I guess that you were born in the early sixties, is that right ? Where were you born ? Krstic sounds like a croatian name, is that right ? Do you know when your family came to the USA from Europe ?
A: Yes. The eldest of 4 kids, I was born Marija Krstić (like "Maria Krstich"...the "j" has a "y" sound, like in German) in Perlez, Vojvodina, Serbia, Yugoslavia in the early 60's. My parents brought me to the U.S. (San Francisco, California) at age 1. "Krst" means "Cross" and Krstić is like "la Croix" as a last name/surname. Because English doesn't have "ć" with a "ch" sound, we just used "c" & pronounced the name "krstik" for simplicity.
How did you discover your love of Rock music ? Which band had the most impact when you were a young girl ? How did you discover those artists or bands ? Radion ? Family (do you have bigegr brothers or sisters) ?
A: My parents used to listen to the radio while driving and the Beatles were played often. I saw them on the Ed Sullivan Show and imitated them on my ukulele. I also used to watch the Beatles cartoon & the Monkees TV show. When I was 5, my dad bought me The Monkees Headquarters album, and I used to act crazy whenever I heard "No Time" (which sounds like "Johnny B. Goode"), bouncing off the walls & jumping up & down on the bed. They were very tolerant.
Then how did you decide to learn to play guitar ? Did you play early in your teenage years rock music, or did you start with other styles of music (folk, country, classical ?...) ? At what age that was ?
A: At age 1, my parents bought me a ukulele from Maximart near our home in Palo Alto, California. My dad told me, "...because you looked interested & were reaching for it." I played around on that until they bought me a full-sized acoustic guitar at age 5 from a Palo Alto Pawn Shop for $15. It was huge on me, but I laid it down in my lap and played the best I could until I grew into it. I had occasional informal lessons with guitar-playing family-friends until we moved to Central California, when I started regular weekly lessons with Dow Ferguson at age 7. He taught me to play folk songs by Peter, Paul & Mary, Glen Campbell and others, using Travis style picking, a somewhat busy, fingerstyle that greatly influenced my writing and playing skills thereafter. My first music group, at age 9, consisted of myself on the acoustic guitar and lead vocals, my 7-year old sister on backing vocals and tambourine and 6 year old brother on backing vocals. We entered into, and won, community talent show competitions performing "Candyman", "Shambala", "Yesterday Once More" and so on. When I was 12, my parents told me to quit borrowing my younger brother's Teisco electric guitar, with amplifier, which I was using to learn "Stairway To Heaven". I was so upset that I ran away from home. My sister found me an hour or so later walking around outside the local mall as she rode around on her bike looking for me. Instead of punishing me, they bought me a Ventura SG electric guitar and Yamaha keyboard amplifier to keep me at home. I then joined my first rock band at age 13.
What your family or friends said when you started the guitar ? I guess even in the mid-seventies people thought maybe it was strange to have a woman play the guitar.
A: My family and friends never asked why I play, like it was just a normal thing. I believe my parents were proud and also happy that they could tell where I was, as long as they could hear me play. Elementary school classmates were either kind and sweet or mean, as children are (especially in the central California farming area that we moved to, as at that time, some thought we were Russian because of my parents' accents and decided that we were communists and should be treated with disrespect). Although, when I started performing at school events, most of these folks became friendlier. In junior high and high school, people were nicer when they saw me play, except for a few who considered my cover/original bands to be their rivals, although I don't know why, as I was always kind towards them. These guys would steal from me, shout at me from their cars and scratch my car with their keys. We did have our fans, though, and one of our performance photos was included in the high school yearbook. The Runaways were big then and Heart was new and exciting, so I felt hopeful for female musicians, in general. The first band I was in where there was another female was with my sister, Dana (pronounced "Donna") as the lead singer when I was 19. After that, not until I was about 29 for a bit, then much later, playing in bands with guys most of the time until more recently.
When you start playing the guitar, which songs did you learn to play ? Or did you wrote songs early on too ?
A: In addition to playing the (mostly folk) songs listed in the earlier answers, I started writing as soon as I could play, mostly folk-style, while still a child. I started to write rock & roll at about age 12.
Did you start playing with other young students ? Who they were ? What was the name(s) of the band(s) (if you had some) you played with ?
A: After playing at talent shows with my younger siblings, as "The Krstic Kids", I joined my first rock band, "Strutter" at age 13 with some of my school classmates. We played primarily Kiss cover songs, Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, Bachman Turner Overdrive, more hits of that time and some originals. After a change in line-up, we changed the name to "Apollo". After my dad built a rehearsal studio in our garage so he wouldn't have to haul me and my gear to rehearsals, and after several shows, we changed the name to "Scimitar", which was the band I recorded my all-originals album with, half rock and half acoustic-folk. I also had a working country band called "Sunset", then a progressive rock trio called "Omni" which changed to "Exodus" when we got a new bassist & added my sister on vocals, before I moved to Southern California to go to college. I had also been a singer & actor in several musicals in Central and Southern California.
