Okay, well, welcome back everyone to the All Things Croatia podcast.
If you're watching on YouTube, you're probably wondering what's with the
tourist outfit here, and I just moved from Zagreb to Makarska down at the coast for
the summer, and everything is buried too deep into my suitcase.
So you've got the Hawaiian shirt for this episode.
But more importantly, we've got an awesome guest here.
Mia Dimsic is a very popular Croatian musician.
She performs all over.
She represented Croatia in last year's Eurovision.
She's got songs at the top of the charts.
Super excited to hear from her.
Mia, thanks for coming on the podcast.
Thank you so much for having me and I'm happy to be here.
Awesome.
Awesome to have you on.
Always a pleasure.
As we sort of get into things, can you start by sort of telling us about
your background and growing up?
Sure.
I actually grew up in Osijek.
Now I live in Zagreb due to my musical career.
I was studying English and German literature and translation studies back in my college
days before I started pursuing music professionally.
And then along with the end of my college days and my degree, I kind of got into the
music career quite by accident.
I met my manager at this impromptu tour that I was a part of, and it was taking place in
the States and Canada, which was also really significant for me because I feel like the
Americas keep coming into my life for some reason.
And it's just all so bound to my music and to my expression as well.
So that's how I started in 2014.
I released my first single in 2015.
Then two years later, my first album was out.
And so the whole thing kind of started rolling.
And I'm here almost eight years now, been doing what I love most in the world.
And I moved to Zagreb and got so many opportunities to travel the world and just showcase
what I love to people.
That's awesome. You mentioned the U.S.
and North America.
And if I'm correct from what I read on Wikipedia, that was you were doing Tamburica for the
Croatian Diaspora in 2014 when you went over there.
I was actually a singer with the Tamburica band who traveled there to do a series of
shows for Diaspora people.
And it was it was actually the tour organized by Croatian Fraternal Union.
I don't know if the name is familiar to you, probably is as a North American, because
they're also like really, really spread out.
And their headquarters kind of is in Pittsburgh, where the whole tour was also happening.
We started with a concert in, I think, Hamilton in Canada was the first one.
And then we would go southward all the way down to Kansas City.
So it was quite an adventure.
We did 17 concerts in, I think, 21 days.
So it was like super intense.
And it really I was 21 at the time.
So it showed me what a life of a true musician would potentially look like if I decided to
go that path.
And before that, I always had dreams of being a singer, but I thought it was impossible
that you couldn't like really earn a living from it.
So I decided to to go the standard path, you know, go to college and just pursue languages,
which I also love.
But up until I got the invitation to take part on that tour and I met my manager who
was also managing that tour, I was actually always kind of, yeah, like, you know, it's
with someone else.
You know, it might not be for me because how could I actually sell tickets and albums to
people when all I sing is like, you know, like, you know, like, you know, like, you
know, like love ballads, you know, it was just a kind of thing.
I would never expect people to want to listen to.
I didn't have that self-confidence.
So actually, that tour was what changed everything and made me feel like I could really
do it.
And that's why North America always has a very special place in my heart.
That's awesome to hear that that tour inspired you to become your own artist.
And yeah, you name some some cities with really big Croatian populations, Hamilton in
Pittsburgh, of course, huge Croatian population in Kansas City, actually, I have to be
honest, I didn't know they had a big population, but I mean, Croatians are all over
the world.
I'm not.
I'm never surprised anymore when I hear whatever city in whatever country that there's a
Croatian population.
We're a small number, but we're kind of everywhere.
You only need to like look hard enough and you'll meet some Croatian people for sure.
Definitely.
Yeah, that's how it goes.
You always you always find each other wherever you are in the world.
You mentioned you're from Osijek.
I've actually I've never been to Osijek.
I've traveled a decent amount throughout Croatia, but have yet to be to Osijek.
Bukovar was as close as I've been.
What's it like in Osijek?
How would you compare it, say, to Zagreb?
Osijek is a bit smaller, but it's still one of the top four Croatian cities in terms of
number of people and the size.
But it's I would call it more of like a family town where it's perfect if you really want
to raise children who can play anywhere.
You know, you can travel throughout the town by bike or even by foot, but it would like
maybe take three hours, four hours.
