Alright everybody, welcome back to the All Things Croatia podcast.
We've got a super special guest today.
We have Marcella, who is a Croatian singer-songwriter.
She first appeared in 2011 on Croatia's TV show Looking for a Star, the English translation
there.
Since then, she's wrote a bunch of hit songs, including one that she'll be performing on
Dora, which is the Croatian national competition to select a song for Eurovision.
So Marcella, thank you very much for taking the time to come on the podcast.
Well, thank you for the call and for the great introduction.
Of course, yeah.
And definitely left a few things out because I want to hear it from you.
But yeah, let's get to know you a little bit.
If you don't mind just starting us off by telling us a little bit about yourself and
growing up and where you grew up.
Yeah.
So I grew up in Croatia in a small town called Sikvenica, which is on the north part of the
coast.
It's a very beautiful, touristic place.
So if you want to visit Croatia and the coast, I would recommend Sikvenica.
I really enjoyed growing up there because of course, there's something special about growing
up in a small town, knowing everyone and just having a small community.
And there, yeah, we had like a music school and I had my sister that was five years older
than me and she started playing guitar in a music school.
And basically, you know, she was my idol for everything when I was little.
And when she started playing guitar, I said like mom and dad, I'm going to play guitar
too.
You know, it was not, not, no, any other option.
And I started when I was eight years old in a music school and I started playing guitar
and simultaneously I started singing in a choir.
And then yeah, when I was 12 years old, I had my first band.
And first performances on like a summer festival in my hometown.
And yeah, I would say that like, let's say seriously, I started in the music industry
right after the show creation, looking for a star, which is
And that's when I joined the band.
We were called for angels and we were a cover band.
It was an old girl band and we were doing covers from, you know, like old rock songs
to our newer songs.
And we just stirred all over creation.
But at the same time, we really wanted to write our own music and something that we strived
for was writing in English, which I would say, let's say 12 years ago in Croatia, there
was no market for English music.
So basically by coincidence and by, you know, a friend that is from the Netherlands, we
got a chance to get a record deal in the Netherlands.
And 10 years ago as a band, we all moved to the Netherlands and started our career there
as a band luminized.
Yeah, yeah, that's awesome.
And I mean, I want to talk about luminize as well, but sort of going back to the beginning,
you know, you mentioned you started playing the guitar and singing as a kid.
What were some of your early musical influences?
Who were you listening to, I guess, as a kid or not listening to, but who sort of inspired
you back then?
Yeah, I would say definitely Pink.
She was my, she's still one of my biggest idols when it comes to just vocally and as
a performer.
I did listen to Avril.
I mean, I just, you know, I wanted to be a cool, a rough rock chick as Avril.
And I listened to early days of Kelly Clarkson and, you know, it was just a lot of pop rock
music.
And when I was there in Little and then when I started in bands, that's when I switched
to really older rock music as like Pearl Jam, Guns N' Roses, Nirvana.
That was something that I listened to and I mean, still am.
And so, yeah, I would say inspiration and idols are switching by the year.
Like, yeah, it really depends on which kind of like creative state, the state of mind
I am because now I'm more influenced with, I would say, maybe more pop direction.
But yeah, those were kind of my idols, but I would say the biggest one is Pink.
Yeah, Pink has some good songs.
I'm more of a, I'm more of like a rock and roll guy myself, but I can definitely appreciate
Pink has some good songs.
And I know she's got sort of a, you've got, I don't know what you call it, raspy, your
voice.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
And Pink has the same and of course, I mean, Linda Perry, Vernon Blanc said it said it's
something that I was also influenced by and I was just, yeah, mesmerized with those kind
of big, powerful vocal, a theme of vocal sounds and yeah.
Well, I wanted to bring that up because I saw you did a cover of What's Going On.
I love that song and you did it really well.
I thought that was a really good cover.
Your voice really matches well with that.
Yeah.
And I think I'm a big, so probably DC is my favorite band, but like a lot of, you know,
Guns N' Roses, Led Zeppelin, Motley Crue.
