Traditional Balkan folk music is far richer and often much more atmospheric, melodic, and melancholic than the expression most people in Denmark associate with the genre. In the band Damar, the musicians go straight to the source, playing this side of folk music from Bosnia, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Bulgaria, blended with the group’s own songs.
Damar was founded by Emir Pasic, who came to Denmark in 1992 as a refugee from the war in the former Yugoslavia. He arrived at a refugee camp in Thisted, where there was little to do. Instead of just sitting around, he began writing songs inspired by Balkan folk music.
The first result was the band Kurve, which played a punk-infused and intense Balkan sound across the country and throughout Europe for the next ten years. However, the more calm and atmospheric music stayed with him, and in 2020, Damar was formed by Emir (guitar and vocals) together with Adnan Oprasic (bass), who is also from Bosnia, Lotte Maxild (Singvogel) on clarinet, and Michael Andersen (UFO Yepha) on drums.
For Damar, it is essential not to westernize the music but to play it in its original form – in sound, atmosphere, and melodies – with a simple instrumentation.
