Maika Makovski

Maika Makovski is a Spanish singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist, born in 1983 in Palma de Mallorca. She is on Muzika-Balkan because her father is Macedonian; her mother is from Andalusia. After moving between several countries from 1998 to 2003 she settled in Barcelona, where she is based. She writes and sings mostly in English, a rock singer-songwriter who also trained in fine arts.

She began writing songs at twelve and playing live at fourteen, and at fifteen won a contest judged by Sony Music, Rockdelux and Spanish national radio. In 2002 she won Eurofest in Macedonia, as well as Balears Sona, and Altaveu Frontera followed in 2003. Her first album, Kradiaw (2005), drew the attention of the press, and she toured with Howe Gelb, The Dubliners and The Jayhawks, living between New York and Barcelona. The second album, Kraj so koferot (2007), was more intimate.

In 2009 the producer John Parish invited her to Bristol to record her third album, Maika Makovski (2010), with Jim Barr of Portishead and Billy Fuller. With her band she toured it in London, New York, Chicago and Austin, and in 2011 they won the UFI award for best Myspace artist. Desaparecer (2011) grew out of her stage work with the director Calixto Bieito, and Thank You for the Boots (2012) was her most optimistic record. Her music for Bieito's Shakespeare production Forests won a Max award in 2014.

In 2013 she travelled to her father's land, Macedonia, where she discovered her roots, and the trip inspired Chinook Wind (2016, Warner), produced again by Parish. In 2017 her research project into her musical roots, CarMenKa, won the second Teresa Rebull prize. From 2018 to 2021 she hosted the music programme La hora musa on Spain's La 2.

MKMK (2021), recorded in Tucson with Howe Gelb on "Reaching Out to You", won the MIN award for best rock album, and "Love You Till I Die" was used in the film La jefa. Bunker Rococo followed in October 2024, recorded again in Bristol. The playlist gathers its videos and her recent live recordings, including Live - Palau! (2026).