OpexArno’s swan song, was accepted by the readers of There voted best Belgian record of the year. Because a reaction from Arno is no longer an option, we called Mirko Banovic, bass player and Arno’s right-hand man for many years in the studio, on stage and when writing songs.
Mirko Banovic: “Arno and I have always had a very good connection, both musically and humanly. If necessary, I can be very honest and to the point and I think he appreciated that.”
Do you remember when you first met Arno?
Banovic: “That must have been at the Lokerse Feesten, in 1998 if I’m not mistaken. He asked me to come over to his apartment and talk regarding music. Not much later, things got very hectic at an audition. ‘Play da ne times’, ‘Do ne times sister’, ‘Do ne times like this’… I thought: what the fuck is that all here? After two or three songs Arno said: “It’s done, I’m gone.” I thought he meant he didn’t like it, but suddenly his manager was standing next to me with a list of tour dates. Arno had already left, apparently he had an appointment with a madam (laughs).”
How hard was it making that last record with him?
Banovic: “Heavy. Afterwards we were all devastated. Arno wanted to make a statement at all costs, as a parting gift of sorts, and because he wanted to be in it 100 percent, he refused to take painkillers. Because we didn’t know how much time we had, we also had to work very quickly. When Arno was tired, he would go home, and sometimes I would have to reluctantly call him and say, “I need another take.” Whatever he got out of it despite the pain: I mightn’t do it.”
‘La vérité’ sounds like it was sung with his last breath.
Banovic: “’La vérité’, ‘I Can’t Dance’ and ‘One Night With You’ were the last things we recorded. And his vocal take of ‘La paloma adieu’, the duet with Mireille Mathieu.”
With songs like ‘Honnête’ and ‘Boulettes’ there was also room for humor on ‘Opex’.
Banovic: “He didn’t want the whole record to point to the fact that it was the end. There also had to be those typically surrealistic ones fuck yousongs on. ‘Boulettes’, that’s actually literally kiss my balls, isn’t it (laughs). Raising his middle finger, that was very important to him, right up to the last moment.”
What was your best moment with him?
Banovic: “If I had to choose one, it would be the one on which he, at the very end of the recordings of Opex, said to the musicians: ‘Guests, I love you so much, thank you for giving me strength.’ A little later, as he was leaving, he said to drummer Sam Gysel: ‘Sam, see you then, huh’. To which Sam, who was still working on an overdub, said: ‘Yeah yeah, see you.’ He never saw him once more.”
A quote from you: ‘If you sat next to Arno on the plane, you were guaranteed to have coffee all over your pants.’ Something you won’t miss?
Banovic (laughs): “On the train, the plane, the car… If you took it somewhere, your car was a garbage can anyway. A sandwich under the seat, a spilled coke, you name it. Arno was chaotic, it was stronger than himself. On the plane, he was guaranteed to piss at the time of take-off. Or if there was just food in front of you. He would have been happy to have a private jet from us (laughs).”
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