Statement of Hupogrammos and Sol Faur (Negura Bunget)

Sol Faur

New Metal Member
May 10, 2009
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This statement is signed by Sol Faur and myself (Hupogrammos). Our aim is to shed light on the recent developments in relation to Negura Bunget. We also want to prevent further abuse of the name Negura Bunget and our past activities. Our decision should be well understood and fans and media have a right to be correctly informed of the current development. We owe this to the public and Negura Bunget itself. There is no intention to turn this into a personal issue between us and our former drummer Negru. We do not wish to create a public scandal, but a line has been crossed and it is time now to stand up and fight for what we believe in.

With the last "official" Negura Bunget statement, things went too far. The selfish and greedy acts of a single person are doing too much harm. We cannot accept how our issues were presented to the world. In truth our gesture to step aside from the band was generated by the selfish behavior of our drummer Negru and by his lack of ability to connect, to work in a team as well as by his lack of honesty.

We initially intended to remain silent on the reasons of our split. We all agreed to end our joined work and to release a simple and unspectacular statement to the press in order to prevent our personal animosity to become part of the story. It was agreed by all that none of the members would use the name "Negura Bunget" ever again in the future since the band as an entity was comprised by all three of its members. Negru's act of making a public statement that is completely different from what has been agreed upon proves once more a total lack of respect for the other members of our and his own band. It proves his honor to be questionable as his acts are serving only his personal interest.

Our own statement, which we had sent to Negru for approval and adjustment read like this:

“After fifteen years of experience in the metal scene Negura Bunget decided to end its activity. Negru will continue with his own project called Din Brad, while Hupogrammos and Sol Faur will continue the direction of the band under a different name that will be announced at a later date. The band would like to thank to everybody, who supported and believed in Negura Bunget and invites you to follow our further musical activities.”

Unfortunately we did not the chance to see his final statement before it was sent. We were unable to change or to prevent it from becoming public in that form. Being in charge of all the logistic part of our work (i.e. all our contacts, our Myspace page, our official website, our newsletter and activities of Negura Music) Negru was entitled to send our statement to the media and to the public. However, he didn't consult us before posting a statement that did not care about our opinion, even though his statement makes believe this was a mutual decision.

We think that it would have been much more natural, peaceful and wise decision, if he would have simply continued his musical activities under a new name or under the name "Din Brad". In this regard we would like to express our deepest regret and disappointment that two of our guest musicians, whom we collaborated with during the last years, accepted to join his sham. Nevertheless we consider it to be very inappropriate for them to continue performing songs that were composed by those members leaving the band. It is truly sad to see that the band is now becoming a personal business for our former drummer. He never was and he will never be Negura Bunget by himself. If this is the spiritual endeavor which he is talking about, then this is a serious insult to the very name of Negura Bunget and an unforgivable contradiction to the cultural and spiritual concepts that Negura Bunget was standing for during all these years. It means an injury to us, the past members that dedicated 15 years of their lives to support and sustain an elevated path. It means an injury to anybody, who believed in what we were doing and maybe most of all it is a wounding of Spirit and Transcendence, the path that Negura Bunget was honored to dedicate its very existence to.

We, Sol Faur and Hupogrammos, who have composed nearly all music and written the lyrics of and for Negura Bunget herewith, declare that this band is dead. Any continuation of it just means a sham and a fake in our eyes.
 
:erk: well, it is really a pity that such a special and almost "magical" band is involved in this kind of dispute... but at the same time i can understand that it's not easy to get rid of 15 years of passion, dedication, hard work, up and downs, fights and joy... i just hope that Negru, Hupogrammos and Sol Faur will finally find a friendly agreement about this situation... :erk:
 
Wow, this whole thing reminds me of the Gorgoroth case. It's really sad, and I hope something equally good as Negura Bunget will emerge from this when the smoke settles.
 
I feel your pain Emi! A really class band who will be missed greatly. Shame it had to end this way!:cry:
 
from terrorizer http://www.terrorizer.com/content/negura-bunget-split

It's a black, black day for black metal - the Romanian black metal band Negura Bunget has split after an unreconcilable disagreement between Sol Faur and Hupogrammos and percussionist Negru. Louise Brown spoke to Hupogrammos, who is completely devastated by turn of events.

He told Terrorizer that at Roadburn festival, which became their last performance together, "we knew it already, we had - I cannot call it a fight, as I am not a fighting person - but we had this disagreement already on the tour and we knew it would be our last show."

