Branko Trajkov
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Branko Trajkov (born 9 October 1966), also known by his stage name Trak, is a Croatian musician and record producer who is most notable as the drummer of rock band
Zabranjeno Pušenje Zabranjeno Pušenje () is a Bosnian Rock music, rock band formed in Sarajevo in 1980. The group's musical style primarily consists of a distinctive garage rock sound with Bosnian folk music, folk influences, often featuring innovative production a ...
. Also, he organizes creative and music therapy drum workshops for children and adults.


Music career

As a child, Trajkov was a fan of
Bijelo Dugme () is a Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav Rock music, rock band, formed in Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1974. is widely considered to have been the most popular and the best-selling band ever to exist in the former S ...
. His father took him to the 1976 album '' Eto! Baš hoću!'' promotion concert in
Dom Sportova Dom sportova (), is a multi-purpose indoor sports arena located in Zagreb, Croatia. The venue was built in 1972 in the Trešnjevka neighborhood, in the western part of the city. It has 32,000 m2 of floorspace, and it features six halls. The se ...
, Zagreb. There he got motivation for a future occupation. In 1979, he graduated from a lower music school where he had got piano lessons. Later, he self-learned to play a guitar. In 1983, Trajkov joined a band Karavele, which was a support tour band of rock bands Električni Orgazam and Idoli. After that, in the late 1980s he was member of several rock bands such as Mačke and the Rocket Stars. In 1990, he became a drummer of then established a
rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...
teen bend Fantomi. He left the band after their breakup in 1994. In 1994, Trajkov got a job at
Croatian Radiotelevision ''Hrvatska radiotelevizija'' ( HRT), or Croatian Radiotelevision, is a Croatian public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite. HRT is divided into three ...
, and the next year at the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall. He worked there as a record producer until 1997. In the early 2000s, he joined the 7/8 band, a pit orchestra of Ezerki, a Zagreb-based women's choir that performs traditional Macedonian folk songs. At the same time, he worked with Lidija Bajuk on her four studio albums and perform on some concerts. In 2011, Trajkov got mandate from Native American
tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...
Picuris Pueblo to perform their ceremonial dance; the "Sun-Moon Dance". Also, he is a member of the Croatian Freelance Artists' Association.


Zabranjeno pušenje (1996–present)

Trajkov joined
Zabranjeno Pušenje Zabranjeno Pušenje () is a Bosnian Rock music, rock band formed in Sarajevo in 1980. The group's musical style primarily consists of a distinctive garage rock sound with Bosnian folk music, folk influences, often featuring innovative production a ...
in the fall of 1996. His first performance came on the band concerts in
Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
and
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
when recordings for the live album '' Hapsi sve!'' (1998) happened. After that, he participated in the recording of the sixth studio album '' Agent tajne sile'' (1999), as well as all the later ones; '' Bog vozi Mercedes'' (2001), '' Live in St. Louis'' (2004), '' Hodi da ti čiko nešto da'' (2006), '' Muzej revolucije'' (2009), '' Radovi na cesti'' (2013), '' Šok i nevjerica'' (2018), and '' Karamba!'' (2022). Alongside with the Zabranjeno pušenje members Sejo Sexon and Robert Boldižar, Trajkov is a member of the Shaderwan Code. It is a joint group of Zabranjeno pušenje and Zagreb Mosque Choir Arabeske. Trajkov worked on their albums ''Kad procvatu behari'' (2011) and ''Ah, što ćemo ljubav kriti'' (2018).


Mechanical (2019–present)

In 2019, Trajkov and Krešimir Jurina founded Mechanical, an alternative, psychedelic, and
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
band, joining as a drummer and singer. They have been inspired by the Russian
mystics A mystic is a person who practices mysticism, or a reference to a mystery, mystic craft, first hand-experience or the occult. Mystic may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Books and comics * Ms. Mystic, comic book superheroine * ''Mystic'' (c ...
of early 20th century and use the Fourth Way approach in songwriting. In October 2020, the band released its first single titled "Fluorescent Black". In November 2020, the single reached No. 1 in the 47-week on the ''Free40 Indie Charts''.


