Ibranovski, Ghetto Mainstream, and the Hustle [Exclusive Interview]

Ibranovski, Ghetto Mainstream, and the Hustle

12/22/2018

Tell us about your early life and your eventual transition into a full-time musician.
I come from a refugee family that didn't had the tools or money to give me a solid start in life and this music thing. I always worked my ass off for less and needed to hustle to survive and provide for me and my family. This only increased when my parents got a divorce, but I've made peace with my roll in everything. That's just how it is. Change can only be made by yourself.

When I was a kid, I played a lot of soccer but it was when I started going out with friends that I fell in love with the nightlife and everything involved with it. My musical preferences where urban-like and that really showed in the collection that I was playing out when I started DJing.

What inspired you to create the Ibranovski project and how did your past musical experiences prepare you to start the new project?
Back then, I shared the same studio and team with Blasterjaxx, who actually inspired me to get into EDM in the first place. At this point, I started making this type of big room music and when we figured out a name, Ibranovski, and Blasterjaxx started playing it, the whole project went off. DOORN, the Spinnin' sub-label, was the first to sign my debut single, "Vicious," which was an amazing way to start this chapter of the journey. The support I got for that track resulted in a lot of collaborations with Dimitri Vegas Like Mike, Blasterjaxx and releases on a lot of cool labels.

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You've since cleaned all of your pre-Ghetto Mainstream tracks off of your Soundcloud profile and have embraced the bass house scene wholeheartedly. What caused this sharp shift in musical direction?
After while, the team that surrounded the Ibranovski project from the start split up which left me feeling like an orphan in the big room scene. At the time, big room was still doing well, but I wasn't happy with the whole situation I was in. I knew I had to keep Ibranovski alive and so the Hustle kept going, but I needed to reboot Ibranovski to something I felt most comfortable with.

I embraced the house scene because the songs I started making felt like something that I created from my own purest preferences. I'm not big ashamed of my big room days, but I do feel like it wasn't the pure Ibranovski.

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Ever seen a bullet-smashed windscreen? The hole at the center becomes an eye. You see less through it but you gain focus, sharpness. That's how it is -- our wounds become our eyes. Seeing outside becomes seeing inside. It's time for my 6th bullet & final one of this journey, which I call a Hustle. I call it a Hustle because just like every other person during this, I deal with rejection,struggles,suffering, pressure & anxiety in all aspects of life. I sacrifice alot to create things the way they are. To everyone out there reading this. I'm here to take what's mine & give back whats real. This is a piece of my soul. -Ibranovski

A post shared by â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡ (@ibranovski) on Dec 6, 2018 at 9:00am PST

Now we're on the sixth and apparently final chapter of the "Hustle" with the last Ghetto Mainstream EP coming out on Confession. Why have you decided to end the series and how do you feel you've succeeded in bringing the Ghetto into the Mainstream?
If I look on how the Ghetto Mainstream series went off on all these different labels, I think it's been really impressive. However, making this into reality was really a Hustle of working my ass of in the studio, getting the songs to the right people, label stuff, getting shit done, and earning me some money.

I'm ending the series because I feel like I don't have anything left to prove to the industry or my fans. I want to give myself some time and space so that I can make more singles like the free download I just released. Dropping so many EPs is intense and unsustainable in the long run. To summarize my previous answers, it has been a rough journey so far and treacherous road ahead to keep Ibranovski going.

Looking back from the shift from big room to bass house, how do you feel the crowds and atmospheres of these two scenes are different?
When I was playing big room music, I felt like just a pawn in the industry. Contrast that to now for the house shows, it feels like I'm one of the people in the crowd and it feels pure because it's the sound that truly is me. House is certainly more intimate and underground, whereas big room is still like arena-type of music and to me, it's just played out at this point. No disrespect to the genre, but I think it's boorish in my music life and preferences. In the end. the sound at a lot of festivals and parties is twisting and changing every year, so anything could be hot at some time on these stages.

These days, what do you enjoy doing when you're not on stage or in the studio?
I try to maintain my attention and commitment to my family, girlfriend, and friends but making my dreams reality is priority number one. For me, working never stops as I'm still not there where I want to be and if you ask me what I want to be: I want to be an icon for this whole industry. Whenever I do take some time off, I like to go out and have some drinks, enjoy some good food, or kickback and watch movies or play video games.

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What should we expect from the next chapter of Ibranovski post-Ghetto Mainstream?
There is still going to be a lot of Ghetto Mainstream and house music coming from me in the future. Right now, I'm exploring a lot of styles that are close to house music but I don't want to get into which specific styles just yet. Just know that this will be an evolution of my recent tracks. I also have a lot of cool collaborations and songs coming up. I've been hanging out with my homie, VLADO, in the studio and he will be the next big thing, I can guarantee you that. For 2019, I'm planning on dropping a lot of music coming year, like a-real-fucking-lot. So stay tuned.

A huge thanks to Ibranovski for taking the time to answer our questions. Be sure to follow him in his journey and check out his social media pages if you haven't already!