Bghdo: “We have tried our best to make the songs not sound Rabiz. There
are songs where there is more of jazz and rock. Nobody can say whether
it is jazz, Rabiz, or folklore. There is a little bit of everything in
my songs. I am not ashamed of singing or showing my talent.”
“168 hours”: Your hit song “Mekhakner” (White lilies) is a love song,
but in the album you have written that you dedicate that song to Kamo
Hovhannisyan.”
Bghdo: “It really is a love song. I just dedicated that to the songwriter.”
“168 hours”: Why did you include the song “Horovel” in this album?”
Bghdo: “This was my first album and I had chosen songs by taking into
consideration each person’s taste in music. “Mekhakner”, for example,
is nice to listen to no matter how old you are. When we were working in
a restaurant, the Diasporans were moved when they heard “Horovel”. So,
we decided to dedicate that song to our compatriots in the Diaspora.
Let them find something in that song.”
“168 hours”: In the song called “Menutyun” (Loneliness), the lyrics say
“Songs created our love…” Generally, it is quite the opposite. Do songs
really create love for you?”
Bghdo: ‘In reality, there are songs that spring up from love, and there
are songs that create love. I usually write all my songs on the road
home from work. I start expressing words to describe how my day went.
For example, I wrote the lyrics to the song “Songs created our love”
while coming home from a restaurant. Imagine you are sitting down and
you feel that she wants to say something to you, she loves your song
but something holds her back from expressing how she really feels. That
is how the love begins.”
“168 hours”: “Do you have big fans who go crazy when they hear your
songs, like fans of Russian singers who cry and go ballistic for their
songs…
Bghdo: “There are many like that. But they are many, and you are one.
You don’t have the time to leave everything and be with each one of
them.”
“168 hours”: In your song “Ari, Ari” (Come), you say “Come, just
come…Even if a hundred years go by”. Why should she come in a hundred
years?”
Bghdo: “There are many songs like that where I want to say that one
life is not enough. I just exaggerate a lot in my songs and in this one
I have shown that no matter where I am in this world, even if I die,
just come to me.”
“168 hours”: In the song called “I have loved her and she is
mine”, you compare a woman with a deer, a bird. Why are you using names
of animals to glorify a woman?”
Bghdo: “Women are always afraid of expressing themselves passionately
to men, but men express themselves whole-heartedly. All the good and
bad in the botanical world exist in the human world too. You see a girl
walking. You look at her and say that she looks like a partridge. Have
you seen the way a partridge walks? It is very nice. How can you not
compare that with a woman? Or you see a girl with a nice composure,
back straight. I imagine her walking like a deer….”
“168 hours”: Don’t you think that you might offend women with your songs?”
Bghdo: “Those words are accepted by everyone. Everyone has seen a deer
on television and can picture how a deer walks-straight, proud….You can
look at a pretty girl and tell her that she looks like a friend of
yours named Nara. Doesn’t that offend her more? Wouldn’t it be more
insulting if you see a girl who really does look like a deer but you
tell her that she looks like one of the girls you know? She would just
say that the other girl looks like her.”
“168 hours”: The song “My dear” is about an unsuccessful love in which you blame the woman.”
Bghdo: “Everything should not start from me. There are guys everywhere
who spend sleepless nights under the window of their loved one and
screaming that he loves her, but the girl could care less. She can just
sit in her room and continue studying. There has to be someone to tell
him to leave….”
“168 hours”: You used to sing frequently at the “Caesar’s Palace” restaurant. Now you don’t sing there very often.”
Bghdo: “I am currently getting ready for a solo concert. I generally
don’t sing a lot in restaurants, but I am always there and there are
people who come especially to hear me sing.”
“168 hours”: “Do you sing at wedding parties?”
Bghdo: “Yes, but I am not too crazy for them. I can not reject the
offers. You know, they are my friends, they ask me and then I say I
will just go to not turn them down.
“168 hours”: “I know that you sang at Robert Kocharyan’s son Setrak’s wedding. Out of all singers they wanted you to sing.”
