Mauskovic dance band: a disco-truc band, but what else?

Paléo Festival 2019 - Lauriane Pipoz

The Mauskovic Dance Band is a group of five Dutch musicians. Led by Nicola Mauskovic, who defines his music as «a mix of disco, jazz and afro-beat played in a post-punk style», these «unschooled» musicians put on a show of their own. show on the Détour stage this Wednesday, July 24. Beforehand, the drummer and composer, accompanied by a few beers, offered us some answers. Fragmented, just like their crazy music.

Le Regard Libre: You say you draw on Afro-Latin and psychedelic influences. How does that work?

Nicola Mauskovic: We’re mainly influenced by the music we’re listening to at any given time. Right now, it’s mostly a mix of older African music and cumbia. When we start making music, all these influences come together and contribute to the sound we create without us even realizing it.

How would you describe your musical evolution?

At first, we were mainly influenced by cumbia, because our drummer played in a cumbia band in Amsterdam. Then more and more disco elements were added. After that, we drifted toward a more post-punk sound: our music became increasingly grunge-inspired.

You work as a family in the Mauskauvic Dance Band. How do you collaborate with each other?

Yes, I play with my cousins. It’s going really well—we’ve known each other for a very long time. With a few exceptions, we get along wonderfully—we feel very close. We grew up listening to the same music. We’ve been working together since high school. At first, we played together a lot in old jazz clubs. Then we went our separate ways: I did other things, and everyone went off to study in different places and had other projects. We got back together for the Mauskovic Dance Band project.

Read also: B77: «Concerts aren't something we care about».»

What is the role of your lyrics?

We add our lyrics to our compositions later on; it’s a sort of «collage» of things we’ve noticed and experiences we’ve had in our shows late at night. They’re never really stories; more like something very fragmented. I don’t think that’s the focus of our music. It’s more about capturing an atmosphere than the lyrics themselves.

Write to the author: lauriane.pipoz@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © Thierry Dustin