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Augustus Dejanovic – Gus Dejan to his friends and customers – was a mechanic and home movie addict living and working in New York City until a few years ago. I heard about Gus from a friend whose car overheated on the BQE; he pulled off into the nearest garage, called Teknochek Collision. It was Gus’s shop. When Gus recognized a Nicolae Gutsa tape on the dashboard, they got talking, and once you get Gus talking…it’s a good ride.

Gus was the son of a Serbian Gypsy father and a mother of uncertain but certainly mixed ethnicity. The whole family moved up from southern Louisiana to the neighborhood of Woodside, Queens in the mid ‘50s, when Gus was still in middle school. They lived and worked in Woodside; after graduating from high school Gus worked in his father’s garage, and eventually took it over. He was a born tinkerer, and his love of gadgets drew him to home movies when Super 8 film came out in the ‘60s. He shot even more in the ‘70s, when Super 8 could record sound too; he loved eavesdropping on conversations or recording people’s reactions to some music he was excited about. Gus’s energy comes shining through all of his flickery films; they’re full of community and music and experimentation (and him talking from behind the camera). They also reveal a love of ethnic culture that doesn’t exclude people, that revels in mash-ups and new combinations. This music is for Gus – we hope it’s like Gus too.

PRESS CONTACT:
Dmitri Vietze
rock paper scissors, inc.
music@rockpaperscissors.biz
www.rockpaperscissors.biz/go/slavicsoulparty