Atlantida is a collective that has quickly gained attention in the Croatian electronic music scene, known for their unique events with fusion of house, tribal, and Afro elements. The trio – Einfakinn, Turk, and Viktor – stands out not just for their distinct sound but also for how they approach every aspect of their projects.
In this interview, Einfakinn shares the story behind their rapid rise, experiences performing along the Adriatic coast, and their creative process, along with vision for the future. As they continue to evolve, the collective is carving out its own path in the electronic music scene. Read on to learn more about their journey and what lies ahead for them.
Can you tell us about the origins of Atlandita? How did the collective come together, and what was the driving force behind it?
Atlantida started in the Summer 2023 as an idea by Turk and Viktor. They had a gig in Pag where they wanted to focus more on playing house music with tribal, organic, and afro elements. This is how they came up with the name and the first visual solution for it. Later on, in October 2023 I received an invitation to join their first Atlantida edition in Zagreb hosted in the Podmornica club. The crowd really liked it and the club manager was very happy with the result, and we agreed on hosting the party on a monthly basis. Suddenly, I found myself to be a part of the collective and with each party, we were growing bigger. It happened so organically that we didn’t even have an official Instagram account – we would just post the event visual to our feed or story. After 3 events in, we noticed we were filling the gap in our electronic music scene and decided to take it more seriously.
We have seen the success you achieved in such a short time, and it’s clear that you all work really well together. Can you introduce the members of Atlandita and tell us about the roles each of you plays within the team?
Our work dynamic is quite interesting since all 3 of us are of different ages and therefore have different perspectives towards the industry. Each of us takes different responsibilities when it comes to pulling an event together: from visual identity to online communication, networking, and negotiations to legal and administrative tasks. While Turk takes legal stuff and runs the company stuff, Viktor and I focus more on brand presentation. Viktor is solely working on graphics and visuals, as well as maintaining a good relationship with the club, while I am in charge of bringing new ideas and running our online operations, such as social media, copywriting, brand awareness, etc. For us, it was very important to bring our personalities into this project in order to actually enjoy every part of it.
Tell us about the key musical influences that shape Atlantida’s sound, both individually and as a collective. How do your personal preferences come together to create the overall vibe of your events?
We share music interests to a certain extent and get into each others’ shoes since we like to play b2bs together. It’s hard to divide our individual preferences since we all enjoy everything that’s being played at Atlantida, however we allow each other to explore further what drives us the most. For example, Turk has a great ear for those Ethno, Organic house sounds which are music for the soul. His influences can be found in labels like Human by Default, Sol Selectas, and A Tribe Called Kotori. Viktor’s focus is largely on Afro house, as his production speaks as well. Apart from MoBlack Records, as being the biggest label he supports, there are labels like Magnifik Music and Multinotes which release some hot tunes that bring a surprise factor to the dancefloor. I, on the other hand, am a big Melodic house and Indie Dance head. I have been shaping my DJ craftsmanship through Innervisions, Sum Over Histories, and Frau Blau.
You can check out Atlantida’s playlist on Spotify to get a feel of their sound.
Social media is a big part of promoting your events, and Atlandita consistently creates one-of-a-kind visuals. How did your approach to creating unique visuals for Atlantida’s social media develop, and how do you ensure they capture the essence of your events?
I think that our visuals change and evolve according to our current fling in terms of music that we are into. With each event, we try to evolve and bring some new tunes to the booth, but we also spend a lot of time together sharing and listening to each other’s music. We produce together, support gigs from one another, share DJ sets or tracks that we find interesting… With this approach, we know where we musically stand and how we can translate it into the next event, hence how our next visual should come about.
PRODUCTION
You’ve recently started producing music, which is an exciting development for the collective. What inspired you to make this shift, and how has the transition from DJing to production been? Can you share your creative process, any upcoming releases, and any labels you’d like to release on?
