But anyway, sitting in the back in a fold-out chair in the middle of the backstage, not even in the medical room, and I had a conversation with life, God, whatever we wanna call it. However, in the midst of promoting the album on Halloween night, 1992, an improperly secured lighting truss hit frontman Miljenko Matijevic on the head, breaking his nose, cheekbone, jaw, and twisted his spine. Our focus was to bring back the magic in the music with songs that have been lived, loved, laughed and struggled. Then once we got that I would have them sing a rough form, even if they wouldnt sing the melody, right, at least they would sing the words correctly. Were on the 49th show and my manager comes over and says, Hey, theres a show on Halloween night. Theres a lot of songs that Ive written thatI still feel even to this day, like on the last album Through Worlds Of Stardust their songs on there that are a true song that needs to be heard to the world in that genre. Four years later, Matijevic formed a new version of STEELHEART with Kenny Kanowski (guitars),Vincent Mele (bass),and Alex Makarovich (drums) to record and release his third album, "Wait". The Croatian rocker has lived in Korea and is now . Because I grew up with Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Bad Company that energy. She goes, Ok, let me tell you whats going on because my conversations werent focused. It was like, Fuckthis is good!. STEELHEART was asked by heavy metal band SLAUGHTER to perform a show with them on October 31, 1992 Halloween night. I mustve done something really fucked up for everyone to lose me. You know? Well rest, and then well go back out again. I was like, Yeah, absolutely, lets do it.. The song wasnt written. Miljenko Matijevi is a world-class vocalist who embodies STEELHEART and has performed as the lead singer for the current-day DOORS and as the singer for the 'fictional' band STEEL DRAGON from the film ROCK STAR (starring Mark Wahlberg) which also includes Zakk Wylde, Matt Sorum and Jeff Pilson. Here I am on the bus, were doing the 49 show on a tour, and were doing this first leg or second leg, were at the 49 show manager goes, Hey, you wanna do a show Halloween night, and itll be 50, well take a break at 50 in Denver Arena? Im like, Absolutely lets do it. " Andr Maurois (1885-1967) " There is a limit to the application of . Its all about my entire journey up to where I am today. Miljenko Matijevic Net Worth & Basic source of earning is being a successful Croatian Musician. It took me from the arena in Denver to a futon. The Croatian rocker has lived in Korea and . Because I wanted to show respect to each country. Steelheart - This is the ONLY Official Steelheart Facebook Page. He joined a newly formed band named "Red Alert" in the 1980's who later changed the name to "SteelHeart". Just as I took the last step, it hit me in the back of the head. No. My business manager said, Ok, these are the songs that are most listened to. We all go, Ok, this is what we have to give to the audience. And Good 2B Alive was one of them and I was just like, Wow! Its a pretty heavy, slamming song. When we finished the record, Bruce Dickinson, the Vice President of A&R at MCA Records at the time, comes in and tells us, Well guys, Ill tell you what: you gotta change the name, because somebody else owns it. And you know what its like when you get attached to something, but we took it alright. Please press the PLAY icon for the MisplacedStraws Conversation with Miljenko Matijevic -. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends). The first day I wrote it, I wrote the early parts of it in Massachusetts. Something bigger, better. . After a mild traumatic brain injury, there may be no loss of consciousness or it may only last a few minutes. It turned out to be momentous in a way they didn't expect as tragedy struck. LOS ANGELES, Feb. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A brand new exciting solo career is born as the legendary voice from the beloved 80's rock band STEELHEART, Miljenko Matijevic branches out and releases . In general, Matijevic's lower register is softly sung with a breathy tone. It was really intense. SteelHeart Band Official I redid some of the songs and I feltyou know usually bands redo albums and they recut them and its done exactly the same way as it was. With the pressure of the cabin on theairplane, you never put someone with a head injury on a plane. The record was recorded throughout parts of the world, including a live string section recorded in Stockholm, Sweden. We struggled I gotta tell ya. See more ideas about james ward, 80s hair bands, cultural experience. I hope everyone else feels that same energy. They werent relevant anymore. Miljenko knew in his early teens he wanted to be a rock star. And [We All Die Young] was