Roko Vušković: “I think this is a good point in my career to introduce myself to this kind of competition.”

Ahead of Dora 2022 this coming Saturday we were able to speak with newcomer Roko Vušković and learn more about him and his music. Read below to find out how many instruments he can play, how he first learned about his passion for music, and why he wanted to participate in Croatia’s Eurovision selection process.

Hello there Roko – thanks for taking some time out of your day to interview with us. Why don’t you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

Hello to everyone! I’m a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. I started to write songs since I was a kid but at the same time I started to work on my education. So I graduated saxophone as my first instrument at music academy of Zagreb. Singing is something where I can express my emotions better so only option in my life was to write and sing songs.

Thank you so much for that introduction Roko! And how has life been for you since you were announced as a participant in Dora 2022?

It was pretty busy but I’m getting use to it. I`m always on the road but I’m really happy that more people can hear my music and see everything that I was working on through the years.

Now since you mentioned your music, if you had to describe your musical style to someone, what words, descriptions, or phases might you use?

When I was on college I was studying classical music but I played a lot of jazz, rock, funk an many other styles of music. So I would describe my music as pop with influences of all other styles of music.

At what point did you realize that you had a passion and talent for music? Is it something you’ve always been drawn to or was it a mixture of luck and fate?

I think I felt that since I was a child. It was love on a first sight. Now when I’m older I know that music is the best choice for me.

We’ve seen that you can play guitar in some of your music videos and you mentioned you are a multi-instrumentalist – are there any other instruments that you enjoy playing or learning to play?

Of course! Saxophone is my first instrument but I’m really enjoying to play guitar, piano, drums and bass guitar.

It seems that this will be your first time participating in Dora, what motivated you to submit a song this year and compete in the national selection?

I think this is a good point in my career to introduce myself to this kind of competition. I love Dora as a competition and it’s a real pleasure to be on that stage.

I noticed that a lot of your music focuses on the topic of love – does your song “Malo kasnije” focus on a similar theme or is it completely different from your previous singles?

Love is a unique theme for everything and everyone can understand the meaning and feel something through the lyrics. So this theme I want to sing the story that’s true and that is meaning something to me.

And I’m sure that you’ve been hard at work getting things ready for your performance on February 19^th. Can you give us any hints as to what we might see on stage?

There would be four more musicians and dancers with me on stage. The rest you would have to see on Saturday. But I promise it would be very powerful!

The winner of Dora will go on to Eurovision to represent Croatia in Turin. What are some of your favorite things about the contest?

Experience for me is the most important thing. To feel that stage, see other countries and to see and feel music from other perspectives. That’s what I’m hoping for.

As we wrap up, for those who want to connect with you ahead of or after the selection– where can they find you and your music?

I’m posting all of my music on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. So you can find everything there for my new music and videos.

Last question – is there any message you’d want to share with the ESCUnited readers?

I hope you will love the song I hope you will love the show. Vote for me and stay happy and healthy. Love you. R.

Well Roko, thank you for taking some time to speak with us and we wish you the best of luck during Dora!

What do #YOU think of Roko’s song “Malo kasnije”? Let us know on social media @ESCUnited, on our discord, or on our forum page!