Djordje Stijepovic: They call him artist
Beyond dispute is that Djordje merits placement at the topmost level of music -- Rockabilly, Jazz, Swing, Punk, Worldly styles, Exotica - and the beautiful beast they combine to form.
His years of wildcatting across Rock'n'Roll stages are offset by impressive academic regimen; he boasts degrees in Jazz bass and arrangements, as well as a conservatory one in classical double-bass performance.
His most recent solo single (as Bullfiddlecat) is 2025 untethered raver "Knockout." Djordje uses familiar construction and style, but adds unanticipated key shifts. The Paul Pigat lead and nimble skins administered by Aleksander Petrovic flabbergast. (Too, a factor in the accompanying video's magnetism is the shameless frolic of pinups Scarlet Paige and Terra Jackson.)
Djordje contributed talents to others' 2023 works, including Dark Bardot (by Filip Mitrovic and Andy Baldwyn) and Argentinian singer Fito Paez's EADDA9223.
In 2008, I was writing as CD review editor for Rockabilly magazine. My introduction to Djordje came when I reviewed his group Atomic Sunset's Hot Rods and Pin Ups CD.
"De riguer aggro aside, this Serbian trio's truest worth lies in the same instrumental attentiveness distinguishing all serious musicians," I wrote. "Impeccably precise Sinesa Jovic is ever at hand, Drazen Skaric crafts alarmingly charged exhortations, and Djordje Stijepovic's artful upright maneuvering salutes no superior."
There have since been diverse discs featuring Djordje (as well as before). Among them are platters by Fishtank Ensemble, Beats Antique, Anne McCue, and the BBB featuring Bernie Dresel.
Scattered betwixt was Djordje's four-LP stint with Tiger Army and various soundtrack and compilation work. He's also laid down further solo sounds and lent talents as a guest accompanist: Wanda Jackson, Scotty Moore and DJ Fontana, Big Boy Arnold, and Dale Hawkins wisely called his name.
Still more studio and live performance endeavors matched him with Nickelodeon star Drake Bell and supergroup Headcat (in which he jammed with fabled Slim Jim Phantom and Danny B Harvey).
Putting august genres Djordje enlivens to one side, talk of art may seem incongruous when discussing his rough-hewn roots-musics and Psychobilly efforts. Still, even then, creative intuition and intellectual discipline lurk.
Djordje attends to business and lets observers call him artist. And they do.
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