Yordan Karadzhov, 'Signal' Frontman: 35 Years on Stage, What a Journey!

Novinite Insider » INTERVIEW | Author: Iliya Kalchev |November 26, 2013, Tuesday // 18:52
Bulgaria: Yordan Karadzhov, 'Signal' Frontman: 35 Years on Stage, What a Journey! Yordan Karadzhov is pictured here with a 1000 cc track “Ducatti”, beautifully decorated, which one lucky ticket holder will win.

Interview of Novinite.com and Novinite.bg with Yordan Karadzhov, frontman of 'Signal' rock band, prior to their grand concert, marking 35 years on stage.

How are the rehearsals going on for the upcoming special concert, when your rock band will mark 35 years on stage?

The occasion is great, we are proud of it. The public proved their interest in us as a band after so many years and I want to point out that if it weren't for our fans, the band wouldn't exist, because a band or an artist only exists with the support of the people. Whether it's theater, music or any other form of art, the public is the one who supports a long-lasting musical or artistic career.

What sort of a road did you go down during these 35 years? How did you change?

We went down many roads – not one. Some thorny and some joyous. There were some hard times too. The hardest was in February 1982, when during a concert Burgas in “Izgrev” hall, 4000 people entered and the venue could host 800, so the basis for a scandal was there. The kids started jumping and having fun. We had just released our first double-album “Stuntmen” with hits like “Green Signals”, “Boat”, “The Love”, “To Crave You” and many others. The security took out the police bats and started beating everybody, because the kids were enjoying themselves. I stopped the concert, saying we were not used to sing under militia violence. It was as if I said something about a rebellion against the regime.

Imagine the authorities' reaction to what I said, which was nothing much really. On the very next day, “Politburo” became engaged with us. The events in Poland of 1982 meant the Bulgarian authorities were cautious and alert.

They were tough times – we were banned from performing for a year, all our records in the stores were confiscated, we were blocked from radio and TV – they took us off the face of earth.

But we knew we weren't guilty of anything, so we stood up, tightened fists and recorded probably one of our best albums - “Signal 4”. We changed the style, made it heavier for the time, and today still there are songs we play from this album. We proved that when the the team is united, nothing can break it.

Otherwise, those 35 years have been, more or less, absolutely successful. People ask me often in which town we feel best. There really isn't a town or a village where we haven't been welcome - we have always felt 100% musicians. That's how we are going to stay, because we have the thrill, the stage-fright, which makes us proud we are musicians.

The slogan of the concert is “Our love”. What's behind it? Whom are you giving your love?

Our love goes to the audience – a deep bow towards it. We are going to premier our latest tune - “Our Love”, lyrics by Sasho Petrov. Things get interesting when the genius of Sasho participates. In the text of the song, the public is presented as a beautiful lady, and the one who courts her is one boy – respectively us, “Signal”.

The tune is about how fast times go, but what remains between me and you forever is our love, because we both have left deep memories in each others' minds – the audience in ours and vice-versa. The lyrics are interesting and not hard to grasp.

There is also a noble cause behind the concert?

Yes. We are going to purchase special transport for people with specific needs with some of the funds from the concert, so they can go to places they couldn't on their own.

We support Sofia’s application for European capital of culture in 2019 with the performance - the patron of the concert is the mayor Yordanka Fandakova.

There are many touching points between those who will be at the concert. We, on our side, will give everything we have as musicians, so people in the hall are happy and remember the show for years, because we want to perform on a good European level.

There is also a game with interesting prizes?

Yes. An expensive electric guitar and a motorcycle. One lucky person will win the guitar and the other – the bike. Why not the same person taking both? Each ticket-holder will participate in a prize-raffle with the ticket number, in which one will win an electric “Fender” Stratocaster guitar – an absolutely great instrument, starting from the color and the detail, all the way to the tone. I hope a boy or a girl, who is into such stuff and would benefit from the guitar to evolve as an artist, wins it, because the instrument is amazing.

The bike is also unique – a 1000 cc track “Ducatti”, beautifully decorated. It's also a special edition, not a regular series – just incredibly made with the Bulgarian national flag colors.

I just hope the prizes are won by enthusiasts, but everybody has a chance.

What's the message “Signal” have been sending out through all those years?

Mostly a message for humanity and the most fundamental – love. We literally sing only about love, no matter if it is sad or happy – one goes through both.

There's a reason people say “We met at this tune” or “I divorced with this song” for some of the ballads. We are happy that people have lived with out music for years. I meet people almost everyday throughout Bulgaria and they say: “We can't be without your songs, because they have been in all of our lives”. It also makes us very responsible, when we hear such things.

So that's the message. Furthermore, we managed to transform the audience from an elder to a younger one – incredibly difficult in the Bulgarian society. This is not like the British or German societies, where people don't say “Ah, this guy is 40-50 years old, he should quit, give up space for the young ones”. There is no such thing in those countries – big stars stay on stage until they die.

And young ones respect them and the least they do is salute them when they see them. It's not like that in Bulgaria – youngsters think everything stems from them, but they should go on the Internet, where there are many things that would make them believe they are still far from their truth – half a century at least.

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Tags: Yordan Karadzhov, frontman, signal, rock, band, Bulgaria

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