weird_oh84 wrote:

What have the separate band members been up to since disbanding?

https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/34690/

I haven’t been successful in my initial search to link something, however, I’ve heard the band tell the story behind the name. The essence as I recall was some dude hitting on a girl they knew at a bar. Her name (nickname?) was Bambi, he was a bit ick about it all so they just referred to him as the Bambi Molester which in turn became the band name. That may not be exactly it, but that’s my distant recollection.

Also, most are pretty well aware of the release “ Night in Zagreb”, and rightly so, the album and DVD/video of the performance is most excellent. Some may be unaware of this cool documentary… let’s fix that.

Fady

El Mirage @ ReverbNation

weird_oh84 wrote:

One of my favorite bands ever , but with the worst name ever lol.

Anyone know what the meaning behind the name is?__

The deer hunters.

Last edited: Sep 03, 2023 21:39:15

weird_oh84 wrote:

One of my favorite bands ever , but with the worst name ever lol.

Years ago when they broke up, I said something like "great band, terrible name." BOY did I get hostility from many members, and I ended up revealing that I had been molested as a child, and that was why the name sucked. It triggered me every time I saw it. The members here were not kind to me. Someone even suggested that they use the word molested to mean it's other meaning, which is moved around, so I should calm down. What a fucking dick response that was. You're getting a much better treatment than I did.

Yes the name is disgusting no matter how the fuck they meant it. I agree with you.

Daniel Deathtide

Serendipity strikes again! That other conversation about a new/another Surf music magazine made me eventually remember that there is a Continental Magazine with the Bambi Molesters on the cover; Issue #18.

The interview was via email between Ivan (Pongracic) and Dalibor (Pavicic) in the summer of 2010 on the heels of the then new release "As the Dark Wave Swells". I'd forgotten how thorough it was, it spans 11 pages in the issue (!!!). Anyhow, a few pages, Ivan asks:

(Ivan)"...Can you explain once and for all why you chose the name the Bambi Molesters? In retrospect, is it something you wish you could have changed? And do yo uthink it has hur you, or maybe actually helped you? (It/s definitely memorable!)"

(Dalibor) "A long time ago, I had a friend who fell in love with a girl nicknamed Bambii (he gave her the nickname). One night, after a few beers, I was talking to Dinko about this friend and how he follows this girl around acting like an idiod, and Dinko called him a Bambi molester. As we both read the "Hate" comic at that time, this sounded like an appropriate name for the band. So, there were no animals involved. There were moments when we really wanted to change the name, especially after the second album, but in the end we decided to stick with it. Some people like it, some don't."

So there you have it!

PS - Daniel, I must have missed the original train wreck. I am sorry to hear what happened to you as a child, how things went down on this topic previously, and how some members made you feel; that is eff'd up. It also really sucks in that same vein that their body of work was so great; their name will invariably continue coming up as long as people are talking about modern/3rd wave surf music. I won't see/hear the name now and not think about you too.

Fady

El Mirage @ ReverbNation

Fady wrote:

Serendipity strikes again! That other conversation about a new/another Surf music magazine made me eventually remember that there is a Continental Magazine with the Bambi Molesters on the cover; Issue #18.

The interview was via email between Ivan (Pongracic) and Dalibor (Pavicic) in the summer of 2010 on the heels of the then new release "As the Dark Wave Swells". I'd forgotten how thorough it was, it spans 11 pages in the issue (!!!). Anyhow, a few pages, Ivan asks:

(Ivan)"...Can you explain once and for all why you chose the name the Bambi Molesters? In retrospect, is it something you wish you could have changed? And do yo uthink it has hur you, or maybe actually helped you? (It/s definitely memorable!)"

(Dalibor) "A long time ago, I had a friend who fell in love with a girl nicknamed Bambii (he gave her the nickname). One night, after a few beers, I was talking to Dinko about this friend and how he follows this girl around acting like an idiod, and Dinko called him a Bambi molester. As we both read the "Hate" comic at that time, this sounded like an appropriate name for the band. So, there were no animals involved. There were moments when we really wanted to change the name, especially after the second album, but in the end we decided to stick with it. Some people like it, some don't."

So there you have it!

PS - Daniel, I must have missed the original train wreck. I am sorry to hear what happened to you as a child, how things went down on this topic previously, and how some members made you feel; that is eff'd up. It also really sucks in that same vein that their body of work was so great; their name will invariably continue coming up as long as people are talking about modern/3rd wave surf music. I won't see/hear the name now and not think about you too.

The mystery is solved! Thanks!

Thanks to Fady for going to my extensive interview with Dalibor to set the record straight. I'll add two more things to this discussion, as somebody that started corresponding with Dalibor back in '96, right around the time of their debut album and before they were "THE BAMBI MOLESTERS". Back then they were just a band having a bit of fun with this whole surf music thing and I can 100% guarantee that not a single one of them EVER expected that they would go anywhere, never mind opening for and collaborating with REM, touring all around Europe, South America, and even New Zealand, and becoming one of THEE most celebrated and influential modern surf bands.

I think that's the important thing to keep in mind to make sense of their name. They were just being goofy and playing surf music for themselves, not expecting it to go anywhere. After all, it was a band from Sisak, Croatia, a country that emerged out of a brutal civil war just a year or two before and that was still contending with a great deal of war destruction and a backward economy (left over from the socialist economic system of Yugoslavia which by '91 had created by some measures the highest recorded hyperinflation in all of history and in the process laid waste to the entire country, leading to total economic collapse and the civil war). Croatian or even Yugoslav bands just didn't get much attention outside of their immediate areas and I'm sure it never even occurred to Dalibor, Dinko, Maja, and Hrvoje that such a thing could happen to them. Having just gone through a horrific war (preceded by all that nasty economic collapse of Yugoslavia), they had a pretty dark sense of humor, as mentioned in my interview by their love for the "Hate" comic. It was a lark, as the Brits would say, I'm sure they didn't take any of it very seriously or thought about the long-term impact of that name. I doubt they expected to be around for even a year, as probably was the case for every previous band they were all in.

The second thing is that I remember them considering the name change VERY seriously right after the release of their second album, Intensity, and were close to pulling the trigger. I communicated about it to Dalibor multiple times around then, and it was obvious that as they were receiving more acclaim and attention, they increasingly felt uncomfortable with the name, which they considered a dumb joke. They ultimately decided against changing it because they thought it would sow too much confusion and rob them of the considerable momentum they were beginning to enjoy at that time. They realized that they were really stuck with the name. I think they made the right choice.

There you go, hope that helps!

Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube

Last edited: Sep 07, 2023 21:27:24

I think it would be interesting to make a topic on unusual, provocative and abusive names and their stories

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

Whenever I think of the Bambi Molesters name.
I can’t help but think of the short cartoon,
Bambi meets Godzilla

Jeff(bigtikidude)