As the years went by, Balkan Beats and Gypsy Madness came to life.
The band consisted of musicians from different parts of the world, including Singapore, Cuba, Italy, Macedonia, and Serbia.
The band performed with the same line-up of musicians for approximately two and a half years. However, due to the musicians’ busy schedules and some disagreements, Boyana decided to open up the band to new members with the idea to give other Singaporeans, (as well as musicians from any nationality who love the music of this region) an opportunity to join the collectif & learn about this type of music thus, creating music together.
Today, Balkan Collectif, formerly known as Balkan Beats and Gypsy Madness, is open to anyone who wants to learn how to play Balkan music.
The Songs and Repertoire
Some of the songs performed in the band (collectif)came from the tradition of Gypsy music, so we will explore this music a bit in this short blog.
Balkan Gypsy music brings together musical influences and songs from several regions under one umbrella, which we call Balkan music.
As mentioned above, bringing these styles and songs together brings somewhat a very vibrant and distinctive style of music on its own which we call Balkan Music. For instance if we compare Bollywood music style, in this way the Balkans brings highly entertaining music performance, colourful, joyful and highly performance-driven genre yet complex to learn and play and highly educative !!
This is part of what makes Balkan music so special! We hope you’ll come and experience Balkan Collectif for yourself soon.
This music is unique, yet it appeals to people from all over the world, even when they don’t understand the languages in which the songs are sung. Its infectious rhythms and lively melodies get people dancing, laughing, and celebrating together. The music has a wonderful way of bringing people together through joy, movement, and shared experiences.
According to Boyana’s experience, there appears to be a Balkan Music phenomena around the years 2005 to 2102 in the UK, in which people from different parts of the world have come together around this musical tradition, referring to it as Balkan Gypsy music formed bands ensembles and orchestras, got touring around Europe and the UK at festivals such as “Womad” Glastonbury and others.
Several countries can be attributed to it such as Macedonia, Serbia, Romania and Bosnia mainly.
Looking at the wider Balkan Peninsula, we can also find musical influences from places such as Turkey, Malta, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia, and Montenegro, amongst others.
Together, these diverse influences create the rich, colourful, and captivating sound that we know as Balkan music.
Some recommended songs to listen to :
1. Opa Cupa
2. Ringe Raja
3. Caje sukarije Esma
4. Cajesukarije
5. Jano Mori