Lyzzard Square

The Earth is round, or is it square,
Well, I don’t care.
The Earth is round, the Lyzzard’s square,
Well, I don’t care.

I’m flying high, never gonna die,
“Cause I know I’m right,
I’m flying high, never gonna die,
“Cause I know I’m right,

I’m going down to where my friends are lying down,
In the sun.
I’m going down to where my friends are lying down,
In the sun.

Memories of the clown
are bringing me down,
Well, I don’t care.

Memories of the clown,
Are bringing me down
But I’ll be there,.

Don’t beware ’cause I’ll be there.
Lyzzard Square,
Don’t beware ’cause I’ll be there.

Lyzzard Square,

~ Drasko Drakula Nikodijevic

Mushroom

When I saw mushroom there
I was born and I was dead

~Damo Suzuki

Journey

We found ourselves in ethereal ice
We know no hours, we know no days,

Our sins are your fears.

~ Hermann Hesse

Putovanje u plavo

Mi smo sebe našli u etarskom ledu,
Ne znamo za sate, ne znamo za dane,
Naši gresi su i vaša strahovanja,

~ Hermann Hesse

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Vrt Svetlosti

Bašta ja sam od svetlosti,
Magija sam samo ja,
Iz dubina, ko korz maglu
Nazireš mi svetla zrak
?ovek jesam, ljubav jesam, mržnja jesam
Šta si ti?
Da li si se šetala
Vrtom od svetlosti?

A u zidu svom od zlata
Otvorila se tajna vrata.
U zracima jutra plivaš,
U boajama se prelivaš,
Sve izgleda ko u bajci,
Šume, staze i pašnjci.
Ljubila se sa de?acima,
Igrala sa pajacima,
Uživala do besvesti,
U Vrtu od Svetlosti,

To je mašte tvoje plod,
Magija je samo to.
Straha malo ja dodajem,
Vražiji sam neki soj.

More jeste, doga jeste, kamen jeste,
Osvano je novi dan,
To je samo ludi san.

~Pedja Wolff Vukovic/Zoran Lakic

Garden of Light

I am the garden of light,
I am just magick play,
From depths, though the fog
You glimpse my light’s ray.
Man I am, love I am, hate I am.
What are you?

Did you ever take a walk in the Garden of Light?

In the wall, all of gold.In the morning rays you swim,
Secret doors unfold.

In the colors you roll.
It’s all like a fairy tale:
Forests, paths and stroll.

She kissed with the boys.
Played with paglacio toys
Enjoyed her mind out
In the Garden of Light.

It’s all in your mind till dawn.
I add some fear now,
I am the devil’s spawn

Sea is, rainbow is, stone is,
New day daws
It’s all a pipe dream!

~Pedja Wolff Vukovic/Zoran Svaba Lakic

{c) 2010 ISP, Wolfffwerks

and maybe it was like this:

And perhaps it was like this:

The five of them met by accident. That is, if you don´t believe in the immanent laws that govern our lives and actions. It was an encounter of people who were a bit different in their attitudes towards life and in musical tastes, but yet had something in common: a need to create and explore beautiful and strange and frightening spiritual places for the pure joy of it. Although they were fortunate enough to spend different periods of their lives at various points of this planet, the place of their encounter was as strange as if they came from outer space – the Balkans, where their home land is.

Each of them had experienced different influences while they developed their consciousness. They listened to Pink Floyd, Can, Tangerine Dream, Yes and Jimi Hendrix, they read Hermann Hesse, Castaneda, the “Tibetian Book of the Dead“ and they seldom did anything important without consulting the I Ching.

So their energies met. And together, they started to create their world, finding out that the most adequate means in materializing it were the sound and their love for sound images. They rarely did proper “rehearsals“. Every meeting was meant to establish new frontiers of perception – and they always had a demanding audience: themselves.

By the time they realized they had something worth showing to the others, they decided to get on stage. There again, they didn´t really distinguish between live performances and “rehearsals“. And soon enough, the word spread among the people – Igra Staklenih Perli, Das Glasperlenspiel, The Glass Beads Game became a band with “something else“, a group of people that had the power to work out some magic for everyone who was ready to be there.

As Pedja, the percussionist, says: “You watch yourself playing, your hands move seemingly without volition, you percieve yourself “knowing without knowing“ what will happen next, you feel that sound has set several – sometimes quite a lot – minds “in phase“, that you´ve cast yourself in an incredible procession of psychical landscapes, the collective sphere of awareness is expanding, the spiritual eye opens, you feel an ever expanding number of minds joininig you and then you “remember“ that you´re on stage and you see those faces in rapture and you realize that you´ve taken them somewhere they´ve never been before, somewhere even you´ve never been before, that even for one moment we´ve managed to make ourselves ONE. Wow! That moment of oneness is worth hundreds of gigs!“

All that happened at the end of the Seventies. It isn´t very difficult to imagine the conditions for rock music in Yugoslavia at this time, really unfortunate for the young players and even worse for the alternative musicians. Members of the Glass Beads Game found themselves spending more and more time arguing with the record company and less and less in the creative process. And the joy had gone. Although they were the first band in Yugoslavia to use laser on stage, although they managed to control sound and lights on stage themselves while playing, after two records they were forced to accept the fact that the obstacles and the lack of comprehension of those “in power“ were too big to be overcome. And so they stopped.

