Škrupo is a Slovak DJ, singer, speaker and a big enthusiast of mountains and snowboarding. He is also involved in organizing events and converting vans. You could meet him regularly in the Slovak ski resort Jasná, where he often performed at the Liptov Hotel or took care of events. You will learn more about him in the following interview!
Hi Škrupo, how are you? How are your current days?
I'm fine, I'm just after the vaccination and I think my third eye is starting to grow, haha. I'm kidding, of course, in case of cops knocking on my door saying I'm spreading hoaxes, haha. But I'm waiting to see if there will be any night sickness. But I would like to tell my friend Tomáš from Horsefeathers that we, in Slovakia, are already vaccinated and they are not in the Czech Republic yet, haha.
Can you tell us something about the things that you do? Because there are quite a lot of them.
Basically, there is very little of them, because now I do almost nothing through the corona times. Manual work only. I'm working on my business Wavecampers, which I plan to start. But I used to work as a moderator on a Slovak radio station, where Joe Trendy, Michal Nemtuda and I had the show called Prijmi cveng, which was very popular. Especially for people who were in prison because they were catching that radio frequency there and listening to us. So we were very pleased for that. And I was also doing a back-up for Vec at concerts as a DJ and singer. Now through the corona we are not concerting anymore. And that's it. Did I forget something?
Moderator, singer, DJ and I would like to add that you were also the voice of commercials, spots, and so on. Am I right?
Yes, that's right. I was the voice of an unnamed newspaper, I also did commercials for Big Air in the city, as well as for Uprising, Grape and other festivals.
In which of these things do you feel most at home? Which one do you enjoy the most?
What I enjoy the most is standing on the stage and entertaining people. And to make a clown of myself. This is probably the greatest satisfaction for me.
As you already mentioned, this covid year must have ruined many of your career plans. What are you looking forward to the most when everything returns to normal and you will be able to do your job?
I am looking forward to the first concert that we will have with Branči (Vec). Now Branči has just released an album with Simon Švidraň, which is excellent, be sure to go listen to it. All of you. It's not very first hearing, it's approximately third hearing, but it's great. But on stage you will definitely see us in the duo Vec and Škrupo plus the band, when some festivals open or it will be possible to perform outside. I'm really looking forward to that.
You are also converting the vans. How this idea came to about?
My girlfriend and I bought a caravan. We went to Zvolen to see a caravan, which we really liked. After the tour, we then went to skiresort Jasná, where we had a few drinks at the bar. And the caravan owner called me to ask if I wanted the caravan, and if so, I should pay for it. I was in a drinking mood already and I immediately told him that of course I wanted it. I paid for it, and the next morning I found out that aha, we have a caravan, haha. Somehow we slowly began to rework it, enlarge it, paint it, beautify it, and in the end, it looked very nice. Unfortunately, the caravan had a broken engine, so I exchanged it for another car, which I also converted into a motorhome. I met my companion Kelso and since then we have been trying to convert cars. I enjoy it very much, there is a lot of freedom in it, a lot of creativity and you can see how something new is being created every day. It's an amazing satisfaction. So that's how I got to it. Although I am a trained car mechanic, I have never repaired cars in my life. I didn't even replace the defect. What I learned in school, of course, I forgot, so I learn from Youtube tutorials. But it's fine. I hope it will be my plan B for the future when I can no longer perform. So far, I've basically just been standing on stage or I've been locked up in the studio. So it's a change.
You mentioned, that you and your girlfriend also have a converted van. Are you planning any trips for this summer or for the near future?
We have set aside a week when we will start at the Skaly festival, where I will help the boys a little on stage and then we will continue somewhere and make a nice trip. But it's still all open, it can, of course, change again. We still don't know what the situation will be like in the summer. Whether there will be some festivals, or whether it will be possible to perform somewhere outside. It's all still questionable. But I hope that my girlfriend and I will take at least a trip around Slovakia. We definitely have to go to Jasná, we have splitboards there, which we have to take and we would like to visit some of our friends and some nice places, which we are slowly planning already.
Speaking of those mountains, I know you're a big mountain enthusiast. How was your season?
It was a very nice season because the mountains were basically empty. We tried to go there as much as possible during the week to meet as few people as possible. But we are not some top athletes who turn Chopok mountain twice in a day. We used to make easy hiking trips, do picnics, drink prosecco, hike something and ride something down. And this is how we actually make the program for all our friends, who managed to run to the mountains with us. We showed them those nice places and most of the time it turned out so well that we went somewhere, it was full of snow and it was beautiful. I really enjoyed this winter in this sence.
It definitely had its charm despite the fact that we could not use the chairlifts on the way up.
Being in charge of Retrobar in Jasná was a terrible wilderness last season. I love that business, we experienced a lot in there and I like to spend time there, but it was quite busy and I didn't really enjoy that winter. I didn't get to the hill in the morning, then I snowboard a bit and at 3 PM I had to be at the hotel again because I was waiting for the band, which I had to re-sound, do a concert, then put a DJ there, then pack it all up, go to sleep, somehow wake up, snowboard. And it went like this on and on again. Basically, it was more about work than snowboarding. So this season was great for me in the way that I really got to enjoy the mountains, snow and beauty of it.
Let's move on to your collaboration with Horsefeathers now. I guess it started sometime before this winter, if I'm right. How do you perceive it?
Yes, it started before this winter. But I collaborated with HF in 2012 already, which was such an unfortunate cooperation. I got a few stuff and my girlfriend at that time washed them all for me and hung them on the balcony. We left for the weekend and when we came back, all those things were half faded from the sun. So they were destroyed and I couldn't wear any of it. I was looking forward to wearing it at the concerts and presenting HF, but in the end I couldn't. But I'm glad you approached me again anyway. I would like to thank Matej Dolník very much, who may have lobbied a little for me. I really enjoy it, even though basically now are the first days when I can finally put on my T-shirts and take them out, so I'm looking forward to wear them in a full parade.
Do you have any favorite piece from the spring collection?
My favorite piece is the orange Closter flame jacket. Then there's the Shaft white t-shirt and, of course, caps and glasses. These are all amazing things, but those glasses are unreal! I'm obsessed with glasses and this is a new level for me.
In the end, do you have something you would like to refer, maybe to people who are already looking forward to you at the parties or just in general?
People, keep looking forward to the parties and be responsible. If possible, get vaccinated. Then I'll tell you how it turned out for me. If you read this, I'm probably over the night sickness that awaits me, at least that's what people told me. Be responsible, be good to others, even to yourself. Have a good time and stay the way you are, don't change your face, only if you plan to improve.
Follow Škrupo on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skrupo/
ŠKRUPO'S CHOICE