I don't know.
But it's still tiny compared to Zagreb, which has its advantages and disadvantages in this
stage of my life where I really am focused on my musical career.
It helps to be in Zagreb where everything is taking place or most of the things related
to the music industry.
But Osijek is so beautiful.
It has a lot of greenery, just tranquility.
And people are like neighbors are more closely connected.
Everyone knows what's going on in other one's life, which is sometimes irritating, but
sometimes makes you feel like home.
So, yeah, I would always recommend Osijek to anyone looking out for just quality life,
you know, being present and mindful.
If that's what it is about.
But I think I feel like it's like that with all the smaller towns.
They are always.
I guess they offer something that cities don't, whereas cities offer more events and
happenings and places for people to meet and exchange ideas.
Yeah, I mean, that's sort of how it goes, I guess, sort of the younger people who want
to be in the big city where there's lots of things to do and everything going on and
late at night stuff.
But yeah, I have I've interviewed people who in the hospital who have moved back to
Osijek and they seem to really like it.
So, yeah, my sister is actually just going back to Osijek after 10 years in Zagreb
because she got a job and she's very happy.
So, yeah, we're kind of all different.
It all depends on our life goals and what we're doing.
And what's coming up next.
Awesome. Yeah. Well, that's I want to get back to the music a little bit.
You know, you're a singer, of course, but you also play guitar and you know, live,
you're playing guitar as well as you're singing.
When did you start learning guitar and how long have you played for?
I actually started learning guitar when I was 16.
I was never interested in it before.
I always thought it, you know, girls are kind of raised to believe that it's a male
instrument, or at least I felt that was like that when I was a kid.
I always felt like for girls are a piano, flute, violin and stuff like that.
My dad was a guitar player as well, but like it was always in the house.
But I never took interest in it until I met again a guy from the States.
But it was when I was 14 years old and I was in a folklore dance ensemble.
We were traveling a lot.
And at this festival in Italy, I met a guy from Salt Lake City, Utah,
who played guitar so beautifully and sang so beautifully that I was just like,
I have to learn how to do this.
This is just the best thing ever to be able to sing and play simultaneously.
And so I went back home and started taking lessons and it just took off
really quickly and I knew that was it.
And I think the guitar playing just changed my complete
approach to music and to writing.
I started being very, very interested in how melodies are composed,
especially pop melodies and how to add lyrics to it.
I started writing in my room just in my free time and I never thought
I would do anything with these songs.
But yeah, much, much later on, it turned out that I don't even think
I would be singing today without a guitar, maybe because I wouldn't
have the confidence to get up on stage without it.
I still have a much harder time being on stage with just a microphone
in my hand than behind the guitar stand.
So yeah, it changed me as a person.
It helped me make more friends because I was more of an introvert
in primary school and when I was younger.
And so when you play guitar, you get to meet more people during parties,
you know, because everyone can see you playing and singing.
And then it's such an icebreaker for everything.
Oh, that's awesome.
Yeah, I would definitely recommend everyone to learn an instrument,
not only guitar, but any instrument, at least one.
It's definitely a skill that I think is worth having.
I play the guitar well.
And actually, one of your bigger songs, Netko Drugi, that you performed,
of course, in Eurovision, that's actually, to me, it seems a little difficult
to sing and play that at the same time.
It's kind of got like the playing is sort of like a different rhythm
than the singing.
Was that true?
Yeah, it's...
I don't know, I guess when you play it over and over and over again,
I think it's in my subconscious by now.
But yeah, when I first wrote it, until I figured out the
guitar arrangement, it was a bit different than the rest of my songs,
because it has this beat, which I really love that kind of beat,
but you can also play it acoustically and then you have to make the rhythm
with your fingers, which is...
But I don't know, I guess it's all just practice.
I did a lot of fingerpicking back in the day when I started playing it.
So it's natural to me.
Yeah, fingerpicking for me is tough.
That's always like, I really have to think like when I play
and then I wouldn't be able to...
Not that I can sing at all anyways, but if I could, I wouldn't be able
to do it if I was playing that riff.
Maybe it should just be persistent enough.
To what? Learn how to sing or to sing badly and play at the same time?
To both.
