DAN DOLGIH SANJ
march 2009
BIOGRAPHY
DEMOLITION GROUP comes from Slovenia. They started in 1983 under the name Gastarbeiters. In those days they played their own typical variation of white funk. As Gastarbeiters they released two LP's in former Yugoslavia.
In 1986 Gastarbeiters transformed their music into a fusion of heavy metal, funk and electronic rhythms. They felt the name DEMOLITION GROUP was right for the new style. They played many important European festivals such as SAN REMO rock '88, BARCELONA BIENAL '87, BERLIN INDEPENDENCE Days ('89), DRUGA GODBA ('86) and others. Soon after their coming out (1986) they were signed by the Italian label CRUISIN' HIARA Records (Modena), for whom they released two records, which were promoted in most European countries.
DEMOLITION GROUP's music is an energetic fusion of electronic and acoustic drums, rock and funk oriented guitars, neurotic saxophone and specific vocals. "They look and sound like Doctor Feelgood after 18 pints having a jam with Killing Joke's roadies" (NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS, 1994) Being excellent musicians, the musical skills of various members of DEMOLITION GROUP are also evident in the work of bands such as LAIBACH, BORGHESIA and many others (varying from rock to contemporary classical).
Honouring a decade of their music activity in 1993 they released a CD entitled "BAD GAG 2" (18 songs, total playing time 72 min.), which immediately became a hit record. Six months later they released a mini CD called "Demolition Group plays Gastarbeiters". These CDs and the appearance on the compilation of KRAFTWERK remakes Trans Slovenia Express (MUTE RECORDS, London), DEMOLITION GROUP again confirmed that they belong to the first class of Slovenian contemporary music. "The Model" is one of two promotional videos for the compilation.
Album "DEEP TRUE LOVE" (released in 1995) is a result of cooperation between Demolition Group and the most famous theatre in Slovenia - Theatre MLADINSKO. The band wrote music for three plays directed by Matjaz Pograjc, also known as the founder of BETONTANC theatre. The music is not a classical soundtrack, since it consists of 14 songs in usual Demolition manner: strong, powerful and intrigue. Two songs are based on G. Puccinni's famous arias: "Dovunque al' mondo" and "Un bel di vedremo".
"Deep True Love" was voted the RECORD OF THE YEAR in Slovenia and DEMOLITION GROUP were declared as SLOVENIA'S MOST IMPORTANT BAND IN 1995. Their videos "IN YOUR EYES" and "You Never Cry" gained NO.1 POSITION ON NATIONAL TV "TOP 10". For the second time they were awarded "THE GOLDEN BIRD", THE STATE AWARD FOR CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS.
DEMOLITION GROUP played OVER 100 GIGS in Slovenia, Austria, Italy and Croatia.
1998/99
New album "NEOVANGELIJ" is released in April, accompanied with two singles and two videos. One of them ("Rain") was the result of colaboration with HELENA BLAGNE, the biggest Slovenian pop star, the other was shot during their visit to COLOMBIA (South America). The remixes were done by the RANDOM LOGIC. Several reviews stated the album as "THE BEST SLOVENIAN ALBUM OF THE DECADE". In January 1999, DEMOLITION GROUP presented a feature FILM "DARK ANGELS"(directed by Saso Podgorsek, the director of all of their videos) - they wrote the script, played the main roles and, of course, they wrote the music score!
2001
DEMOLITION GROUP release their latest album BIC LUC+UPANJE, that presents a move away from many of the basic principles that were used in recording the previous two albums:
- where they were previous continuously changing studios in search of the best possible production, they now decided to record the entire album at home in Slovenia. This not only allowed them much more rest in recording the album it has also clarified their musical expression.
- instead of the huge promotional circus they have been known for in the past, this album has been released in the quiet summer season without any real promotional effort. The members of the band have already more than once expressed their doubts regarding aggressive media offensives. In all of the 1990s they appeared live on television only twice(!), but have not noticed any real consequences from this deliberate absence in the media. Despite this, the band has to admit to its' guilty conscious that it may have exaggerated on other promotional and marketing fronts, setting a standard that is hard to live up to!
- rather than presenting their distinctive mix of all instruments involved, this album has put focus on the voice of singer Goran --alamon and the message included in the music itself. However, the band have not allowed the words to become a separate part of the composition, quite the contrary: the aim has been to grant all listeners easy access to the message, demanding real effort only from those listeners who really wish to experience the music and its' message to the full extent.
- as a whole, the album is not connected to any other art form even though two of the songs featured on the album, SLATKE SANJE and TWIST (with a video featuring Josef Nagy & Davor Janjic, september 2001), have been created especially for the film SLADKE SANJE Sa--a Podgor--ka (premiere: oktober 2001). These two songs are also formally separated from the rest of the album, as they are performed by V.I.S. MESECINA.