Community service

Since 2000, Trajkov has been organizing creative and
music therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music t ...
drum workshops for children and adults with special needs. He created this specific drum workshop to get the energy of music and rhythm into the world of those that the
public administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...
does not always help in the right way. Therefore, the aim of such workshops is to provide participants with a spontaneous and natural way of insight into rhythm, music creation and personal sound experience. During this sessions, he establishes harmonious and solid group based on the hierarchy of sound and rhythm, rather than physical, mental or social predisposition of participants. In 2000s, Trajkov and his fellow band members of Zabranjeno pušenje took a part in a social responsibility project in which they organized music workshops for children and youth who were victims of
land mine A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...
s. The workshops were taken two times in a year. The winter workshops were held in
Kranjska Gora Kranjska Gora (; ) is a town in northwestern Slovenia, on the Sava Dolinka River in the Upper Carniola region, close to the Austrian and Italy, Italian borders. It is the seat of the Municipality of Kranjska Gora. The tripoint between Austria, It ...
, Slovenia, while the summer workshops were held in Rovinj, Croatia. In 2005, he held music workshops as a part of project ''"Zemlja bez granica"'' (). In the workshop named ''"Let's Take Back the Music & Rhythm to Their Age-old Hearths"'' he guided students to retrieving their rhythm and aligning it with the environment vibrations. In April 2013, Croatian
Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...
selected Trajkov as the first project leader for their pilot project ''A Backpack (full) of Culture''. Later, he held more than 15 workshops as part of this Ministry's project. Workshops were held in
Nova Gradiška Nova Gradiška is a town located in the Brod-Posavina County of Croatia, population 14,229 (2011). It is located in the historic region of Slavonia, near the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first word in the name means ''New'', and there' ...
, Križevci,
Knin Knin () is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka (Croatia), Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagreb and Split, Croatia, Split. ...
,
Koprivnica Koprivnica () is a city in Northern Croatia, located 70 kilometers northeast of Zagreb. It is the capital and the largest city of Koprivnica-Križevci County. In 2011, the city's administrative area of 90.94 km2 had a total populati ...
, Metković,
Slavonski Brod Slavonski Brod (, ), commonly shortened to simply Brod, is a city in eastern Croatia, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Being one of the principal cities in the historical regions of Slavonia and Posavina, Slavonski Brod is the 7th lar ...
and other towns. In 2014, Trajkov was appointed as a permanent associate for the
Brod-Posavina County Brod-Posavina County () is the southern Slavonian county in Croatia. Its center is the city of Slavonski Brod and it spreads along the left bank of the Sava river, hence the name '' Posavina''. Other notable towns include Nova Gradiška. Geograp ...
Institute of Public Health. As of 2018, he held nearly 25 active music therapy sessions for addicts in Slavonski Brod. In 2015, a Croatian printing company Školska knjiga appointed him as an expert associate for their Department of Music Education. He held the same workshop during many professional meetings of school teachers in Croatian towns, such as Kutina,
Senj Senj is a town on the upper Adriatic coast in Croatia, in the foothills of the Mala Kapela and Velebit mountains. The symbol of the town is the Nehaj Fortress () which was completed in 1558. For a time this was the seat of the Uskoks, who were ...
,
Čakovec Čakovec (; ; ; ) is a city in Northern Croatia, located around north of Zagreb, the Croatian capital, and close to the borders with Slovenia and Hungary. Čakovec is both the county seat and the largest city of Međimurje County, the northernmo ...
, Jastrebarsko,
Beli Manastir Beli Manastir ( sr-Cyrl, Бели Манастир, ) is a town in eastern Croatia. It is the principal town of the Croatian part of Baranja, located in the Osijek-Baranja County. Name The name means "white monastery" in Serbo-Croatian. Origina ...
. In more than 15 years, Trajkov organized more than hundred drum workshops in almost every major city and town in Croatia.


Personal life

Trajkov was born and raised in
Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
, nowadays in Croatia. His father Stojan plays
accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...
. He is of a Macedonian descent. Trajkov earned his bachelor's degree in
architectural engineering Architectural engineering or architecture engineering, also known as building engineering, is a discipline that deals with the engineering and construction of buildings, such as environmental, structural, mechanical, electrical, computational, e ...
from the
University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...
in 1994.


Discography

;Zabranjeno pušenje * '' Hapsi sve!'' (1998) * '' Agent tajne sile'' (1999) * '' Bog vozi Mercedes'' (2001) * '' Live in St. Louis'' (2004) * '' Hodi da ti čiko nešto da'' (2006) * '' Muzej revolucije'' (2009) * '' Radovi na cesti'' (2013) * '' Šok i nevjerica'' (2018) * '' Karamba!'' (2022) ;Shaderwan Code * ''Kad procvatu behari'' (2011) * ''Ah, što ćemo ljubav kriti'' (2018) ;Ezerki & 7/8 * ''Livingroom'' (2003) * ''Baknež'' (2006) ; Lidija Bajuk * ''Kneja'' (1999) * ''Luna'' (2005) * ''Matapur'' (2010) * ''Zipčica'' (2010) ;Fantomi *''Sretan rođendan'' (1992) *''Planeta majmuna'' (1993) *''Lice'' (1995) ;Pun Kufer *''Preko Zebre'' (1999) *''Dok mi grizeš prste'' (2002)


References


External links

*
Branko Trajkov Discography
at
Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

Zabranjeno pušenje

Mechanical official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trajkov, Branko 1966 births Living people Croatian architects Croatian guitarists Croatian people of Macedonian descent Croatian record producers Croatian rock musicians Faculty of Architecture, University of Zagreb alumni Musicians from Zagreb Rock drummers Zabranjeno Pušenje members