This weekend marks the 10th edition of Thru The Bushes festival on the Kutak za Mutak beach (Jablanova), one of the most magical hidden beach spots on the island of Krk. Even though the team announced this might be the last year of the festival, a few days ago they announced that the festival will continue next summer, but with a change of location.
We chatted with the festival’s founder, Marko Jovanović, about his career, Rijeka’s scene, and the festival’s past and future.
People who organise clubbing events and festivals are often DJs and producers. What is your connection to electronic music, how come you organised Thru the Bushes? Have you ever tried DJing or music production?
Haha, that’s a good question. A few years ago I tried playing music, but soon after I realised that it’s just not for me, I don’t have much time to listen and discover new music so many hours a day and it seemed impossible with my job as an event producer. I started working on various other electronic music events and festivals in various job positions, such as box office, runner, hospitality manager, etc. Later on, I worked as an organizer of other events and assistant producer of Rijeka – the EU Capital of Culture in 2020, and many more free-lance projects. Since I was a teenager, I played guitar in a rock band, so it’s not just electronic music for me. Later on, I listened to hip-hop, drum’n’bass, house, etc. I still love to listen to all of those genres and I just love music in general, so I don’t like to limit myself. I respect and support the local electronic music scene.
One summer I lived at the Kutak za Mutak, and worked as a masseur. The summer of 2014, was extremely rainy, and it was raining for a month so I just wanted to do something so I organised a party, for an invite-only audience. As the word started to spread, many people started to RSVP and from what was supposed to be a private event for approximately 50 people, it turned into a party of 250 people. At that time nothing was going on on Krk Island, especially in Baška, and I realized it has potential. I walked around and invited randomers to the party and people turned out. My long-term friends Nela Simic, Filip Motovunski, a famous producer who headlined the party, and I started to build Thru The Bushes and used our connections to spread the word. With little resources that we had, we realised it had a lot of potentials, as 250 people came to Kutak za Mutak – a beach that is not so easily reachable by foot, and it is a perfect spot for an underground party or a festival. It’s a place to chill out, have fun and dance. We started organising it each year, and I still can’t believe that now we are celebrating its 10th anniversary. It’s my first project of the kind and it has a very special place in my heart, it would be very difficult to give up the brand.
Marko added that Korak will not be able to perform today, but one n will step into his place, which is a perfect occasion to ‘close the circle’, as he played on the first edition of Thru the Bushes festival.
You published that you are definitely moving from Kutak za Mutak (Jablanova beach), but didn’t specify where. What is the plan for ‘Thru the Bushes’ for the upcoming years?
We have a plan, but we still didn’t announce it as we still don’t have all of the licenses and agreements. It’s 90% sure and it’s a great place – a short driving distance to Rijeka as Baška. We had options in other places in Dalmatia, but we canceled those as our primary audience is from Primorsko-Goranska county (Kvarner, Island Krk, Rijeka). We are leaving Kutak za Mutak due to logistics. Even though it’s beautiful and so special, it’s a location that doesn’t have electricity, water, or road access. We come by small boats literally on the beach, and we have to transfer everything from those. When you live there with no signal, water and electricity you start to respect nature, but when you come there and clean after the party it’s a nightmare, logistically almost impossible but with the help of the best (and restless) volunteers, we made it every year.
What is Rijeka and Kvarner’s scene like? Rijeka is famous for its alternative scene – how did it develop during the past 10 years, and what’s the situation with electronic music?
Well, unfortunately, Rijeka doesn’t have a location for an open-air festival. It has Hartera Factory, a former paper factory, a great location, perfect for underground events, but it lacks infrastructure. The City didn’t invest much in its reconstruction. Several years ago foreign investors provided the capital for Hartera to get electricity and the program was created, which was great, but after two years the City refused the ‘help’ for other financial and security reasons. Four years ago we organised a party there and got an Ambasador award for the event of the year in 2020, voted by the audience, which we are very grateful for. Also, there is “Voz” Beach near the Krk bridge perfect for the festival. There is parking, a beach, and woods, logistically perfect, but the Omišalj municipality bans it. There are a few locations, but the local governance does not allow it. Besides Thru The Bushes, I just support others, some individuals and collectives create great music, such as Marcel (with Liminal) and Greenlight Collective, amazing young artists who are doing well. Clubs in Rijeka for electronic music are Pogon Kulture, Crkva, and Nemo Club, Manual Club. Events are always happening – people often complain nothing is going on, but when someone organizes it, they don’t show up.
Each year of the festival you invite one up-and-coming young DJ. How does the election process look like, do young DJs contact you or vice versa?
We respect the Elector and Ambasador awards and we look up their choices and the artists who got the NXT and New (s)elector awards. However, Ana Antonova, our artistic director, who is also so much more than that to this festival makes suggestions and we go through the options as a team. I am a person who likes to hear other people’s opinions and feedback and I find it valuable, so we go through the names, and budgets, compare their ‘styles’ to headliners and other performers and decide who is the best fit for the year. Ana is not only the main person I go to for DJs, she is also here for graphic design, social media, and has a bit more experience than me in some spheres. Also, there is Maja Brašnić, my right-hand and assistant producer/runner who helps a lot.
Last year Ana couldn’t be at the festival and Andrea Ljekaj replaced her and did an artist booking, thanks Andrea! We booked DJ T, a producer with over 30 years on the scene, and founder of Get Physical Records.
In addition to the artists and DJs, I would like to emphasize that the main headliner is also a location. In the beginning,we had a problem with branding as attendees would always say ‘I’ve been to Kutak / Have you been to Kutak’.
Also, I really need to mention visual artists, such as Jupiterska who did great visuals for 2022 edition, Ivan Čače who created the logo, Hana Belobrk who made graphics and merch for 2023, and this year’s merch, and last but not least OBLIK 3, aka Damjan Šporčić, a VJ who has been with us from the beginning. His video mapping became one of the symbols of the festival. We like to support all artists – designers, VJs and DJs.
What are your expectations for this year? How will you mark the festival’s decade and how will it differ from previous years?
We expect it to be the best so far. For me, it will be emotional as it’s the last year on Kutak za Mutak, and I want to thank the team, volunteers, staff and crew, who made it possible. Paolo Barbato is an amazing DJ and respected in this part of Europe, so I believe there will also be a great atmosphere and vibe. The location itself is amazing and people feel it. It’s an experience that you can’t even describe, you need to come and feel the vibe. We expect around 500 people, but we want to ensure enough space for everyone. You can hang out on the beach, come to the floor and sit around, it’s a perfect combination to relax, move around, dance, and enjoy. I invite everyone to join us on the 10th anniversary!
There are still tickets on the Core events platform, and Marko invited everyone to buy them before the event starts, as they are soon to be sold out.
