Ilana Marinjes-von Arx, Stevan Miletić, Dragiša Miletić/ EVOLUCIJA

💿 Hi, it’s a pleasure for us to have on Hardrockheavymetal EVOLUCIJA! Welcome!! Evolucija: Likewise, thank you for having us! 💿 Can you tell us somethin’ about your early days of your career? When is this all begun? Which bands have influenced you? Dragisa: I grew up in a diverse surroundings when it comes to music, so I was exposed to many different types and genres of music. At first, I started playing the guitar, and first song I learned to play was Paranoid by Black Sabbath. And later on I switched to playing bass, because nobody else wanted to play it.. haha.

From then on, bass became my great love. Some of the bands I used to play in were Korak, Fire edge, Rock and Callboys, Revolution, and, starting in 2007, Evolucija.

Bands that influenced me the most are Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Kiss, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Nightwish.

Illana: Music was integral part of my childhood. I used to play some piano and acoustic guitar. Elvis Presley was one of my early influences. I used to sing in some blues and jazz rock bands, before joining Evolucija in 2010.

My favourite bands are Queen, Krokus, Gotthard, Metallica, Within Temptation and Nightwish.

Stevan: I’m actually the first person in my family to have serious interest in music.

I remember hearing some Yugoslavian hard rock bands on TV and really liking that kind of sound, but my biggest influence to take on the guitar was hearing Iron Maiden for the first time, especially Dave Murray soloing. I listen to rocknroll and metal most of the time, Iron Maiden being my all time favourite, but I like wide range of music, from Balkan etno music to some extreme metal bands. 💿 From March 30th will be out your new album, called “HUNT” Can you tell us somethin’about this platter and its composition process? We had the privilege to listening to it in preview and we’re really impressed! Evolucija: Thank you for your compliments, we’re glad you like it! Energy and spontaneity are, in our opinion, the most important things for a good metal album.

We really worked a lot, because we wanted the album to be melodic and also to be something that you will want to listen from start to finish, instead of a couple of good songs and a bunch of fillers. So basically, our goal was for people to hear song and to actually have the melody stick to them, to be memorable.

This is why it’s very important to us to make a good vocal melody first, with the music and arrangements coming afterwards.

💿 The real “news” in music industry is the return of vinyl; What’s your feeling about this classic format and the current music “business”? Evolucija: Well as we all know, vinyl never really left, it was always popular with the collectors, but the fact that the vinyl sales and production are on the rise is very good, because it seems to us that vinyl and rocknroll are connected, one reason being that long play records vinyls helped rock music rise in popularity during the “golden age”. Another reason we support the rise of vinyl is a huge space for artwork and of course, the sound. 💿 “HUNT” will be out through PURE STEEL PUBLISHING. Can you tell us somethin’about the relationships with them? Evolucija: That’s right, we signed worldwide deal with Pure Steel, and we are really happy to be a part of that family.

They are very professional, giving us absolute freedom when it comes to decision making, but also giving us important advice, which we are very thankful for.

In Serbia, we have RnR Records as a publisher for ex Yugoslavia territory, and we are also super happy with their professionalism. 💿 Can you tell us somethin’about your next live projects? Are scheduled any gigs to promote the new album? Evolucija: Of course, live shows are the best and the most important thing regarding music to us. Being on stage, and sharing the energy with the people is something that all of us absolutely enjoy doing, and so we try to do it as much as possible. From September last year we had more than 20 shows. We started in Serbia of course, and we did shows in Croatia, Switzerland, Macedonia, before returning to Serbia again.

We took a little break in January and February to do all things we have to do regarding the new album, so in March we’re on the road again, our goal being to bring our music all over Europe. 💿 Thank you so much for your time! See you soon on Hardrockheavymetal! You’re very welcome, thank you for your support and this interview opportunity! See you on the road!

#evolucija #puresteel