Interview: Martina Barakoska
Maybe you're one of the 54,000 people who follow drummer Martina Barakoska on Instagram? Or, maybe you've never heard of Martina, and we get to be the ones to introduce you to her? Either way, we're excited to share an interview with this super talented, hard-working drummer from a small, ancient country in Europe. Here's Martina, interviewed by Tandem's founder, DK. Their conversation covers gear, technique, money, mental health, and other topics related to life as a working drummer.
Enjoy!
DK – Let’s dive right into your playing. Your drumming style has been described as “deep and thoughtful yet energetic and playful”, which is a great summary. I’d like to ask a two part question about your playing: How do you develop your technical skills, and how did your style emerge? Do you think about these as separate things?
MB – Hi! Thanks for this interview, I’m super happy to be doing this! Diving right into the gutter of probably the most complex thing about drums, and that is authenticity and style. I don’t think they’re necessarily the same thing, nor a separate thing. I think they’re intertwined. Sure - the amount of technique and how technically you’re playing and what kind of exercises you’re doing limits you or frees you, depending on the skill. It also influences your sound and playing. I always seek creative ways to practice technique - unless I have a technical difficulty that I have to assess separately.
I’ve known about rudiments and been working on technique ever since I’ve started playing drums so luckily I’ve never had to recover from “extremely bad technique” and really bad habits, I was just continuously working on making it better and more efficient.
The style and sound is probably just all the music that I’ve been listening to and learning. But maybe something that makes my style more recognizable is that I’ve never tried to learn the “top 10 most famous licks, fills, grooves” but I was always trying to come up with something creative and musical that I was hearing in my head. Which doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the right way, it’s just the way that I did it - because it was more exciting to do my thing, than just learning fast licks and patterns.
But now I’m more focused on doing exactly that - practicing patterns and making the most of it morphing into different things and use cases. So I would advise to make it your own - whatever you’re learning or practicing.
So yeah a short answer, I do separate them. I try to practice technique as creatively as possible. And the style is just something that I evolve daily with jamming and listening to music and trying out new things.
DK – You’ve now released two solo albums, Weird Fishes in 2021, and Sunrise in 2022. Taking a project all the way through from concept to release requires so much time and focus, not to mention the creativity, talent, and vision required. How do you approach this monumental challenge and actually pull it off? And what advice would you give to drummers who aspire to release a solo album?
MB – Weird Fishes is a collection of loops that I did in 2021, throughout the year and just decided to share it with the world as an album. And the same idea was with Sunrise in 2022. It was a way of collecting my thoughts and ideas in a way that other people can use them too. I loved the process, that’s why I finished it, and I didn’t start it just to have a solo album, but just because the process of finding those ideas was interesting for me. I would love to repeat that, and maybe do something more. I would just say that you should enjoy the process of making music and take time to explore and experiment, then collect all the ideas and share it with everybody else! Just have fun (easy to say, duh!)
DK – What are some of the most important or memorable musical concepts you’ve learned from a mentor, and how do these “a-ha” moments find their way into your playing?
MB – The first a-ha moment was when I learned about the “full stroke” and practiced it and saw an immediate progress in my technique and overall playing because something about that “loosen up” thing clicked in my head and suddenly everything became easier. That was from my first teacher Ivo. The other a-ha moment was the practicing approach from Claus Hessler, when he said he organizes his practice time into chunks of 30mins, loved that advice and I implemented it immediately, it has made my practice time so much more productive.
DK – Let’s talk gear. Specifically, cymbals. There are so many great cymbals out there. If I’m not happy with my cymbals, how on earth do I go about finding the right ones?
MB – There are for sure, haha. I find drummers that I love how they sound and see what they play. That has always done the job for me!
DK – You live in North Macedonia which, to many of our U.S. readers, will sound like a cool band name. What is the music scene like there? How much of your community comes from the local scene vs the internet? Does geography matter anymore?