And I saw that you actually back in 2011 for the show, you sang a Guns N' Roses song,
Sweet Child of Mine.
Yeah, exactly.
That like when I was 17 years old, I was, I was just the biggest Guns N' Roses fan
ever.
My room was full of like Guns N' Roses posters and then I was just, I knew every song of
the appetite for destruction from, you know, from top to bottom, even like the solo parts
that could sing them all, you know, like, so yeah, yeah.
That's awesome.
I got to see them live and I was super happy they were really, really good.
You two, where did you see them?
Yeah, I saw them in Zagreb in Arena.
They came to Zagreb?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
The only thing is that Slash was not performing with them, so I was kind of like, my heart
was like, oh, I wish Slash was on the stage because for me Guns N' Roses is, you know,
Slash is, but still, I got to see them live and yeah, it was just special.
That's awesome.
One last thing, sort of, I guess on that note, because I did see you, you did a Linkin Park
cover as well.
So I was wondering, do you ever go heavier?
Like, you know, Linkin Park, a little metal type of singing?
Yeah, yeah.
When it comes to covering the songs, I think, yeah, I would say Linkin Park and Nirvana is
maybe the heaviest that I covered, but I listened to also some metal bands that I recently,
I mean, it's so bad that I recently discovered them, but falling in reverse.
I don't know if you heard about that band.
I'm absolutely a big fan of them and that is something that I listened to as well, but
maybe covering would be, I don't know, a bit of a chill thing.
Definitely hard on the vocal cords, I guess.
And you used to sing it like that.
Yeah.
Well, you mentioned a little bit about Luminize, you know, the band that you started.
Can you talk a little bit more about that and how that experience was?
Yeah, absolutely.
So basically, he was like an old girl rock band and we are all from the same town, Tjikwaniica,
where I grew up and lead guitarist in the band is my sister.
And they had a different singer before I joined the band and I was just, you know, like a
little sister fangirling them and just wishing that one day I'm going to have an all girl,
you know, band.
And then when I finished the show, yeah, it was just the timing of that.
The lead singer wanted to quit music and I was old enough to join the band.
And then I started as a lead singer in a band called First Angels and then of course, when
we moved to the Netherlands, we kind of wanted to switch the name and the story around the
band.
So we switched the name and we called ourselves Luminize as we wanted to kind of like show
the fresh beginning and start at the band.
And yeah, that's where our career started and we started writing our first songs in
the Hilfersoom with the Dutch producer, Hogersfret.
And it was really, it was really a nice beginning and we clicked so well with the producer and
the songwriters.
And yeah, just we continued writing and very fast we started playing on really big festivals
in the Netherlands because the Netherlands is a country with a lot of festivals.
I think like 800 festivals a year or something like that.
So it is quite a big scene.
And yeah, I think 2016 we released our first album and a year after that we started, we
actually were a support band for a band Goldneering, which is a legendary band from the Netherlands.
And we toured with them for a full year through the Netherlands, through Belgium.
Yeah, that was an amazing experience.
Yeah, I didn't know that.
That's super cool.
Yeah, I love the Twilight Zone, I guess is the most famous.
I didn't even know they were from the Netherlands.
Yeah, yeah, they are.
And they're pretty like legendary there because I mean, of course they had a huge success
outside of the Netherlands.
You know, that they even played with Aerosmith and they toured in America.
So yeah, their Twilight Zone and Raider Love was.
Yeah, Raider Love.
Yeah.
Yeah, they play, I hear those two songs on the radio here in Los Angeles all the time.
So yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
That's awesome that you're able to tour with them.
What was it like going from Strikvenica to the Netherlands?
Big difference, I imagine.
Huge difference.
It was a cultural shock for me.
Yeah, it was just a huge difference.
You know, from a small town to the country, that is, I don't know how to explain it, but
the Netherlands is a very free spirited country and the lifestyle is completely different.
And yeah, we moved to the city called The Hague, which is like, I would say, not like
a super big city, but like semi-big, I think 300,000 people living there.
And it's a beautiful city and the good thing is that it's on the sea and it has a beautiful,
like, big beach.
