Urbana gerila
Encyclopedia
Urbana Gerila was a former Yugoslav
punk rock
and New Wave
band from Belgrade
. The band is notable as the participant of the Artistička radna akcija
project in 1981. In 1982, the band members formed an ad hoc
group Berliner Strasse (Berlin Street), influenced by post-punk
and krautrock
, performing songs with lyrics in German language
.
(guitar), Zoran "Cane" Kostić (vocals) and Slobodan "Loka" Nešović (guitar). All band members were between the ages of 13 and 15. After a few weeks the band changed its name to Urbana Gerila. Nešović soon left to form his own group called Defektno Efektni
.
Featuring raw sound and drawing lyrical inspiration from, among other things, the events surrounding the activity of terrorist groups such as the Baader-Meinhof Group, Urbana Gerila had its first live performance as part of an event called Palilula Culture Olympics, in 1980, which was one of the first punk performances in Belgrade. Later, the band became a cult attraction, managing to sell out a Zagreb
venue Lapidarij despite not having any recordings.
The band's two tracks, "Proces" ("The Trial") and "Bez naslova" ("Untitled") were released on the Artistička radna akcija
(Artistic Work Action
) various artists compilation in late 1981, on which Nešović's Defekno Efektni also appeared. The band performed two more songs, "Beograd" ("Belgrade") and "Ipak bojim se rata" ("Still, I'm Afraid of the War"), written before Nešović's departure, however, they were never released.
After the compilation release, the band moved towards playing post-punk
, influenced by Joy Division
and Bauhaus
, with the vocalist Branislav "Kebra" Babić
, which was not well-received by the audience.
In 1982, the band performed as an opening act for the Rijeka
band Paraf
at the Belgrade
SKC, before which Rosić and Arsenijević decided to form an ad hoc
band Berliner Strasse with the idea of various vocalists singing in different languages, but for the concert keeping only Petar "Ćirilo" Ilić who could speak and sing in German language
, afterward becoming a full-time member. Berliner Strasse, influenced by the British
post-punk and gothic rock
scene and the German
krautrock
scene, performed songs with lyrics in German language but later on in Serbian language
as well. They were later joined by Milan Ivanus on violin and Nešović whose Defekno Efektni disbanded, which was also the case with Urbana Gerila.
In February 1983, the song "1923" appeared on sixth place of the first Ventilator 202
demo top 10 list, but the song recording had never been released. During the same year, as Berlinen Strasse, with the song "Maske" ("Masks"), the band appeared on the various artists compilation Ventilator 202 demo top 10. The band also appeared in the movie Nešto između (Something in Between) in which Ilić played the drummer of the band, performing the song "Achtung America", later covered by the Niš
band Margita Je Mrtva. After Branko Rosić left the serve the Yugoslav People's Army
, the line up had changed, featuring various members including Marina Vulić (bass) from Električni Orgazam
, and Slobodan Stanić and Ljubodrag Bubalo on synthesizers from the band Beograd
. Berliner Strasse performed until 1984 when they disbanded.
, later to become awarded and internationally acclaimed writer-novelist as well as co-founder and editor of the magazine Rende.
After leaving Urbana Gerila, Zoran Kostić joined Radnička Kontrola
, another band featured on the Artistička radna akcija compilation. In 1982, he became a frontman of the highly popular garage rock
band Partibrejkers
.
Urbana Gerila various lineups included Uroš Đurić, later painter and occasional actor, Slobodan "Loka" Nešović, later founder of Automatik Records company, Branislav Babić "Kebra"
, later frontman of Obojeni Program
, Nenad "Kele" Krasavac, later the founding member of Disciplina Kičme
, and Dragoslav "Draža" Radojković, later member of Laibach
and Kazimirov Kazneni Korpus.
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band from Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
. The band is notable as the participant of the Artistička radna akcija
Artisticka radna akcija
Artistička radna akcija is a new wave and punk rock compilation album released in late 1981 by Jugoton in SFR Yugoslavia...
project in 1981. In 1982, the band members formed an ad hoc
Ad hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....
group Berliner Strasse (Berlin Street), influenced by post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
and krautrock
Krautrock
Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...
