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Balkan Trance Center - MACEDONIA

Macedonia - place with beautiful lakes, mountains, wildlife and wild parties. Country with around two milion people and going strong, one of the candidates for entry in the European Union.

Macedonia is also one of the centers for the electronic scene on the Balkan Peninsula. Every electronic scene has a huge support from the local youth. The scene slowly developed, from small undergound clubs with 50 visitors to huge raves with 1000 people and more. It started with small parties organized by DJ Bushava Azbuka (the first Macedonian Trance DJ) and the organisation Trance Experience in 1996. Few years later, Macedonia became one of the best places on the planet for parties. S.U.N. Project, James Monro, Etnica among others started coming to play. It had huge commercials on tv, big billboards and campaigns that are almost unimaginable for other countries. People were highly enthusiastic about the trance scene. Three years ago the government brought a law that spoiled the plans of every trance-head - every discotheque must close at 5 o’clock.

That didn’t stop the development. Naturally, it made the promoters even more determined. Parties were held at many places: from huge clubs and parties from capacity of 800 to 1200 people, to small clubs, private parties at weird locations with 200 to 300 visitors.

During the summer u can find a huge number of open air parties, just go to Pablo or Cakra cafés in Skopje and ask around. Now, the trance scene in Macedonia is easily compared with any other trance infected country in the world. You can find excellent parties with splendid DJ’s also outside of the city.

There are several promoting organisations. Digital Dance (mostly full-on artists: Astrix, Talamasca, Skazi), Transforma (progressive and psychedelic artists: D-Nox, Son Kite, Bamboo Forest), Heldream Wizzards (Dark Psychedelic artists : P_Mac, Neuromotor, Stranger, Matutero), Inner Vison (Dark Psychedelic artists: Menog, Rastaliens, Braincell). There are all based in Skopje and DJ’s from Skopje play all across Macedonia, but still the scene is small and very young beyond the capital’s borders.

The future looks bright for the trance scene in Macedonia. As it grows, it won’t be long till u see Macedonia as one of the biggest and best places for parties in the world.

Facts

The rise of Macedonian DJ’s is huge. Few years back there were only a few, now there are at least 15 to 20 quality DJ’s with international experience. Starting from Bushava Azbuka, Navigator, Psychoz , Marko, Vanja, Satellite, to the newest names on the scene: X-treme, Max-I-Mux, Vortex, Jizs and more.
There are also renowned producers, some releasing music on quality labels from all over the globe like: Blisargon Demogorgon (Inpsyde media, Acidance, Ketuh, Alkaloid), Psychoz (Avatar, Trishula, Devils Mind, Dark Life),
Encephalopaticys (Alkaloid, Vertigo, Doof), Dreamweb (Cytopia.org), Atriom (Peak, Bhooteshwara), Imaginary Sight, Yudhishtira (Glowing Flame, Xilium) and more.
There are three labels from Macedonia: Glowing Flame and Xilium run by Marko Daravelski(Imaginary Sight) and Bhooteshwara records run by Valentino Trencev (Blisargon Demogorgon).
The standard of living is middle, sometimes low. Compared to Germany, two times cheaper.
People : Outgoing, comunicative, eager to help.
Places to visit: Skopje : Fortress Kale, the Old Bazaar, City park; Ohrid lake, Mavrovo …