Bulgarian rockers B.T.R. celebrate 30th anniversary with 7 UK dates.
To be a musician in a small non-English speaking country is a double edged sword: it is easier to become famous where population count is lower, but pretty impossible to become a household name worldwide unless you choose to write in English. Some choose to do that and compete with the rest of the world. Others stand by the proverb ‘A stone is heavy in its own place’ and strive to be the best they can be in their own country.
That’s the choice made by one of Bulgaria’s most loved hard rock bands, B.T.R., who marked their 30th anniversary this year with a series of tours. After playing in the US, Canada, Japan, Dubai, and Honolulu, they took on a national anniversary tour together with Ahat, another legendary veteran of Bulgarian heavy metal. This came on the back of the B.T.R. ‘s first double live CD recorded a couple of years ago with a symphonic orchestra which came out this spring: a project that is fairly unique for the Bulgarian rock scene.
B.T.R. are now in this country for the last couple of dates of the 7-gig UK leg of their tour with Londoners District 13 as support act. To say that Bristol Exchange buzzed with excitement would be an understatement. The club was full to the brim, with fleeting bunches of fans of all ages coming together for an emotional celebration of the band’s legacy. Having an English band as a support act helped take away from the “nicheness” of the event and gave it a somewhat international, or perhaps even cosmopolitan, dimension.
The setlist was compiled appropriately for a celebratory tour: with the right balance of new and old material, gradually hardening the beat and elevating the mood, to the mandatory encore with the iconic ‘Salvation’ which became the anthem of the anti drug movement back in the 90s.
B.T.R. are one of the pioneers of Bulgarian heavy rock, having opened for Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Whitesnake, Motorhead, Nazareth, Michael Schenker Group, Saxon, Europe, to name a few, and having had a longstanding collaboration with John Lawton (Uriah Heep) and Glenn Hughes. We had the chance to talk to them minutes before they were due on stage.
Welcome to the UK! How are you feeling here; is it like a second home to you already?
We are feeling cold!
Yes, the weather got so cold especially for you! So, what brought you over here?
What brought us over here is our job! This is what we do, travel around to play everywhere where there are people who love the music of B.T.R. We just finished a massive tour around Bulgaria and are planning another European tour next spring. We carry on and play for the Bulgarians all over the world.
Is there an age pattern in your audience?
Yes, there is. The pattern is that people of all ages, all generations come to see us! I am so confident saying this to the point of bragging! You will literally see grandchildren with their parents and grandparents at our concerts. They do tend to sing along different songs though, being from different generations, but all of them know our songs and sing along which is great. We are very happy and proud of this.
What is the current rock scene in Bulgaria; are there any young bands that you would like to collaborate with?
Yes, thank God, there are young, and not so young, bands. We are interested in what goes on in Bulgarian rock and it is good to see young people trying to find their own place under the sun and on stage – so there is still hope. Quite a few of them approached us with the request to open for us during our tour which wasn’t possible this year, as we partnered with Ahat, but last year we took on a good band from the town of Haskovo, Hangar 42, who opened for us at 6-7 gigs. Our fans liked them.
The problem is that, on the whole, the mass media largely ignores rock music and has placed it on rock bottom, with the exception of a couple of radio stations, so it’s not easy. Luckily, there is the Internet space, which provides variety and gives everyone the opportunity to showcase their music to everyone.
Are you planning any new releases?
We are always up to something new! We never stopped thinking that we can create more music; we’ve never stayed in one place. We may have had longer gaps between albums, but we always think ahead about new stuff.
What do you do when you are not in the studio and on stage?
We travel! We spend our time in cars and on the plane. Like today, we came here straight from Stansted, and have hardly done our job which takes far less time than the logistics of organising it and making it happen. But we are left with the pleasure of a full venue; nothing can beat that!
Have you ever been tempted to stay abroad? I understand you’ve had offers to live in France?
We’ve had a few proposals, yes, not so much to stay but to work in France, but for us it has always been important to go back to Bulgaria and keep making Bulgarian rock. So we stayed, and we don’t regret it.
From all the big bands you’ve opened for, you probably have lots of anecdotes to tell?
I will rewind the tape right back to the first big gig we supported, Iron Maiden. We slightly ran over, by, like, three minutes, so they were already lining up to go on stage and while waiting in the wings for us to finish off, had these big smiles on their faces: they were clearly enjoying seeing these youngsters rushing up and down the stage playing what we did. This was very important to us!
Did you have direct contact with them?
No, unfortunately not, but we’ve had direct contact with Glenn Hughes; we worked with John Lawton for about twenty years. We met him in London Astoria Hall. He was with his own band and they were due on stage before us. Our first gig together was in 2004. We worked with him for 18 years as the band he worked with in Bulgaria, and not only in Bulgaria. We toured together in Ukraine, Serbia. Same with Glenn Hughes; we played so many gigs with him. We had some great contact with Ronnie James Dio; spent one evening together. He was a wonderful person. Our drummer saved a concert for the Scorpions once: their pedal broke and we lent them our pedal!
We had so many adventures with our idols, the idols we listened to when we were young. The principle ‘Don’t meet your idols so you don’t get disappointed in them’ does not apply to us! On the contrary; with us it was the opposite: we liked them even more, as they turned out to be great people. With some exceptions of course. It does happen to get disappointed sometimes, but, thank God, very rarely.
Joe Lynn Turner is a regular on stage in Bulgaria.
Yeah, we are friends with him. He even played horo with Ivan (their bass player – A.P.) once when his wife wasn’t watching!
Jeff Soto is married to a Bulgarian lady and visits often, too.
Yes, he is our friend as well!
Is there something special you want to say to your fans here; and is there any difference between the fans in Bulgaria and abroad?
No, not really. They are all Bulgarian fans. Bulgarians are the same everywhere. The only thing though is that people who live in faraway destinations can’t come home very often, so don’t get to see us much. We’ve been to Japan, the US, Canada; they haven’t seen us much because of the long distances.
It’s probably more emotional there? Especially when they hear their favourite songs…
Yes, definitely. Everyone has their own song and thank God for that!
Review and interview by Angelina Pelova.
You can find B.T.R. here:
● YouTube