He then went on to explain that the band had decided to put out the statement below, but instead the split has been turned, in Hupogrammos's words into a "a public scandal. I am not interested in this public shit like what happened with Gorgororth but I cannot remain receiving his [meaning Negru's] hits, so I have killed my baby of fifteen years."

Speaking about the band's last performance at Roadburn Hupogrammos had this to say:

"I cannot tell a lie, it was an emotional moment for me, I was making many more mistakes than before. It was great to be part of this festival. What they are doing is really great, full of professional bands and professional atmosphere."

He ended our conversation saying, "I'm really sorry for people listening to Negura Bunget now, I do not want this to ruin the music. I was trying to avoid this scandal, it was not on our purpose that it has happened this way. Negura Bunget is something that should remain sacred and I wanted to present it for the people like that."
 
:erk: well, it is really a pity that such a special and almost "magical" band is involved in this kind of dispute... but at the same time i can understand that it's not easy to get rid of 15 years of passion, dedication, hard work, up and downs, fights and joy... i just hope that Negru, Hupogrammos and Sol Faur will finally find a friendly agreement about this situation... :erk:

from what i understand hupogrammos and solfaur will continue the direction of nb, but under a new name, so ... what side are you/code continuing with?
thx
 
code666 signed Negura Bunget in 2000, then renewed the deal in 2005 and in 2009. our contract is with Negura Bunget, so we are going to support Negura Bunget, we don't have contracts or rights with side-projects or new bands.

Negru owns the rights on the band name, logo, websites and he managed all the business side of the band since day 1, so from a legal point of view he's the boss of NB.

of course the artistic point of view is a totally different story, because Hupogrammos and Jimi composed a lot of music and lyrics for NB and in my heart NB is (and probably will always be) a trio formed by Hupogrammos, Negru and Jimi...

but i've been in a band myself for many years and i know that it is inevitable to have disagreements and fights caused by prolonged cooperation, there are zillions of bands splitting up, or changing line-ups, so this is nothing new.
 
Negura Bunget
We are sorry to see things have been a bit crazy around the Negura Bunget name these days. So, to make things clear: contact@negurabunget.com is now, as it always was, the only official voice of Negura Bunget. No matter anybody else is saying, it is not from within the band, it does not represent it and it cannot speak of its behalf. Everything will continue as presented in our previous official statement. We know it is not easy for anyone, but in the end each has to assume his path, his actions and statements. We fully do so!
It is now the time to stop the words, and let the actions and music do all the talking. May that each shall find its own path now!
Negura Bunget

Romanian version:
Ne pare rau sa vedem controversele in care a fost implicat numele Negura Bunget in zilele acestea. Cateva clarificari sunt necesare: contact@negurabunget.com este acum singura voce oficiala Negura Bunget. Orice ar spune altcineva, e din afara formatiei!!! Totul va continua precum a fost prezentat in precedentul comunicat official. Stim ca nu e usor pentru nimeni, dar in final fiecare trebuie sa-si asume calea lui, actiunile si declaratiile. Noi asa facem!
Speram ca fiecare sa isi gaseasca drumul propriu... Avem incredere ca cei care cred sau au crezut in Negura Bunget vor continua calatoria inceputa… Acum e timpul sa lasam vorbele, iar faptele si muzica sa vorbeasca in locul nostru.
Negura Bunget

Negura Bunget confirmed for Hole In The Sky Festival
We are pleased to announce Negura Bunget is confirmed for this year edition of Hole In The Sky Festival in Norway.

Negura Bunget Upcoming gigs & festivals
26/06/2009 – Asch affenburg (DE) – Jukuz Aschaffenburg
www.jukuz.de
27/06/2009 – Graspop (BE)
www.graspop.be + Taake, Samael, Heaven & Hell…
10/07/2009 – My Metal Festival (RO)
+ Biohazard, Zeromancer
06/08/2009 – Black Noise Festival (HU)
http://www.last.fm/event/1046303 + Agregator, Nightspirit...
07/08/2009 – Brutal Assault Festival (CZ)
www.brutalassault.cz + Opeth, Immortal...
09/08/2009 – Summer Darkness Festival (NL)
www.summerdarkness.nl + Lacuna Coil, Korpiklaani...
27/08/2009 – Hole In The Sky festival (NO)
www.holeinthesky.no + Enslaved, Voivod…

