Grupa 92
From Unearthing The Music
Grupa 92 is a Slovenian new wave/punk rock band from Ljubljana.
Biography
Grupa 92 (then named Termites) was originally formed around 1976 by a group of neighbours from Kodeljevo in Ljubljana: Bojan Oset, Matej Sršen, Aljoša Zupančič and Marko Banič, playing covers by the Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Animals, Chuck Berry and others. After discovering Punk by way of the Sex Pistols, Ramones and the Clash in 1978, the band changed its name to "92" (after the phone number for the police) and its musical direction. They performed at the Moste and Celje rock festivals in 79, as well as in smaller venues, and in 1980 they were joined by Brane Plemenitaš on keyboards, which moved them from hardcore punk to a more new wave influenced direction.
They were given the opportunity to record at the Radio Študent studio, and in March 1980 they made four demos. Shortly afterwards, they signed a contract with ZKP RTV to record an EP. On May 13, 1980, four tracks were recorded in the same studio, two for an EP and two for the compilation New Punk Val. The EP, "Od šestih od dveh" ("From Six to Two O'clock") was released in the early fall of 1980 and was a moderate hit on the national charts for some time.
In November 1980, two members of the group (Matej Sršen and Brane Plemenitaš) had to serve in the army and the group its activities for a year. In the autumn of 1981, they briefly reunited, but after a month Marko Banič and Aljoša Zupančič too had to join the army. The other members continued to create and prepare new songs the following year. In September 1982, Grupa 92 had a sucessful performance at the Novi Rock 82 festival at the Križanke auditorium, followed by a few smaller performances after which then drummer Bojan Oset had to join the army. In 1983, the group ceased its activities.
In December 2013, the Swedish label NE Records released an anthology of the band's recordings entitled "Pictures of the Past", which includes a vinyl LP with studio (A side) and live recordings from the concert in Križanke (B side), a 7-inch EP with four tracks and a CD with the complete discography.
Groupa 92 returned in February 2014, after an hiatus of more than three decades, with the original line-up. Their first performance after this hiatus was on November 19, 2016 at the Unterhund club in Ormož. After a concert at the Gromka club in Ljubljana in February 2017, drummer Bojan Oset left the band, being replaced by Simon Intihar.
In May 2015, NE Records released the single Censorship with two songs from the very beginning of the band's activity, which were re-recorded by the original line-up in October 2014 at the aBox studio: "Censorship" (A-side) and “Cukrarnar” (B-side) At the end of the same year, REST IN PUNK released the "Novi punk val 78-80" compilation with the songs “Videti jih” (March 1980) and “Kontroliram misli” (May 1980).
Members
- Aljoša Zupančič (vocals, until 1980)
- Marko Banič (bass)
- Matej Sršen (guitar, vocals)
- Dam Plemenitaš (keyboards)
- Bojan Oset (drums. Until February 2017)
- Simon Intihar (drums, since April 2017)
Discography
- Od šestih od dveh (1980, ZKP RTVLJ)
- Novi punk val (1981, ZKP RTVLJ)
- Slike preteklosti (2013, NE Records)
- Cenzura (2015, NE Records)
- Novi punk val 78-80 (2015, REST IN PUNK Records 010)
- No Border Jam 8 (2016, Front Rock)
Related Content
Text adapted from the Slovenian Wikipedia