KOIKOI / Flags of the Future

The concert of the band KOIKOI will take place on Stage 1 in the Creative District on 30 April as part of the Flags of the Future three-day event.

Marko Grabež (guitar, vocals) and Ivan Pavlović Gizmo (drums, samples) started playing together in school with the band CheGuerillaz. In the meantime, Marko Grabež became a famous young actor in Serbian film and TV. Their new music chapter opened in 2017 when the guys met Ivana Miljković (synthesizer, vocals) and Emilija Đorđević (bass, vocals). They founded the band KOIKOI, named after the small Japanese koi fish, that swam in a nearby aquarium.

The powerful indie-rock quartet is deeply rooted in modern psychedelia and under the lyrical influence of older Serbian inventors of art-rock. They were selected by the local publishing house ‘Pop Depression’ as the final work for the sampler ‘Hali Gali’ from the end of 2019. Among the eight new Belgrade alternative and indie bands at ‘Hali Gali’, KOIKOI was recognised as the best and quickly expanded internationally through a contract with the Slovenian indie record label Moonlee Records.

KOIKOI received the full support of indie rock audiences across the Balkans for their excellent singles ‘Ogledalo je zrcalo’ and ‘Mississippi’, causing widespread interest for their upcoming debut album. In the summer of 2021, when Moonlee Records released the LP with 10 songs ‘Pozivi na stranu’, their message became louder and clearer. Currently, KOIKOI is the most promising new Serbian indie rock band, and it is only a matter of time before these guys and girls advance to the main stage.

‘Flags of the Future’ programme is supported by IDEA, DDOR and A1 Srbija.

Photo: N. Knežević