Electronic music, more that any other music, managed to flourish rapidly and successfully on the Macedonian soil in the last two decades. The capital Skopje is the centre of a thriving expansion of fresh ideas and creative energy, gravitating since the very beginning around Kanal 103, a progressive, non-profit and independent music radio station and the strongest supporter and promoter of new cutting edge music.
The first electronic parties at the beginning of the nineties were organized by an artistic collective of DJ's, radio presenters, musicians and theatre directors under the name of PMG, also known today as a modern disco-punk band (PMG Kolektiv) as well as the record label (PMG Recordings). From that point onward, the local electronic scene erupted numerous bands (Anastasia, Bei The Fish, Pogan Pagan, Novogradska, SAF), producers (Robotek, Sound Diffusion, Saško Kostov, Vancheck Kkost, Tripnotic), dj's + dj's collectives (Pollux, Digital Dance, Flooder, Game Over, Dinamo) and as well as clubs, introducing electronic music genres in all its incarnations: house, trance, electro, drum'n'bass, hip-hop, etc.
Skopje's electronic producer and composer Kiril Džajkovski, simply known as Kiril, has become the most popular Macedonian performer of dance music today. Kiril is considered a pioneer of electronic music in Ex Yugoslavia, starting his career in the early eighties with now-legendary electro-pop band Bastion). In the nineties, Džajkovski moved to Melbourne, Australia, where he started to explore different mixtures of the old Macedonian traditional melodies and rhythms with fresh electronic beats. An original, inspiring and powerful sound was created and soon after it was recorded on several albums and compilations by Kiril.
At the same time, he also wrote and produced music for dozens of exceptional theatre plays, TV shows, documentaries and movie soundtracks, like "Dust" by Mil?o Mančevski and "Great Water" by Ivo Trajkov, as well as contributing his songs for a few global-sounds and world-beat oriented CD compilations by well-known labels: Putomayo, Pschent, 10 Kilo and Distinctive Records. Oscillating between Skopje and Los Angeles in the recent years, Kiril is currently working on his new studio album, successor of "Homebound" (2001) that will be hopefully finished this summer.
Meanwhile, he is developing his exciting live project with Sercuk Orchestra, a local brass ensemble of exceptional musicians who accompanied him in the last couple of years. They performed together with great success and tremendous response from the audience at the Exit Festival (Novi Sad), the Green Fest (Zagreb), VIP In Music Festival (Zagreb) and the Beer Fest (Belgrade). In the light of the present trends in the world-music club scene – where bands like Balkan Beat Box, Beirut and DJ Shantel have achieved admiration and commercial success – it is only a question of time when Kiril's distinguished ethno-techno concept will reach a wider audience outside the Balkan area.
**The European Commission does not accept or recognise in whatever form or content a denomination other than “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. All references, direct or indirect, to this country used in this article are those of its author.
