news

No news...is good news

30 April 2000 - The members of the band have decided that it is about time to start practicing. However, this will be a next to implossible feat since they can hardly get together as most of them are too busy for exams or at work. Yet, there was a breakthrough because on Easter Saturday, 30 April 2000 three of the members met to discuss future plans. They also visited a possible venue for their practice sessions. Finally, they found a good drum kit that would be available to them in case the existing ones break or something. :))

23 October 2000 - Igor Doncov has written a song for Insomnia. The music and the text already exist and a demo version has been recorded, however further progress is soon to come.

The Long Awaited Story - OK! So you may say it is old news. Insomnia had a gig a few months ago. So what?! What is actually worth mentioning concerning this event is that its good to see that the band is in good form. After a year or so of inactivity on the Macedonian music scene one would expect the Insomniacs to be at least rusty. We must admit, there were a few glitches in communication between the rhythm and lead section but that is to be expected. It was good to see the members enjoying themselves on the stage, showing that spark that has made them renowned in recent rock history in Macedonia. However, off stage this must have been one of the most infernal gigs that Insomnia has experienced, not counting the anti-drug festival in Sveti Nikole two years ago.
The organizers had a total lack of direction and responsibility. First of all, they had no fixed schedule and they were not even constant on the tentative itinerary for the fourth Rudar Rock Fest. There was general chaos amongst all the bands participating because no one knew when they were to perform. So Insomnia, was meant to perform first but was then rellegated to somewhere in the middle, to be ultimately placed last on the list without even being told about it. Obviouisly, this would be aggrevating to even the most patient musician. It gave time for the guitarists to tune up, but the organizers unashamedly cut the performance time of Insomnia by half. Thus, instead of the 10 planned songs Insomnia were only allowed to perform five. What makes things really worse is that Igor Doncov arrived from Germany especially for the gig and because the guys were unaware of their time limitation, he missed out on showing his extraodanary talents to the Macedonian public once more. The most painstaking thing, nevertheless, was waiting about forty minutes for the band preceeding to finish. Senjak (don't ask me what it means) sounded much like a scratched record, repeating the same howling and painful shouts, or growls (or whateever they were, I think the songer was in pain) and obselete death metal music over and over and over and over and over again. At the end they wanted to play one more song, and they did, but they shouldn't have stopped to make a break because no one would have noticed any difference or cared much, for that matter. Guys get a life. Even the most radical death metal fans have turned to avid listening of Boyzone. Death metal is exactly what it preaches, it's dead and burried and has been for a long while now.
About Insomnia's Performance - Not the best we have seen or experienced, I'm afraid. Somehow Ilija Tasev found some strength and extra vocal chords to overcome his ailing throat. Aleksandar Efremov's bass work was excellent, not flashy but excellent nevertheless. His vocals was above standard. Dejan Dimitrov, if he could be heard through the bad setup, proved that he has maintained his form and added the much needed freshness. Igor Stefanovski - Kotle was up to his task, although making one or two minor error, and Igor Doncov's picture taking technique appears perfect. :)) Considering what has been stated above, how can we even endevour to claim that it was a successful gig. Simple. The group, as a collective blends perfectly to make energy. Individual talent, although matters very much, is not the most important aspect in the group. The energy that it creates outshines and combines the combined efforts of the members. So the five songs were energetically perfect, but from a perfoming point of view, far from it. The magic is there, and may be even growing stronger as time passes but Insomnia needs to know that without public performances they can easily lose the edge over bands, with exceptional musicians, that have missed the point.
The gig showed that Insomnia's time is yet to come but also warns the members to get serious into harnessing the energy that they know too well how to activate. Learn the lesson guys and eternity is not far from you. :)

23 October 2001 - The lead singer and bassist of Insomnia, Aleksandar Efremov - Korub has cut his very long hair. The decision was a surprise to everybody close to him and a shock to those that did not know him so well, esepcially because his hair was a recognition feature. Asked why had he decided on such swift and sudden action, Aleksandar replied: "I don't know exactly. I just got up, playing with the idea what it would be like to have short hair, and found myself in front of the barbar shop. This is where I stopped to have a couple of cigarettes before making the final steps inside." Alas, once he entered history had been done. Initial reactions were, shock - by the core Insomnia fans, delight - by his parents, and it's not too bad after all - his band mates.

