A NORTH Berwick couple who met through music projects in war-torn Bosnia have released a third album with their band GOL.

Husband-and-wife duo Roxana and Peter Vilk, two of five members of the band, have drawn on the group’s various cultural backgrounds to put together Strange Times, following previous albums Roots and Red Earth.

Described as jazz world electronica, they have embraced the different heritages of the group: Roxana, who is on vocals, was born in Iran, and Peter, who is on the drum kit, is half Czech, half Slovakian, but born in Britain, and the band’s name GOL takes its meaning from a Bosnian word.

“The world itself means ‘the essence’,” explained Roxana to the Courier.

“We had a small open mic night in Bosnia where we would gather in a bar and play music. We thought we’d carry that feeling on with the name.

“There is a core of five band members and we met them through the music scene in Scotland. The saxophone player is Greek, the bass player is Scottish but born in Bahrain, and the keyboard player American/French.

“We mix different styles, drawing on jazz sounds. We hope by mixing different influences from our different cultures we have something unique, which reflects our different roots.

She added: “A song on the album is called Strange Times; the lyrics were taken from an Iranian poet. Women can’t sing in Iran so it is important for me as a singer to be able to sing about things in Scotland, where I have that freedom.

“We were recording the album to the backdrop of the Arab Spring. It felt like a strange time. We expressed that time through music; music is a universal language, it doesn’t know boundaries.” In the wake of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Roxana and her family fled the country, moving around the Middle East before arriving in London aged 16. She met Peter in 1997 when they were working in war-torn communities.

The couple, who have two sons, Miroslav, nine, and Darius, three, moved to North Berwick, where they live on High Street, in 2010 so they could be near the seaside but also so they could let go with their music.

“Because my husband is a drum player we wanted somewhere we can play music without disturbing the neighbours,” she said.

“We are just above a shop so come half five we can make a lot of noise! A lot of drumming goes on in the house.” Strange Times has already received a good reception, with the band playing for the BBC, while they enlisted a couple of county professionals to help with the album.

“We are going to do an album launch in mid-April and going to play in some festivals in Scotland,” said Roxana. “Three tracks were recorded at the BBC for a music programme, which was really good fun.

“We did a pledge music campaign to all our fans to get it mastered and the artwork drawn for the album. We got it mastered by Stuart Hamilton at Castlesound Studios in Pencaitland.

“It was a great feeling to get the album in our hands.

“The designer is based in East Linton, Davide Metzger.” While Peter, who runs North Berwick Samba Band, continues to work with East Lothian Council on music projects, Roxana has been making a documentary for BBC Scotland called Iranian Enough? and it is set to be broadcast this month.

She explores the issue of migration and diaspora and her sons appear on the show as she looks to give them an idea of Iranian culture, with political difficulties making it difficult for her to visit her country of birth.

“It is looking at how people keep their culture alive, specifically Iranians in Scotland,” she said.

“There is me trying to teach them Persian on the school run!” To listen to or buy the band’s music, visit golmusic.bandcamp.com/album/strange-times