, performing songs with lyrics in German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
.
History
Initially named Punkreteni (Punkmorons), the teenage band existed for less than two years during the early 1980s. Punkreteni consisted of Branko Rosić (bass), Vladimir ArsenijevićVladimir Arsenijevic
Vladimir Arsenijević is a Serbian writer, translator, editor, musician, and publicist.In his early youth, Arsenijević played with a punk band called Urbana Gerila as well as its post-punk offshoot Berliner Strasse.After graduating high school and completing the mandatory military service in 1985,...
(guitar), Zoran "Cane" Kostić (vocals) and Slobodan "Loka" Nešović (guitar). All band members were between the ages of 13 and 15. After a few weeks the band changed its name to Urbana Gerila. Nešović soon left to form his own group called Defektno Efektni
Defektno Efektni
Defektno Efektni were a Serbian New Wave/punk rock band from Belgrade, notable as the participant of the Artistička Radna Akcija project in 1981.- History :...
.
Featuring raw sound and drawing lyrical inspiration from, among other things, the events surrounding the activity of terrorist groups such as the Baader-Meinhof Group, Urbana Gerila had its first live performance as part of an event called Palilula Culture Olympics, in 1980, which was one of the first punk performances in Belgrade. Later, the band became a cult attraction, managing to sell out a Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
venue Lapidarij despite not having any recordings.
The band's two tracks, "Proces" ("The Trial") and "Bez naslova" ("Untitled") were released on the Artistička radna akcija
Artisticka radna akcija
Artistička radna akcija is a new wave and punk rock compilation album released in late 1981 by Jugoton in SFR Yugoslavia...
(Artistic Work Action
Youth work actions
Youth work actions were organized voluntary labor activities of young people in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The actions were used to build public infrastructure such as roads, railways, and public buildings, as well as industrial infrastructure...
) various artists compilation in late 1981, on which Nešović's Defekno Efektni also appeared. The band performed two more songs, "Beograd" ("Belgrade") and "Ipak bojim se rata" ("Still, I'm Afraid of the War"), written before Nešović's departure, however, they were never released.
After the compilation release, the band moved towards playing post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
, influenced by Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
and Bauhaus
Bauhaus (band)
Bauhaus was an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978. The group consisted of Peter Murphy , Daniel Ash , Kevin Haskins and David J . The band was originally Bauhaus 1919 before they dropped the numerical portion within a year of formation...
, with the vocalist Branislav "Kebra" Babić
Branislav Babić
Branislav "Kebra" Babić is a Serbian rock vocalist and the founding member of the band Obojeni Program...
, which was not well-received by the audience.
In 1982, the band performed as an opening act for the Rijeka
Rijeka
Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...
band Paraf
Paraf
Paraf is a punk rock and later post-punk band from Rijeka, Croatia, known as one of the pioneers of punk rock in the former Yugoslavia.- Punk rock years :...
at the Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
SKC, before which Rosić and Arsenijević decided to form an ad hoc
Ad hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....
band Berliner Strasse with the idea of various vocalists singing in different languages, but for the concert keeping only Petar "Ćirilo" Ilić who could speak and sing in German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, afterward becoming a full-time member. Berliner Strasse, influenced by the British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
post-punk and gothic rock
Gothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...
scene and the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
krautrock
Krautrock
Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...
scene, performed songs with lyrics in German language but later on in Serbian language
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
as well. They were later joined by Milan Ivanus on violin and Nešović whose Defekno Efektni disbanded, which was also the case with Urbana Gerila.
