, writing and working take up most of my time at the moment.
In addition to being a musician, you are a fantasy writer and blacksmith. What motivated you to become a writer and blacksmith?
The writing came as a surprise to even myself. I never saw myself as a writer growing up. The idea to write was a proposition given to me by editor and publisher, Dave Ritzlin. He asked if I would like to be part of his collection ‘Swords of Steel’ and I said yes I would like to try it, and so I wrote the story “Vengeance Of The Insane God” for that. After I completed that short story, I kind of got the bug and continued the story for my novella – The Godblade, which some of the Eternal Champion songs are based on. I am now working on a collection of short stories.
The idea to become a blacksmith came from meeting an another blacksmith who was enrolled in classes at my local community college, I met the professor at a metal show and I decided to sign up for classes. That was in 2012 and I have been a professional blacksmith since 2016. I love working with steel. I make a lot of blades but I really enjoy working on things that are both functional and beautiful for the home, And I also make stainless jewelry like wedding rings and pendants.
For the end, what would you say to our readers? What are your future projects? Is there a possibility of an Eternal Champion show in Split, Croatia?
Thanks for reading, I appreciate the questions. We would love to play in Croatia. It looks like a beautiful place!
Thanks again!
Jason
HRVATSKI PRIJEVOD
Prvo, možete li se predstaviti našim čitateljima i reći nešto o sebi?
Bok, ja sam Jason Tarpey. Pjevam za Eternal Champion i radim kao kovač u Texas Hill okrugu (okrug u amer. saveznoj državi Texas, op.prev.).
Možete li mi reći nešto o svojim glazbenim počecima? Koliko znam, prvo si počeo svirati u punk/hardcore bendovima.
Da, počeo sam se baviti glazbom s prijateljima u osmom razredu, svirali smo na talent showu i to je bilo otprilike za taj bend. Nekoliko godina kasnije osnovao sam svoj prvi hardcore bend Far From Breaking i bili smo zajedno od 1998. do siječnja 2004. Nakon toga, bio sam u Iron Ageu koji je bio aktivan od 2004. do 2011., i dalje smo sporadično svirali nastupe do 2019. Još uvijek volim hardcore i idem na predstave kad mogu.
2008. godine osnovali ste heavy metal bend Eternal Champion. Kako ste se upoznali i došli na ideju za bend?
Zapravo smo 2012. godine došli na ideju o bendu. Moj prijatelj Gregg Higgins i ja smo došli na ideju i on je zapravo rekao da bismo bend trebali nazvati Eternal Champion. Nažalost, prva postava nije dugo trajala, ali smo snimili prvi demo s tom postavom. Ideja je bila epski heavy metal, bez kompromisa.
Tematika Eternal Championa temelji se na fantasy žanru pisaca poput Michaela Moorcocka. Možete li nam reći koji su utjecaji benda, bilo glazbeni ili književni, osim spomenutog pisca?
Da, na nas utječu Sword &Sorccery i kozmički horor (žanr horora,op.prev.), pisci poput Roberta E Howarda, Karla Edwarda Wagnera, H.P. Lovecrafta i drugih sličnih utjecali su na nas i njihove priče prožimaju pjesme emocionalnom težinom koja je potrebna da utječu na slušatelja.
Naslovnicu albuma Ravening Iron napravio je poznati ilustrator Ken Kelly. Kako je došlo do suradnje i s kojim ste ilustratorima također surađivali?
Ken Kelly je moj omiljeni slikar svih vremena i tako mi se ostvario san da mi naslika scenu iz moje knjige The Godblade. Priredila ga je naša izdavačka kuća No Remorse i ne mogu im dovoljno zahvaliti što su to učinili, pogotovo prije nego što je majstor umjetnik preminuo. Neka počiva u miru.
Također smo radili s Adamom Burkeom, koji je naslikao naslovnicu našeg debitantskog albuma. Također smo radili s Burneyem, koji je moj prijatelj i napravio je naslovnicu za Retaliator, Terminus Est i umjetničko djelo za Ravening Iron. Također je radio s nama na brojnim drugim projektima poput majica i umjetničkih printova. Također smo radili s Nilsom Mosimannom i planiramo raditi s njim više u budućnosti.
Eternal Champion se smatra ključnim imenom u oživljavanju tradicionalnog heavy metala. Kakvo je vaše mišljenje o tome, kao i o povratku tradicionalnog heavy metala?
Nismo planirali ništa oživjeti i iako smo polaskani što se naše ime toliko spominje u razgovoru oko tradicionalnog heavy metala, nismo previše zabrinuti za tradiciju ili trope oko heavy metala. Sviramo epski heavy metal, koji je još uvijek vrlo raznolik glazbeni žanr, ali nam omogućuje da ne budemo ograničeni tradicijama ili žanrovskim tropima i omogućuje nam slobodnije istraživanje.
Osim Eternal Championa, jesi li aktivan u drugim glazbenim projektima? Ako je tako, recite nam nešto više o tome?
Ne, trenutno nisam ni u jednom drugom aktivnom bendu. Eternal Champion, pisanje i rad trenutno mi oduzimaju najviše vremena.
Osim što ste glazbenik, vi ste fantasy pisac i kovač. Što vas je motiviralo da postanete pisac i kovač?
Pisanje je čak i mene iznenadilo. Nikad se nisam vidio kao pisac dok sam odrastao. Ideju da napišem dao mi je urednik i izdavač Dave Ritzlin. Pitao me je bih li želio biti dio njegove zbirke ‘Swords of Steel’, a ja sam rekao da, želio bih je isprobati, pa sam za to napisao priču ‘Revenge Of The Crazy God’. Nakon što sam završio tu kratku priču, nekako sam dobio grešku i nastavio priču za svoju novelu – The Godblade, na kojoj se temelje neke od pjesama Eternal Championa. Sada radim na zbirci kratkih priča.
Ideja da postanem kovač došla je iz susreta s još jednim kovačem koji je bio upisan na nastavu na mom lokalnom koledžu, upoznao sam profesora na izložbi metala i odlučio sam se prijaviti na nastavu. To je bilo 2012., a profesionalni sam kovač od 2016. Volim raditi s čelikom. Izrađujem puno oštrica, ali stvarno uživam raditi na stvarima koje su i funkcionalne i lijepe za dom, a također izrađujem nakit od nehrđajućeg čelika poput vjenčanog prstenja i privjesaka.
Za kraj, što biste poručili našim čitateljima? Koji su vaši budući projekti? Postoji li mogućnost nastupa Eternal Championa u Splitu, Hrvatska?
Hvala na čitanju, cijenim pitanja. Voljeli bismo svirati u Hrvatskoj. Izgleda kao prekrasno mjesto!
Hvala još jednom!
Jason