MB – Social Media is definitely blurring the imaginary lines of the borders, finally. I think if I was here 15 years ago there was no chance I would have achieved the same things without it. The music scene here is cool for a small country, but it’s too small to just stay inside, so bands tend to tour around the Balkans and hopefully even further.
My community is actually pretty much US based, Europe - mostly Germany and Macedonia. And I’m happy that there’s a little bit of everything :)
DK – What are some unique attributes about your country of origin’s culture? And how do you think this culture manifests in your playing, and in the way you are going about your career?
MB – One unique thing about our folklore music is that it is very natural in odd-time. So you hear stuff in 7/8, 11/8, 9/8 etc. as something very normal. The way that this came up is because of the language - our language fits most naturally in odd time signatures so it’s something that came naturally instead of people trying to make it “difficult” and “complex”. It definitely feels and sounds very normal. I think that’s a cool thing that definitely affected my playing in some way that is not really “conscious” because I was growing up with it.
DK – What advice would you give our U.S. readers about how to discover and support non-U.S. artists?
MB – They can definitely discover it through social media, and there’s also so much good music that’s not in English, maybe if there was not a language barrier it would’ve been easier? Maybe non-US artists actually need some advice too haha :) We definitely have a few extra steps to do.
DK – OK let’s talk about money. Surviving as an artist is an artform in itself. How do you make it work? What advice do you have for other artists who are wondering if being an artist is even possible anymore?
MB – I work a lot! There’s no way around it. If you’re your own boss, and also an artist - you have to be very well organized and be able to work on projects simultaneously. I’m teaching, touring, making music, doing session work, studio work, content creation, partnerships and everything that comes along my way that seems interesting. I strongly believe that being an artist is still possible, but not in the same way and with very different tasks from 10 years ago for sure.
DK – These are heavy times, and artists are notoriously susceptible to feeling the weight of the world. Do you have any drummerly advice for how to stay positive and practice self care?
MB – Oh I can’t lie that I’m also sometimes struggling with staying positive and practicing self-care. It’s sometimes hard to practice self-care in such a fast paced world - I always feel like I’m late for something or that I have something to do.
One thing that keeps me grounded and healthy physically and mentally is definitely training, I love training. Also meditation and journaling is something that helps me a lot when I struggle with my thoughts and feelings.
DK – Who are some of your favorite drummers these days? And what is it you like about them?
MB – Steve Gadd! I love how he’s so musical and very unique in how he comes up with his drum parts.
DK – Technique aside, what makes a drummer fun to watch?
MB – Different for everybody - but I think whatever the drummer’s doing - they should be doing it with confidence. Smiling, serious, energetic, whatever it is, it should be done with confidence.
DK – By all metrics, drumming is still a male dominated instrument. Why do you think this is? Does this present challenges in your career? Or does it work to your advantage? And what advice would you give to female/female-identifying drummers who are up and coming?
MB – It is a great moment to be a female / female-identifying drummer because now it’s not weird anymore – it’s just a (more) normal thing that you see. I do tend to be very careful about who wants to hire me and if they’re hiring me because of my playing / vibe or just because I’m a female and they think it would look cool to have me on stage. I definitely don’t want to be a part of the latter.
The only advice is that you’re not alone anymore and we still have work to do and we’re gonna do it together! That’s what I say to all my students that are females / female-identifying :)
And no, I don’t really have the answer to why that is still, but I don’t think this is only a drums problem, and finally we’re changing it. Encouragement is key and the more we are - the more there will be!
DK – How would you like to see the drumming community evolve over the next 10 years?
MB – The drum community is one of the most wholesome communities that I know of, the support drummers have for one another is so amazing and rare. I wouldn’t change anything about it, except to see even more females / female-identifying people playing drums!
DK – Where can our readers find you if they want to hear you play and follow along with your journey?
MB – I’m on tour this summer with Funk Shui around the Balkans if anyone’s around! And you can follow my journey on Instagram/Tiktok where I post everything that I’m up to.
DK – Did I miss anything that you were hoping I’d ask?
MB – I don’t think so! Thank you so much for the interview, loved it 🙏
DK – Thanks for chatting with us!
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