Beim Wacken Open Air diesen August haben wir Vedran Mujagić von der bosnischen Band Dubioza Kolektiv zum Gespräch über Festivalwahnsinn, musikalische Grenzen, kulturelle Verbindungen und die ganz normalen Herausforderungen des Bandalltags.
Frontstage Magazine: You’ve played festivals all over the world. What makes it special for you to play at Wacken?
Vedran Mujagić: Well, this is the first time we played a, you know, real metal festival. And it’s an aberration, it’s not something that is normal, you know. You don’t book a Balkan band in a metal festival. So it kind of almost looked like a mistake on a lineup when you see it. But then, in some strange way, it worked, so we really like it.
And now we know Wacken is like the metal fest, and this is the holy ground for metalheads. To come here and have this type of show, where everybody danced and mosh pitted and pogoed and everything, it’s a really good experience.
Frontstage Magazine: I hope so. Okay, so now you’ve been playing as a band for over 20 years. What is the one thing which has never changed about Dubioza Kolektiv?
Vedran Mujagić: Well, I think the fact that we are coming from the place that we are coming from. We are, from the start, very, let’s say, disadvantaged, compared to bands from, let’s say, Germany. At the beginning of the band, we needed visas to go into this European Union part. And it was like lots and lots of these difficulties that normal bands from, let’s say, normal European countries don’t have.
So in order to overcome it, you have to work extra hard to achieve maybe the same thing that a band from Germany would achieve. So this work ethic is something that never changed. We started working hard and never stopped, basically. And I think this is, if you ask for one thing that didn’t change, that didn’t change.
Frontstage Magazine: Okay, okay. That’s interesting. And today, I think there are some people who already know you, but also maybe hardcore metalheads who don’t know you. What song would you say they should listen to when they don’t know you?
Vedran Mujagić: For metalheads, I guess, from the songs that we played today, I would definitely say No Escape from Balkan, because it has some heavy guitar riffs and it’s quite a good example of what Dubioza do.
There are some very strange mashups and combinations of genres that we did on the ten albums that we recorded. Some songs are really heavy, some songs are not, but No Escape from Balkan is a good starting point.
Frontstage Magazine: You’ve played festivals all over the world. What’s the most unexpected country where you’ve realized, „Wow, people actually know our songs here!“?
Vedran Mujagić: For us, it was Mexico. We played three, in two small tours, and some festivals there. And this connection between the Balkans and Mexico is very hard to explain to somebody outside of those regions. And somehow, it was like an instant connection. We have an amazing reception there. It’s crazy how people reacted. People who heard it for the first time really enjoyed it. And now we keep coming back, and I hope we will continue for years to come, because people are amazing there and this energy is somehow so compatible that you don’t have to try hard to achieve this.
I mean, the same thing you could say for this. If you were trying to predict what kind of response Dubioza would have at a metal festival, you would probably be completely wrong, because what happened tonight was defying all expectations. We hoped for this kind of reaction, but you cannot predict it.
Frontstage Magazine: So, you’re satisfied with the crowd today?
Vedran Mujagić: Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Frontstage Magazine: And the Mexican energy fits your energy?
Vedran Mujagić: Yeah, it’s… the Balkans and South America, Central America, South America, it’s like the same people. It’s amazing how that works together.
And it’s also like there is this history of why these things work. And it’s a very interesting story. There are documentaries about this Yu-Mex phenomenon in the ’60s, when bands from ex-Yugoslavia were doing Mexican songs, mariachi in Spanish and in our language. This was huge in the ’60s and even the ’70s. So it was this huge cultural movement where the movies from Mexico and music from Mexico had a huge impact on the Balkan area.
And also, in the ’90s, people from Mexico started discovering the movies and the music from the Balkans, and they fell in love. So it’s mutual love. It’s a good love story that we’re really happy exists.
Frontstage Magazine: Love’s always a good point.
Vedran Mujagić: Yeah, yeah.
Frontstage Magazine: Festivals are full of unforgettable moments. What’s one backstage story that still makes you laugh today? What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever experienced at a festival?
Vedran Mujagić: I mean, it’s always like… you can do a very stereotypical answer to that question, but I really do think that it’s an exchange of energy that is the most important thing. If you get feedback from the people, then you can jump on your head, you know, from the stage and it will be okay.
You know, if you don’t connect, then you can do all kinds of acrobatics on stage and nothing will matter.
Frontstage Magazine: ‚Cause then there are no feelings.
Vedran Mujagić: Yeah, yeah.
Frontstage Magazine: Okay, and imagine you could share the stage or invite any musician you want to join Dubioza Kolektiv. Who would it be?
Vedran Mujagić: Huh!
Well, it’s, you know, in our twenty-something years of Dubioza Kolektiv, we had a lot of guests and a lot of people on our songs that were like…
Frontstage Magazine: But someone you haven’t?
Vedran Mujagić: Somebody we… ah, that’s hard. That’s hard to…
Frontstage Magazine: What would be the ultimate legend you would love to share the stage with?
Vedran Mujagić: I don’t know. We did open twice for Faith No More. The last time they played a tour in Poland and in Germany. And I think this would… I would really love to do that again.
They’re doing a tour this year, next year again, and I would really love to do that again. And have them, you know, with us on stage again.
Frontstage Magazine: Okay. So let’s mark it down that you do that again one day.
Vedran Mujagić: Yeah, well, that would be a really good thing. And then, you know, this was one of our first experiences with a metal audience. Because we opened for them in Poland and in Germany, and their crowd is very hardcore fans that really didn’t expect Dubioza Kolektiv to open. But I guess Faith No More is that type of band that really enjoyed these surprises, and they have this humor that is really similar to ours. So they just pushed us onto their crowd, and it also kind of worked. Similarly to tonight. So, I would really like to repeat that.
Frontstage Magazine: Okay, so if your band had to survive one week at Wacken here, but without your instruments, what job would each one of you have?
Vedran Mujagić: Without instruments? If we are not musicians, what would we do? (laughs) I don’t know. Well, I’m a graphic designer by profession. I do all the artworks for the band, so I guess I would be doing this.
And for the others… I don’t know. (laughs) They have their own talents, but they would survive somehow. (laughs)
Frontstage Magazine: That’s amazing. Okay, the last question. I saw the picture of you all where you were doing the laundry, where one of you sat on the washing machine and you all looked very happy doing the laundry. Is that true, or is it just for the photo?
Vedran Mujagić: (laughs) No, this is a photo our wives made us do. (laughs) Doing chores.
Well, it’s… we don’t do these normal band photos, where we’re really, you know…
Frontstage Magazine: That’s very cool.
Vedran Mujagić: …tough-looking guys, so we always make fun. So in this particular one, we are kind of…
Frontstage Magazine: Just having fun.
Vedran Mujagić: …doing what every normal Balkan man does when they are home. Ironing and doing laundry.
Frontstage Magazine: So, thank you! That was… that was…
Vedran Mujagić: Thank you. Thank you.
Live 2026/2027 deutschsprachiger Raum
29. Okt. – Frankfurt
30. Okt. – Lindau
31. Okt. – Nürnberg
01. Nov. – Insbruck
17. Dez. – Tübingen
18. Dez. – Dresden
19. Dez. – Oberhausen ( Punk Im Pott )
06. Feb. – Schaffhausen
07. Feb. – München
07. Apr. – Graz
09. Apr. – Hamburg ( Krassfestival )
10. Apr. – Berlin
Fotocredit: Johanna Lippke @Wacken Open Air 2026