The tapes you are about to witness were never published before. They´ve waited silently for their moment to come. And in spite of all those years, the essence of their music remains very much alive – one is still amazed by the level of “oneness“ they succeeded to achieve. Anybody who ever attended their live performances would be able to recognize that spiritual feeling, so rare and so unique. Something that was so unexpected at that time, something that is still quite a surprise for the listeners. The Glass Beads Game wish you wellcome in the Inner Flow of their world of sound.

…

They came from outer space, gliding effortlessly on the Inner Flow that permeates this universe. After brief sojourn at different points of this tiny globe, they met at the navel of this dimension and, finding their vibrational level matched perfectly, decided to give birth to some powerfull magic. Planets trembled in their courses, each quasar missed one blink to stare at this marvel and earthly astrologers puzzled over a strange set of conjunctions and oppositions. Taking material forms they used this magic to leed the elect through the portals of time and space and play this new game. And after it was completed they assumed new forms, waiting for the new cycle of rebirth to start another game …

text by Pedja and Vesna for the Drives Album.
(c) ISP, Peja

Tako su se Zoran Laki?, (klavijature, glas) Vojislav Raki? (gitara) Pedja Vukovi? (udaraljke) po?eli da se nalaze u stanu kod Zorana u Novom Sada I da beskrajno sviraju sviraju sviraju. Sedelo se na podu, u moru instumeneata, I kad se nije sviralo pili su se Kolinska I Earl Grej ?ajevi I pri?alo ili ?utalo. I onda se opet sviralo ….
Niko nije imao klasi?no  rok zaledje I svi su pre toga živeli u inostranstvu: Zoran u Nema?ko. Vokan. Djle u Cenralno Africi I Gvineji, Pedja u Indiji, Srednjem Istoku… ali bilo je potrebno da se svi ( I kasniji ?lanovi benda) nadju baš OVDE, u Beogradu,  da bi se sve slkpilo u celinu ve?u od delova.

Uticaji:  Naravno rani Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream, Can (I upošte cela Kraut Rok scena)Doors I cela TA scena… rani Genesis, King Crimson… I puno Jimi Hendrixa.. ali bilo je tu mnogo više. Melodi?nost Beatlesa I otka?ena agresivnost Stonesa: 2000 Light Years from Home i Lake of Lily Flowers bili su ranom program Igre Staklenih Perli . I bilo je klasi?ne muzike, možda više u muzi?kim rešenjima. Rondo inspirisan Keith Emersonovom interpretacijum je dugo bio standard.  I dosta enti?ke muzike, ito ne samo isto?ja?ke I Indijkse..

Bas je falio, mo?na baza. Tako se pojavio  mladi Draško Drakula Nikodijevi? sa svojim Fender Precission basom, i ?izmama. On je doneo pulsiru?i bas inspirisan ritam mašinama koje su se tek pojavile, još jedan glas I mnogo ?vš?i zvuk sa dubl?jim korenima u klasi?nom roku. Nedavno se vratio bio iz New Yorka.
Na nagovor prijatelja kao što su Zoran Kengur, Vuja,  I Djani slikar koji nas je naterao da kreativnost pokožemo svetu krenule se svirke.
Bilo je nekoliko konzerata u Dadovu, SKCu I Voždovcu sa kostimima I podižu?im najlonima.  ?esto u u okviru Poyorišnih festival. Bili su uspešni. Publika je dolazila da vdi prijatelje na sceni, da vidi nšto drugo, da otputuje na tren na drugo mesto, da osveži tada prili?no u?malu Beogradsku senu.

Ali bilo je potrebno zaokužiti yvuk I scensi nastup bubnjevima. Tako je došao jo? mladji Dragan Šole Šo?. On je doneo složenije structure, ?vrš?u kompoziciju I uklopio se sa klasi?nim muzi?kim obrazovanjem Zorana I Djoleta.

Otada, rane 77 Igra Staklenih Perli nastupa uživo. Zahvaljuju?i Momi Rajinu, SPoljnom Programu SKCa I pozorištu dogadjaj ISP je postal ku?ni bend u SKCu gde so do tada rok svirke bile nepoznate. Pa I nisu bile prave rok svirke. Uprekrcanoj maloj sali – koju je bend preferirao u odnosu na veliku – publika je sedela na podu a ponekad I na bini I “letela”, ve? znaju?i da ot po?etka sa snimljenim efektima sat rake ke?e non stop svirka oko 90 minuta bez prekida, kao zvu?ni roller coaster.