So it felt good to just be so connected with the sea.
And the good thing is that The Hague was kind of like a city where all the rock bands came
from, basically Golden Earring also is from The Hague.
So it felt like we chose the right city, but yeah, it was just such a different feeling.
And yeah, as I said, the cultural shock, but after a while, I just started loving it.
And then first, we really thought that we're just going to go for one year and just try
out and see how it's going to go.
And yeah, 10 years later, I still have my address in the Netherlands, even though now
I'm in Croatia, but trying to combine both countries.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's awesome.
And it's not too far away.
What is that?
A two hour flight maybe?
Yeah, even less.
Less.
Like an hour and 45 minutes.
Yeah.
Well, that's awesome.
I've got a quick fun sort of question before I go into the next segment and I'll have
a couple of these throughout the episode.
But if you could go to any concert in history that ever took place, which would you go to?
Oh, yeah.
I would definitely Michael Jackson.
That is late that you didn't expect, but I definitely would say Michael Jackson because
I do see him as, you know, I don't know, maybe the most legendary artist and something that
I really am sad about that I've never seen in my life.
And I think that's something super, super, super special.
So yeah, he's from me like from another universe.
So yeah, I would definitely go back and see him live.
And Queen, of course, was Freddie.
Yeah.
Of course.
Wembley Stadium.
Yeah.
A lot.
Of course.
Yeah.
Did you watch the movie?
Yeah.
Was it Bohemian Rhapsody?
Yeah.
Couple of times.
Yeah.
Love it.
Yeah.
That's a good movie.
Well, you know, speaking of big performances.
I've never hit song gasoline that you're performing on Dora.
And I have to be honest with you, at least here in the U.S., a lot of Americans don't
know so much about Eurovision.
And I know it's really popular in Europe.
And so for those listeners, I'm sure most of the listeners here, you know, are Croatian
Americans or Croatians abroad.
And we do have, of course, listeners in Croatia as well.
But for those who may not know about Eurovision, can you sort of explain why, you know, it's
so special?
Yeah.
It's just like a competition.
I haven't been to a competition.
It's a festival of, you know, 20, yeah, it depends each year.
But it's like around, I would say, 26 songs that are competing.
And it's like every country in Europe and Australia is also joining Eurovision as well.
That is just selecting the best song that is representing the country.
And then it's a special festival because you get like, yeah, just a different style of
music, different kind of artists.
And what I like to say is like, can you imagine just like someone giving you 20, 26 best dishes
in the world and you can just try them all at once.
And it's just two hours of pure fun and, yeah, shabang as I wanted to say, because everyone
trying to give it all in those three minutes and you get the full package in a sense of
it's just not about just the song.
It's like the whole package of a performance, of visuals, of everything.
And yeah, and it's also something that I've seen lately, it's a special community of like
big fans of Eurovision that come together and that are following everything so closely,
even before Eurovision, very dedicated to the whole thing.
So it's just, I don't know, there is something special happening around Eurovision.
It's just good vibes.
It seems like a lot of fun.
That's why really my dream is to go to Eurovision.
Yeah, well, yeah, I'd never watched it before.
I don't even think I'd heard of it until like three years ago when I first sort of moved
out to Croatia to Zagreb and then I was watching it there and I was in the student dorms over
there and people were having watch parties, watching it.
It was cool to be a part of even from my perspective, which is not being a part of it at all, just
watching it.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
And then it really is a thing.
We all gather, we're all together and then watching it and I don't know, just competing
with each other who's going to guess who's going to win and it's just a lot of fun.
And it's also, it is a high level of production, what you see and it's just amazing.
I would say it's like pure two and a half hours of adrenaline while you're watching
that.
I don't know.
Yeah, it's super cool.
So you're competing in Dora, which is the Croatia is selecting its song.
Every country selects a song.
What's that going to be like for you?
How have you been preparing?
Are you, I'm sure you're excited.
I'm super excited and nervous at the same time because it's really a big thing here
in Croatia, I mean, Dora is, it's really a privilege to be part of Dora as well.
