From a Mocked Boy to an Emmy and NASA
Senad Galijašević went from music hits to tech innovations for Hollywood, and says it all started out of spite.
Senad Galijašević went from music hits to tech innovations for Hollywood, and says it all started out of spite.
Senad Galijašević, a musician, innovator, and entrepreneur known to the public as Senna M, recently celebrated his 72nd birthday. His decades-long career has been marked by an incredible transformation, from a regional dance star to the owner of a company whose technology is used by NASA.
His musical journey began in childhood in his hometown of Vitez. At the time, he didn't belong to any of the local 'gangs,' which made him a target for teasing. The turning point came at his first major concert, held right at the city pool.
"As a boy, I was often misunderstood. But when I had that concert at the pool, everything changed. It already looked serious then-amplifiers, guitars... And those same people who used to mock me were holding banners with my face on them," Galijašević recalled for InFocus.ba.
He gained widespread popularity during the 1970s under the stage name Senad od Bosne, with hits like 'Šal' and 'Jasmina.' However, his greatest success on the music scene came as Senna M. Songs like 'Tuc Tuc,' 'Beba malena,' and 'Indijanca' became trademarks of the local dance scene and remain popular to this day.
His career hasn't been limited to music alone. As the owner of the company 'Senna Innovation,' he specialized in advanced lighting technologies. The systems he developed have been recognized worldwide, with clients including major corporations and NASA. The pinnacle of this part of his career came in 2023 when he won the prestigious Emmy Award for achievements in engineering, science, and technology.
For his success in a completely new industry, as he revealed in an interview with RTL Direkt, he credits the defiance from his childhood.
"I started out of spite. There has to be some magic, there has to be some suggestiveness, and you have to believe in it, and little by little it led to really big projects. Currently, seven or eight Hollywood films are being shot, two in Africa, one in Germany, all using my lighting," he said.
Although focused on technological innovations, Senna M occasionally returns to his musical roots. During 2023, he participated in RTL's show 'Masked Singer,' and afterward performed at the Megadance party at Arena Zagreb, where the audience welcomed him with enthusiasm. This May, he returned to the scene with a new song, 'AI.'
His private life is filled with family. He is a proud father of daughter Selena and son Deni, whom he had with his wife Jelena, 30 years his junior. Despite all his business and musical successes, he highlights family as his greatest life achievement.
