veja

Veja is a Croatian world music band. It’s focused on researching Istrian traditional folk music and performing the same in more modern arrangements by using various traditional instruments from all over the world. Up to now, Veja has had many performances around Europe.

Name “Veja” is term for an istrian custom of gathering around a dead person and watching his body all night. It was usually accompanied by eating and drinking which then often led to singing. During one of the very first Veja rehearsals, an old man sitting in the room said: “Boys, you sound like veja”. Having in mind that Veja’s mission is to bring the traditional songs back to life by rearranging them, after some minutes of laugh, the name was a logical choice.

Perhaps the ancestors of Veja’s members would at first be astounded with the way in which their descendants are using mih (Istrian bagpipes), gajde (Slavonian bagpipes), kaval, fiddle, accordion and guitar together with bass guitar, djembe and cajon, but in time they would accept the fact that everything changes – thus grows, and all that grows – lives, inspires and opens new opportunities for creativity.

Band members

Goran Farkaš

vocal, mih, fiddle, bagpipes, kaval, tambura

Goran Farkaš was born in 1989. He showed interest for tradition from his early age. During elementary school he attended several courses for playing Istrian traditional instruments which served as a good base for profiling his musical interest.

Goran uses istrian bagpipes made by Franko Kos, croatian bagpipes from an unknown artist, string instruments made by Dario Marušić, and a violin made by the most famous istrian builder Ottavio Štokovac.

By playing in different arrangements and exploring various tradition music and instrument, Goran profiled himself as one of the best-knowledged young musicians in Istrian area who oftenly offers to help in various engagements.

TradInEtno festival, which Goran originaly started, now turned in quite known festival in ethno and world music terms. Goran keeps his role as the main organizer and keeps working with young people interested in ethno/folk/world music. When taking breaks from festivals and gigs, he created music for theaters and plays.

Saša farkaš

guitar, tambura

Saša Farkaš was born in 1985. Guitar was his love (which brought him some other loves) since his father first showed him couple of chords. He never went to a music school and he developed all of his guitar playing techniques by himself. Along with his brother, Goran, Saša started the Veja project.

Saša’s profession is sound and light equipment and after running a music shop now he runs a popular bar with live music and various perfomances. Shout “Veja” for a discount!

He plays a specific mediterranean tambura manufactured by Dario Marušić.

marko pernić

vocal, accordion

Marko Pernić was born in 1982. in a musical family. At the age of 10 he started playing guitar, keyboards and accordion. His first encounter with traditional music was when he joined Pazin folklore group some years later where he learned how to handle traditional instruments. Searching for a substitute accordion player, Goran invited him to play with Veja on a couple of gigs. The rest is history.

Marko’s profession is IT, but he also teaches kids playing traditional instruments and is an active radioamateur.

Marko plays ’80 Paolo Soprani accordion, Excelsior 304b accordion and uses AKG C516 microphone.

sebastijan demark

bass guitar

Sebastijan Demark was born in 1994. He was first interested in playing bass guitar at a young age, influenced by bassists such as Geezer Butler and Christ Novoselić, but also his father who played guitar in several local rock bands. World music in the way Veja plays it was first introduced to Sebastijan just a year before he entered Veja, but his affection to it keeps growing ever since.

Sebastijan is a student at university of Rijeka.

Sebastijan’s gear consits of both Warwick and Ibanez SR505, Markbass preamp and Roland amp.

ljuban rajić

cajon, percussions

Ljuban Rajić was born in 1976. His first instrument was a piano and he started playing it when he was 8. Many, many years later, Ljuban first saw a cajon, gave it a couple of slams and then bought one. It didn’t take long for him to start experimenting with various styles and ways of playing it, and finaly, he joined Veja.

Ljuban is probably the guy with the most nicknames in the town where he lives, many of which came with improper pronounciation of his name (try it for yourself). His profession is pargeting and wall painting.

Ljuban plays Walter percussions cajon, Stagg cymbals and tambourins and a RhythmTech cabasa.

Advancing in music, Ljuban started taking singing lessons from the Veja’s lead vocal Goran, and is now on its way to sing backing vocals in some of the songs Veja plays. As he says, combining foreign instruments with traditional singing is a challenge he accepted.

marijan jelenić

sound design and engineering

Marijan Jelenić was born in 1970. His first instrument was the accordion for which he finished 6 years of education. He played in several local bands before meeting Gabi, the woman of his life, with whom he started a very successful Croatian band Nola. He wrote the lyrics and music for all Nola’s songs.

For 25 years Marijan is building his sound engineering experience. Knowing all this, he also established himself as a producer. He has been 9 times nominated for the prestigious Croatian music award Porin, and won two times.

Marijan’s profession is music: composing, producing, recording, playing, singing (not that much), creating music in every possible way.