Hana:

Miloš Stankić is organising the Colour Festival in Brčko, is a DJ and IT engineer. We spoke about the festival, how and why he started it and about the reasons for which he came back to Brčko and activities he engages in.

Where did you get the idea for the Colour Festival?

Electronic music as such was labelled as negative due to propaganda, as something related to drugs. However, these are loud individuals that spoil the whole image of something. I wanted to prove to people that it was not that bad and that one can listen to that kind of music without any drugs. If I had made a festival based only on that kind of music, it would not be that interesting for people, because today persons unfortunately listen to music with their eyes, not ears. I wanted to attract them with a visual element and to sell them music as an additional effect. And I managed to do so. In essence, the idea was to promote electronic music in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

What else do you do, you are a DJ?

Yes, I have been a DJ for almost 10 years. I changed my style quite a lot last year. I am now more in some electro house, trape, progressive house, etc. I was the first who started doing EDM in Bosnia and Herzegovina, this is what it is called. It is this modern sound that was promoted at festivals such as Ultra, Tomorrowland, etc. And it somehow created a hype in 2010. I fell in love with it, it attracted me back then. I wanted to be a professional like them and I started investing heavily in myself and promoting my work. People accepted that very well, and then I became successful in 2012, and people started accepting me as someone who is seriously into music.

Then I started organising parties more, and I even had my own brand for three years, but I unfortunately had to suspend it temporarily, because we have no adequate location for the indoor variant. It was called ”EDM Revolution” and every time when we would organise parties, there were no less than 200-300 persons. I even had a club for around 5 months, where only that kind of music was played. The club was really enormous and super equipped, however, we had to leave it for some reasons and it is now used by other persons.

We have the festival that will become a tradition. It was held twice so far and I am willing to invest in it, in these indoor variants, because I have a large number of followers interested in that party concept. I would like it to become as relevant as it was a year and a half ago or two years ago.

Is this your plan for the future?

I am already working on some projects, but prefer not to talk about it, it might not become true.

We recently started organising a workshop for young DJs. The workshop is held once per week at the youth centre ”Vermont”. They donated the premises. The organisation Klabika from Sarajevo donated a package of pioneer equipment in cooperation with the world-renowned DJ Solomon as part of their humanitarian activity. The equipment is extremely good and can be useful for persons to learn some basic things. So far, there were around 6 participants. I did not want to do any advertising, because I am doing this still alone and I cannot dedicate myself to 20 children. The fewer of them for now, the better, until I find some colleagues to help me. These workshops are free of charge, we do not ask for any fee, we dedicate an hour, an hour and a half, or two, dedicate ourselves to these children. We teach them both theory and practice. We teach them where to find music, how to do a transition, basics about connecting equipment, production and arrangement basics, etc. So, that is the most recent piece of news.

You said that you came back from Banja Luka and that you would like to achieve a change in your town?

Well, yes, I could have stayed there, there were some options, but I was not attracted by it. Banja Luka is a beautiful city, but I did not find myself there. I am more of a local patriot, would like to develop my community. It is somehow too egoistic to go to another city and work there. It is better to somehow invest my potential in the local community, because I think that everyone can do that.

A problem is the fact that persons are brought up from their earliest childhood with the notion that they are worthless, that they cannot do anything as individuals. And everything starts from an individual. A person cannot change the world if he/she does not change himself/herself. One starts from oneself, from some of the stupidest habits – one makes the bed, changes the way of life, diet, surrounding, etc. and starts doing some bigger things then.

Have you ever thought about leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina?

To be honest, I have. My mom is always joking, remember what you were like before, just repeating that you wanted to leave, and look how it changed now…

I am a bit tired of new beginnings, that is true as well. One has to start from scratch. And wherever one goes, one is a stranger, but here… No country in the world has so many rivers, so many natural resources, so many potentials. Once the top politicians, those who are oppressing, are removed, everything will be easier.