One Drop Music (ODM) is one of those event series that left a great mark on the scene on really short notice. After the lockdown ended Zagreb’s clubbing scene started to grow again, so ODM team organised their first event in November 2022 at Peti Kupe. When it comes to music, One Drop Music has set the direction they want to promote, defining itself as the organisation that brings top-chart melodic house and techno artists. The audience recognized their work, their events were sold out, and One Drop Music marked a quick and very successful entrance on the scene.
We had a chat with Mislav Grdinić, the founder, about the rise of One Drop Music, its musical influences, bookings and the situation on the local electronic music scene.
Your first event was just two years ago, you managed to sell out Peti Kupe and momentarily establish One Drop Music on the scene in such a short period of time. What was your motivation to create the brand? How did it all start and did you expect such a positive outcome?
My love for electronic music has always existed, from its very beginnings in Croatia and the creation of the domestic scene in the nineties. Over time, but also with experience in the business and entrepreneurial world, the time finally came to realize a long-standing desire, i.e. the idea for creation, organization, and good electronic sound. The actual realization came spontaneously and somehow it came together well. Several things influenced the decision, but most of all the emergence of the Peti Kupe club, whose quality of space and sound, as well as the owner’s readiness for a new program and somewhat different sound, was actually a decisive factor in the creation of One Drop Music. All the ideas about the production, the line-up, and how it should look, finally got a live form. The moment when we sold out the club at only our second party nailed the idea as an obviously good formula and the satisfaction that my idea about the line up makes sense both head and tail. The most beautiful moment is the fact that people recognized the idea from the start, decided to support it and it came to life on our scene.
Who are some of the key musical influences that shape One Drop Music?
The former progressive, vocal house and deep house 5-6 years ago got a new form popularly called melodic techno, which is the main guiding thread of ODM, although personally I am not too preoccupied with genres within electronic music and I do not want to strictly classify myself in a certain narrow genre. Good music will always be just that, not dictated by the genre itself. It is also a fact that melodic techno has recently been flirting a lot with EDM and some mainstream electronic sound, which is not bad due to the greater popularity of electronic music in general and the expansion of the market, but in the case of ODM, the direction will still be different and will not follow this trend of commercialization, and especially not at the expense of quality. When talking about direct influences from 6-7 years ago I have to mention Tale of Us and the whole Afterlife label as inspiration, but the amount of good electronic music that comes out every day doesn’t allow me to limit myself to a certain genre and a certain producer.
You showcase melodic house and techno, how does the booking process look?
There’s a lot of progressive and good sound that I want at my parties, and if we were to bring all the artists we wanted, we’d have to organize a party every day for the next few years. I always start with the idea of ​​which DJs and producers I would like to bring and hear in Croatia. Contact with the performers themselves and their agents also plays a role, and of course, part of the decision is dictated by financial conditions, i.e. the possibility of covering the event. Often, in booking decisions, I listen more to my ideas and emotions than perhaps the financial aspect, but I think it is right and that you should follow your ideas and listen to the audience’s reactions to the whole concept. My file with wishes and contacts with agencies is full and I actually have sweet worries about booking the next ODM lineups.
You opened this clubbing season in Peti Kupe and your upcoming event is on October 25 in Zagreb’s new Club Lift. What are your expectations for the upcoming event? How do you adjust to different clubs and audiences?
Yes, we opened a new clubbing season in Peti Kupe with Lehar and After Affair, and we are preparing the next event in the new Zagreb Club Lift. The appearance of a new club space for electronic music in Zagreb makes me very happy because the need is certainly there, the scene is in full swing and the new club in this urban music direction is highly commendable and great news for all participants, as well as for the audience. Our event is on Friday, October 25 in Lift, it’s actually a mutual desire, and for that occasion, we’re making a slightly different One Drop Music than before. We put together an exceptional line-up this time in the Ibiza-Afro house sound with a top DJ and producer from the Crosstown rebels label, from London born and raised Made by Pete. With excellent local support from Viktor and from Novi Sad Kosta aka The Hero.
