I met Derek Mrdjenovich when I was the ripe age of 16, just beginning my dive into the world of DIY shows in church basements of NJ towns that I’d barely heard of before. It was the era of house parties filled with acoustic guitars, late night fires, and small talk that we weren’t sure would mean anything the next day. At the time, Derek was front man of PA based band The Big Time. The last time I stepped foot inside that church in Nutley, NJ was in the fall of 2015 and it seemed to be the last The Big Time show that I would experience. The band went their separate ways, leaving Derek and drummer, Aaron, to start their new project under the name of “Walkney”.
Walkney began with Derek and Aaron recording a full-length record, touring the U.S./Canada, and through this, they realized that they weren’t getting what they wanted out of the band anymore. It was time to part ways.
Derek told us that “Aaron wanted to be a producer. All I did when I wasn’t recording was jam with my buddies. We sat down one day and it was a mutual understanding. I wanted so badly to give Aaron that record and say ‘yea dude we’re a team’ and I decided that I needed to get out of that before I lost a friend. I have no negative feelings towards those guys because this was my dream and it wasn’t theirs.”
And just like that, Walkney became Derek’s solo project. It seemed inevitable to some, seeing as Derek had the most personal connection to the name.
“Not only is it my mom’s maiden name and it goes back to my roots, but it’s also my middle name. I used to be really ashamed of my middle name, so I think it’s kinda cool to just own it.”
However, going solo wasn’t as easy as Mrdjenovich had hoped. It took a lot of trial and error as well as self-reflection that led to a breakthrough that fuels his passion today.
“I was doing this music therapy stuff with some old woman with dementia, and they couldn’t even remember their sons names, but they remembered all these songs and it kinda just changed my perspective on what music really is.”
Another standout moment for Derek occurred this past October when he hit the road working crew for British band, Airways on their run with Nothing But Thieves.
“It was brutal, but it was a great experience to see how big bands run their show. I was just going crazy the entire time because everyone would go on stage and then I’d just watch and I knew that I wanted to be up there.”
While Derek has never been a shy kid, hustling lines and talking charismatically with everyone he encountered early in his career at age 18, he felt isolated while starting this solo endeavour, causing him to work twice as hard to make his solo career a success. “I used to be a really sociable and outgoing dude, and I feel like since life happened I became this dude that’s really afraid of confrontation. It really hit me like a wave, I didn’t know what it was like to deal with anxiety. I felt so torn up and that has fueled this energy going into this solo career. I don’t wanna feel like this ever again. I wanna use my powers for good.”
So what’s next in the world of Walkney? Derek’s still trying to figure it out, experimenting as much as he can and finding joy in the music that he fell in love with years prior.
“Being a solo artist is a really sick thing because I can do whatever I want, basically. I can write a pop song, I can write a rock song. I’m trying to push my own boundaries, there’s been some R&B influence, some hip hop influence; it’s more blues-y and brass-y than my previous stuff. I feel like it’s gonna be a good step between The Big Time/previous Walkney and the Walkney that’s coming up now. For some fucking reason, people just believe in me. I don’t believe in myself at all, and I just have to bring myself up. I don’t know why but things just fall into my lap and I’m really grateful because I didn’t think that anyone gave a fuck at all.”
With many exciting opportunities coming Derek’s way, I have no doubt that Walkney will be an incredible success and something that Derek will be proud of for years to come.
“It’ll be hard, but it’ll be really fucking awesome to see what we can do with it. I always try to tell myself, do you wanna live a life of safety and comfort? Or do you wanna say you lived a life of adventure? When I’m 50 I wanna be able to say, I went to this place and not just say that I died in the same hole that I was born in.”
Walkney will be on tour this winter with FV and Rent Party from 12/14-12/22. Links to tickets are listed below along with all of Walkney’s social media and music to keep up to date with all news and releases!
This is an amazingly well written post, and I was wondering if you could tell me more about yourself. I love concerts more than anything on this earth and have always wanted to start a blog forum about them. Any info would feel the inspiration inside of me to write about my experiences and venture out further.
Thank you so much! My best advice is to start by talking to local musicians or any friends that are at all involved in the music scene that you’re interested in. I’m hoping to expand my website in the upcoming year and I wouldn’t feel confident doing so if I hadn’t practiced interviewing and reviewing my friends at their shows. I hope this helped and don’t be afraid to reach out if you have any other questions!