We had an interview with Let 3

We interviewed Let 3, who will represent Croatia with their song « Mama ŠČ! » at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 to be held in May. Damir Martinović, one of the members of the band, answered our questions.

-You are a modern rock band formed in 1987. How was the band created? And where does the name ‘Let 3’ come from?

The band originated from the project “STRUKTURNE PTICE” which was also colloquially known as Let 1. The project focused on music, video and dance performances – it wasn’t a typical band, it didn’t have a permanent lineup and it gathered many artists within the alternative, punk scene of Rijeka. With time, Let 2 was formed as a continuation from Let 1, and then came Let 3 which stands up to this day.

-You are a popular band in the former Yugoslavia. However, you are mostly known for your original approaches to music and your obscene performances. Your songs sometimes contain political and provocative lyrics. I’m sure there are criticisms but there is a large audience supporting you and they are sending you to Eurovision. Although it is difficult to present all of this to the public, you have succeeded. How did you achieve this, can you talk a little bit about it?

A fairly annoying conservative group exists in Croatia. This particular group tends to get on people’s nerves a lot. They are the ones usually feeling provoked, but we’re here to point out human flaws, stupidity and imperfections. Let 3, in a way, acts as a corrective for the society, and we often succeed in doing so. By success, I mean that using our artistic expression, we’ve always manage to kickstart dialogues. In that sense, our victory at Dora came as balm on the wounds of people oppressed by the years of torment and bullying caused by the trash culture prevalent in all segments of life.

-You are a band that was founded 36 years ago, there have been some who left the band. What’s the secret to keeping this band together?

Lots of sex, masturbation, mutual petting and pleasuring. Those who couldn’t keep up fell off the Let 3 wagon.

-How did you decide to participate in ‘Dora’?

Back in Croatia, Let 3 organizes a festival named “AntiValentinovo” which translates to “Anti Valentine’s Day”, it’s main motto being “No love, just fucking”. We wanted to pump up the festival in the media by applying to Dora. We also heard there’s awesome sex, drugs and big big lightshow at the Eurovision and since we’re all about that, we wanted to check it out ourselves.

-Give us a little ‘Mama ŠČ!’ Can you talk about your song? What is the message of the song because the song contains interesting lyrics.

My wife Ivanka Mazurkijević and I make a lot of music for film and theatre. This year we worked on an anti-war play at the Croatian National Theatre in Split directed by Paolo Magelli. The play names “LizistRATa” was a combination of several texts: Homer, Aristophanes, Predrag Lucić and Mate Matešić. After the premiere, Paolo and I concluded that there was a lot of good music created in this project and that it would makes sense to create a completely new project. This new project came out to be something like a war opera, with an orchestra, choir and guests from all over the former Yugoslavia. At that moment, I wrote a completely new song for Let 3 – “MAMA ŠČ”.

Song carries transhumanistic ideas, our golden electric tractor being a symbol of transhumanism. Society doesn’t don’t need fossil fuels, only renewable energy sources, and with the help of technology, we can eradicate poverty, hunger, human stupidity, wars and violence. We can establish the right to live, space to live, the right to choose, tolerance, sexual and gender equality.

-Recently, the music video of the song was released. Can you tell us a little about the music video for the song? How did the shooting take place?

Business as usual – lots of fucking around and positive vibes, as is always the case with the same team led by director Radislav Jovanov Gonzo.

-What does Eurovision mean to you?

I never thought I would go to Eurovision. But since we’re going, we’ll give it our maximum. However, I’m afraid Eurovision won’t be able to keep up with us…

-Do you have any favorite songs in Eurovision history? If yes, which ones…

ABBA!

-Do you have a final message?

Cheer for us, vote for us and you’ll witness the world will change.

Photo by: Franko Kelam