Sometimes, you know, it just takes courage to start singing and then
at first, no one wants to listen to you.
But then over time, you feel like your voice starts refining as well.
So we humans just underestimate so much how big of a part the practice is
in every undertaking.
That's true.
Yeah.
And that's, I have to be honest, that's one of those pieces of advice
where I'm saying, yes, like absolutely, I agree.
But I still probably won't start singing anytime soon in front of, in front of anyone.
Yeah.
I think it's like that for everyone.
Yeah.
But it's true.
You're right.
You know, as soon as you start and if you put enough practice into it, you know,
of course you can get good at anything.
It's just happening.
Yeah.
It's the saying, doing your 10,000 hours is the number one thing.
That's what they say.
But I struggle with that as well in some other aspects.
So I feel like we're all struggling.
That's true.
Yeah.
Everyone has their own things they're struggling with.
I want to ask you about Eurovision because I know you're a singer.
Because I mentioned, you know, that's the song you played for Netko Drubi,
which translated into Guilty Pleasure is the English version of that song.
And before I guess I asked about Eurovision, I want to ask about that translation process.
I always wonder how that works because it's not like a literal, you can't just trans everything.
You still have to make it rhyme, you know, in the other language and make it make sense.
Was that something that you had help with?
Is that something that, you know, did you have a direction in which to take that?
How does that work?
I guess.
I don't know.
Actually, the big help with these kinds of situations is that I
did go to college for translation studies.
So we did translate a lot of literary stuff and poetry as well.
And there I learned that you can never really literally translate poetry
because it's just so specific.
And it's not just about the topic of the song.
It's also about the target readership.
So the readership of English lyrics may not be even mentally the same
as readership of Croatian lyrics.
So I wrote the English lyrics initially.
It was the first version.
And then when it won Dora, we were like, okay, it would be nice to have a Croatian version as well.
It might not even come to life if it weren't for Eurovision.
So with Croatian lyrics, I wrote them together with my manager,
Damir, who is also a lyricist.
So we write a lot together sometimes.
And it was really, really tough.
I remember we were nuts because we had to switch the perspective entirely
and just approach the song from entirely different angles.
So in the song Guilty Pleasure, I'm actually talking to the third guy in the chorus.
Like I'm talking to the guilty pleasure.
But in Netko Drugi, I'm discussing that with my boyfriend.
So it's an entirely switched perspective, but the message is the same.
So I think it's important to keep the atmosphere and the storyline.
But the exact words with which you're going to do it,
you don't have to like really be too stuck on the initial version
because you will never get it.
It's just completely different metrics with Croatian and English.
English is so much, in my opinion, easier to write lyrics with
because there's much more rhyme opportunities, much more like one syllable words.
Also, Croatian has four kinds of accents,
which makes it so difficult to find the rhyme pair
because it's not only enough for two words to have the exact same ending
at the end of the word.
They also need to have the same accentuation.
Which is just like, it's a search.
Trust me.
I do hope you ever get skillful in Croatian enough to try to write.
You will see it's very fun.
So yeah, I feel like English is just easier to describe things.
Also because words are shorter.
And then in one line, one musical line, there's much more room
to actually describe things in detail.
That's what drives me crazy when I write in English
and then I try writing in Croatian afterwards.
It's so difficult.
It's so different.
Yeah, that makes sense.
Actually, I didn't realize that it was first in English.
I think when I first heard it, I guess I heard Nethkod Ruby
and assumed that that was the first version.
But I do love that you put in the Croatian verse
when you performed in Eurovision.
What was that?
I love it too.
Yeah?
Oh my God.
That was surreal.
Just now looking back at the moment when I came out on stage in Turin.
And it's always a big question.
How did you feel?
I have no idea.
I can't remember.
I do remember going out on stage and waiting for the song to begin
and standing there and just looking around and thinking,
like, I got a really fearless moment because I worked so hard towards it.
And all these months of stress, I mean, happiness,
but also a lot of stress and a lot of hard work
were always about this moment, about these three minutes.
And now I'm here and what do I want to do?
How do I want to act?
I was just like, I really want to be present and not be afraid.
But then when the song started, just the adrenaline kicks in
and your feet start doing automatically things.
You practice and your voice starts doing everything you practiced.
