Mitar Subotić

Mitar Subotić "Suba" (; 23 June 1961 – 2 November 1999), also known as Rex Ilusivii (Latin for The King of Illusions), was a Serbian-born musician and composer who was set to become one of Brazil's most prominent producers when he died in November 1999.

Subotić obtained a university degree in his hometown from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia, before continuing electronic music studies in Belgrade. He was a pioneer of electronic music in former Yugoslavia, since he mixed and produced a number of celebrated albums of Yugoslav new wave acts such as Ekatarina Velika, Haustor, Marina Perazić in the course of the 1980s. In 1986, his fusion of electronic music and Yugoslav folk lullabies, In The Mooncage was awarded the International Fund for Promotion of Culture from UNESCO, which included a three-month scholarship to research Afro-Brazilian rhythms in Brazil. Falling in love with the country and its music, he emigrated to São Paulo in the 1990s, where his fruitful production began and ended. During that time he participated in Milan Mladenović's last project Angel's Breath, and recorded his famous album São Paulo Confessions.

On 2 November 1999 he was working on the post-production of the album of his new-found diva, Bebel Gilberto, when his studio caught fire. Overcome by smoke, he died trying to rescue the newly recorded material with her. Suba died just a few days after the release of his album São Paulo Confessions, and shortly before the completion of Bebel Gilberto's acclaimed Tanto Tempo, the biggest selling Brazilian album outside Brazil.

Biography

Early years (1961–1982) Mitar Subotić "Suba" was born on 23 June 1961 in Novi Sad, where he attended the music elementary school, playing accordion and achieving notable success with his accordion school orchestra in Yugoslavia and abroad. He started his career as a rock musician as a keyboard player in the short lived bands 96% and XX vek (20th Century), the latter disbanding in 1982, He studied composition and orchestration at the University of Novi Sad music academy, during which he had shown an interest for electronic music. At the time, Janjetov was one of his key collaborators, as he recommended him to use the pseudonym Rex Ilusivii after a comic-book character, gave him certain ideas and named several compositions.

Simultaneously with the album recording and release, Subotić had worked on music for television, theatre plays and choreodramas: for Haris Pašović's "Jelka kod Ivanovih" ("Fir Tree at Ivan's") and "Mara SAD" ("Mara USA"), Nada Kokotović's "Nojeva barka" ("Noah's Ark"), "U potrazi za izgubljenim vremenom" ("A Quest for Lost Time"), "Plavobradi" ("Bluebeard") and "Medeja" ("Medea"), and Sookie John "Šma" ("Shma"). A number of Novi Sad bands, including Obojeni Program, had Subotić as a sound engineer on their recordings,

The interest for electroacoustic music, which he had shown since his early works through the motifs of Serbian folkloric lullabies, took him to Paris, where, in 1985, he composed theatre music and at the IRCAM institute, he expanded his knowledge in the field of electronic-acoustic music. Part of the recorded material was released as The Dreambird in 1994 by the Brazilian label COMEP Music. He had also started collaborating with notable Brazilian musicians and bands of the time: Katia B, Cibelle, Taciana, Bebel Gilberto (the daughter of the famous Brazilian singer João Gilberto), Arnaldo Antunes, Marina Lima, Marisa Monte, João Donato, João Parayba, and Mestre Ambrósio. The Serbian critic Petar Luković, in a critical review of the album said: "Angel's Breath is not a soft, easy going record; it demands attention, participation; it is an album which corresponds with the listener as much as the listener corresponds with itself. Such Serbian rock albums have never had this, and with the departure of Milan Mladenović, I am afraid will never have...". São Paulo Confessions received positive critics worldwide. However, on 2 November 1999, on the evening of the São Paulo Confessions album promotion, in an attempt to rescue the recordings from his studio which had been caught up in a fire, Subotić died at the age of 38. Since 2008, the Novi Sad Exit festival world music stage was named Suba Stage. In January 2012, it was announced that the Novi Sad Liman park would get a Mitar Subotić place in honor of the musician. In October 2022, the winning ideal plans for Mitar Subotić's monument, designed by Milana Kulića, were revealed to the public. The commission for the monument was initiated by the Novi Sad European Capital of Culture Foundation with the support of the Mitar Subotić Suba Foundation. On 6 November 2023, The monument was unveiled at Suba's Plateau in Liman Park. The unveiling of the sculpture was attended by many Novi Sad residence, including those who knew the artist and his family.

The song Subotić recorded with Marina Perazić, "Plava jutra", was covered by Ana Sofrenović and the recording appeared on the various artists unplugged compilation Bez struje (Unplugged) in 1994. In 2002, a group of musicians from Brazil and the United Kingdom, including Cibelle, Trio Mocotó member João Parahyba, Marina Lima, Phil Asher and Juryman, recorded the Suba tribute album Tributo. In 2005, the Rex Ilusivii In Vitro / Suba Within Us ballet based on Subotić's life was written by choreographer Aleksandra Ketig and the soundtrack for the play was released on the album of the same name. In 2012, the Suba Connection Band, a supergroup consisting of musicians Subotić's had worked with during his career in Brazil, fronted by João Parahyba, performed at the Exit festival's Suba stage.

In 1988, the various artists compilation Ventilator 202 vol. 1, featuring Subotić's song "Zla kob", appeared as number 100 of the list of the 100 greatest Yugoslav popular music albums in the book YU 100: najbolji albumi jugoslovenske rok i pop muzike (YU 100: The Best albums of Yugoslav pop and rock music). In 2006, the song "Plava jutra" ("Blue Mornings") was number 66 on the B92 Top 100 Domestic Songs list, polled by the listeners of the Serbian Radio B92. The list also featured Ekatarina Velika song "Samo par godina za nas" as number one, Haustor songs "Šejn" as number two and "Ena" as number 11, and La Strada song "Okean" as number 39, all from the albums produced by Subotić. The list also featured the Bebel Gilberto album Tanto Tempo produced by Subotić before his death.

The lyrics of the song "Nabor na postelji (Courage)" ("Wrinkle in the Sheets (Courage)"), from the album Disillusioned!, and "Crv", from Angel's Breath, both written by Milan Mladenović, were featured in Petar Janjatović's book Pesme bratstva, detinjstva & potomstva: Antologija ex YU rok poezije 1967 - 2007 (Songs of Brotherhood, Childhood & Offspring: Anthology of Ex YU Rock Poetry 1967 - 2007).

Discography

Studio albums Disillusioned! (1987) The Dreambird (with Goran Vejvoda; 1994) Angel's Breath (with Milan Mladenović, released as Angel's Breath; 1994) São Paulo Confessions (1999) Rex Ilusivii In Vitro / Suba Within Us (2005) Wayang (2018)

Tribute albums Tributo (2002)

Other appearances "Zla kob" (Ventilator 202 vol. 1, 1983) "Arabia" (Ventilator 202 vol. 3, 1985) "In the Mooncage IV", "Outro" (Ex Yu Electronica Vol III, 2012)