Kottarashky is one of the most intriguing musicians to have appeared on the Bulgarian music scene in the first decade of the 21^st century. The man behind the stage name is Nikola Gruev, and his work is an ongoing genre-blending experiment. He is known for his unorthodox approach to Bulgarian folklore, his collage technique mixing original recordings, including everyday sounds, with electronic music, hip-hop, jazz etc.

Kottarashky is now returning to Berlin with two events: the premiere of the film Balkan Black Box on 5 November, and on the following day, 6 November – he will have a concert. For him this is a comeback because he has not had any appearances in Berlin for 10 years, even though his music is released by a Berlin label.

Balkan Black Box has so far only been presented at Sofia film Fest in different towns of Bulgaria, but actually its premiere in Berlin precedes even the premiere in Sofia. Berlin is the first stopover for the film, it is to be shown in New York next. The film is directed by Tzvetan Dragnev – Balkan Black Box is a film about the free spirit, about the difficulties musicians encounter, it is in fact something of a portrait of the Bulgarian underground with protagonists Kottarashky and his band The Rain Dogs. “The film is very interesting, very unorthodox – imagine a road movie with lots of beautiful shots from Bulgaria,” says Kottarashky. 

Together with film director Tzvetan Dragnev, he is presenting the film in Berlin at the invitation of the Bulgarian Cultural Centre during the Bulgarian Documentary Cinema Week "Doc-Art-Fest”, 31 October - 5 November. Balkan Black Box has a German-language version though it is expected to be watched mostly by a Bulgarian audience.

On 6 November, Kottarashky will have a concert appearance at “It’s a BAR” – this time not with the whole group but with only one of the members of Rain Dogs – Sando Sandov. As a matter of fact, Kottarashky says the duo was formed specifically for Balkan Black Box. Despite the elements of improvisation, Kottarashky says the music he is to present in Berlin is not exactly jazz – maybe something more like ethno-jazz with quite a lot of electronic music but also with a very fresh live sound. Because, as Kottarashky says, young people are looking more and more to electronic music, and he is hoping they will get to feel what a pleasure live performances are.  

Four from the album Opa Hey (2009) by Kottarashky & The Rain Dogs

Translated and posted by Milena Daynova
Photos: Facebook/Kottarashky, siff.bg