Marko Djurasic is a guitarist and singer from Belgrade, Serbia, now based in Taipei. He's the frontman and a founding member of Balkazar, and also plays guitar in the Taipei garage-punk band Fuzzy Wall. He sometimes performs as Marko Fuzzy Balkañero.
Belgrade and Taipei.
Before moving to Taiwan, Marko played with Potkrovlje 25 and Prljava Familija in Belgrade. Rock and punk were a big part of his early bands, alongside the traditional Balkan music he grew up hearing.
In 2012 he helped start La Cumbia Balkanska in Taipei with musicians from Colombia and France. They mixed Balkan melodies with Colombian cumbia and took the music to Japan in 2013. Later the group went in different directions: one became La Cumbia del Sol, while Marko and other musicians formed Balkazar. It wasn't just a change of name.
The guitar and the songs.
He likes taking a traditional Balkan tune, sometimes in 7/8, and playing it on electric guitar. Changing arrangements, bringing in ska, reggae or rock, leaving space to improvise—that's the fun part for him. He also plays Yugoslav rock, punk and songs in Mandarin. Depending on the song, you might hear him sing in Serbian, English, Spanish or Chinese.
Shows and other projects.
With Balkazar, Marko has played Urban Nomad, Taiwan Ska Fest, Celebration Canada and clubs around Taiwan. In 2019 the band performed with Basque musician Fermín Muguruza in Taipei.
He's also played with Earsore and BRIJ, and continues to play guitar in Fuzzy Wall. Away from gigs, he has introduced Balkan music at Vincent's Accordion Studio and the Balkan in Your Area workshop in 2020.
