"That's when I started thinking it would be lovely to start my own label," Kovačević reflects.
Now, decades later, the musicologist, producer, and curator has finally done just that by using his experimental music platform Soundologia as a stage to launch Soundologia Records.
Soundologia is an online space that exposes listeners to unique sonic experiences focusing on South Florida. He started the platform with a well-researched podcast in which he speaks to Miami musicians who take creative risks with their work.
Kovačević's first project with the label is ambitious: a three-album anthology collection that mostly features work by those he's interviewed. "I'm using all my musicology knowledge and skills," he says. A stickler for high-quality sound, he brought on sound engineer friends to assist with perfecting the production of each song. "My main intention was to bring artists who are renowned who have sacrificed their lives for music that they perform mostly in South Florida."
In the future, Kovačević will possibly create anthologies that feature musicians from his current Chicago home or homeland of Serbia.
Soundologia Anthology, Vol. 1 was released in February on Bandcamp, and a CD collection is forthcoming. The subsequent two volumes follow in March and later this year. The first is focused on acoustic tracks, while the second volume will be electronic. The third will include music by the artists in the first two but expand to include additional experimental sounds that are less formal, like noise musicians.
Gustavo Matamoros runs Subtropics Organization and is the artistic director of the Subtropics Festival, a South Florida-based experimental music festival he established in 1988. He was one of Soundologia's early podcast guests. "My journey from the Eighties, when experimental music was scarce, to now, with such vibrant discussions and platforms, is remarkable," he says. "Collaborating with Pedja was a pleasure, especially when deciding on a piece to submit for the anthology." His track, which references a sonata by Italian Baroque composer Arcangelo Corelli, kicks off Vol. 1.
Also on the album is Orlando Jacinto Garcia's "Marea Cambiante (Changing Tide)," which includes a violin solo by Mari Kimura, honored with this year's SEAMUS Award for significant contributions to the electronic music world. "Her unique skills include playing subharmonics or notes below the G strings on the violin," Kovačević explains.
Meanwhile, Pianist Chen-Hui Jen's track "Towards Drifting Pines" was composed while the artist was at a fellowship in New York. She sent her first draft to the Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra, which added traditional Chinese instrument sounds to the recording. It includes, he says, "long notes like a drone sound, and it graduates to the full orchestra.""The Soundologia Anthology is a significant effort that fills a huge gap in promoting new music and sound art in Miami."
tweet this
He invited his former mentor from Florida International University's Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator, Dimitry Saïd Chamy, to contribute his graphic designer and visual artist expertise to the digital booklet with detailed liner notes. "This project has allowed me to reconnect with past professional relationships, opening new avenues for collaboration and lifelong friendships," Kovačević says.
"The Soundologia Anthology is a significant effort that fills a huge gap in promoting new music and sound art in Miami," says Matamoros. "Some of the featured artists — Orlando Garcia (FIU's New Music Miami) and Juraj Kojs (FETA Foundation) among them — are also active in organizing performing opportunities for accomplished Miami-based sound creators, so there are usually several performances a year. It's wonderful to see a collection that represents artists who, like me, chose Miami over other major cities. The project supports us in reaching a broader audience, emphasizing the talent nurtured in this city."
On March 29, Matamoros, a resident artist at the Deering Estate, offered Kovačević center stage at his Subtropics Sound Arts Series at the estate. The series is produced with support from the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs.
The event will include a moderated discussion with ten artists from the first two anthology volumes about their work and the experimental scene in Miami. Kovačević will explore the process of structuring, curating, and presenting the works, as well as the technical compositional techniques they used. They'll showcase clips from the Soundologia Anthology over the Deering Estate Blackbox Theater's new sound system.
"It's an opportunity for the community to meet the artists and get a preview of what's planned for the Subtropics Marathon Festival," Matamoros says.
"We have a chance to see each other. And to share our passion and mutual efforts that we contributed to this project," Kovačević says. "I really feel honored and grateful to be a curator and to invite all of these participants to be first on the releases under the Soundologia label and to be in the same room and space answering my questions, not virtual as in the past, but in person."
Conversations With South Florida Contemporary Composers and Sound Artists. 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, March 29, at the Deering Estate's Blackbox Theater, 7220 SW 168th St., Miami; 305-235-1668; deeringestate.org.
