Interview with Milenko Vujesevic

or...

THE ALMIGHTY 'ENSH'  

My next interview is with a good friend of mine Milenko Vujesevic (aka. Ensh), he is an entrepreneurial musician and performer from Belgrade, but grew up in Canada. I first met him at a small show in Black Sheep (a hard-core venue in Novi Sad), I was really impressed with him and his whole show. Later on I invited him to perform at CE and recently had the privilege of performing with him on a short tour we did of Graz, Austria. I thought his story about following his passions to earn a living through music were really inspiring for all young people who may be trying to do the same. He is also a fantastic person, so relaxed and encouraging. Every time before I performed with my band I was so nervous and he was always reassuring us and supporting us, it really meant a lot to me.  I hope you all enjoy this short interview; he really did have a lot of good advice and interesting things to say.

Where are you from, and what do you do?

I was born in Belgrade, Serbia. When I was about one my parents decided to move to Toronto, Canada. I grew up there. About two years ago I was going through a major life shift. I was in a toxic relationship, in a dead end job and wasn’t really pursuing my music. Pretty much overnight I uprooted my whole life and moved back to Belgrade. Ever since I’ve been writing, recording and touring with my music.

How did you start making music and where did it begin

The first song I wrote was a song called “My Baby’s Blues”. It was for my grade 8 talent show in Toronto. My friends Mike Powers and Dan Honan played the guitar and drums respectively. I sang. Most of the lyrics were just Elvis song titles and the song was just your standard 12 bar blues. I wore a bathrobe with hearts on it, on stage. I was super nervous, but I fell in love with the whole process: writing, singing, performing, promoting, organising, I loved it all. I’ve been involved in music ever since. After a couple of high school bands I started a project called Lacerda as a solo act doing stuff that’s kind of similar to what I’m doing now. Eventually I decided to make it a full band and we toured North America a whole bunch, but the music had drastically changed direction and after a while it just wasn’t working out anymore.  My return to my birthplace of Belgrade prompted the start of Ensh. Kind of back to my electronic roots. 

What made you want to do this?

I kind of just feel like I have to do it. I love it. The goal with pretty much everything I do in life is to make it possible for me to keep writing, recording and touring. 

What were the hardest parts of making a career from music?

I think in any creative field the main problem comes down to money and sustainability. There isn’t a whole lot of certainty in a music career and I’m not at a huge level where I’m raking in cash. However because of the global economic situation I feel like a lot of engineers and doctors are in a similar situation. There are obviously career paths with more certainty than music so there’s an added level of pressure and responsibility on creative people who pretty much have their own little mini businesses  (in addition to writing and playing music I also have to be my own manager, booker, merchant etc..). But like I said I love all of it, I wouldn’t change anything.

Do you also have other jobs or projects that you work on?

I have other jobs that I supplement my income with. I teach vocal lessons, I teach English lessons, I do some musical production,  and I am involved in partially managing my  family business. So I am fairly busy. My biggest priority is my mobility so I try and have jobs that have a fair bit of fluidity.

What are the best parts of having a career like this

Traveling and meeting interesting people having conversations with those people. Getting to perform songs I’ve written. I love everything about what I do. 

Where do you see this going in the future?

That’s a tough one. I don’t really know. Like I said there’s a fair bit of uncertainty in what I do. Right now things have been going steadily on the incline. I am getting more and more positive attention, more show offers, etc. I think as long as things are going forward it’s safe to say that I’ll continue doing what I’m doing hopefully the scope will be a bit larger and more sustainable, but I’ll probably continue in some capacity either way.

What would be your advice to other young people who want to do something similar?

Be persistent. Be ready for anything. It’s going to really suck at times, but if you really REALLY want to do it, you’ll keep at it. Make sure there’s a degree of honesty in everything you do because people respond best when you have that level of relatability. Try to be as easy going as possible. Things will most likely NOT go the way you expect.

What are some thoughts that you have on life, some things that you have learnt or somethings that you really want to share with others?

I've travelled a great deal with my music for years. I've met people from all over and from all walks of life. What struck me the most have been the similarities and not the differences. Cultural differences are minor... every culture has its own version of whatever the other culture has. In my experience people from all over just want their own slice of life, the little differences within that slice are often negligible. I wish everyone had the means to travel all over. It would go a long way in establishing some perspective.

https://soundcloud.com/ensh

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