Interview with Gardalin Shtavica

Magnitude is best known for their songs “Kujtimi” and “Jack, Rock and Tripa”, where “Jack, Rock and Tripa” was even nominated for “Best Rock Clip” at Starcard Video Fest 2013.

When was the Magnituda group created?

The predecessor of the band Magnitude was Group X which was founded in 2007. Group X was spontaneously founded for a musical evening. But then we noticed that there is a spirit of cooperation, so we continued to work together. In 2010 we managed to become a standard formation, so basically the group that we are today. After a while we decided to change the name from Group X to Magnitude. This is because Group X already existed in Albania.

Tell us more about the band members.

 Mangitude consists of five members, a typical formation for a rock band. The band consists of:

Leonita Mullabazi – the youngest member of the group, vocalist,

Lorent Shtavica – Bassist,

Besim Durguti – Pianist,

Veton Kadiri – Drummer,

as well as me Gardalin Shtavica – Guitarist.

How much did you manage to adapt to the new singer, Leonita?

Leonita has brought a completely new style to the group, different from the style we cultivated with the former vocalist Hyseni.

With Hyseni we went more with the classic style of rock and hard rock, it was something natural for the group, it was the style of all the members of the group, whereas Leonita brought new colors to the group, more modern styles, maybe we had a some challenges along the way but we are composing very well as a group and I think the change has brought freshness overall.

Have you managed to achieve your goals?

We have achieved our goals through hard work. Normally, rock music is expensive, but what has helped us is that all members of the group have other professions, and we have done most of the work ourselves; each of the members has contributed to one aspect or another in the realization of projects. I, for example, have dealt more with compositions, writing texts, normally in consultation with other members, Lorenti on the other hand has worked on the editing of the last clip with the help of Besim and Veton. We made the video clips ourselves. Finally, we are recording the songs ourselves, as we also have a small studio which meets our needs.

What was the project with which you debuted on stage as a group that makes Rock music?

It was “Hesht” with Group X, but this song was left without a video clip and was broadcast only on the local radio, Radio Start. Whereas with the group MAGNITUDE, it was the song “Kujtimi” realized with a video clip, which was a very popular song, and was broadcast on television.

What does Magnitude promise in this 2014?

Magnidute is implementing a new project with the new singer, it will be a debut project with a new lineup, and this is our goal for this year. We hope to participate in Videofest again, hopefully, this time also grab some prizes. After the realization of this project, I believe there will be more projects to come, but that is what we are promising at the moment.

Interviewer: Samahate Sada