Here’s a new interview with another GBOB 2011 jury member, Vik Bajac.

  • Hey, Vik. Hope all is well. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your involvement in metal music in Lebanon.

I’ve been playing music for almost 17 years. I started out with Blaakyum, and then I joined Valhalla the black metal band, who were very well known in Lebanon. Now, I’m playing with a new band with a different style of music. It’s confidential, so maybe you’ll know more in the upcoming days.

  • So is there anything going on with Valhalla?

Valhalla started in 1994, and we had our last show in 2001. We have not been active since.

  • You have not been involved with Blaakyum in a while either, so it’s just the current “confidential” band you’ve mentioned before, right?

That’s right.

  • So there is nothing at all you can tell us about the new band? Can we expect any shows soon?

We are working on our originals, and the members are very professional. You will hear a lot about us in the near future.

vic-bajac

  • We’re definitely looking forward to it then! All right, so you are one of the judges for tonight. While you’re judging, what are the qualities you look for in each band?

Well, first of all, I don’t like to be called a judge, because I don’t like to “judge” the band but just give them my opinion and some advice.

  • Can you tell us a little bit about the strong and weak points of each of the bands that played tonight?

Okay, we’ll start with The Passive Standouts. They have great character on stage and are very close with the audience; they definitely know how to perform live and are talented. I think they could use some work, but I would rather call it enhancing. Doors to Aspiration were good too. I think the Agitators have a lot of work to do, from their music to their performance.

  • All the bands put effort tonight and appreciated the time you and the other judges took to give them the right criticism. As an experienced musician in the Lebanese metal scene, do you feel like the scene has improved since you first started?

No. I expected a lot more to happen. There are good bands coming out and a management group (that I won’t name) that is doing a great job, but I expected more quality shows and progress.

  • We’ll wrap up the interview with a last question: have you been listening to bands from other countries in the Middle East? If so, have you found any that have interested you?

No, I’m not very familiar with bands from other countries in the region, but I would like to know more about them.

  • Thanks for your time, Vik! All the best from LebMetal.com.

Thank you