Actually, I am the only one that is new to music production here. Turk and Viktor have a decent experience, and Viktor currently plays the most significant role here. I’ve been wanting to start production for a while, but wasn’t lucky enough to find someone who understands my sound affinities. Viktor and I sat together for the first time in September 2023, right when Atlantida was getting born, and immediately our collab track ‘Lele’ was born. From then on, I consider him to be my mentor and we connected with more like-minded producers, such as the guys from The First Call Records and Garden of Dreams Records. Transitioning to production is still hard and I believe that I will be making collab tracks for now as I’m not familiar enough with the software, and me being a perfectionist that I am, spending hours in Ableton by myself will be a battle for me.
My creative process isn’t defined yet, but I notice that I mostly contribute through kick variations, bass lines and sometimes even melodies. At the moment, Viktor and I have some projects to finish, but our focus is fully on Atlantida’s first event in Lift club at the moment. The winter will definitely be long and busy, and we are reaching out to a few interesting labels to schedule our releases.
As a young producer, I already love the fact that my music has been released on my favorite regional record label Garden Of Dreams Records. However, if we’re to speak worldwide, I would love to land a release on Watergate Records from Berlin or Hive Audio from Zurich.
TOURING THE ADRIATIC COAST
This summer you toured along the Adriatic Coast. How did that experience differ from performing in your hometown, Zagreb?
The Tour was very interesting because prior to each event, we didn’t know what to expect. We were booked as performers and couldn’t do the promoter’s job as much as we do in Zagreb and it was thrilling to see how that reflects on the audience. Needless to say, we weren’t familiar with the audience either, which was creating another layer of challenge for us in terms of what to play and how to get them hooked. It was a learning experience since we had to think out of the box from time to time, but it was also very enjoyable because it opened new horizons towards realizing what we want to do with the brand’s music identity in the future.
Coastal towns often attract a mix of locals and tourists. How did the mix of locals and tourists impact your performances, and did you notice different reactions between them?
There were definitely tourists coming up to us and asking where else can they hear Afro house around here. Our answer was mostly “Unfortunately nowhere else”. I feel like the locals were mostly there for the vibes, just as they would visit that venue any other day. This was the only indicator how we knew who was our dominant audience that night.
Were there any surprises in how the audience responded to your sets, or a particular town where the crowd’s energy stood out?
We said it before and I’ll say it again: Lazareti club in Dubrovnik was something else. The crowd there consists of a decent amount of locals, and from what we’ve heard those people really know how to party. They love their underground music, especially techno, therefore we crafted a special repertoire for them – and it turned out to be top notch! That occasion was our final tour date and you could really tell all of us were exhausted, but the crowd’s energy kept us going ‘til the very end.
REFLECTION & FUTURE PLANS
Electronic music has a deep connection with community, identity, and self-expression. How does Atlantida reflect or contribute to that?
Completely and absolutely. Our growth is defined through our audience (occasionally we call them ‘Atlanteans’ because they’re our warriors of spreading the word) and we try to give back as much as possible. Not only through carefully crafted parties, but also through trying to give them opportunities if we can. This is how we started our partnership with Clubhub platform – you should really look into them. These guys literally created a community platform for clubbers and it’s brilliant.
What’s next for Atlantida? Any upcoming projects, releases, or events we should watch for?
You can expect an exciting clubbing season 2024/25 from us. There will be few amazing guest appearances and a lot of great music we haven’t presented through the brand yet. We have other aspirations, too, but this is the only thing we can confirm for now. Make sure to follow us on Instagram @atlantida_atltd to stay in the loop with what we will be doing in the near future.
Where do you see Atlantida in the next five years? Any dream collaborations or goals you’d like to achieve?
Atlantida 2-day festival? We don’t know. We are happy that we started working with Lift club because it’s opening many opportunities towards Papaya and projects we could potentially dive into sooner or later. I know for a fact that we would love to collaborate with Kintar’s Summerians, but also with the Gate Experience team. For now, we are trying to keep our minds humble and hearts full of passion.
From organic beginnings, and filling a gap in Croatia’s electronic music scene, the trio – Einfakinn, Turk, and Viktor – has built a collective that not only delivers memorable performances but also creates a sense of community. With the team full of passion and minds focused on growth, the future of Atlantida looks bright, and their influence on the scene is only just beginning.
You can catch Atlantida’s sound at their next event in the Lift Club on October 18th!