Clash of Civilizations - Story

For centuries, a harmful myth has been perpetuated that we live in a divided world, that there are fundamental differences between races, cultures, and civilizations, and that this divide can only be bridged by military, economic, or cultural domination. The Clash of Civilizations collective represents one effort to challenge this myth by illustrating the common musical bonds found within all cultures.

This is an electronic music project created by two friends, Boston-based composers and music producers Milan Kovacev and Nikola Radan. The goal of the collective is to create unity and harmony by clashing various music from around the world: traditional voices, historic samples and melodies, (some dating back hundreds of years), and original native instruments.

These separate pieces are seamlessly melded together to create something entirely new and harmonious, something that as a whole is more powerful and moving than its separate parts.

Clash of Civilizations project involves creative musicians and performers from USA, Iran, Israel, Turkey, Cyprus, France, Albania and Serbia, all currently based in Boston and New York.

About Creators

Photo by Roger Gordy

Milan Kovacev and Nikola Radan, both originally from Serbia, met each other in Boston and started performing, writing and producing music together during late 2007.

Milan Kovacev (aka Hip Son) brought his electronic music background, with writing credits in several indie movies and performances on TV networks including MTV, VH1, Fox, and BBC.

Nikola Radan came from classical and world music scene as composer, flautist, ethnomusicology fanatic, and an explorer of new sound of flute in the contemporary music and modern improvisation, mostly based on sound of cross-world traditional instruments.

Influenced by the political theory called “clash of civilizations” and effects of various human conflicts around the world, they have come up with an idea to start a musical and conceptual project with the same name.