Bghdo: “What can I say…. We won the contest for singing at the wedding
party. During the wedding party, I must say that I was more touched
than the President himself. I thought that the wedding would not go
smoothly and nobody would want to get up and dance. But then the
President was the first one who got up and danced. Who cares if he is
the President? It was his son’s wedding. All of sudden I saw that
everybody got up and started dancing. It was a very nice and not too
expensive wedding. Businessmen do more for their weddings. There were
500 people at the wedding. I wish luck to the married couple.”
“168 hours”: “I have also heard that Robert Kocharyan also sang “Horovel” with you at the wedding.
Bghdo: “While we were singing, everyone had their eyes set on the
President to see if he was singing along with us or not. He sang the
whole song with us. That is just overwhelming. So, we have a president
who knows how to sing too. No worries.”
“168 hours”: “Were you meeting Robert Kocharyan for the first time? How was he enjoying the party?”
Bghdo: Yes, it was the first time. He is doing what needs to be done
for the country. We Armenians like to criticize everything. But he is
very strict. I guess it spreads in the family.”
“168 hours”: “Judging from your songs, I would not say that you support violence.”
Bghdo: “My name has a history. My father’s uncle, they called him
Rembo. He did not fear anything. He would go out against 500 people by
himself. True, they killed him and there were many attacks. The poor
man died alone in the fight. A lot of my genes come from him. I can
also defend myself. I am always ready for anything. It is wrong to sing
about politics. I do not want my songs to be a form of propaganda. Why
do you have to be nationalist when going against an enemy? You can be
non-patriotic and still come out a winner. I say that the country will
live in the Golden Age when a president with musical skills will govern
the country. That way we will all live happily.”
“168 hours”: Do you have a lot of contact with gangsters?”
Bghdo: “I have ties with everyone. Everyone loves musicians, whether he
is a governmental worker or some gangster. They all bow their heads as
an acknowledgement. If someone tries to deny that, then he will find
himself in a bad situation.
“168 hours”: “Have you ever tried singing while gurgling?”
Bghdo: “No, but there are people who can not sing and that is why they
gurgle. But I can sing without gurgling. I can sing by gurgling, but I
won’t.”
“168 hours”: “In your opinion, are Armenians more of the party type or they just like to sit and complain?”
Bghdo: “It depends on the singer. For us to have a good time, we have
to drink a little. I was at a party with some Arabs. There were 250
people and one bottle of wine. They did not open the wine until the end
of the party. But they were partying so much, kind of like us after we
get drunk during the last two hours of the party. I have refused to
sing sad songs. Why should I make 150 people cry just by singing a sad
song for one person? There are singers that sing with modulations in
their voices. When people hear us sing, they say that it is nice and
ask themselves why the other singers were making them cry? Before only
men used to go to the restaurant and then later forgot what they had
come for. Now, it’s a good thing that that does not exist anymore.
There are few flaws now.
“168 hours”: “What do you mean?”
Bghdo: “Any healthy man, especially an Armenian man, appears to be
disciplined with his costume and tie. But after getting a little drunk,
he starts flirting with the girl at the next table without realizing
that the person sitting next to the girl is her boyfriend. We get happy
when we see dancers who dance with no rhythm. We try to adjust the
music to the dancers’ rhythm. The ways of organizing a wedding have
changed. Customs are thrown from here to there and it creates a whole
mix up. Unfortunately, there are many weddings today that are based on
calculations. There is a lack of love. Nowadays, guys have lost their
dignity. They see if the girl’s father is rich so that he can take care
of the couple. Another thing is that the girl’s side of the family is
primarily the one who organizes the wedding. Many Diasporan-Armenian
guys come to Armenia, get married here and take the girl with them.
“168 hours”: “Have there been weddings when you see the same bride and groom?”
Bghdo: “I have not. But I have a friend who has played five times for
the wedding of the same bride. The bride even gives a quick glance at
the guys and gives them a clue that she hooked up another guy…”