Written by: Bri Bagshaw (Slavic Minor and 1st-year Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian student)

Photo by Ursa Premik

In January 2024, CSEEES began a new series of weekly social media posts called #MusicMonday which features musicians across Eastern Europe and Eurasia. From classical to pop and rock to musical activism, the aim of these posts is to take our audience on a tour of the sounds and songs of our center’s regions. Slavic minor and 1st-year Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS) student Bri Bagshaw recently had the opportunity to interview our featured artist for March 4, Joker Out of Slovenia. Responses have been edited for clarity,

Slovenian rock band Joker Out has played a sold-out concert in the biggest arena in their country, Arena Stožice, have played shows across Europe, and are now embarking on their second European tour, with sold out shows in Helsinki, Paris, and Krakow. Joker Out gained their popularity across Europe from their incredible performance of their hit single “Carpe Diem” at Eurovision 2023. The band consists of five members, Bojan Cvjetićanin (singer), Jan Peteh (guitarist), Kris Guštin (guitarist), Nace Jordan (bass guitarist), and Jure Mačeck (drummer). They started back in 2016 with Bojan, Jan, Kris, former bass player Martin Jurkovič, and former drummer Matic Kovačič. Jure joined in 2021, and Nace joined in September 2022.  Joker Out has released two studio albums (Umazane Misli and Demoni), three singles (“Carpe Diem”, “Sunny Side of London”, and “Everybody’s Waiting”), and are working on their third studio album, set to be released later this year. 

Joker Out has an amazing presence, both on stage and off. They can be described as kind and charismatic, wanting to spread kindness through the world and inspire all to be a part of the new wave. The new wave is a movement of people who put love and kindness out into the world, rather than negativity. The band also serves as a representative of Slovenian language and culture. 

For this article, I interviewed four out of the five members (Nace, Jan, Jure, and Bojan) to discuss their music, Slovenia, and more.  To start the interview, I asked what they thought of watching American football for the first time, seeing as Ohio State is widely known for its football team. 

Bri: I saw that you guys watched the Super Bowl, and I was wondering what you thought of watching American football for the first time.

Jan: We watched rugby and American football for the first time in the span of, like, a week, and I think that we are going to basketball now. [Jure, Nace, and Bojan laugh] It was fun. I mean, it was. It was interesting, but we have no idea whatsoever-

Jure: Like, cultural stuff.

Bojan: We were learning as the game went on. 

Bri: If you could play an instrument, but not your own, what would it be? 

Nace: I would play keyboard. Like, it just looks fun. 

Jan: Well, I would play the piano, probably.

Nace: Bum, bum, bum!

Bojan: I would go for the trumpet or the drums.

Jure: I would pick saxophone, probably. 

(Interestingly enough, Jan did play the piano for their new single “Everybody's Waiting”. It was released on February 16th, 2024, and can be streamed on most music platforms.)

Bri: What language would you say is easier for you to create in? 

Bojan: I really think that songs ask for the language themselves, so when you start mumbling out random words to a melody or something. I really like to go for the line of thought that strikes me directly, simultaneously while playing the music, because I do think that was sparked by the music itself, and it’s true. So usually, the music kind of tells you in which language it wants to be written in. I’d say it is definitely easier for me to write in Slovene. But the single put out just a few days ago, “Everybody’s Waiting”, is in English, and I know for a fact that I would not have been able to write that song in Slovene because I really looked at myself from a different perspective that I couldn't have in Slovene language. I kind of separated myself from myself and wrote about it. 

Bri: How do you guys feel about the genre you have been put into, and what do you think it should be? 

Bojan: Which one do you think it’s been put in? 

Bri: It’s on Spotify, well, on Spotify it is Slovenian indie and Slovenian pop.

Bojan: Okay, well, we kind of – in 2017 we put ourselves in our own genre, which is “shagadelic rock n’ roll”, but obviously Spotify doesn’t have that yet. It’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen for sure. I think that Slovene Indie and Slovene pop are as accurate as it got for the songs in Slovene, but for the songs that are not in Slovene, I guess it’s just indie and pop. 

Jure: International.

Jure and Bojan: [laughing] International indie and pop.

Jan: World music.

Bri: As a band, how has your writing process matured throughout the years? 

Bojan: Hmm, I believe it has gotten a lot more personal. There has definitely been a lot more thought put into the words that are spoken, because not everything you think of should be said, and not everything you say can only be said in the way you first thought of. 

Bri: I feel like you guys have mentioned before that the first two albums are older songs put together, and the newer album is going to be from actually sitting down, writing, and having the time [to do so].

Bojan: The first album was definitely a combination of songs that were written in a certain time period. The second album was made in the direction of creating an album, for the sake of creating the album in one piece, but it wasn’t that completely. Now the third album is definitely going to be a [product of] dedicated album writing time, a piece of, like, our timeline in life. 

Bri: What is one word you would use to describe the new music overall? 

Bojan: I’d say different. Umm, very hardly describe – describable as Slovene pop.

Bri: What languages are on the new album? 

Bojan: So far, Slovene, Serbian, and English.

Bri: What is the significance behind each of your Eurovision and Stožice outfits?

Bojan: I think the Eurovision outfits were mostly the creation of Mr. Ponorelii, who was the designer, and his vision of what Carpe Diem was and what the performance was. It was all about the flora and fauna of the Garden of Eden, as I remember him telling us. The Stožice outfits were the creation of Karlo Kirri, a Slovene designer as well, and I would say they were a bit more personalized. He talked to us about how we want to feel on stage and how we feel about the concert itself, and just incorporated different particles of life into outfits for each individual member. 

Jan: But already on the Eurovision outfits, we had the Idrija lace, and I know I had this star with five kraki (arms), a five-pointed star, and each point had one of our astrological signs. 

Bojan: Really? 

Jan and Nace: Yeah.

Jan: So we had, like, 3 Capricorns-

Jan and Nace: A Cancer and a Gemini.

Bojan: I did not know that.

Jan: And you had a snake, which also kinda fits in with the Garden of Eden.

Bojan: So yeah, the Idrija lace is a traditional Slovene lace. It is the main element of our costumes and is probably going to stick with us. It’s what makes the outfits special and different, it kind of ties us back to Slovene heritage. I believe we are currently the only artists who are bound to wear it all the time.

Bri: Yeah, I will say it was definitely interesting to see, because it was different.

Bojan: Thank you. That was the indie part. [all laugh] 

Bri: I will ask this now, since it’s been a few months: how did you feel after Stožice? 

Bojan: How we felt? I felt unfulfilled, to be honest 

Nace: So did I. [talking to Bojan] I think that’s something we have in common about Stožice.

Bojan: Maybe the timing for the concert wasn’t right at the peak of all the hype that was going on. So, it kind of wasn’t the peak by itself, and we all imagined that it was going to be a peak by itself, and it was going to be this whirlwind of emotions, and somehow we were just like, you know, “we did it, it happened”. 

Part 2 of Bri's interview with Joker Out will talk about life in Slovenia. It will be published later this week. Keep an eye out for the next part, as well as the video of the interview, which will be posted on our YouTube channel!