done. Matijevic: No. Im a different animal I guess. We started in Japan and sold 30,000 albums the first day. Ill never let you go, a mother sending her son or daughter into war. He didnt tell me exactly what was going on, and when we landed, I got off the plane, it was 300-400 people waiting for me. So why dont you translate it? And she translates it. And it brought me to where I am today. Ive always been so fascinated by what the Doors were trying to do around that time. Matijevic's stage accident in 1992 changed his career forever; a lengthy recovery period from his injuries followed, and it was four years before he released any more music. I said, Shit. Theres little subtleties in every language, so you dont sound like an American trying to sing Hindi, we dont want that. It was just this energy. Do you have any pre-show rituals for your voice? Frontman Miljenko Matijevic's stayed plenty busy on his own, too whether it's providing Mark Wahlberg's vocals in the 2001 film "Rock Star," touring with Robby Krieger and Ray . Thirty percent is negligence, 70 percent is their fault. And they put a chair a fucking chair in the backstage, instead of putting me in a med room or whatever. Rev Jones and Miljenko Matijevic of American rock band Steelheart perform on October 17, 2013 in Surabaya, Indonesia. I go, Sure, whos the band? He says, The Doors. And I was like, There it is! Something completely different. On writing "Trust In Love" based on his time in Korea - Steelheart has been going to Korea, I've been going to Korea, since 1989, and "She's Gone . I knew it was time to do it with the anniversary, it belongs here. 1 across Asia, and the track "We All Die Young" was later used in the 2001 Mark Wahlberg / Jennifer Aniston film "Rock Star". So I was thinking, Well, how was it supposed to happen?, \raise my hand and say Let it happen. Ive lived there for a little while and worked there, I have friends there, and I know that feeling, the energy, and the connection. Tweets. I couldnt leave the house. The ex dumps you. I go back to Virginia and Im listening in my living room getting used to the songs and I had a hell of an awakening. Well, you made millions 10 minutes ago. It was very odd times. Theres nothing more exciting Im sure Ill speak for all the artists than when somebody gets recognized; especially when they hear a song and its like, Oh, they actually got it. 1:11, On if he learned the languages or sang phonetically No, no. So when I started back in the song, I said, Well, let me go back to the original thought of putting the peninsula together with love. mild confusion. The first single from the disc, "Got Me Runnin'", can be streamed below. Some have commented that Matijevic's head voice did permanently suffer following the accident. Miljenko recently took some time to talk about this unique new song and the band's career. He toured with Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of The Doors in 2010. A Conversation With Steelheart Vocalist Miljenko Matijevic, A Conversation With Great White Guitarist Mark Kendall, A Conversation With Vocalist Robin McAuley, A Conversation With Kings of Thrash (and ex-Megadeth) Guitarist Jeff Young, A Conversation With Simon Collins & Kelly Nordstrom of eMolecule. A lot of people dont know the story of what happened with Steelheart. Are some of the Steelheart songs that are the most popular surprising to you? I put those guys through hell at Frontiers, but theyre going to learn to love me because I dont allow shit out. Its like a hymn. During the set, Matijevic suffered a traumatic brain injury and faced near death when a thousand-pound lighting truss that was left unsecured on the side of the stage fell on him. The sad thing is, I dont know how or what or when or why, but the lawyers did something wrong and it was thrown out of the court. Its awful. [2] In 2010, he did a tour with Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of . We were rehearsing for years in Norwalk, Connecticut, and rehearsing and rehearsing. On "Through Worlds Of Stardust", Miljenko has fused his past, present, and future together, creating an undeniable piece of hard rock music. Didnt do it. Im releasing a song on Valentines Day called Im So In Love With You. SteelHeart became popular for the multi-octave range of Miljenko . Skull fracture. It really reflected on the chorus and really showed the energy and the unification of bringing people together. Were doing this world peace, beautiful song. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends). Matijevic: Growing up, I always felt like I had this voice speaking to me. No, its not good enough. Its beautiful because its exactly steel and heart. These are all the songs that did really well throughout the world. He became world renowned . 