Rubber Soul Project

The Rubber Soul Project
Background information
Also known as RSP
Origin Belgrade, Serbia
Genres Rock
Labels PGP RTS
Associated acts Bajaga & Instruktori
Website Rastko Ćirić official website
Members Rastko Ćirić
Nebojša Ignjatović
Miroslav Cvetković
Čedomir Mačura

The Rubber Soul Project (RSP for short) is a Serbian band. The band took their name from the famous Beatles record Rubber Soul released in 1965. They recorded their first album, called The Rubber Soul Project, in 1996. The band recorded an imaginary Beatles album, by writing music and lyrics to songs for which they had heard only the titles. Some of the tracks were available on bootlegs which, at the time, were not to be found in Serbia, so the members, having read about the songs, decided to record their own songs inspired by the titles. Their second album, The Rubber Soul Project 2, also inspired by the music and never-before-heard song titles of The Beatles, was released in March 2015.

History

The Rubber Soul Project 1

The band was formed in 1993 by two artists from Belgrade, Rastko Ćirić and Goran Skrobonja, who bonded over their mutual love of the Beatles. They decided to record an album inspired by their idols. Inspired by the titles of songs the Beatles never released (some of which were available on bootleg recordings in Western Europe but not in Serbia), the two set out to write lyrics and music in the manner in which the Beatles would have done it. In 1995 the band and the album took on the name "The Rubber Soul Project" in honour of the 30th anniversary of the Beatles "Rubber Soul" album.

The lyrics were written by Skrobonja, one of the best Horrorand SciFi authors in Serbia, and the music was written by Ćirić, professor of Illustration and Animation at the Faculty of Applied Arts, University of Arts in Belgrade. Then Ćirić was joined by Nebojša Ignjatović, musician and professor of double-bass at the Music Academy, University of Arts in Belgrade, and Miroslav Cvetković, bass player of the famous Serbian band Bajaga & Instruktori. The "Ringo" of the band was Čedormir Macura, the drummer of Bajaga & Instruktori, who also did lead vocals on the track "When I Come To Town", the "Ringo Starr" song of the album.

The producers of the album were Ignjatović and Cvetković, the latter was also the recording engineer. The executive Producer was Dragan Ašanin. The equipment used during the recording process was the same as the one the Beatles used in the 1960s. Their goal was to produce the authentic Beatles sound and atmosphere. Miroslav Cvetković played the Höfner "violin bass", the same type Paul McCartney used, and Macura played on the "Ludwig" drum set, the type Ringo played on all Beatles records.

The album included a sitar George Harrison style track with called "Indian Rope Trick", rock 'n' roll songs "Home", "When I Come To Town", and "Bound By Love", psychedelic "Colliding Circles", "Watching Rainbows", and "Rubber Soul".

In March 1996, in Belgrade, PGP-RTS records released the album on vinyl (circulation of less than 200 copies, exclusively for radio stations) and cassettes in an unknown circulation. It received excellent reviews and was met with emotional reactions both from music critics and the audience of all ages. An article about the project was published in Billboard magazine (6 April 1996). However, the authors were unhappy with the fact that they never received any information from the PGP about the number of sold copies, let alone an agreed percentage of the sales. The project was offered to other local publishers in attempt to publish the RSP on compact disc, but none of them showed interest. Finally, after the three-year contract expired in 1998 the authors agreed to print the CD as their private issue in the trial, limited circulation, which appeared in sales in the beginning of 1999. All this points to the fact that, despite the undoubted public interest, the editors of local and foreign music stores did not see much profits for them in this unusual project.

The greatest misfortune that scarred the beginnings of RSP was that it was created during the disastrous '90: the years marked by the collapse of the former Yugoslavia, the dictatorship of Slobodan Milošević, inflation, sanctions, poverty, moral and cultural despair.

Novella Rubber Soul

In 1993, Goran Skrobonja wrote a novella entitled Rubber Soul, written as a combination of fiction and facts ("faction"), with the projection of some twenty years in the future. It was illustrated with "alternative documents" created by Rastko Ćirić. In 1994, the novella was proclaimed the best science fiction short story in Yugoslavia, and in 1999 it was placed with the Rubber Soul Project CD as part of the RSP "package".

The RSP documentary

In 1999, the authors discussed the first version of the script for a documentary movie about RSP with movie director Dinko Tucakovic and screenwriter Srdjan Koljevic. The idea to do some kind of film about the RPS was present from the very beginnings of the project, even in 1993. From 2000 until 2004 they actively work on the film. It premiered at the film festival in Montpellier In the documentary about the project, it was said that a copy of the album was sent to Paul McCartney who said he enjoyed listening to it.

After the success of the debut album, Rastko began working on new track and recorded a demo with fourteen completely new songs, this time without using Beatles titles. In the RSP documentary Rastko was talking about new songs and the dilemma about the style of the songs, either using old techniques The Beatles used or new, modern technology. The recording and the release of the album is still on hiatus.

In 2004, a documentary called The Rubber Soul Project was recorded, describing the circumstances among which the whole idea of recording the album came, the recording process, interviews with the band members and some of the associates of the band members. It was directed by Dinko Tucaković and written by Srdjan Koljević. The movie appeared on festivals in Montpellier, Rotterdam, Reykjavík and other. In Belgrade it appeared on the author films festival and in cinemas all over the country.

The album was rereleased by the Loud Folk record label on April 2008.

Live appearances

The band who joined Rastko Ćirić to perform the Rubber Soul Project songs live was not the same one from the CD. At concerts were the musicians from the Fathers & Sons group: Boiždar Skipić (lead guitar, vocal), Branimir Kosar (keyboards), Nedeljko Kusić (bass guitar), Nikola Đokić (drums), and guest star Maja Klisinski (percussion). Together, they started their Belgrade Tour '99 which was stopped by the NATO bombing of Belgrade, but the band held concerts at the British Council Cultural Centre (16 March), the Center for Cultural Decontamination (on 19 March), Hemingway Club in Zemun (on 21 March), and the Museum of Yugoslav Kinotheque (on 23 March).

On 21 April 2001, in The Museum of Applied Arts in Belgrade, the original lineup plus Branko Kosar and Maja Klisinski performed songs from the album. The band also performed live in England.

Discography

Videography

External links and references

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