The Bosnian band "Divanhana" recently changed its singer, so from now on, instead of Naida Čatić, the main vocalist will be Šejla Grgić. About the reasons for the personnel change in the band, keyboardist and one of the founders of "Divanhanna" Neven Tunjić reveals to "Vijesti":
"In a recent conversation with our very good associate from Belgrade, he said that 'musicians in the Balkans are always in transition' and he was right. Of course, people who are engaged in artistic work in this area very often come to the moment when they ask themselves whether, in our case, choosing music as a life vocation is a decision that will ensure you secure prosperity for the future. Due to the space we live in, and the difficult conditions in which art is created and exists, unfortunately, in the past years, we had to say goodbye to some of our dear collaborators, including our colleague Naida. We made the decision to end the cooperation back in January of this year, jointly. However, due to the concert obligations that we confirmed earlier, we decided that Naida will remain a member of the band until September in order to professionally complete all pre-arranged and planned business obligations", Tunjić said.
They know their colleague Šejla Grgić from the Music Academy in Sarajevo, from their student days, so Naida did not look for a replacement for long.
"Of course, we belong to the older generation of students, but you know how it is - once you finish the academy, you often return to it. You are drawn back by fond memories of your student days, or often various events organized by the academy. So we often met Sheila in the same corridors. She was a participant in numerous projects that included covering the traditional music of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the countries of the Balkans, and stood out a lot in the same with her rarely seen talent", praised the new singer Tunjić, reminding that Šejla is known to the public of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a singer who covers world famous hits in popular music with ease.
"It was with the cover of the song 'Hello' by Adele that she herself was nicknamed 'Bosnian Adele' by the media. All of the above are, I believe, more than enough reasons to invite this young, hard-working, talented girl to our team and we are very happy to have her with us to win audiences across the region and Europe together," hopes Tunjić.
The band "Divanhana" has existed for nine years and they have released three albums so far, and during their career they had the opportunity to perform, not only at ex-Yu venues, but also all over the world. When asked how much responsibility it is to continue the success achieved by previous singers, Šejla answered for "Vijesti":
"The fact that previous colleagues have achieved exceptional success with their work and commitment on my back is a really big responsibility. "Divanhana" has become a domestic brand that has become an ambassador of Bosnian culture in the world, and accordingly it is up to me to continue to convey all the love and energy of the band to our dear audience and to join them in realizing their long-standing mission - which is to spread love and sevdaha", promises Grgić, who has followed the work of "Divanhana" until now.
"Both colleagues left a big mark in "Divanhana", and each of them had their own singing style and were specific in their own way. I was honored to be given the opportunity to work with this wonderful team and develop myself and my creativity in a different direction," says Šejla, who, Tunjić claims, brought new energy and freshness with her arrival.
"Her vocals are, of course, different from the previous ones we had in the band, and now there is definitely a period of adapting previously written arrangements to Sheila's performance, and creating new ones. There will certainly be no deviations in the musical style that "Divanhana" cherishes, because we firmly stick to nurturing and presenting the traditional music of the Balkan countries", promises Tunjić and adds that the next period in the band's work will be creative.
"Every musician looks forward to that, so we eagerly await the moment when we will share all our creativity and fantasies with the audience," admits Tunjić.
As she says, January is always set aside for creative work and work in the studio, so Šejla will only record her work in "Divanhana" then and on the recordings.
"It's a month that is usually 'dead for musicians' because there aren't too many concert activities during it. I believe that then or sooner or later we will present the first song with our new member to the audience", concludes Tunjić.
Music brought us together, but it must not tear us apart
The first singer of "Divanhana" was Vanja Muhović, with whom they recorded the first album, on the second the main vocalist was Leila Ćatić, while on the last the lead vocalist was the recent singer Naida Čatić. Tunjić says about how much the change of the lead vocalist hindered the band's work during these nine years:
"In business, planning is certainly very important, which we always try to maintain. With our now ex-colleague Naida, we made a decision to end cooperation at the beginning of the year, so we had enough time to find an adequate replacement and plan further obligations that lie ahead of us during the 2018 working year. If you function and organize your work in that way, even such big changes in the band as the replacement of vocalists will not be problematic and collectively you will always come out as winners", explains Tunjić.
With the fact that there will be certain changes in the band from time to time, he says, they have come to terms with it a long time ago.
"Our work is like that, and we try not to take such things too much to heart, but to solve all unforeseen problems with our work. Of course, we try to stay in close and friendly relations with all former members in our private life, because in the end, these are people who created music with us for years and gave gifts to the audience. Music brought us together and it must not be the reason that separates us", he believes.
Traditional songs are close to her
Until now, Šejla sang in bands that nurtured other musical genres, but she is no stranger to sevdah either.
"Sevdah is something that each of us in this area lives with and carries in our soul our whole life, so I am no exception. Through my studies at the music academy, I studied traditional music, mostly as part of the ensemble of the "Etnoakademik" music academy, where we performed traditional village and city songs and sevdalinka. Then, with my colleagues from the academy and outside it, I covered sevdalinka in a funk style and with that we represented Bosnia and Herzegovina last year in May in Tirana at the 18th biennial of young artists of Europe and the Mediterranean. So, sevdalinka is very close to me and I performed it whenever I had the opportunity, both in its original form and processed", reveals Grgić.
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