http://www.dovla.info/blog/ en contact@dovla.info Copyright 2010 2010-01-04T22:24:23+00:00 http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/torn_between_worlds/ http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/torn_between_worlds/#When:22:24:23Z I never cared much for new year’s eve, this entire idea that there is a certain time and place in which you have to go all out and celebrate really pisses me off. So artificial and bloated and it doesn’t take into account how you might feel on that particular day. I’ve always had big issues in regards to where I would spend my new year’s eve and with whom. Since people always tend to get shitfaced beyond recognition I’d usually wind up either staying home or just hanging out with a few of my gamer friends. However this year I got lucky enough to get a killer gig In Gent. Apparently a lot of people in Belgium heard my set at Ozora and everyone loved it so much. I was really looking forward to playing some 4/4 set for a change. Even though music wise I am still listening to nu jazz and trip hop a lot more. Especially after the great gig in London. Blog 2010-01-04T22:24:23+00:00 http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/thank_you_london/ http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/thank_you_london/#When:22:21:34Z Every year when the summer festival season ends things slow down to a crawl here. The few parties that do happen usually have the style of music that I no longer have a craving for. It's sad when the only reason why you go to a party is to socialize with people you don't really have tight friendships with. But there are always nice little exceptions that happen and make me remember the lovely summers I've been having these last couple of years. One of em was the Pitch Black party that happened about a month ago here. I've been wanting to write a proper review of it for a while now but just couldn't grab the time. I met up with a good friend before the party and started talking about how we just want to go out and dance to good music and not be bothered with facts like who's there or who isn't. We both got what we asked for...and then some. I loved their live so much that I bought two cds right afterwards. Blog 2009-12-08T22:21:34+00:00 http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/working_on_a_daily_basis/ http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/working_on_a_daily_basis/#When:11:48:55Z So the day finally came that I'd get a proper day job. It got to a point where the only thing I was doing regularly was watching movies, playing videogames and listening to music all day long. Another bad case of insomnia soon followed so I'm very thankful to be an upstart in a really cool web development company called Neumatik. Working together with a longtime friend of mine and his mates as well as being right next to a full blown music production studio is a dream. I can't imagine a better working place right now. Check out the company Neumatik.hr. The owner of the studio is a famous techno artist called Petar Dundov. Anyway the job is now keeping me pretty busy and letting me sleep and eat properly which is a really good thing. Things have been rather busy on the music front as well. After the successful Ozora festival gig I sparked a lot of interest and became part of a booking agency called Human Touch so in case you are interested in booking me please do so through them. Local gigs are still done by myself though. Blog 2009-10-18T11:48:55+00:00 http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/what_a_blast/ http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/what_a_blast/#When:09:45:11Z So the summer festival season is finally over for me. It’s been such an amazing experience again, I’ve met a lot of new people and had tons of fun spinning the music I love. The first festival I had the pleasure of going to was the Sonica Reloaded festival in Italy, maybe around 40 kilometers north from Rome. Around 3600 people gathered in a beautiful location in the Italian countryside. It was a bit dusty and the sun was really burning but the best thing about the location was the fact that it had a really cold stream flowing through it. So any time you wanted to, you could just lay down in the water and refresh yourself, something that’s really a big plus to have at such festivals. Blog 2009-08-18T09:45:11+00:00 http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/busy_or_lazy/ http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/busy_or_lazy/#When:13:41:17Z Tons of stuff going on at the moment, most important of all however is the fact that I finally graduated First I was busy finishing up the dissertation work, then I was busy sorting out everything else that was left behind and now I’m trying to get away from everything. So anyway my current title is apparently something along the lines of “Engineer of Computer aided Graphic Design”. Of course I’m not sure what the actual translation to English is. Heck I’m not even sure what the title is in Croatian, I guess I’ll find out once they issue the diplomas. Blog 2009-07-11T13:41:17+00:00 http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/the_trip_down_memory_lane/ http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/the_trip_down_memory_lane/#When:13:52:15Z I went digging around my old basement with my mother recently, we