10:09, On how he delt with Steelhearts success with the debut record It wasnt sudden steel, Steelheart was painstaking. Talk about getting your ass kicked. Matijevic was rushed to a hospital and Steelheart, for all intents and purposes, ended that night. President Bush at the time said no [songs] with the words die, blood, kill, anything. lightheadedness. STEELHEART led by Miljenko "Mili" Matijevic arguably one of the best male rock vocalist to ever grace the stage miraculously survived the tragedy, however the band STEELHEART as we . has been? So when I finished Italian, it was like, Well, I gotta sing it in the second most biggest language in the world. MiljenkoMatijevic: We were fine with Red Alert. Its gotta be something more to this. With the pressure of the cabin on the airplane, you never put someone with a head injury on a plane. But, hey, its what I do. Oh yeah, that would sound better. 14:57, On the future of the band if not for the accident We could only speculate, but the one thing Ill be very honest about is that, let me explainAll my life, Ive always felt like they need to do something more in music, something, something great. A head injury is any harm to your brain, skull, or scalp. Once you're there you can sign up at GaSDigitalNetwork.com with promo code: SDR for a 14-day FREE trial with access to every SDR show ever recorded and ALL the shows that GaS Digital Network has to offer! On August 20, Miljenko and STEELHEART bring it all back to the beginning, performing "Steelheart" in full, along with fan favorites from throughout their 30 years as a band. STEELHEART, as it was known, ended that night. They hid me from being the voice of Mark Wahlberg in Rockstar. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. Thats where it brought me. Steelheart. Carey, meanwhile, has managed to span the marginally smaller gap between F2 and G7 in tracks Sweetheart, in which her lowest note was recorded and Emotions, which saw her highest. Before you met with the neuropsychologist and started piecing things back together, had you gotten addicted to any painkillers? BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. Miljenko knew in his early teens he wanted to be a rock star. At Denver's McNichols Sports Arena on Halloween night 1992, the band took a last-minute gig opening for Slaughter. Media. Miljenko Matijevic, also known as Michael Matijevic or Mili Matijevic (born 30 November 1964) is a Croatian American rock singer, best known as the frontman of the hard rock band Steelheart. So I sang the chorus, and I put the lyrics of the chorus on my website, and I put it to my fans on Instagram and Facebook and everything, I said, Hey, please sing the course and send me in your vocal. Interestingly, Id had a vision that I was going to do something completely different than what I was used to doing musically. It . Nobody had any answers for me. Can you say this? So I think maybe thats why it didnt happen, but anyway, and I just have this vision. But I put you in front of me, then where does that put me? I was like, Fuck, there it is. It was the DJs time to shine. But it did very well in Asia. He shouldnt have done that. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Then I did Ill Never Let You Go, and we were gonna do the whole band. MILJENKO MATIJEVIC - THE MAN BEHIND THE VOICE My life began in Zagreb, Croatia in 1964. Going back to the beginning, what was it like having to switch from the name you had gone by for so many years, Red Alert, and changing it to Steelheart? To this day we have all these songs that have been remixed into dance, house/EDM, so were going to release that as well. Its taken a long time. I went through seven months of that. They were going to radio with We All Die Young, and they put a lot of money, a lot of promotion, video, to release the song that weekand on Tuesday was 9/11. If it went into the audience, it probably wouldve killed 10 people. I would go through the lyrics with them and so, lets say I did with Liang in China, Beijing. The song will be issued as a digital single on July 3rd. MM: Wait until you hear the DVD we put out next year from the Sweden Rock Festival. But then in Japan, Shes Gone exploded. Miljenko knew in his early teens he wanted to be a rock star. I re-recorded it with four cellos,a contrabass, and filmed the video in Croatia. MM: Ive been using steam rooms and jacuzzis to relax and meditate before a show. It didn't take long to discover the beautiful gift that God had given me. Watch the trailer below. Although they were lumped in with the glut of long-haired hard rock bands emerging in the early '90s, the band was always more forward thinking than their peers and the 2017 version of the band has a contemporary and edgy feel, while still retaining the patented . Anyway, so thats when the accident happened. I know, Chinese, so