And since a little girl, I've been following Dora every year and it's been my dream for
a long time.
So yeah, I would say, you know, we are really putting a lot of effort into the live performance
and even though, you know, I performed so many times and everyone is saying like, yeah,
you got this, but it's just different because it's, you know, only those three minutes.
And you know, with every show that you have, the first song is always the difficult one
because you're trying to, you know, get loose and connect with an audience and just get
comfortable on the stage, but you don't have that comfortability with just performing one
song.
And it's just a lot of things to think about it, like what I said, the visual and choreography
and everything.
But yeah, we started heavily with rehearsals already now in the studio where the Dora will
happen.
And yeah, the more, you know, I perform it, the more I'm comfortable with it.
And it's just, I keep on reminding myself on the day of Dora to just really enjoy the
moment because I really dreamt about it for a long time.
So I just hope that, you know, matter the results, I'm just going to watch that with
like, I don't know, big smile on my face and just be proud of what I did on the stage because
it's not just my effort, it's the effort of the whole team and I just want to make them
proud as well.
Yeah.
I'm sure you will.
Yeah.
And you have to go out there and compete, but at the same time, you have to enjoy yourself
while you're there, you know, you only have the one song and lifetime.
That's awesome.
Tell us a little bit about the song that you're performing.
Yeah.
So the song is called Gasoline and I wrote it last year around May, I would say.
So I wrote it with my Dutch team because I started working with them at the beginning
of last year.
And I do have to say that we immediately clicked so well.
And I like when I finished, like when we stopped with Luminize, I started with my solo career
in 2020.
But I was still kind of searching myself and like who Marcella is and what's Marcella
sound because I was so used to writing for Luminize.
And I knew that, you know, rock music is something that I strive for, but I started experimenting
with different styles and then trying to see like who really Marcella is.
And I would say that I really needed to find my good team, which I found last year.
And I do have to say that I, with the first session that we did and with my first single,
not the same, we, I think I found my sound, which I like to call pop in a ladder jacket,
which is kind of like pop rock sound.
And yeah, as I said, like we wrote gasoline, yeah, in around May.
And basically, my whole team was such a big fan of Eurovision, they still are.
And we, with every session, writing session that we started, we would always say like,
today we're going to write a song for Eurovision.
That was always like a goal of a writing session.
But the good thing is that my sound is something that I strive for, like a big energetic pop
sound.
And I think that fits Dora and Eurovision.
So every song that we wrote was in the back of our minds, maybe this could be for, you
know, Dora.
But I knew that those songs needs to happen in order for me to say like, okay, I'm applying
this year.
And that happened with gasoline.
The first chorus that we, you know, when we first wrote the chorus, we knew that that
was the song.
And I know that day we just started with an idea of like, let's try to experiment with
like a more upbeat song, because I was like writing a lot of, I would say, semi-tempo songs,
like more of like a Madden Dragon songs, like half, I have to say that, sorry, my mom, it's
a morning, so I don't know how it's in the next, that's right, but okay.
And I know that we said like, let's, let's, let's try with a more upbeat song.
And yeah, and I think the first thing we had was the production, which was kind of like,
yeah, it had an influence of 80s, which you can hear and a lot of synths and the grouveness.
And then we started like, you know, just throwing ideas, like a melody ideas.
And the first thing we had was the hook, like gasoline and from then on, it was just, yeah,
it was a great session, quite fast.
We had the first chorus and then, and theme of the song is just basically something that
is related to what's the, I went through a big double blast here and it was kind of like
a big heartbreak.
And of course, as every human, you get, you know, hurt and you are very sad at that moment,
that sometimes, you know, in those situations, you kind of, you kind of wake up your fighting
spirit, I would say, and you want to fight more and harder.
And gasoline is basically saying that what doesn't kill you, you know, makes you stronger
in the sense of like, okay, hurt me, set me on fire, but I'm just going to burn like gasoline,
you know.
So, yeah, and it's basically, yeah, I want to spread that energy and message of no matter
what happens, just keep on fighting.
