CHEN BALBUS (ORPHANED LAND) ”From dry Israel to rainy Tolmin.”

Yes, it was still raining as we prepared for our next interview. Orphaned Land’s Chen Balbus was waiting at the backstage after probably doing a bunch of interviews before us, just a few hours before their performance at Metal Days. But we had the privilege to speak to the guitarist, composer and producer of one of Israel’s biggest export product. The band that raises awareness about the political situation in their country with their music. We decided to leave politics behind us and just focus on their arrival on Metal Days.

This is your second time performing in Slovenia, after your concert in Maribor. It was a few years ago but do you remember it?

Sure, I remember , the show was fun. Not too big, not that many people came. But as it sometimes happens with smaller concerts the atmosphere was amazing and the crowd was even louder than on some of our bigger shows.

How are you enjoying Tolmin for now. Excited abut the show? Is the rain bothering you?

We are enjoying it of course and are excited just like before every show. Hopefully the rain won’t scare people away. I actually love rain. We come from a very dry country so seeing this much rain is a new experience for us. I just hope my guitar doesn’t get wet tonight and that’s all 

You announced the new acoustic tour. That is something different for your audience. How did you decide to do it?

We got old  . Just kidding. It is new, very different. We were doing a few acoustic shows here and there and people seemed to like it. The new album is also a bit more approachable for this kind of performances so we just decided to try it.

And people seem to like it. It was working. A more intimate environment and more gentle arrangements for the songs. I had a hard time getting used to sitting down but otherwise it is great 

So the tour will be in smaller more intimate spaces like clubs?

Yes, clubs and similar locations. But what we’re trying to do with this tour is to find different spaces to perform like churches, synagogs and mosques. And it’s going good for now. We still haven’t made it into a mosque but hopefully we will. This way we can have an even better atmosphere that these sacred places offer and it is going to be very special.

What about Croatia? We are waiting to see you there!

Probably with the new album. It is almost over and it is going to open many doors for new concerts. Maybe in Croatia. We don’t have that many offers from your country but we do have a lot of messages from Croatian fans asking us to come so we will plan something. We are visiting countries nearby all the time, like here in Slovenia, Serbia and Hungary. If we get a good offer and find some one to bring us to Croatia we will gladly come.