Born and raised in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Ivkovic is someone with a particularly unique talent for selecting records and weaving them into a larger – and often unusually compelling – narrative. Witnessing the peak of alternative culture and disintegration of the society in his formative years. Moved to Germany in the beginning of the 90’s, in the late 90’s early 00’s invited artists like Carlos Souffront, I-F. I-G, Marco Passarani, Serge (amongst others) to play Selected and Substance events.
He first dabbled in DJing as a teenager in the mid ’80s, but it was only after leaving Serbia (to study in Germany) and later coming back for a summertime visit that he truly immersed himself in the craft, taking up position behind the decks during a series of impromptu parties at a lakeside restaurant owned by his parents.
From there, he spent much of the next two decades honing his skills while throwing events like Selected and Substance that played host to a cross-section of boundary-pushing DJs, long before it was fashionable to do so. Eventually, Ivkovic found his musical and spiritual home at Salon des Amateurs, an unassuming spot in Düsseldorf that’s gradually proven to be wildly influential, giving rise in recent years to otherworldly talents like Lena Willikens, Tolouse Low Trax, Jan Schulte and many others, including Ivkovic himself.
With its small size, Salon des Amateurs provided something of an open platform, a place where true music lovers could experience DJs exploring sounds and genres that strayed far from traditional electronic dance music tropes. That same adventurous spirit has found its way into Ivkovic’s curation of Offen Music, a label he launched in 2015 specialized in authentic subjectivism. Although the imprint’s output is all but impossible to neatly categorize – experimental Serbian rarities sit alongside ambient excursions and moody synth-pop in the label’s catalogue – the label’s open-minded approach and embrace of off-kilter sounds perfectly encapsulates Ivkovic’s artistic temperament.
One of the finest selectors of hidden musical gems, he gleans from the most cloistered sonic lagoons – expect to see Loch Ness’s dragon dancing on the floor.