Yeah, I love that.
Yeah, very powerful message to go along with your very powerful voice, which shines in
the song.
So that's awesome.
And I'll include links so people can go ahead and click on that whoever's listening to hear
that song.
I'm super excited to hear you perform that.
It's changing the subject here to one of the quick question, but what is your favorite
food to eat when you're in Croatia?
Oh, I love that question.
My favorite food to eat when I'm in Croatia is, oh, well, I'm trying to like take one
because I could go like a list, but maybe I would say Sardinia.
I don't know.
Oh, of course.
Yeah, yeah.
I would say Sardinia because that's such a special dish and you cannot eat it anywhere
else than in Croatia, I would say.
I mean, I've never tried it anywhere else.
Maybe I'm saying wrong thing.
But yeah, that would be my favorite thing.
You know, I always wish it when I come to my like hometown and to my mom always say,
like, can you make Sardinia?
Yeah, I was going to ask who's cooking.
No, I've never made them and I really want to make them.
And my mom always tells me like, oh, it's so difficult.
I'm going to show you one time, but it never happened.
I'm the same way.
I like in theory, I like, you know, learning the recipes and everything.
But when it comes down to it, I said, you know, mom, I'll just let you make it and I'll eat
it.
Exactly.
And also when you eat Sardinia, you just want to eat the good ones and I'm just afraid
to make the pav ones, you know.
Yeah, yeah, you don't want to mess it up.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Sorry, going back then to music here, you mentioned some of your influences and the bands
that you listen to.
Yeah.
Do you listen to any Croatian bands or artists or I guess growing up as well?
Did you have any influences?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I did listen to Croatian bands.
I'm an artist, I'm still am.
I am more influenced with more of an international artist, but when it comes to Croatian artists,
I did listen a lot to Parni Vajlak bands and Kiki Rajimovski is someone like I would say,
oh, sorry, I made a mistake.
Kiki Rajimovski, Kiki is his son, Kiki Rajimovski is probably one of my favorite voices of
Croatia.
He really has a special voice and he's very dear to my heart and he's not anymore here
with us.
And Parni Vajlak now has a different frontman, but I do have to say that band is quite special
and his voice is like a voice that influenced me when I was a little girl.
I love Urban and I know if you heard about Urban, but he really is a special artist and
songwriter and his lyrics are really, really, really special and his voice is like a huge
and powerful voice.
Yeah, from a newer artist now that I'm really active on the scene, I really like Matja Tvek.
He's one of the amazing male vocalists now in Croatia.
I would say when it comes to newer style, I recently discovered Nijac.
He has a really fresh modern production and it's really interesting.
There are a lot of newer artists that are just killing it now on the scene and I'm so
happy to see that.
Filip Rudan is someone that I'm really enjoying.
His music is amazing and it's sounding really, really modern and fresh.
Yeah, yeah.
Okay.
Yeah, that's a lot of recommendations for me now to go through later and listen to.
So thank you for that.
I've got a few more.
This is a first that I'm doing here, but basically what I'm going to do is I'm going to give
you a specific scenario and I want you to tell me what song you would like to go along
with that or what song you would listen to during this moment, if that makes sense.
Oh, I love that.
Okay.
We'll see how this goes.
Well, this is more of a Zagreb specific one, but your hiking Sleeme, which is the mountain
over there in Zagreb, and the sun just begins to rise.
Okay.
And then what song plays?
I don't know if it's like a movie scene for you or just like what you're thinking in your
head during that moment, something like that.
I don't know, I really have to be honest, first song that popped into my head was from
Toto Hold the Line.
Wow.
It was really because I don't know, it has that kind of like your and your hiking walking
and down.
Oh, so you're really hiking at a good pace then.
You're not just strolling.
Yes, I don't know where.
I guess because immediately when you're hiking, I always like, you know, when you train or
walk or something, you just need like a right tempo to follow.
Okay.
I like that.
An interesting fact, I don't know if you know, but the keyboardist of Toto who wrote
that song and most of their other hits is actually Croatian as well, Croatian American.