I did Mandarin, Hindi, and Japanese. And Im sitting there going, Wow. And I walked off stage. Id forgotten about that when it came time to put the all the songs together. By the way, it hit me in the back of the head, the lighting truss. I feel with the properpromotion and people behind it, we can . Vocalist Miljenko Matijevic rose from that tragedy to continue the band and now has released a very special track called Trust In Love as a message of peace to the world. He toured the U.S. and Europe with Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek under the name The Doors of the 21st Century, but these days is back to focusing on Steelheart. Youve got the steel and youve got the heart. The first side is pretty jammin and then the second side slows down a bit. That was a beautiful experience to be a part of it was a gift. Shes Gone is still the number one karaoke song in Korea. So I said, Let me bring the heritage in of Korean people, let me bring back their past where they started, where the love was, what they wore back in the day, Thats when I found the Bell. I knew it was going to come at a time when it was supposed to be, and why not the 20th anniversary and here I am, touring the world I literally risked my life for my soul and test my life for my bread. Thats the opening line. I ended up literally on the floor in the futon, my friends house in an attic. Things kind of call out of me, and Im a patient person. It was nothing to do with that, it was just life just went (boom), and maybe that was meant to be for me to build the man that I am today, I dont know. As far as a new record, the 30th (anniversary) album is coming out this year, for sure. I have another film about the making of Through Worlds of Stardust. Almost impossibly, Matijevic managed to walk off the stage of his own strength before being rushed to a hospital. Acid, weed, heroin everybodys just shot. Come the early 2000s, you worked on the movie Rock Star, which features We All Die Young. Its one of those songs that transcends the movie its tied to and really stands on its own. I think it was time. Everybody just hammered, wasted, burnt. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. Do we do the screaming? I hear what youre saying about doing the track differently. That doesnt feel right for me. I would have not have to have gone through an accident because Ive lost years of time. So after that, then we did a 40-piece orchestra in Macedonia for the strings, then on to other things as well, video and all of that. Everyone has this, except not everyone chooses to listen. It wasnt even a thought, I knew I had to keep going and just move forward. Matijevic came to this realization after a stage stunt led to a traumatic brain injury . Just more. Tell me about Steelheart Records. I was sitting there, and I was in tears. Did you bring your people in on this recording? Come Inside04. We went to Barneys Beanery the band, the manager, the record company and were throwing names around. Metal Edge caught up with the singer for a wide-ranging interview about the stage mishap which nearly killed him, the early days of Steelheart, working with the Doors and that unmistakable vocal range. Directed by Steelheart mainman Miljenko Matijevic, the clip can be viewed below. Well take a break then, itll be great. Infants and young children with brain injuries might not be able to communicate headaches, sensory problems, confusion and similar symptoms. On November 1, 1992 radio rang out with the news of STEELHEART's vocalist Miljenko "Mili" Matijevic defies death during their concert the previous night. Miljenko Matijevic : biography 30 November 1964 - Miljenko Matijevic () (), also known as Michael Matijevic or Mili Matijevic (born 30 November 1964) is a Croatian American rock singer, best known as the frontman of the hair metal band Steelheart. Matijevic:Well first of all, in that time in the United States they were still in a whatever you want to call it grunge thing. The record label dumps you. James LaBrie, Jon Arch, early Geoff Tate, Rob Halford (in the 70's mostly; 80's onwards, he started using pharyngeal voice more and more), Miljenko Matijevic, to name a few. It gets talked about so often that grunge killed glam metal in the early 90s, and the Steelheart debut record didnt come out until the summer of 1990. I went to I dont know how many neurosurgeons. Then I met a neuropsychologist in Westport, Connecticut. Its done from the heart, its done with a peaceful love energy, and its just guided me through this journey that has just been unbelievable from creating the song during the pandemic, its been two years in the making, by the way, so everyone knows this is not something that Im jumping on a bandwagon with love and respect for the horrible things that are happening in Ukraine.