Can you tell us about the line ups of the projects you are involved in? Zarkoff is your solo project but who’s working with you in Popsimonova, FFFC, Sumerian Fleet and Kali Jugend?
With Popsimonova I take care of the mixing, occasionally write lyrics and/or develop some musical ideas. If we both feel that my participation as an author is significant for the song, then we sign it together so there’s no confusion. FFFC is a duo with my old friend Yas (Le Chocolat Noir), he made me discover so much great music throughout the years, still does. Then Sumerian Fleet, that’s Mr Pauli, Alden Tyrell and me, a long distance collaboration. I go to Holland once or twice a year to work on new stuff and it’s easy to overdub/record and exchange files these days so I can also do some work at my own studio, of course. Kali Jugend is the freshest project, I’d say the core of this one are Popsimonova, Petar Car (from noise band Smrt i Čekić) and me, but we also had some very important creative input from Mr Pauli, and the bassist from Croatian band Baden Baden, Goran Djurich. I’m also collaborating with an immensely talented singer Iva VIs. It’s a lot, but not overwhelming yet.
In addition to that I’m trying to make a living with mastering and mixing for other artists. I recently did mastering for new Legowelt album, Marquis Hawkes, Simoncino and some other Creme Organisation releases, so that’s the direction I’m trying to take. Touring is exhausting, studio work is easier, at least for me.
Are you now able to survive off this studio work? Do you feel like you can now focus and spend enough time in the studio?
Well I never made a cent from any of my releases, so I depend on mixing and mastering jobs and live shows. I can sustain myself, since I’m really not a big spender. There are dry periods without any income and it’s very hard to keep your concentration and composure when you don’t have enough money to pay your bills. But I can disconnect from reality when I have to work and just delay any anxious thoughts or emotional reactions for a while until the work is done. I’m not complaining, this is much better than a normal job, at least for me, that is. I spend quite a lot of time trying to get new jobs and gigs, and I’m really not very good at that, sometimes it’s very frustrating, I’d love to be able to replace those man hours with actual studio work. I’m determined to change this in the future by having someone else doing it for me.