I think either his dad or his grandparents, I'm not sure what generation.
I think I might knew that, but now.
Yeah, it's familiar, but yeah, yeah.
Oh, that's cool.
I've been trying to get him on the podcast too, actually, because Toto, you know, incredible
band, a lot of hits.
But yeah, no success yet.
So hopefully he'll hear this and reach out.
Yeah.
Okay, let me get you.
I got a few more scenarios here.
This one is you're sad having you're having a bad day and you're in the tram and it's
raining outside.
Oh, you're sitting there looking out the window at the rain.
Yeah, first song that hopped into my head is Sorry from Nothing but Thieves.
Do you have to check that one out?
No, I don't know that one.
Yeah.
I don't know.
I do play that song a lot when I'm down because, yeah, yeah, listen to it.
I love Nothing but Thieves.
So yeah, sorry would be the song.
All right, I'll have to check that one out.
Yeah.
Next one, two more here is it's summertime.
You're lying on the beach, say in Rieke or Srikvenica has a beach, right?
Okay, we'll say there with a Karlováško.
Karlováško, thanks.
Nice, nice, nice.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, that's a good one.
I'm just imagining myself now sitting here.
You know, I do that.
So it's not like I need to imagine something that never happened.
Yeah, it's a realistic scenario.
Yeah.
Oh, my God.
Why am I stuck?
Because I'm thinking now too much.
Karlováško, okay, when you're drinking Karlováško means you're granted.
I need a...
I guess at that point it depends how many Karlováškos you've had.
Maybe you don't even hear the music at that point.
Exactly, exactly.
Oh, my God, why I cannot think about a song that I would play, like just thinking about
myself like taking a phone and putting a playlist on what I would put.
It really also depends if I'm alone or I'm with my friends, because if I would be with
my friends, then it would probably be like a Croatian song and it would be probably
like something from, yeah, I would say Oliver Dagovic or...
Or they would go Misha Grovac or something like that.
Oh, yeah.
One thing, something like that.
It would be a Croatian song.
Misha, he's got some sad ones though, some ballads.
Yeah, Misha would be probably something more for later when we have like, I don't know,
five or six got a little extra.
Okay, yeah, yeah, that makes sense.
And get it for...
Hands in the air.
That's also good for the tram and the rain too.
All right, last scenario here.
I don't know if you'll be able to relate to this or if you ever thought about this, but
if you had to have a walkout song for a fight, what would it be?
gasoline
There you go.
I was wondering, I was thinking, you know, which scenario is she going to say gasoline
to?
I think that's the perfect thought.
I love it.
Sam, you're going to burn like gasoline still.
It fits perfectly for that.
Yeah.
I love it.
Great answer.
Well, that's sort of winding down here last couple of minutes of the podcast.
I want to ask, you know, of course you've got Dora coming up and hopefully Eurovision
after that.
But aside from that, what sort of future plans do you have both, you know, for your career
or personally, otherwise?
Yeah, it's now that I'm that I found my team.
I really want to continue just writing a lot of songs and releasing a next single after
gasoline and just continuing in the same tempo and building my solo career and hopefully
just growing as an artist, as a performer and something that I really wish to start
as soon as possible is performing live because that's what I absolutely love doing the most.
So hopefully, you know, summer is coming soon.
So I really do hope to play on some festivals and just experience the whole live show.
Yeah, definitely.
That'd be awesome.
I'll be looking forward to that.
And Marcella, I want to thank you again so much for your time for coming here on the
All Things Croatia podcast.
You were a great guest.
Give a great interview and I only have one one final question that I've been asking every
guest that comes on the podcast.
What do you makes Croatia special?
People.
Definitely.
People, I would say the warmth of the people, the the the well, I don't know the generous
hearts and warm hearts, the yeah, just how to say that the hospitality of people that
is just I don't know, special, I would say.
Absolutely, I agree.
Marcella, thank you so much again for coming on the podcast and best of luck in Dora and
your future future plans.
Really looking forward to it.
Thank you so much.
I really enjoyed it.
Thank you.