Would you recognise this man if you saw him on the streets?

7 August 2002 - The hard pounding and prolific Aleksandar Popovski is officially the newest member of the four piece group from Sveti Nikole. Aleksandar is the logical choice for Insomnia because he is no stranger both to the band's music and to the members personally. He was the drummer of Moron's most successful phase from 1994 -95 and was the backbone of the darker tone that the band, featuring Aleksandar Efremov on vocals and bass and Dejan Dimitrov on rhythm guitar, ultimately was to take. The news is of no surprise to the people who know Aleksandar and the Insomnia camp as it was widely rumoured before the news offically was announced, yet concurrently this information quenched the rumours of a break-up making it double the good news. When one of the band members was asked what are Insomnia's next steps the answer was "Well, we've all individually been working on our music therefore we have enough material to enter the studios. We are in talks with several studios in Skopje but I will not give out any details. One things is for certain though, with the arrival of Igor Doncov from Germany, he is certainly going to be our producer.
29 April 2002 - Unconfirmed rumours have spread out from the Insomnia camp that claim discussions are underway with a drummer that will be able to fill in the spot of Igor Stefanovski Kotle. The new drummer's name is still undisclosed for fears that the deal might fail. According to an anonymous source close to the band, however, the drummer has played with members of Insomnia in the past metamorphises of band like Moron, Andromeda and Undertakers. Therefore, the new drummer is known personally to all the band members and is no stranger to their music. We are still awaiting more precise information and some official announcements to verify the authenticity of this rumour. Exciting times are ahead, or so it seems :)

08 Janary 2003 - Recap of 2002 (or instead of news article)
Unfortunately, the past year hasn�t been as productive as Insomnia had intended. The start of 2002 held great promises and future avenues for the band, yet as fate would have it, the year was in fact a year of setbacks, personal battles, unfulfilled plans and to sum it all up a fruitless year at best. Some of the tunes that had been half done never saw the light of day as the members of Insomnia never found the time nor the place to get together to finish the project that had been lingering for a long time now. The year preceding 2002 saw the leaving of Igor Stefanovski � Kotle to the United States of America in search for better personal economic viability. This of course left a void in Insomnia's set-up, yet the situation in Macedonia is at best numbing and frustrating, and only with the promise of getting worse, and is deteriorating as I write this recap. So Igor�s decision was received both with an awe of relief and heartache. Gone was one of the founders of Insomnia, along with his inexhaustible drive and enthusiasm to get the band going, yet at least he would leave in search to earn a buck or two, and not have to endure the ever-growing frustration of a society perpetually lingering in hope for a better life yet living on the brink of existence. 2002 was an experience in self-isolation and summing up scores against life's questions and dilemmas, a sombresome ordeal it was. Dejan Dimitrov isolated himself for studying purposes, although still working on some ideas for Insomnia he was never in touch with the remaining two members, thus unable to turn the ideas into a real completed song. Ilija himself had other personal issues at hand, well he got engaged and married this year. So, given the complexity of Macedonian wedding ceremonies and celebrations, he was quite busy for several months. Aleksandar Efremov on the other hand was called to finally do his army duty of nine months, therefore unable to be productive of any sort, not only musically. Ironically, though, since going to the army Ilija and Aleksandar would meet and play much more then the whole three quarters of a year earlier. The only good news that comes from last year would of course is personified in the form of Aleksandar Popovski, Insomnia's new drummer, a personal friend and a musical mindset on the level of that of his new (and old) bandmates. This is indeed only a spark in the darkness of 2002 but a spark that just might ignite a fire for the coming year. Having a full set once more is inspirers us to start working hard to make 2003 a year to remember, a year where our presence will be felt once again, and taking into consideration the state of fabricated daddy-buy-me-a-hit so-called artists (with the exception and all due respect to the very few �real� artists) in the Macedonian music scene, this certainly makes the possibilities even greater.