Djordje Stijepovic

At 18 years old, Djordje Stijepovic joined Balkan Music Club, one of the first world music bands in Serbia.[17] As a member of this band, he is considered as one of the initiators of the world music scene in Serbia.[18] Soon he developed an interest for Middle Eastern music as well, so he joined Shira Utfila in 2000.[19] Shira Utfila received the RASA award as the best world music band in Europe.[20] In 1999 he founded Marsya with Georges Grujic, a band dedicated to the traditional music of the Balkans.[21] This band is considered a turning point for the Serbian world music scene.[18]

That same year, he founded a 7 piece neo swing band Havana Whisper,[19] the first band of this style in Eastern Europe.[22] Their debut album Flammable was released in 2002 for PGP-RTS. Radio Television of Serbia filmed and broadcast a rockumentary of the same title about the band in 2002.[23] When Stijepovic disbanded Havana Whisper in 2003, he formed the rockabilly trio Atomic Sunset. Occasionally he still performs with this band.[24] With Atomic Sunset he released one album titled Hot Rods & Pin-Ups.[24] Songs from this album are featured in the movie It's a Rockabilly World! from 2016.[25]

During this period, he also played in a symphony orchestra for 7 years.[26]

Stijepovic moved to San Francisco in January 2004. At the beginning he mostly played with local bluegrass and rock'n'roll bands.[27]

In 2006 he joined Deke Dickerson and the Ecco-Fonics and started touring nationally.[11][28][29] That same year, he played a concert with Joe Clay in Hollywood, and got noticed by Danny B. Harvey, who invited him to join him, Lemmy Kilmister and Slim Jim Phantom in the Head Cat.[28][17][29]

Stijepovic and Lemmy Kilmister during The Head Cat concert in Portland in 2007. Photo by Roger Neville-Neil.

Stijepovic spent most of 2007 touring with the Head Cat.[12] They headlined Rockin' 1950's Fest III in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Footage from this show is included in the movie Lemmy, featuring Stijepovic as well.[30] The band was joined by Guns N' Roses guitar player Slash at the 3rd Annual Sunset Strip Music Festival at the House of Blues in Hollywood.[31]

In 2007 he also joined Fishtank Ensemble, an eclectic band that plays Gypsy music from all over the world (Balkan, Turkish, Flamenco ...) and hot jazz.[32] Their music is featured in the movie Wild Target starring Emily Blunt, Bill Nighy and Rupert Everett.[33] Fishtank Ensemble has something of a cult following, including celebrities like Tim Robbins[34] and Sue Wong.[35]

Stijepovic performing with Tiger Army in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2016.

In December 2013, Stijepovic received an invitation to play in Drake Bell's band as a guest at the Christmas concert of Brian Setzer Orchestra at the Dolby Theatre.[36] Bell was thrilled by Stijepovic's musicianship and energy, so he became a steady member of the band.[36] Their biggest show up to date was in front of 55.000 people at Foro Sol stadium in Mexico City in October 2014.[37] In February 2020, Drake Bell released The Lost Album with Stijepovic playing double bass on songs "The Party" and "Pots & Pans".[38]

In October 2015, Stijepovic became a member of the psychobilly band Tiger Army.[1] Besides heavy touring in the US, Europe, Australia, South and Central America, the band played festivals like Riot Fest Chicago in 2016. They also appeared in two episodes of the late night show Last Call with Carson Daly. In 2018, they released the EP "Dark Paradise." Its title track, a cover of a Lana del Ray song, stayed on KROQ's TOP5 for 3 months and reached no.1 for 2 weeks in a row.[39][40] To promote the EP, they've played 2 sold-out concerts at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles.[41] Full-length album Retrofuture was released on September 13, 2019, on Rise Records,[42] followed by 2 music videos "Devil That You Don’t Know"[43] and "Mi Amor La Luna".[44] The Retrofuture tour concluded with 2 sold out nights at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.[45] In January 2020, the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame updated their Right Here, Right Now exhibit, which focuses on current pop stars, with artifacts from Tiger Army, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Adam Lambert, and Kacey Musgraves, which included Stijepovic's custom made shirt, shoes and bass strings.[46]

In April 2018, Stijepovic joined the acoustic lineup of popular Mexican rap rock band Molotov. He was a special guest, alongside Ana Tijoux and Money Mark of the Beastie Boys, on their MTV Unplugged performance.[8] The concert was filmed and recorded by Sylvia Massy and the album was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 2019.[47] El Desconecte tour included 10 sold out nights at the Teatro Metropólitan in Mexico City.[48]

Djordje Stijepovic accepting an award for his contribution to World Music in 2019

Djordje Stijepovic's solo work is greatly influenced by traditional jazz and world music, especially from the Balkans and the Middle East. He insists on perceiving music as a whole, with different genres just being a matter of taste.[12] His original compositions are included on two compilations Srbija Sounds Global: All Stars and World Music from Serbia.[18] Stijepovic regularly performs in duos with world's leading bellydancers of tribal fusion genre including Rachel Brice and Mira Betz.[9][17]

In September 2015, Stijepovic's solo concert opened the first double bass festival Bass Passion in Serbia.[49] His band included some of the best Serbian musicians: Aleksandar Sedlar on guitar, Vasil Hadzimanov on keyboard and Predrag Milutinovic on drums.[50] On December 18, 2019, he was awarded the "Vojin Draskoci" statuette, for his contribution to the development of World music[51] and played another solo show with the same band members.[52]

Money Mark (Beastie Boys), Tito Fuentes and Stijepovic during Molotov concert in Mexico City, in 2019.

Djordje Stijepovic has performed and recorded with many world known musicians from very wide music genres. His session studio work includes Beats Antique (electronica),[53] Tina Guo[54](Classical crossover), Rupa and the April Fishes (reggae),[55] Kiosk (Persian), Marcelo (hip hop), Kal (Romani) and many others. Two albums he recorded with Kal reached top of World Music Charts Europe (Kal in 2006 and Radio Romanista in 2009).[56]

Some other live collaborations include guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel; rock'n'roll pioneers Donovan,[57] Wanda Jackson, Dale Hawkins, Scotty Moore band, DJ Fontana, Sonny Burgess, Joe Clay, Eddie Bond, Gene Summers; blues giants Billy Boy Arnold, Jody Williams; jazz legend Don Randi; swing sensation Squirrel Nut Zippers; pop star Aaron Carter[58] and many others. He also worked with movie composers Marco Beltrami[59] and Danny Elfman.[27][11][28][9][17][29]

Stijepovic was a cast member in various theater plays like As You Like It (CalShakes, Orinda, CA),[60] SummerSounds (Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA)[61] and Everyman (Atelje 212, Belgrade Serbia).[62] He also appeared in movies Lemmy, It's a Rockabilly World! and Flammable.