An interview with mixed band ElectraHeart

While waiting for the moment they can get back to rehearsing and making music again, Tringa interviewed her bandmates of ElectraHeart.

Think back to when you just joined the Mitrovica Rock School. What was that like? 

Baton: “Before I joined the Rock School, I played violin. My brother joined the first Skopje Summer School and told me I should join when the school opened, so when that happened I started taking drum classes. Only two or three months later I played in a band for the first time. My first Summer School was the first time I was outside Kosovo without my family, and the first time I met people my age from the north part of Mitrovica.”

Egzon: “Before I joined, I had never played guitar. I didn’t know anything about it. But I had a great love for it, so I started taking classes. Now I know a lot more about playing guitar, about how a band works, about how to write a song or play a cover of a song. I listen to music in a way I didn’t do before.”

Rina: “I got to learn a lot of new things and meet new people from here and other countries. It’s easy for me to get along with others when we have something in common, so being at the Rock School really helped with that.”

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How has COVID changed things for you this year? 

Baton: “While we had to cancel our rehearsals and gigs because of the pandemic, I had so much time to practice drums, listen to more music and even start practicing guitar. I think it will help me develop more song ideas, like the ones we’re sharing online now until we can get back to rehearsing.”

Egzon: “I had more free time to think about and work on original songs, but since we couldn’t meet, it was hard to share and finish those ideas. We worked via social media, but that’s not the same.”

Jelena: “The virus had a big impact on us. We haven’t been able to rehearse much. But we did do an acoustic gig some time ago, and it was nice to play music together again.”

What’s the biggest lesson you learned about making music? How have you developed as a musician, or even as a person? 

Genc: “I didn’t know anything about people from the north before I started at Mitrovica Rock School. But now I’ve met so many people, jammed with them, and learned from them. It’s been a really great experience. A big lesson about making music is that in a band, it’s not just me that matters, it’s all of us.”

Jelena: “The biggest lesson I learned was that you need to be driven and really love what you do, because that opens up possibilities to learn from others and inspire them in return. There will always be some disagreements in teamwork. But we just have to do our best to communicate and find a solution.”

Egzon: “Concerts really helped me to be more free with the audience. It had a big effect on my work as an actor too. I met so many good people that I’m still in contact with. Personally, I can’t imagine what I would do if I wasn’t part of the Rock School.”

Baton: “Over the years, I not only became a better musician, but I became really good friends with many other students.”

Rina: “Music really is a language in itself. And when it comes to making it, everything else is just not important.”