Ever since he was a 17 year old boy growing up in Ivanić-Grad, a small town near Zagreb, Croatia, Branko Galoić has had a passionate kinship with music. Galoić, who in the year 2000 moved to Amsterdam and recently released his second album "Skakavac" (meaning grasshopper or locust), says that initially, everything he learned about music came from Ivanić-Grad's local musicians.
"It became quickly clear to me that the guitar and music will not just be a hobby in my life. I fell in love with it ", Branko told Southeast Europe: People and Culture.
In his formative years, Galoić was a member of various blues, punk and rock groups. Soon after, together with friends who arrived from Bosnia and Herzegovina, he formed an acoustic band playing Roma music and sevdah (traditional genre of folk music from Bosnia). Still later, Branko was a part of a group of musicians that performed Macedonian songs in the vein of Leb i Sol, a popular band in the former Yugoslavia that was recognisable in the use of odd meters (5/4, 7/8) and non-traditional scales.
Branko arrived in Amsterdam by coincidence and instantly fell in love with the city. He started his career there from scratch, playing on the street for almost a year, slowly acquainting himself with the local musicians, performing with bands and working in various types of jobs. Five years after he had come to Amsterdam, Branko's hard work and dedication paid off - he released his debut album "Above the Roofs" on Snail Records. The songs on this disc represent an intriguing mix of Balkan traditional and Roma music with blues and pop blended in the ascetic style of some of the best American singer-songwriters.
Galoić says that for the "sound colour" of his first CD "Above the Roofs", a lot of the credit goes to Dragi Šestić, who recorded it. He's the producer and manager, founder and leader of the group Mostar Sevdah Reunion: "When I have an idea or a piece of music comes to mind, I go into some sort of trance through which that idea is finalised. That trance is a synthesis of all my experiences, knowledge, emotions and various musical influences".
Despite this complex variety of style and character, Galoić's music never strays from its apparent main path - to be simple and understandable, regardless of the song's language or origin. If someone perceives his music in this way, Branko considers it a compliment. He says that in our modern, tech-dependent times, creating simple music is very hard:
"As far as I'm concerned, a lot of work and someone's way of life, his determination, is invested in this. The clarity in someone's artistic expression is achieved through life's experiences and in the way you see things around you. In just two guitar chords and three tones someone can present a whole story, while someone else can't put a single thing in 20 chords. Technique and knowledge isn't enough".
Galoić considers himself to be first a guitarist, then a composer and finally a singer-songwriter. Sometimes he writes instrumental compositions envisioned as music for film. That part of the story is important to him and can be heard on his latest album, which is named after his orchestra Skakavac. The record was produced by Branko who says that the new songs are a bit more cheerful than those on "Above the Roofs". The brass section (trumpet, tuba and trombone) is more prominent now. Creatively, Galoić is doing great: he has already recorded another solo-album that he hopes to release in 2010.
As he says: "I would love to offer the region of former Yugoslavia at least five new albums in the next few years".