Negura Bunget (Negru)
P.O. BOX 8-1136, 300334
Timisoara, Timis, ROMANIA
contact@negurabunget.com
www.negurabunget.com - www.negurabunget.com/merchandise
www.myspace.com/negurabunget
 
This is such an incredible tragedy... In my heart, NB has always been Hupogrammos' project. I honestly can't imagine what "Negura Bunget" would sound like without Hupogrammos. This seems something like everyone but Ringo leaving The Beatles and then Ringo going on to make more Beatles albums with a different line up... All in all, despite this "drama", I will, in the end, follow the music and not the name. If Negura Bunget continues to remain up to par with their past material, then I will continue to listen to them. If the change is entirely different and quite a decline in quality, then I will no longer. Lastly, if Hupogrammos and Sol Faur's new project is as good as their past collaborations, then they will find a special place in my heart next to Negura Bunget.

The timing of this event is absolutely bizarre for me... Emi might understand why.
 
This is seriously heartbreaking.

Negura Bunget provided, as I've stated in my writings about Om, an aural spiritual document accented with Black Metal. No band has ever taken such an approach so true to their hearts and lifestyle, and expressed it so accurately and purely.

This is in my opinion, is one of the biggest blows to extreme metal since the demise of the Norwegian Second Wave. I'm sure many of us wish that you guys could work this out, to somehow overcome the differences and forge an even stronger bond, but perhaps this is not meant to be so.

Best wishes in all your paths, wherever they take you.
 
Negura Bunget
We are sorry to see things have been a bit crazy around the Negura Bunget name these days. So, to make things clear: contact@negurabunget.com is now, as it always was, the only official voice of Negura Bunget. No matter anybody else is saying, it is not from within the band, it does not represent it and it cannot speak of its behalf. Everything will continue as presented in our previous official statement. We know it is not easy for anyone, but in the end each has to assume his path, his actions and statements. We fully do so!
It is now the time to stop the words, and let the actions and music do all the talking. May that each shall find its own path now!
Negura Bunget

Interview with Hupogrammos – Metalhead – English version

Negura Bunget's break-up is not a mystery anymore, still the statements released by all t he former band members left fans with tons of questions. So to answer a few of them, we decided to speak with Hupogrammos who was very glad to shed some light on this whole event, presenting a very clear story regarding what made him and Sol Faur leave 15 years of work, what is the future in terms of music and what are the consequences in legal terms. You can find out more from the interview below.

Hello, I know this is a pretty tough moment for you, so I will try to be as direct as possible and take into account some very interesting issues that came out of your fans’ questions. But before that, I would like to ask you if you have read the last official statement Negru made, from which I would like to extract the following: ‚No matter what anybody else says, they are not in the band anymore!!! Everything will resume as it was presented in the previous official statement’. How do you comment on this, related to your last statement?

Good day! This is indeed a tough moment in the lives of every ex-Negura Bunget member, no matter if we talk about former collaborators or former official members. Unfortunately, Negru’s reaction re-confirms the incorrect and defying attitude he had towards his colleagues, people towards whom it would have been honourable to keep his word, and of course, towards the public who believed in him and Negura Bunget. And this is precisely the reason why we decided to split up. As I said before, he cannot stand for Negura Bunget by his own and never will.



What was exactly Negru’s role in the former band line-up, of course, besides being the drummer?

As I said in our official statement, he was responsible for the entire logistic aspects of the band Negura Bunget, starting from label contracts to financial aspects. It would be totally unappropriate not to mention that in our band things were organized in a very easy and comfortable way: each of us dealt with what they knew best. So Negru was assigned the logistics part, while Sol Faur and I dealt with the musical part.

And it would have been ideal like this, considering one could trust the people who are responsible for each of these things. But, unfortunately, this was not our case. I can even say that Sol Faur and I are partly responsible for this outcome, because we left the things Negru had to do to get out of control, relying on the trust we had in him.

As far as I know, Negru was the one who came up with the band name (please correct me if I’m wrong). Do you think this can be taken into account for the official statement he made?

It is true that Negru came up with the name Negura Bunget. Of course, many of our experiences were related to this name, but also to a group of people and the music that made them all reality. But it is inhuman and not fair play from him to see Negura Bunget as his personal business.

These two words would have been nothing more than words if they wouldn’t have been given meaning by a certain spirit, one that led to the distinguishing our band. Of course, Negru had his own contribution, good or bad, to the creation and development of this spirit, and from our point of view there was never any question about the dedication or the degree of involvement of any of the members, it was always quality that mattered and making everything that was part of the spirit of this band perfect. Each of us unconditionally contributed to it with the best they had to give.


