The Stroj are an 8-member collective active from 1997 when they emerged from the small Slovenian city of Laško. They gained notoriety by crafting their own instruments from various plastic and metal waste, obsolete machine parts and tools. This provides for an unique industrial sound based on prominent percussive compositions and mechanically structured beats. They are famous for performing in unusual venues such as quarries, mines, abandoned buses and industrial objects. Their performances are intensely physical and have a cathartic tribal feel to them.
Background
The Stroj arose from Laško, Slovenia in 1997 as an independent music collective. They ventured on their musical path by exploring and combining a distinctive raw industrial sound and repetitive beats. Their name can be interpreted in two different ways: as The Machine (since "stroj" is a Slovenian word for "machine") or as Destroy which is how The Stroj is pronounced in Slovenian. Destruction is also what marked their initial years the most - they designed their own instruments from obsolete machines, tools, barrels and other found materials. Constructive deconstruction is what their founder Primož Oberžan dubs their end of 90's era.
Biography
The Stroj quickly grabbed public attention with their recognizable and physically demanding performances that included extensive use of pyrotechnics and were set in uncommon venues such as abandoned industrial objects and vehicles, quarries and mines. They toured extensively in Slovenia, ex-Yugoslavian countries and European festivals. In 1999, founder Oberžan invited Aldo Ivančič from Borghesia and BAST to join them as a sound designer, recorder and producer. They remain tight collaborators until present day. In 2001, they received the Golden Bird Award for musical achievements and a documentary got made about them by Slovenian national television RTV Slovenija. The Stroj were introduced to English audiences in 2002 when they performed at BBC Music Live Festival in Leeds. 2007 was a one of the milestones in their existence - most of the collaborators left The Stroj to form StrojMachine, a collective focused on delivering a more mechanic tribal sound. As The Stroj regrouped, they also went through significant changes in ideology so they entered a new creative era in 2009 with their research project Kymatikon. Instead of destruction, they turned to construction of new instruments and adding carefully manipulated electronic component to their sound. What they are destroying now are only preconceived and firmly rooted notions about technology, noise and silence. Their latest album Metafonik was put out in 2013 and is available on their Bandcamp page as the collective itself drifts more and more into its exploratory era which is nonetheless still characterized by prominent and complex rhythmic structures that are now complimented by electronic manipulation, female vocals and field recordings.
Line-up (2014)
Matic Kadliček, Fabijan Purg, Primož Oberžan, Dare Hriberšek, Stane Špegel, Nina Orlič, Matej Voglar, Žiga Miklavc
Discography
Ventilator (1999)
Gremo! (2002)
Cona (2006)
Metafonik (2013)
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