And you're just like there, just like existing.
It's really, really weird.
I guess it's like when people are getting married or something.
And you know how they always say they don't remember
a health with their wedding because it was so adrenaline filled for them.
Or like if you have a car accident or something.
I mean, unfortunately, I did have one.
And also, like, it's very blurry because in that moment,
it's just such a rush of adrenaline.
You can't really focus.
I mean, this was a really lame comparison comparing the Eurovision performance.
A car accident.
Yeah, it has the connecting dots, I guess.
Yeah, that makes sense.
I'm so grateful that I got to do it.
It's insane.
I feel like every artist should do it.
It's so special.
It teaches you so much.
You just find yourself in situations that no one can prepare you for.
And you have to kind of learn as you go,
which is the most powerful form of learning.
I feel like if you do anything in life, just waiting for it to be perfect,
you will never do anything.
You will always be waiting for that one perfect moment.
So I always go with the tactics.
I will just throw myself in there and then I will try to figure it out along the way.
And it's the best form of learning.
I agree.
Yeah, definitely.
And I have to admit, coming from the US,
I never knew about Eurovision until I came to Croatia.
And then I'm like, wow, this is a huge deal in Europe.
Actually, I saw there's some movie with Will Ferrell called Eurovision.
I don't know if you've seen that.
I still didn't watch it.
Everyone's like, you have to watch it.
But I will.
Yeah, well, you can relate to it.
You've been in it.
So I don't know how accurate it is.
And actually, one of the parts in that movie, I want to ask if it's true or not,
because everyone, I mean, of course, it's a movie,
but all the other teams or countries are super competitive with each other
and are out to get each other.
Is it like that in Eurovision or is it more like everyone's?
I'll let you describe it.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's a really beautiful community.
I was feeling very supported and loved throughout the process.
I really can't say maybe some years there are lunatics who just
are really focused on just winning and not the rest of the experience.
But this year, class of 2022 was special.
We were all just hanging out.
And there were a lot of those pre-parties that I went to,
which was actually the best way to get to know other contestants
because during the contest itself, it's so busy and everyone has their own schedule.
And we're kind of meeting in the hallways, literally, and like trying to catch up.
And the only thing you have where everyone's together is this turquoise carpet,
which has the after party.
But then it's 500 people in there.
So you can't really bond that much.
So that's maybe what I would like for Eurovision to have more of,
is the encounters between people or to maybe put us all in the same hotel
in touring, maybe due to COVID.
I don't know how it normally goes, but we were all scattered across the city
and everyone had their calendars.
So it was really hard to meet, maybe jam, exchange ideas,
which I think was the most powerful thing that you can get out of it.
But during pre-parties, we would really hang out and party.
And it was great.
And some of these people I still talk to, and they're amazing musicians.
And a lot of them are so different than me and come from such different backgrounds.
But we all have the same thing in common.
We just love doing music.
And I think that's the most important thing about Eurovision, that everyone
is from different areas, but everyone becomes friends.
And the fans are just friends with each other.
They meet through Eurovisions and they travel to each other later on.
I think that's so beautiful.
Oh, that's awesome.
I interviewed a woman who represented Croatia in the Olympics.
And she described it very similarly, that sort of, I guess, like family community,
that feeling of community and everyone's, you know, they're not competitive and out to get you
when they're performing or whatever.
But yeah, that's awesome to know that there's that sense of community in Eurovision.
And yeah, hopefully they take your advice and can make it even more,
give you more opportunities to mix and match and meet people and the other contestants.
That's an awesome experience.
And you know, I told you that I want to bring
the US back up a little bit later on.
And you're actually, I saw that you were hanging out with another woman
who I'd like to get on the podcast as well, Kristina Kuzmich.
And over in LA, I saw that you, I think you were even at her house.
How did that relationship, how did that friendship start between you two?
I think it kind of spontaneously started over social media.
We had a mutual friend, Taichi, who was also in Eurovision.
She was like a big Eurovision star in the 90s when I was growing up.
And then she moved to the States.
And through her, I think I learned of Kristina's name for the first time.
Then I saw she was, sometimes she would put up my song in one of her videos,
which meant so much to me because she's such a big supporter of creation culture.