AND THE STORY AIN'T FINSHED YET!!
BIOGRAFIJA
DEMOLITION GROUP so ustanovljeni leta 1985 kot frakcija, --iritev in nadaljevanje dela njihove praskupine GAST'R'BAJTR'S (ustanovljena 1983, najbr-- prva skupina v vzhodni Evropi, ki je izdala LP album pri neodvisni zalo--bi). Osemdeseta so DEMOLITION GROUP pre--iveli v nenehnem eksperimentiranju znotraj obstoje--ih in neobstoje--ih glasbenih zvrsti, leta 1987 pa so s samosvojo verzijo electro-jazza podpisali diskografsko pogodbo s tedaj najmo--nej--o italijansko neodvisno zalo--bo CRUISIN'HIARA, zanjo izdali dve plo----i ter imeli --tevilne koncerte predvsem po centralni Evropi (--panija, Benelux, Nem--ija, Avstrija, Italija, Mad--arska in seveda Jugoslavija), kar je do takrat uspevalo samo --e dvem drugim skupinam (LAIBACH, BORGHESIA) - obema seveda v precej ve--ji meri, vendar delno tudi s pomo--jo --lanov DEMOLITION GROUP, ki so z obema skupinama tesno sodelovali (sodelovanje s skupino LAIBACH traja --e danes). Nekateri od nastopov DEMOLITION GROUP so bili precej nenavadni, saj so, recimo, --e vedno edini slovenski izvajalec, ki je kadarkoli nastopil na prireditivi SAN REMO Rock ('88). Festivali, ki so jih gostili, so bili tako rockerski kot "umetni--ki", tako punkerski kot "drugogodba--ki".
V tistem --asu pa je skupina skoraj povsem zanemarila delovanje doma, v Sloveniji. V petih letih odsotnosti so postopno izgubili skoraj vse ob--instvo, ki so ga v preteklosti pridobili na svojo stran. Ta ugotovitev je bila posebno bole--a, ko so prenehali sodelovati s svojo zalo--bo v tujini in se doma zna--li v vakuumu.
S tem se je profesionalno obdobje DEMOLITION GROUP zaklju--ilo.
Zato so DEMOLITION GROUP, kot rezignirana skupina tik pred razpadom dokon--no vzeli stvari v svoje roke in ob desetletnici skupnega sodelovanja brez visokih ciljev izdali kar dva albuma ("BAD GAG 2" ter "DEMOLITION GROUP plays GASTRBAJTRS"), ki pa sta nepri--akovano povzro--ila vrnitev skupine na slovenski glasbeni zemljevid.
Naslednji album je pod naslovom DEEP TRUE LOVE (1995) zabele--il do takrat neobi--ajen gledali--ki anga--ma skupine. Z enim samim re--iserjem (Matja-- Pograjc) so sodelovali pri --tirih predstavah ter pri nekaterih program izvajali celo v --ivo. Predstava "Roberto Zucco" se lahko pohvali z nagrado za najbolj--o glasbo na festivalu "Eurokaz"('99). Skupina je za svojo neodvisnost in vztrajnost --e drugi-- (!) dobila nagrado Zlata Ptica, nepri--akovano pa so se nekatere skladbe z albuma zavihtele tudi na glasbene in video lestvice.
Predzadnji album NEOVANGELIJ (1998) zopet koketira z drugimi umetni--kimi zvrstmi. Nekateri recenzenti so --e pred izidom albuma napovedovali, da gre za slovenski rock album desetletja! Poleg sklicevanja na gledali----e ta album v najve--ji mo--ni meri nosi pe--at celove--ernega filma TEMNI ANGELI USODE: kot pri gledali----u, so DEMOLITION GROUP tudi pri filmski produkciji do sedaj tesno povezani z enim samim re--iserjem - Sa--om Podgor--kom. Ta je re--iral vse njihove video spote (9) ter jim podelil glavno vlogo v filmu, za katerega je scenarij napisal Goran --alamon, pevec skupine. Album je zaznamoval tudi --okantno decenten duet z najve--jo zvezdo slovenske strade, Heleno Blagne.
DEMOLITION GROUP so tako v prej--njem desetletju prav vsak album kronali s --tevilnimi NOMINACIJAMI IN NAGRADAMI tako publike kot kritike, kar potrjuje njihovo pozicijo najmo--nej--e doma--e neodvisne zasedbe. Letno so v povpre--ju odigrali 50 - 70 koncertov, novinarji NEW MUSICAL EXPRESSA, najbolj relevantne glasbene revije na svetu, pa so njihovo glasbo sredi devetdesetih ozna--ili kot "...jam session Dr. Feelgooda ter roadijev Killing Joke po zau--itju obilnih koli--in po--ivil".