Did you then already expected to be a professional musician ? Or did you wanted to go to college and study something ?
A: I did want to become a professional musician/singer/entertainer and felt that it was important to have as much education as possible for confidence and for general knowledge of my craft and of the business.
Before this first album, did you recorded other songs ? alone or with other people too ?
A: I recorded some solo originals in the local recording studio at age 14 before making the album.
Did you played live then too ? Alone, or with band ? Where did you play ?
If you played live, was it difficult in the beginning because you were very young ?
A: As children, we performed at various recitals, showcase locations and competitions around town. As a teen, I played either alone or with the group in every venue that would hire us. This includes restaurants, bars, high school dances, retirement homes, meeting lodges, hotels, sporting events, theaters, convention halls, parties and barn dances. When I moved to Southern California for college, the number and types of venues expanded, considerably. Even as a child, there was some nervousness before each performance, but I had practiced so much that, within the first song or two, there came an overwhelming sense of joy and playfulness in delivering the music and in sharing the experience with the audience. This has not changed, as the same sensation is what continues to happen each time, making me want to perform as long as I am physically able.
What decided, or who, that you needed to record this album ? Where did you recorded it ? How did you paid for it ?
And also, was it just for the fun of doing an album, or did you expected then to send it to some record labels ?
A: When I was 16, my parents told me that they had saved about $3,000 for my college fund. They knew I had several original songs and there was a local recording studio in our small town, owned and run by Manny Alvarez. They offered to pay for me to be able to record an album as an educational experience and, possibly, get some airplay or for whatever good it might do for my career. Immediately, I began to research everything I could get my hands on to learn how to make a record in the most professional manner within the available budget. The songwriting and recording part was the most fun, but the business part was the most difficult.
These were the Easy Tasks:
Writing the songs
Rehearsing with the band
Recording the music
Starting my own record company, Blushing Beast Records
Designing the cover and label
Copyrighting the music
Registering the music with Broadcast Music Inc.
These were the Difficult Tasks:
Receiving the first shipment of records from Korelich Engineering, the West Coast pressing plant for the Elvis Sun 45's, and finding that they printed the wrong label design & color on the records.
Finding that the order of songs on the record did not match the order on the label.
Finding that the song order on the record jacket didn't match the record or label.
Finding out when I was 17 that I had to pay city taxes on my record company, which is when I decided to close it down.
It took a year between the time I first started to record and the time I received the properly finished product, with all of the back-and-forth, delays, quality issues, etc.
My mother ended up driving me 200 miles south to the Korelich office in Los Angeles to straighten out the situation. Ironically, there was a sign over their interior office door that read, "It's always easier to do something twice than it is to do it right the first time." Mom and I just looked at each other in disbelief. Apparently, that was their mantra.
I did send the record to some labels, but did not receive a response. It did, however, help me to be accepted into California Institute of the Arts, then into Musicians Institute/Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood, California. I also sold several copies to friends, relatives, store customers at the record and music stores where I worked. After a while, I did some other recordings and didn't promote the album as much, thinking that most people probably wouldn't be interested in the music of a 16 year old female guitarist/singer.
Then, a miracle happened. A year-or-so ago, a fellow from Texas, Rich Haupt, contacted me via Facebook to say that he was a record trader/former record company owner whose friend came across my record at a yard sale. He then bought of my 50 records to trade around the world. A few months ago, he texted to say that another friend of his, DJ Shadow with over 1 million Facebook followers, was going to play a song ("Jailbait") from my LP within an hour on National Public Radio. I couldn't believe it...hearing my song on the radio after so long! Rich also just bought another 50 records from me. He was just at a record-trader's convention in/near Austin, Texas, and gave my record to a British producer/engineer, Pete Flanagan, who then came back and asked him for another copy to show a friend of his named Jimmy Page.
What were your inspirations behind those songs ? Did you decide early on to do two sides completly different ? Or was it just an idea you had in the studio ?
Did the recording went smoothly ?
Can you tell me more about the person involved then (Jeff Snelling, Troy Mayfield, David Bertz and Manny Alvarez) ?