Na jednu od tih svirki Zoran Kengur je doveo režisera Stanka Crnobrnju. On je doeo ISP na tada popularno Nedeljno popodne.
Tu ih je ?uo Mi?a Markovi?, tada urednik na RTSu. Ostalo je istorija:

Ostalo je istorija

And  perhaps it was like this:

Svako je od njih pretrpeo razlicite uticaje razvijajuci svoju svest. Slusali su Pink Floyd, Can, Tangerine Dream, Jimi Hendrix, citali su Hermanna Hessea, Castanedu, Tibetansku Knjigu Mrtvih i retko su cinili bilo sta vazno a da ne konsultuju I Ching.

I tako su se njihove energije srele. I zajedno su poceli da stvaraju svoj svet, shvatajuci da je najprikladnje sredstvo za njegovu materijalizaciju bio zvuk, i njihova ljubav prema zvucnim slikama. Oni su retko imali prave “probe“. Svako okupljanje je trebalo da uspostavi nove granice percepcije – a uvek su imali i zahtevnu publiku – sebe same. Vremenom su shvatili da imaju nesto sto bi vredelo pokaszati i drugima, i odlucili da izadju na binu. Ni tu nisu pravili veliku razliku izmedju zivih izvodenja i svojih “proba“.

I ubrzo se proculo – Igra Staklenih Perli, Das Glasperlenspiel, The Glass Beads Game je postala bend koji je “nesto drugo“, grupa ljudi koja ima moc da stvori neku magiju za svakoga ko je spreman da tome prisustvuje. Kao sto kaze Pedja, perkusionista: “Posmatras sebe kao sviras, tvoje se ruke krecu naizgled bez svesne namere, opazas kako “ne znajuci znas“ sta ce se sledece dogoditi, osecas da je zvuk doveo nekoliko – ponekad i prilicno – umova “u fazu“, da si sebe uveo u neverovatan sled psihickih pejzaza, duhovno oko se otvara, osecas stalno rastuci broj umova koji i se pridruzuju i onda se “setis“ da si na stejdzu i vidis ta ushicena lica i shvatis da si ih odveo negde gde nikada ranije nisu bili, negde gde cak ni ti ranije nisi bio, da smo makar i na trenutak uspeli da postanemo JEDNO. Wow! Taj trenutak “jednosti“ (oneness) vredi stotine svirki!“

Sve se to desavalo krajem 70-tih (u Beogradu). Nije bas tesko zamisliti okolnosti u jugoslovenskoj rok-muzici u to vreme, zaista nesrecne za mlade muzicare a jos i gore za alternativne. Clanovi Igre Staklenih Perli zaticu sebe kako sve vise vremena provode u raspravama sa izdavackom kucom a sve manje u kreativnom procesu. A i radosti je nestalo. Mada su bili prvi bend u Jugoslaviji koji je koristio laser na bini, iako su uspevali da zvuk i svetlo kontrolisu na bini dok bi svirali, posle dve ploce bili su primorani da prihvate cinjenicu da su prepeke i nerazumevanje onih “na vlasti“ bili preveliki da bi bili prevazidjeni. I tako su stali.

Snimci koje cete upravo cuti nisu nikada pre bili obljavljivani. Cekali su u tisini na svoj trenutak. I uprkos svim tim godinama, osnovni kvalitet njihove muzike i dalje je veoma ziv – jos uvek nas zadivljuje stepen “jednosti“ koje su uspevali da postignu. Svako ko je ikada prisustvovao njihovim zivim izvodjenjima moci ce da prepozna taj duhovni osecaj, tako redak i tako jedinstven. Nesto sto je bilo tako neocekivano u ono vreme, nesto sto je jos uvek prilicno iznenadjenje za slusaoca. Igra Staklenih Perli zeli ti dobrodoslicu u Unutrasnji Tok njihovog zvucnog sveta.

…

Dosli su iz svemira, klizeci bez napora po Unutrasnjem Toku sto cini ovaj Univerzum. Nakon kratkog boravka na razlicitim tackama ove sicusne kugle, sreli su se na sredistu ove dimenzije i, nalazeci da se njihovi vibracioni nivoi savrseno poklapaju, odlucili da udahnu zivot mocnoj magiji. Planete su zadrhtale na svojim putanjama, svaki je kvazar propustio jedan treptaj da bi osmotrio ovo cudo, a zblanuti su astrolozi razbijali glave oko cudnog spleta konjunkcija i opozicija. Uzimajuci materijalne oblike, upotrebili su ovu magiju da izabranog provedu kroz kapije vremena i prostora i da igraju ovu novu Igru. I kada se to zavrsilo, poprimil su nove oblike, cekajuci da novi ciklus Ponovnog radjanja zapocne neku drugu Igru …

Tekst Pedja i Vesna
Tekst napisan za album Drives. Kalmegdan Disk