And she's always there for really anyone needing help.
She's such an amazing personality.
And then I think maybe when she got to Croatia a year ago
was the first time we actually met in person.
I came to her book promotion.
We had lunch together after, you know, it's always weird when you just type with someone
and then you're suddenly there with them, but you feel like you know them so well
because you've seen videos of their house and their family and their free time.
But yeah, she was so natural and laid back.
And I fell in love with her personality like instantly.
And then a couple of months later, my manager and I were in the States
and we went to her house to watch the creation game
because it was just in the middle of the World Cup.
We stayed the night, we met her family, we started hanging out.
And yeah, now I really feel like I would call her a friend.
And I don't think there's anyone who can actually be exposed to her
and not be just enchanted by her authenticity and how natural she is
and how honest and straightforward.
I think it's beautiful and I love her family as well.
So I'm really happy that Croatians have such a positive ambassador outside of the Croatian.
Yeah, she's definitely a great ambassador.
Authentic, that's a good word that you said.
And she does seem very authentic and genuine, you know.
That's awesome that you're able to, you know, meet people,
meet other Croatians, you know, overseas and connect and now have these new relationships.
I saw you were also, I guess, on that same trip at my, you know, Croatian church over there in LA, St. Anthony's.
Yeah.
Was that also a look-up party or what was that for?
We had our friend, Jeri Giercevic is his name.
He's a famous tambura player.
He was playing there.
So he invited us to come listen to him.
We were staying in LA at the time and then we invited Kristina to come with us as well,
which was great for me because she never before was actually connected to the Croatian community.
And so she said later on how she was really happy that we took her there because she met some new people as well and like made connections for herself and some new friendships.
But the funny thing is now that you mentioned also how you didn't know about Eurovision before you came to Croatia.
Back in LA, I was with a friend who I met on a plane.
His name is Michael and like he's originally from LA.
He had no idea about Croatia apart from being like there as a tourist.
And then when I visited him in LA, I told him like I'm competing to go to Eurovision.
Possibly.
I don't know if you know what that is.
And he was like, of course, I know what that is.
Like, I mean, it's not as big as in America, but I've heard of it.
And he was like, if you win Dora, I will come to tour in and like see you perform.
And he did it by himself.
So like that's how I even took him to the Croatian community.
So I love, you know, forging relationships with people that may not even meet each other otherwise.
So it's really cool.
Well, that's awesome.
You just met on the plane by chance.
Yeah, it was so funny.
We were sitting next to each other, but I'm a huge believer in non-coincidences, you know,
in the non-existence of any accidents or coincidences in life.
So whenever I meet someone like that and I just feel like there's something, you know,
it might be even from a past life.
Who knows?
So we just instantly connected.
And now, you know, he met all of my people, my family.
I met his family.
So it's an amazing friendship, really.
That's awesome.
That's awesome to see that you're able to create these, you know, friendships and build connections
out of them seemingly from nowhere.
I feel like you have to be an open person for that.
Definitely.
Yeah.
But yeah, that's something that, you know, good will come to you if you can just stay open and be
open to new things and new experiences.
You can't always stay, I guess, in a box or something or, you know, your comfort zone.
That's a big catchphrase that's thrown around, but, you know, it is true, at least in my opinion.
So true.
I agree.
The best things always happened to me when I just went to some unknown place and had no idea what I was doing.
Mia, you, I mean, you've given us some great advice, which I wasn't expecting, you know, to get into sort of advice
in this episode, but definitely you've given us some great life advice.
It's been awesome to hear about your experiences and, you know, your performances and how you became a musician.
Sort of last couple things here as we look to the future, what does the future have in store for you?
I'm planning to release two albums till the end of 2023.
One will be my first record in English, which I'm very excited about, and I can't wait to share it
because it's a bit different than that stuff I've done in Croatian so far.
And then also my album in Croatian, my last one came out even before the pandemic, so it's high time, I think.
So a lot of work in the studio, a lot of creativity, and I'm very excited.
That's awesome. Do you have a tour lined up or are you still waiting on dates for that?
I have a couple of dates in the summer, then some dates in December are even opening up now.
