Dubioza Kolektiv Kick Off Debut India Tour

Dubioza Kolektive. Photo: Goran Lizdek

When you’ve won a lot of the world’s approval, the next frontier is the Internet. And Dubioza Kolektiv, the dub/rock band from Bosnia and Herzegovina, won that sea of people over as well when they released the video for “Free.mp3” aka “The Pirate Bay Song” in 2015. Not surprisingly, the parody single did end up finding a place on the notorious torrent site’s home page. The band says over email, “It’s dedicated to people who are fighting big corporations and governments because they believe in ideas of freedom of information and knowledge, even at the price of their own personal freedoms.”

The song also found its way on to their 2016 album Happy Machine, and has over five million views now. But that’s small fry for a band like Dubioza Kolektiv, who came together 2003 and shot to fame across Europe for that can’t-fail mix of dub, rock, hip-hop and even Bosnian folklore. The seven-member act have an unapologetic way with words about politics, social issues and more, but they wrap it in a dance-rock routine. The band adds, “We firmly believe that political music doesn’t have to be boring. You can have fun, dance, sing and think in the same time. This type of multitasking is possible.”

The past year, with the release of Happy Machine, has been a time of exploration for Dubioza Kolektiv. They collaborated with the likes of world music superstar (and long-time friend of the band) Manu Chao as well as reggae metal vocalist Benji Webbe from Skindred, and set out on their first ever North American tour, performing at the South By Southwest festival in Texas. This year, too, seems to be off to a similar start, with their first ever India tour, performing in five cities, kicking off in Bengaluru on February 1st, performing at the 10th edition of wine and music festival SulaFest in Nashik on February 4th and wrapping up on February 8th in Mumbai. After what seems like a bit of struggle, Mumbai-based booking and artist management firm Mixtape put together a multi-city tour for the band. Apparently, company founder Naveen Deshpande had watched Dubioza Kolektiv live at Glastonbury Festival in 2015, and didn’t want to miss an opportunity to introduce them to the Indian festival-going audience.

The band is quick to add that it’s not technically their first time in Asia, though. “We had played in Asian part of Turkey but yes, these will be our first steps in Asia and we are really looking forward for this experience. We like performing somewhere for the first time–all kinds of reactions are possible since most of the people never heard the band and you have to make additional effort to present your work. That usually pulls out the best in you. Stepping outside your comfort zone is always useful and you can learn a lot.”

Dubioza Kolektiv Happy Machine India Tour

February 1st ”“ The Humming Tree, Bengaluru

February 2nd ”“ Antisocial, New Delhi

February 4th ”“ SulaFest, Sula Vineyards, Nashik

February 5th ”“ High Spirits, Pune

February 8th ”“ Antisocial, Mumbai w/Major C

Watch “Free.mp3” here

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuQLMXyGQOE[/youtube]