26 Host Mix I Progressive Tales with Aleksandar Markovic

Aleksandar Markovic
Sabac, Serbia

He started playing on DJ equipment and piano when he was age 16, and devoted himself learning perfect mixing, coming up with his own ideas on how do certain stuff works and make his DJ sets more interesting.

He started as a big fan of trance and progressive, and later got exposed to techno, house and deep house.

Around 2013, he started playing in small clubs in Sabac, and since he moved in Novi Sad for studying, new opportunities came up to him to play in some clubs in Novi Sad as well.

In 2018, he joined his friend and colleage Igor D. and the story developed even more for him.
Now, Aleksandar is one of the hosts on Progressive Tales Podcast and performed at many parties organized by Progresivna Suza community.
Also, last year, he was one of the DJs who played on the first birthday for the same organization at club DOT.

Progresivna Suza was founded in 2018 as a spontaneous initiative by passionate fans of the progressive house genre from Serbia and Croatia. This organization aims to unite individuals from all over the world who share the same passion, live progressively as part of their daily life, recognize no borders, and want to express their feelings through music uniquely and intimately.

From 2018 to 2020

During the group’s two and a half years of existence, as the number of new members grew, Progressive Suza organized over 20 parties in clubs in Belgrade and Novi Sad under the name Progressive Tales. Local support was provided by progressive house artists such as Bokee, Aćim, Jelly For The Babies, Popi Divine, and Miloš Miladinović, while well-known hosts like Lukai, Igor D., Aleksandar Marković, Hobin Rude, Despić, and Migazz also contributed.

The indispensable podcast began its first season with a weekly show in collaboration with the DeGori Project in 2018. In the second season, the podcast adopted a new, independent name, Progressive Tales. Alongside main episodes, the podcast included bonus editions that offered an open opportunity and support for emerging young DJs from around the world. Over the first three seasons, more than 150 artists participated in the Progressive Tales podcast. Among the artists who collaborated with us are Cid Inc, Dmitry Molosh, Alex O’Rion, Kamilo Sanclemente, Anthony Pappa, Mauro Augugliaro, Kyoto, Lerr, Buba, DJ Ruby, Simos Tagias, Gux Jimenez, Eran Aviner, Ewan Rill, RIGOONI, Stereo Underground, Guy Milani, Forerunners, Lucas Rossi, Jelly For The Babies, and many more.

2020 – 2021

In early 2020, Progresivna Suza hosted its first international performer independently, the brilliant producer East Cafe from Hungary, at the DOT club in Belgrade. In collaboration with the Blender organization in 2021, we organized events such as Guy J All Night Long and DJ Ruby‘s debut at Barutana.

During the pandemic-affected year, we hosted great artists on our YouTube channel including Subandrio, East Cafe, Gui Milani, DJ Ruby, Luciano Scheffer, Mauro Augugliaro, Missus, Andre Moret, Bachir Salloum, Lerr, Adnan Jakubović, Lukai, Buba, Despić, Hobin Rude, Igor D., Aleksandar Marković, JFR, Glow Funk, and Nichols. Over 60 episodes were aired daily under the title Antidepressive Tales.

The first Suza Picnic at Košutnjak in Belgrade, held in June, gathered a large number of group members who enjoyed socializing and culinary specialties by Svetislav Đorđević.

Following the launch of the official website, the content was enriched with numerous interviews featuring prominent artists from both global and domestic scenes, including Anthony Pappa, Guy J, Hernan Cattaneo, Nick Warren, Henry Saiz, Fernando Ferreyra, Navar, Sebastian Sellares, Antrim, Dmitry Molosh, DJ Ruby, Guy Mantzur, Audiostorm, Aćim, and many others. The site also includes member-written articles emphasizing educational content and a selection of the freshest tracklists for fans to discover. Simultaneously, Suza Shop was launched for both Serbian and global markets via Brendly and RedBubble platforms.

The third anniversary was celebrated at the DOT club with a special guest from the Netherlands, the star of the Lost & Found label, Navar.

2022

In 2022, Progresivna Suza embarked on its journey with Suza Records, releasing its initial productions. The first few EPs were signed by Kyotto, Hobin Rude, Andres Moris, and Partenaire.

The podcast lineup was reinforced with the Rove series, offering listeners a different sound and giving artists the freedom to showcase music across genres close to house. Fantastic journeys through organic, deep, micro, and tech house were shared by VieL, Erdi Irmak, Emotional Tourist, Mass Digital, Slow Hearts, Fernando Ferreyra, Nohan, Kento Kumazaki, Roger Martiney, and Yuichiro Kotani.

During the spring season, we hosted another brilliant Dutch producer, Alex O’Rion, at the DOT club, while continuing our collaboration with Tunnel club in Novi Sad, featuring Jelly For The Babies and Lerr.

The first official Lost and Found showcase in Belgrade‘s Barutana club was organized in partnership with Blender organization, featuring performances by Guy J, Roy Rosenfeld, and Hobin Rude.

In August 2022, Suza organized its first two-day festival in the Vojvodina village of Turija. The event at Tatić farm featured 12 performers, including DJ Ruby, East Cafe, N-Tchbl, Jelly For The Babies, Adnan Jakubović, and many others.

The year concluded with the organization’s fourth anniversary celebration at Tunnel club in Novi Sad, where Greek producer Simos Tagias performed for the first time in Serbia.

2023

In January 2023, the organization was officially established as a non-governmental association named “Center for Progressive Culture: Progresivna Suza“.

During the first part of the season, events and guest appearances continued in clubs across Novi Sad and Belgrade. Serbian audiences experienced performances by Israel’s Eran Aviner, Montenegro’s Buba, and guests from Australia GMJ and Olga Misty for the first time.

The second edition of the two-day festival in Turija took place under the new name AVANTURIJA Festival in August 2023. This festival offered a unique experience blending positive energy, nature, music, and artistic activities, all aimed at pure enjoyment. The lineup included Roger Martinez, Stereo Underground, Hobin Rude, Emotional Tourist, Nohan, Missus, Hobin Rude, Igor D., and Bokee.

Suza Records continued its progress, signing 15 releases with artists from around the globe, including Cream, Luman, Stage Van H, Mauro Augugliaro, Missus, Will DeKeizer, NuFects, Kandar, and Rockka.

The fifth anniversary was celebrated at Kult club in Belgrade with performances by domestic artists from three generations: Hobin Rude, Aćim, and N-tchbl.

2024 –

In March, the new concept Retrogressive Tales featuring music from the early 2000s played exclusively on vinyl records began at Kult club in Belgrade, with DJ Ruby and Popi Divine taking the stage.

The traditional Suza Picnic continued with its third edition in May at the same location in Košutnjak, Belgrade.

In collaboration with multimedia house Infinity Lighthouse and Blender organization, Progresivna Suza released the official Serbian edition of the book “Hernan Cattaneo: El Sueño de un DJ”. The book launch took place at Barutana club in Belgrade on June 1st before performances by Hernan Cattaneo and Hobin Rude.

The Progressive Tales podcast entered its seventh broadcasting season alongside the Elevation series.