found a lot of my first grade notebooks and although for her the value is in it's content I was more struck by the design of the notebooks themselves. Of course I didn't really give too much attention to them as a kid, although I remember them having a sort of Pokemon "gotta catch 'em all" feel. I also found the folder for art class papers but that one was way too big to scan. I would love to know who designed these at the time because I am still fascinated by the sheer simplicity and effectiveness this design has. If anyone has a clue drop me an email. The green one for drawings is definitely my favorite and I will probably scan its contents at some point. They have some of my first drawings which were also very funny to look at. I found tons of more interesting stuff but I don't have the energy to scan it all now. Blog 2009-04-28T13:52:15+00:00 http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/i_know_who_i_am/ http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/i_know_who_i_am/#When:16:46:55Z Mood swings aren’t a common thing with me, I’m usually pretty stable with both feet planted firmly on the ground. But since I’ve had so many chaotic episodes in the last couple of months I’ve been pretty on and off recently. And I knew that things would settle down as soon as the weather started getting nicer and I started spinning some music. The last two weeks have been very busy and I can finally say I’m out of the woods. The greatest feeling you can experience is being completely happy with who you are and what you’re doing. A feeling of complete control of one’s life and one’s actions. Not regretting anything that you’ve done or will do. Treating every experience and every situation you get into as an education, as a lesson you need to take to make you even smarter. Always being the critical bastard I am, analyzing everything I do into oblivion I expect nothing less of myself before entering another relationship. Blog 2009-03-08T16:46:55+00:00 http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/the_things_i_do_for_free/ http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/the_things_i_do_for_free/#When:15:11:26Z Why are the things I do for free so much more frustrating to do than the ones I get paid for? It's a mystery I've been unable to solve for years. I've made websites for people who have paid me good money and they had every right to bitch about every single visual aspect of the site but instead they let me do my job and respected it. Conversely, when I do something for free people abuse it, they tend to make themselves the designer and put me in the form of a tool that they use to get what they want. I don't mind people saying that something I made isn't good, I've made tons and tons of stuff that's crap. But what do you expect when you're not paying me a single dime for it. In the last couple of weeks I've felt torn apart from everyone demanding something from me. Either it's help with a computer, or just some "small thing" that needs to be done in Photoshop Blog 2009-02-27T15:11:26+00:00 http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/im_now_part_of_interchill_records/ http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/im_now_part_of_interchill_records/#When:16:00:12Z Some DJs might not find switching labels as such a big deal but it took me about two weeks to go through with the decision. But as of yesterday I am part of the Canadian based label Interchill Records. Sofa Beats has been my first and only label so far, I haven't done a whole lot apart from my own compilation and helping out with an album from Krusseldorf and some other EPs. But the fact that I come from a country that has a very small scene and that I still consider my DJing career to be very short I always thought highly of them for letting me be part of the team. Blog 2009-02-14T16:00:12+00:00 http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/the_chill_gig_that_felt_like_a_trance_one/ http://www.dovla.info/blog/blogentry/the_chill_gig_that_felt_like_a_trance_one/#When:15:33:44Z I’ve had my share of bizarre situations during DJ sets but the one I had last night takes the cake. Usually when I play downbeat music there’s never a swarming crowd of people, it’s just the way it is with chill out floors on trance parties and festivals. In general they are always neglected and most people just come to dance. Even most friends you talk to that say they will come and listen to you usually don’t show up. It never bothered me really nor does it offend me, I just got used to it and I always prefer to play for a smaller audience. I’ve never felt the same kind of feedback in my trance sets that I get in my chill out sets. It’s that special moment that usually happens when there are 2-3 people during your set, you begin to wonder if it’s all worth it and then one of them walks up to you, asks for the name of the track you’re playing, or just says that he/she is enjoying it. In that moment you know that there’s no bullshit behind that comment. Their opinion of your set isn’t based on anything else but their taste in music whereas on trance it can be anything from alcohol, drugs or worse, the opinion that the current DJ playing is a god no matter what he does. I’m not saying the same thing doesn’t happen on chill out but it surely happens on a less frequent basis. Blog 2009-02-08T15:33:44+00:00