Cherry Blooms.


Hi.

We skipped a week. The reason - I spent a few days in Serbia as it was the first anniversary of the tragic accident where 16 people. Ages six to almost eighty. Cause - government corruption. No one held accountable to this day. Hence, a year of daily protests now demanding elections. The anniversary itself was a non-political affair. It's difficult to determine exactly but no less than 140'000 people gathered in Novi Sad (my hometown). From all over the country. Most of them coming on foot, some from 300km+ away. We loudly and joyously welcomed everybody on Friday night. Then on Saturday, the anniversary, everyone flocked to the place of the accident - city's central train station. Magic happened at 11:52 with 16 minutes of silence. A ritual that is now performed daily by many. The sound of an endless stretch of people standing in silence, putting all life in the city on hold, was imposing. Being one of many in the crowd felt calming, uplifting and crushing. Sadness and hope filled the space between the people and all the way up to a distinctively blue sky. The signal to end the silence came first, and then the choir sang a haunting song "Cveta trešnja" ("Cherry Blooms"). The lyrics being words of a young girl who passed away in her village under the mountain still appreciating the beauty of the spring landscape. Soul-wrenching and beautiful.

It felt weird to write about the happenings around the band, but we're moving ahead and never stopped really:

Struggling to schedule a date to treat the "Toaster" film crew. How producers do this remains a mystery to us. Any tips on how to buy some drinks to fifteen or so folks at the same place and the same time are more than welcome. Make us realize that every successful gathering of the full band to a rehearsal or any other occasion is a small victory to be appreciated.

Sharing thoughts between us on a potential Spotify exodus. Still no final decision, but wouldn't we love to be in a position to make the monopolists nervous with a anti-capitalist gesture. We still just may... And here I am listening to The Smile on Spotify as I write this not hypocritically at all.

Realizing our portfolio on Deezer is assigned to one of the many other artists known as Ali. Which reminds me of a good one: "Andrew Mountbatten Windsor is now the pervert formerly known as prince". Free tip: before naming your band take the name frequency into consideration. It's like a back pain that keeps coming back. Before the Deezer realization, we really enjoyed being featured on KEXP. In name only, but we may be the first and best ever band name repeat performing there?

Getting people to the concert! We daily run into neighbors and cousins asking: "Planning to play live anytime soon?" That's one week before our supposedly widely announced dates in Sofia and Plovdiv. We're ramping it up with paid one-week advertisements on Facebook (ugh...). We found a warm-up act - still dotting the I's, so can't share yet, but soon. Media appearances scheduled. Should we set up a mailing list? Putting it on hold. Updating cover photos. Uploading reels. And now INVITING YOU TO SHARE THE EVENTS:

Sofia Tickets: https://ticketstation.bg/bg/e22291-ali-live-stroeja-2025

Plovdiv Tickets: https://rockbar.download/event/ali-live-14-11-25/

Finding out that our YouTube tactics need a makeover. Angel from Me And My Devil offered help, now we just need to find the time to capitalize on it. We're on a social media rollercoaster and it's not stopping.

Had a nice chat today with Rosi from Bloomberg/BG On Air today which should air Wednesday. She's a big supporter, but more importantly a great human, animal lover and hard worker with high morals. Shout out to Rosi and her crew for bearing with our long answers to very short questions on the album, video, AI, festivals, etc. If we had 30-40 more Rosi's in Bulgaria it would make a difference. She also just became the editor-in-chief of Business Week. So congrats!

And rehearsing. We went over the wiggly ones mostly, but we found time to try some new stuff. Another piece for us to look forward to developing - should be a banger. Felt lucky to have both Milen and Kalo contributing side-by-side in the Red Room. With a bit of luck, we'll premiere a song at next week's gigs. Really trying to send off Kalo on his hiatus (Sabbatical...? Just asking.) in style. Merch is counted and restocked units on the way. Logistics are figured out thanks to the always amazing House of ALI inductees Mitko, Stefo and Deni. Feeling the vibes, in good shape and like it's going to be a proper something-something.

All in all, all is well in the ALI's JNTROVERSE. Corruption kills. Life happens, but we should happen to it, too.


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