(from L to R) Majkl Jagunic (bs), Ivan Mihaljevic, (vc, guitar, key), Alen Frljak (drums)

First of all: lots of congratulations Ivan! Sandcastle is truly a great album!
How about the feedback you had both from your public and from the journalists?

I.M: Thank you very much Lemmy! The feedback was great. Actually, it was much better than I expected it to be. All the reviews are positive and people love the album.

I've listened to Sandcastle carefully and I've appreciated that your style drives people to love the Guitar, while - in my opinion - other "guitar heroes" that are just trying to demonstrate their skills, have a sound.... very boring!
What do you think about your unique style and how did you develop it?

I.M: Well, I'm always developing my style and I don't think I'll ever stop. I just love trying new things in music and that's how it evolved. I've learned a lot from my favorite guitar players, like Paul Gilbert, Richie Kotzen, John Petrucci, Steve Lukather., and tried to combine all those influences and a little something of my own.

I've done this question, because usually 'guitar heroes' put themselves into something like an 'enigmatic atmosphere' while looking at your videos on YouTube, you seem to be a simple guy! So: how much is it important for you to share your guitar knowledge with people around you?

I.M: I'm not and "enigmatic" guy and I don't even wish to be. I'm trying to be as simple as possible. When it comes to sharing the guitar knowledge, I'm really lazy when it comes to making video lessons (which I do from time to time), but I'm always glad to answer any questions about guitar or guitar playing and help fellow guitarists out.

And how much is it important for you to be a guitar Instructor?
Which is your method? What are your secrets?

I know a new album is coming out, to be released soon.. So, please, could you tell us something in advance? The more you can... of course! I.M: As you probably already know, the album name is Destination Unknown. It features 11 brand new original songs. And a very interesting thing is that it features some great guest artists (Brett Garsed, Phil Hilborne, John Denner, Marko Osmanovic, Igor Tatarevic, Danko Krznaric). I recorded the album with my new band Side Effects that I'm very proud of. I've got an amazing drummer, his name is Alen Frljak (check him out on YouTube, he's insanely good). And on the bass guitar, providing a rock solid groove and a great bass sound is Majkl Jagunic.

I consider myself as a true progressive rock-metal lover!
And I'd like to know something more about your influences referred to this music style...

I.M: I don't really like classifying music in genres. I rather look at it as music that I like and music that I don't like. But that being said, I like a lot of artist that are usually classified as progressive. I love Dream Theater, Pink Floyd, Pain of Salvation, Steve Vai, Queen, Toto. Some of those bands might not have the word progressive in their genre classification name, but they definitely have a lot of progressive elements in their music.

I guess there are many ways to give a definition, a settlement of the term progressive.. Which is yours? What does it mean for you?

I.M: As I said, I don't like genre classifications, because I feel it puts the music in certain boundaries. When I'm writing a song, I'm not trying to write a progressive song. I'm trying to write a good song. The term progressive usually means the music is complex - has many parts, key changes, tempo changes, meter changes.

Do you know of any Italian progressive band?

I.M: I've listened to a few of them on MySpace. There were some good ones, but I can't really remember the names right now.

Unfortunately your beautiful Country has been, for many years, the scenery of a terrible war. You were very young... do you remember something?
And if yes, are some reminds carried into your music or not?

I.M: Yes, I remember the war. I remember the terrible scenery that was on TV on the news every day. And I remember my father was in the army. There are some anti-war lyrics in my songs. I think war should never happen. People are able to talk and communicate! War is just too primitive of a solution.

I.M: I think you're right about that. I'm always trying to break out of the barriers and transform whatever's on my mind into a song.

I.M: I think the child's laugh is actually in the middle of the song. When I was a child, this was one of my favorite classical pieces. I don't think I've ever heard anyone do a full heavy metal band arrangement of that piece. I've heard people play it on the electric guitar, but they always had orchestra backing them and never a full band with drums and distorted guitars. So I decided to do it and I think it's fun.

And still talking about Classical Music, which the composer you love the most?

I.M: If I told you that I listen to a lot of classical music, I'd lie to you. I do like listening to Mozart, Bach and Chopin from time to time, but that's not very often.

And when you simply want to be relaxed, which music do you listen to?

I.M: Maybe something like Keith Urban. He's really a great musician and his music is really relaxing.

How much time are you spending around practicing now?

I.M: In the last few months, I'm spending a lot of time on practicing singing. I also play guitar every day of course. I have a lot of rehearsals, live shows and recording sessions, so I'm playing guitar a lot, but I don't have a very strict practice regimen at this point.

When we talk about 'Ivan Mihaljevic' we usually think about the term: shred
What do you think about it? And do you consider yourself as a shredder?

I.M: I've always said that the term shred is somewhat confusing to me. It obviously refers to playing fast with a distorted guitar sound. I don't understand why is there a specific name for fast guitar playing, when there's no specific name for slow guitar playing or fast piano playing - it's just fast piano playing. I also don't understand why people tend to classify a guitar player as a shredder if he sometimes uses fast licks and they don't have a term to classify guitar players that sometimes play slow. That being said, I obviously don't consider myself a shredder, but don't have a problem if someone else does.

I.M: Croatian scene is quite weird at the moment. There are a lot of great bands, but most of the famous bands suck. And most clubs play terrible music. So, the situation is not good at all, but I'd like to use this opportunity to mention some great bands that aren't getting a lot of exposure. My favorite Croatian rock band would be Cota G4. There's also a band of young kids named Off Duty who are just amazing at what they do! If you're more into harder metal music, you need to check out the band Inciter.(A true fuckin' thrash-prog metal machine www.myspace.com/inciterband)

My website - Apulian Destruction - was originally born to talk about the heavy music of South Italy... (then we opened to other countries as well). Is there in Croatia a website writing about Croatian heavy metal exclusively?

I.M: There are some metal websites in Croatia, but I'm not sure if there's one that talks about Croatian bands exclusively.

I.M: Yes, I was just 18 years old when the guys from Hard Time invited me to play Wacken Open Air . Their guitarist at that moment wasn't able to play the festival (I don't know what the reason was) and they called me to replace him one week before the show. I learned all the songs in 2 days and the show turned out great! A year and a half later, I joined the band full time.

I.M: Thanks! Those festivals are a great opportunity to hear a lot of famous bands at one place and are also a great opportunity for not so famous bands to get noticed by a lot of people.

I.M: I hope so! I hope that after the new album is out, I'll be able to do an Italian tour with my band.

So. here we are! Last question: could you define yourself with 3 words only? And could you define your musicians (Side Effects) in 3 words only?

I.M: I'd rather let others describe me, but I'll tell you about Alen and Majkl.
Majkl - reliable, outgoing, phlegmatic
Alen - talented, amusing, talkative

Thank you so much Ivan! Wish you great luck with all of your projects! You rock!
I.M: Thank you to you for the interview and see you soon*.

LEMMY

*I just want to thank you Paola C. for the translation and corrections.