And I'm doing a Lisinski Hall in Zagreb, 26th of November, which I'm also very excited about
because we haven't done it in, I think, three years, also since the pandemic started.
It just changed so much of our plans, but we're slowly getting back on our feet.
And yeah, I invite everyone who is in the vicinity to look up my Instagram and Facebook where I announce everything.
Yeah, where can they find you? I'll let you plug those, your website, Facebook, Instagram.
I have a website, mia.deemsitz.com. I have Instagram and Facebook,
even like TikTok, even though I feel like I suck at TikTok, but you know, I might be too old for it.
That might be one of the reasons. That might be the thing, yeah.
Yeah. And of course, YouTube and I try to be as active as possible on all of them.
Awesome. I'll drop links to those as well, so anyone listening can go ahead and click on those links.
Now, just I've got three quick questions for you as we wrap this up.
Favorite concert of all time that you've been to?
Favorite concert, I think Dua Lipa in Vienna last year.
I feel like I cried through half of the concert and it wasn't even sad.
I don't know why. I just love her so much.
Just overwhelming emotions.
Yeah, just overwhelming. And I had no idea what was happening. I was just crying.
But I had a great time, even though it doesn't sound like it.
I believe you. I believe you. That's awesome.
This is sort of a deeper one, but what do you make Croatia special?
I think people. People in Croatia are special, warm, hospitable.
We have no trouble connecting and opening up.
I think that's the most worthwhile thing about Croatia.
Awesome. On that line, I guess I have four questions because this is one more.
Favorite food?
It doesn't have to be Croatia.
I feel like it's pancakes. Such a cliche answer. But you know, cliches are cliches for a reason.
Was that like Palijinke pancakes or like American thick IHOP?
I like Palijinke.
Okay, okay. Actually, I always wondered why. I mean, you studied translation.
I have to be honest, I hate that translation of pancakes because I feel like we just call them crepes.
You're talking about those types of like Palijinke.
It's definitely crepes. But for some reason, we always use pancakes as synonyms.
But most people don't know the difference, really, because most people don't know what American pancakes even look like until they travel.
Because crepes are so standard in every household in Croatia. Like that's all you will get at the table as a kid.
So for us, for some reason, it's pancakes.
What?
What's best to put inside the Palijinke? Nutella or some jam, fruit or what?
I mean, it depends on your... even like for me, it changes throughout the years.
Two years ago, I would have said Nutella with no thinking, but now maybe even jam. So I don't know.
But you can do all kinds of stuff. I sometimes put bananas. I will put some fruits, cherries. I'll put like whipped cream, nuts, cookies.
You can do anything you like. But like maybe Nutella and jam would be the most standard.
Yeah, yeah, me too. Although I did. I tried recently like the salty Palijinke with like ham and cheese.
Completely different thing. Also very good. Yeah.
Yeah. You should like do both. Start out with salty and then ending with like a dessert.
Not at the same time though.
Like start out with this like as a main dish, like a salty pancakes and then finish with jam or chocolate. That's the way I like to do it.
Yeah, that's not a bad idea. I might have to do that.
To try it.
Mia, last question for you here. If you could go back in time and see one band or artist perform, who would it be and why?
If I could go back in time, you mean like someone who's not alive anymore?
I guess they don't have to be not alive anymore. But just if you have like a concert that you would have loved to go to or during their prime or something, even if they're still playing now.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe that would be Taylor Swift. Even though I just managed to purchase tickets for her in Vienna next year as well.
So that's something I'm really, really excited about. But it would have been also cool to maybe witness her at the beginning of her career because it was so different.
And she was doing this country thing. And I was a huge fan of her in high school. So I feel like that would have been a very powerful experience as well.
Okay. And congrats on getting tickets. I've heard. I haven't tried.
Oh my God, it's insane.
That's crazy.
Well, Mia, that's all the time we have for this episode. But I just want to thank you so much. It's really been a pleasure having you on the podcast. It went a couple of different directions than I expected. But I thought it was great and really cool hearing all these different advice and life stories and all these things from you.
You know, it's never just about the music. It's always about some life philosophies. We just can't go without it. I guess that's why we write songs.
That's true. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. You can't just have the music by itself. There's always a story to it.
Thank you again so much for coming on the podcast. Thank you for having me.