Another aspect I would like to mention as clearly as possible is the fact that neither Sol Faur nor me want or have ever thought about continuing our musical activity under the name Negura Bunget, whether in a complete formula, or as a separate project. Negura Bunget is a beautiful chapter of our lives and I would like it to stay that way.

Who owns the copyrights over Negura Bunget (and everything related), with regard to UCMR?

The copyrights for first materials are owned by myself; as for those that came out at Code666, they partain to SIAE (the italian correspondent of UCMR) in proportion of 50% for Negru and 50% for Hupogrammos.


Do you think that there is still a communication problem between you and Negru at this stage, or are you on a completely different level now?

The split-up issue is not a recent one; it is rather something that kept being delayed because of our hopes things would change for the better in what concerns our ex-colleague. So the fact that this was made public is deffinetely the end of a road.


And since we’re talking about this, I would like to say I’m mostly disappointed when I think about our fans, who felt the same as we did and lived things the same way we did in Negura Bunget. I think that now it will be very difficult for them to separate this public scandal from our music and concepts linked to it. With regret in our hearts, we apologize to our fans for the ethical, conceptual and spiritual contradiction we display in these moments. But we invite the public to understand that our departure from Negura Bunget was caused by an accumulation of tensions and lack of balance, both on a conceptual (to be more specific, the lack of ethics and integrity of our colleague in contradiction to the concept of spirituality and humanity we stood for) and on a personal level (facts linked to the main issues, that obviously contributed to creating tension within the band). We blame the irresponsible act of our former colleague to stain the name of the band like this.


At the same time, we considered that it would have been unfair for the integrity and purity of this name to accept Negru’s act of publishing a statement which was different from what we had agreed. We have a duty for both our name and our fans and we considered that revealing the truth would be better proof for the respect we have for them than accepting the situation and remaining silent.

Do you think all this can lead to trial?

Of course! Concerning copyright, we are unshaken in our decision.
I would also like to say that I would rather prefer spending my time more efficiently than going through trials. I am a person who dedicated his life to music and who would like to continue this way. But there are moments in life when one has to fight for what one believes in and dedicated the whole life to. And this moment is now.

What is the position of Code666 records towards this?

You can read their position towards it by accessing this link.

About the excerpt: "The selfish and greedy acts of a single person are doing too much harm." What exactly does it mean? Do you mean that Negura Bunget has become more of a business?

For both Sol Faur and me, Negura Bunget was a way of life. We chanelled our whole attention towards putting into practice the concepts and principles within the music of Negura Bunget, and this led to continuous evolution, both musically and personally. At the same time, our ex-colleague Negru’s vision has been, from the very start, much more pragmatic and it finally began to separate more and more from our concepts, until the point at which the band became a personal business for him.

As for that excerpt, I honestly think it says everything about the current situation. Many people are simply disgusted by this scandal, and it is us who feel the greatest disgust; I think the image of what Negura Bunget supposed to be, the concepts it was based on, have been turned into something completely inadequate and quite the opposite. I really wonder whether Negru is happy with this situation, if this is what he wanted. I don’t know how he thought it would be, but did he think we would just accept this sort of treason without reacting?

Musically speaking, have you thought about the future? About the line-up? About the music style? How do you think the future will sound for you?

As I previously said in our statement, we will continue our activity with a new band. Our musical and ideological approach will basically be a continuation of the work we started with Negura Bunget. With this occasion, I invite you to listen, on the following Myspace link, to a basic version of the first song we will include on our following material. On this version, Negru is the drummer, but the song is composed by Sol Faur and me exclusively. As for the new line-up, we can only talk about it the moment we start working together, allthough there are already some musicians who confirmed their participation to this project.


METALHEAD launched a poll with the following question: Can Negura Bunget still play under this name? So far, 63% of the viewers voted ‚No’. Are you pleased with the fans’ reaction in any way?

I am pleased in the sense that this poll could represent the fact that the Romanian listener can appreciate the ideas of integrity and humanity. But I am in no way pleased in the sense of the importance of this poll.

Thank you for your time. If there is anything you would like to add or say to those who support you, please do it.

I would like to greet the Romanian public and thank them for the support they showed us through all these years, to invite them to follow up our activity in the time to come, and last, but not least, to thank them for giving me the opportunity to express my opinion. Best wishes to them!