In February 1983, the song "1923" appeared on sixth place of the first Ventilator 202
Ventilator 202
Ventilator 202 was a live radio show broadcast by Beograd 202 radio station during 1980s and hosted by Zoran Modli. It was one of the most important shows of Belgrade's "202" station and possibly also the most important project of its host. It first aired first June 3, 1979. Zoran Modli was its...
demo top 10 list, but the song recording had never been released. During the same year, as Berlinen Strasse, with the song "Maske" ("Masks"), the band appeared on the various artists compilation Ventilator 202 demo top 10. The band also appeared in the movie Nešto između (Something in Between) in which Ilić played the drummer of the band, performing the song "Achtung America", later covered by the Niš
Niš
Niš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,...
band Margita Je Mrtva. After Branko Rosić left the serve the Yugoslav People's Army
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
, the line up had changed, featuring various members including Marina Vulić (bass) from Električni Orgazam
Električni Orgazam
Električni Orgazam is a Serbian rock band from Belgrade. Originally starting as a combination of New Wave, punk rock and post-punk, the band later slowly changed their style, becoming a mainstream rock act.- New Wave years :...
, and Slobodan Stanić and Ljubodrag Bubalo on synthesizers from the band Beograd
Beograd (band)
Beograd was a Serbian and former Yugoslav synthpop band, notable as one of the pioneers of the former Yugoslav electronic music scene.- History :...
. Berliner Strasse performed until 1984 when they disbanded.
Post-breakup
Urbana Gerila core consisted of Branko Rosić, later to become journalist, and Vladimir ArsenijevićVladimir Arsenijevic
Vladimir Arsenijević is a Serbian writer, translator, editor, musician, and publicist.In his early youth, Arsenijević played with a punk band called Urbana Gerila as well as its post-punk offshoot Berliner Strasse.After graduating high school and completing the mandatory military service in 1985,...
, later to become awarded and internationally acclaimed writer-novelist as well as co-founder and editor of the magazine Rende.
After leaving Urbana Gerila, Zoran Kostić joined Radnička Kontrola
Radnicka kontrola
Radnička Kontrola was a former Yugoslav punk rock/New Wave band from Belgrade, active in the late 1970s and early 1980s and notable for its appearance on the compilation album Artistička radna akcija.After the band ceased to exist, vocalist Zoran Kostić "Cane" rose to nationwide and popularity as...
, another band featured on the Artistička radna akcija compilation. In 1982, he became a frontman of the highly popular garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
band Partibrejkers
Partibrejkers
Partibrejkers is a prominent Serbian rock band from Belgrade, as well as an acclaimed act of the former Yugoslav rock scene....
.
Urbana Gerila various lineups included Uroš Đurić, later painter and occasional actor, Slobodan "Loka" Nešović, later founder of Automatik Records company, Branislav Babić "Kebra"
Branislav Babić
Branislav "Kebra" Babić is a Serbian rock vocalist and the founding member of the band Obojeni Program...
, later frontman of Obojeni Program
Obojeni Program
Obojeni Program is a Serbian alternative rock band from Novi Sad. The band are pioneers of the Serbian alternative rock scene. The band is also famous for giving strange names to their albums, which is explained by the fact that the first letters of all the studio albums form an acronym of their...
, Nenad "Kele" Krasavac, later the founding member of Disciplina Kičme
Disciplina Kičme
Disciplina Kičme , is a Serbian band, one of the two spin-offs of the seminal Yugoslav New Wave and later post-punk band Šarlo Akrobata, the other being Ekatarina Velika...
, and Dragoslav "Draža" Radojković, later member of Laibach
Laibach (band)
Laibach is a Slovenian avant-garde music group associated with industrial, martial, and neo-classical musical styles. Laibach formed June 1, 1980 in Trbovlje, Slovenia . Laibach represents the music wing of the Neue Slowenische Kunst art collective, of which it was a founding member in 1984...
and Kazimirov Kazneni Korpus.
As Urbana Gerila
| Title | Released |
|---|---|
| "Bez naslova" Artisticka radna akcija Artistička radna akcija is a new wave and punk rock compilation album released in late 1981 by Jugoton in SFR Yugoslavia... |
|
As Berliner Strasse
| Title | Released |
|---|---|
| |
|
External links
- Urbana Gerila at Last.fmLast.fmLast.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
- Urbana Gerila at YoutubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- Urbana Gerila at Rateyourmusic
- Berliner Strasse at YoutubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- Berliner Strasse at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...