Stuart Macbeth chats to the band that combines British indie pop with traditional Balkan beats

When Balkan Wanderers performed for Oxford’s Oxjam music festival, the venue was so packed that latecomers were turned away. Rumours of their bustling gigs have evidently leaked since they took the Oxford Punt by storm.

Gig goers who could make it to the front at the James Street Tavern swayed as though trapped in jam, displaying movements not seen on an English Saturday afternoon since ITV cancelled the wrestling. In short, Balkan Wanderers make people dance.

By contrast, the five piece shuffled coolly through their set.

For a long time, bassist Marc Witte didn’t move at all. His instrument continued its thump under the tornado of British indie pop and Balkan traditional music. At last, wire thin guitarist and singer Stuart Wigby leant over his microphone like a grasshopper and announced the final song, Sleep Around.

As with many Balkan Wanderers’ songs, it’s an instant hit, the pizzazz stemming from Stuart and Croatian singer Antica Culina, the central songwriters. The band trace their origins to kitchen sessions where Stuart would accompany Antica on the guitar while she sang traditional Balkan songs.

Many shots of rakija later, the two have a group expert at making neighbours bang on the wall.

Beside Marc’s bass is Emma Coombs on drums and the instrument that really sets them apart from the crowd – Clare Heaviside’s jet black clarinet.

“We really love gypsy and klezmer music, which often feature clarinet,” Clare muses when I meet her on a desperate mid November morning, explaining: “There is a scale called the Phrygian scale, which has an Eastern sound. It’s an unusual addition to the usual guitar, bass, drums and vocals.”

The clarinet infuses the quintet’s music with an earthy, Dalmatian flair. Clare says the Croatian singer is a major asset, singing in English and her native languages.

Picking fights with Stuart in duets, Antica has a compelling presence on stage. Whirring around the microphone, she can switch in a blink from the delicacy of Isadora Duncan to the snarl of a Medusa.

There are moments, standing in the audience, where you fear she may eat him alive. “Antica grew up in Croatia and Bosnia, where music is embedded into everyday life,” Clare says. “Music in those countries is a part of emotional expression, happiness and sadness. Our music comes from a combination of all our different characters, musical influences and native languages.”

Following rehearsals, “fed on hot cross buns and mince pies,” the band made their debut at the Wheatsheaf last year. “Since then,” Clare reflects after a busy summer of gigs including Cornbury Festival, “we all realise what a good idea it was to form a band!”

Now considered one of the best live acts in Oxford, the Balkan Wanderers have had success on record, their demos and EPs receiving airplay on BBC Introducing in Oxford, and on BBC Radio 6 Mixtape, where presenter Tom Robinson dug a slot for them “between Nina Simone and the Kinks”.

New five track EP So It Goes is released tomorrow. Recorded in Oxford and mixed by Stornoway’s Oli Steadman, it has five new recordings. The release will be marked by a launch party in the back room of the Bullingdon, with support from singer Tamara, and Peerless Pirates.

“There is a mix of Croatian and English lyrics on the EP,” Clare says. “The themes are travel, the sea and the weather. One track is a cover of a traditional Macedonian song. The song Clouds is probably the stand-out track for us. It has a mesmeric Balkan feel.

“We make people dance,” she adds. “We’ve played gigs where people sit down. It doesn’t feel right. By the end we always have people on their feet.

“By the time we go on stage tomorrow,” Clare says, “Everyone will be dancing. We’ll have rakija, the traditional Croatian drink. There will be Croatian snacks and freebies. And maybe, just maybe” she teases, “a guest appearance on stage from Antica’s mum!”

GO ALONG
Balkan Wanderers play The Bullingdon, Cowley Road, Oxford, tomorrow.
Tickets are available from tigmus.com