A: The songs were definitely influenced by Blues-rock, which was very big in Central California at the time, as well as The Runaways and, for the acoustic-folk side, the folk music that I was introduced to when first learning how to play, as well as John Denver, Cat Stevens, Simon and Garfunkel and others. Folk seemed to be a good vehicle for story-telling and some early social activism, at the time. I was inspired to do the two sides differently because both styles are a part of me and it would work graphically, as the album cover could be designed to reflect that.
The recording went very smoothly and was incredibly fun and educational. The other players, David Bentz (Drums), Jeff Snelling (Rhythm Guitar) and Troy Mayfield (Bass), were ages 15 through 17. Manny Alvarez was the recording engineer and studio owner.
What was the idea behind the cover of the album ? Who is Dana Krstic ? Your sister ?
A: Dana (Pronounced "Donna") Krstic is my sister who was 14 at the time. She was interested in graphic art and design and was helpful in designing the album cover and selecting the font. As in the answer for question 11, I was inspired to do the two sides differently because both styles are a part of me and it would work graphically, as the album cover could be designed to reflect that.
How many copies did you pressed ? Did you sold at gigs (if you did some), if yes, was it the same band ?
A: I believe I pressed 1,000, but may do some new, fresh pressings that are a better quality when I have the funds. I did sell some at gigs and I may bring them to future gigs as well for the merchandise table.
Then what happened, did you want to continue recording your own songs, or did the love of playing in cover bands came early in the eighties ?
A: This is the timeline of my musical events since that time after moving to Southern California, graduating from California Institute of the Arts and Musicians Institute...
Throughout all of these projects, I have continued to write music, much of which was performed and recorded by my bands and some of which is yet to be performed and recorded.
While at California Institute of the Arts, I was with their choir and vocal ensemble and joined the original college art rock band, "Toxic Pets" on guitar and backing vocals, playing all over Southern California and releasing an EP of the keyboardist's music, some of which was played on the radio.
After leaving Toxic Pets, I formed the original progressive rock trio, "Abyss", on guitar and lead vocals, which has performed throughout Southern California and has recorded several demos, which I intend to release soon.
After some member changes, I formed original progressive rock trio, "Dark Light Spectrum" on guitar and lead vocals, which has released a nine-song CD called "First Light" https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/darklightspectrum
Although the members of DLS have moved out of town, I am still performing my original material at various venues with different performer line-ups and recording with new CD's / releases in-the-works.
After DLS, I had formed the world's only all female Jimi Hendrix tribute trio, "Foxey Lady" on guitar and lead vocals, performing globally.
I am also a 7-year member of Southern California's premier all female Led Zeppelin tribute band, "Lady Zep", also performing globally.
I am one of the 3-guitar army, background vocalist and harmonica player in the world's only all female Lynyrd Skynyrd experience, "Systyr 'Skin-'nerd", performing globally and coming to Sweden, Belgium and the U.K (++) in November.
I have a live act which provides a combination of any of the above, including originals and additional covers, depending on the event requirements, called "Mystic Krstic's All Female Rock and Roll Revue", in which I sing lead and backup, play guitar and a variety of instruments.
I wrote 4 songs for a children's educational CD called"Incredible Kid".
Two of my original songs from the DLS album, "First Light" have been placed in the movie, "The Martial Arts Kid".
I have written several pieces of music for radio show openers.
I have been hired to write music for animated logos, commercials, film and other media projects.
How did you join (or create ? i'm not sure, sorry) those Zeppelin and Hendrix cover bands ? When did that happened ?
A: Hendrix was first, as, in 2004, a female bandmate in the latest incarnation of Dark Light Spectrum suggested that we do a tribute band to try to increase our income. Jimi Hendrix was the first artist that came to mind. I auditioned several female drummers until we found the right one, although I now keep a roster of female musicians to call on depending on the date & requirements of upcoming gigs and player availability.
In 2011, a local all female Led Zeppelin tribute, Lady Zep, in which my friend is the drummer, needed a replacement guitarist/backing vocalist, so they had me audition and I was selected.
Since then, did you continue writing original songs, did you even recorded them (at home ?) Or did you recorded with other bands too ? If yes, is there other albums somewhere with your guitar playing ?
Although I have many original songs waiting to be recorded, the most recent professional recording of my originals is with my progressive rock trio, "Dark Light Spectrum" on guitar and lead vocals, on my nine-song CD called, "First Light" available here ♫ First Light - Dark Light Spectrum. Listen @cdbaby or by ordering directly through me, as we did with "Break The Chains".
If even with all those questions, you need to say something, please feel free to write it down too !
A: Thank you so much for your curiosity, for helping me to remember some things I had forgotten and for inspiring me to continue writing, recording and performing!
I will send some photos that I have around and will look for and send some more, when I find them.
All the best to you!