What can we expect of the upcoming clubbing season in Zagreb? Do you have plans to organise events in other Croatian cities?
After Made by Pete, on November 23 we are preparing a real techno treat at Peti Kupe. Our guest is The Element, one of the founders of the Zamna festival, currently the world’s strongest promoter and festival agency, part of the Zamna Soundsystem DJ trio together with Armonica and Gigi Urso, who is also the co-owner and founder of the Afterlife brand. We are also preparing a surprise for December, and we certainly plan to start the summer editions of One Drop Music on our shores already next summer, for which we are currently in talks and negotiations.
The majority of event planners and promoters are DJs or producers, which is not the case with you? What’s your connection to the electronic music? How did you dive into its world?
The 1990s were in many ways a turning point and a decade in which many trends were set that are still valid today, especially in pop culture, fashion, and music. In those years when the techno scene was born, the electronic fever caught me and clearly determined my musical affinities, which years later turned into my event brand One Drop Music. Organizational skills, business strategy, planning, love for electronic music and active monitoring of the scene and trends may be the main prerequisites for doing this job. Of course, there are examples where DJs and producers have started a certain event, but its success depends on many factors, but first of all on love for electronics and multitasking abilities. Regardless of the background, quality always wins, and the audience decides. My business career and experience give me perhaps a different perspective and way of creating events than the established ones, and closely following the techno scene in front of the DJ desk for several decades (literally :D) still gives me a good insight and a clear picture of what and how. Over the last 2-3 years, I have put a lot of effort into establishing quality connections and business relations with many established global agencies, production houses and the performers themselves, which means a lot to my event now.
How does Zagreb’s audience connect with melodic house and techno? What are your observations regarding trends and the current situation on the local scene?
The Zagreb and Croatian audiences know very well what quality electronic music is and do not renounce their heroes and pioneers of genres, they will follow all the good parties and line-ups, that’s for sure. At the same time, it is a little closed to some newer trends and sound, and a little more effort is needed from the promoter to bring the idea closer to the audience, which until then was focused on some other genres. But I repeat, quality wins in the end. This is exactly the goal of ODM – to bring a quality selection of world trends and events, top producers and DJs closer to the domestic audience. Some domestic long-standing, established event brands did not emerge overnight and achieved their current success after the first 2-3 parties, but rather built their own path, their community and the sound they wanted to present. They are still developing and progressing, changing, and I am happy with their every move towards higher quality because with all of us, the local scene is growing, progressing and quite active, offering a lot. We are ready for one Zagreb ADE – the promoters and the audience certainly are, and with the support of the city, it’s not such a crazy idea at all. We have a very liberal city government, which is to be praised, but I have the feeling that they are very close to, say, the idea of ​​a public space as a function of urban music. There are wonderful examples from European cities that we could emulate and put Zagreb on the map for such events. They are not even aware of the tourist and promotional potential. The only thing that worries me a little is the fact that we still have a rather large backlog in the production of electronic music. We are lagging even regionally, let alone behind the world scene. Honor to the exceptions and veterans of the scene, but there is a lack of young production forces and progression in sound. I, on the other hand, am extremely satisfied with how our idea of ​​techno and production has been received by the audience so far, although we are at the beginning of the mission of One Drop Music and the best of us is yet to come.
Where do you see One Drop Music in the following years? Are there any venues or artist bookings you have on your wishlist?
I see ODM as one of the leaders of new trends in electronics on the domestic scene. I also see us in collaboration with established domestic and foreign promoters and festivals, which is also the idea of ​​presenting the trends, labels, and producers we want in Zagreb. I wish us organic growth and an audience that likes what we do. I see ODM as a promoter of the Croatian electronic scene. We will try to create events that are better than the previous ones every time and constantly raise the quality.
As Mislav announced, One Drop Music is organising the busiest clubbing season so far, and their lineups are definitely the ones to look out for. With three events coming up this year, we can only imagine what will 2025 bring. Tickets for all events are available via the Entrio system.
