Urbana Gerila (Serbian Cyrillic: Урбана Герила, trans: Urban Guerrilla) was… Read Full Bio ↴Urbana Gerila (Serbian Cyrillic: Урбана Герила, trans: Urban Guerrilla) 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.

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 Arsenijević (guitar), Zoran "Cane" Kostić (vocals) and Slobodan "Loka" Nešović (guitar). All of the members were 13 to 15 years old. After a few weeks the band changed the name to Urbana Gerila. Nešović soon left the band to form his own called Defektno Efektni. The first live appearance the band had made at the Palilula Cultire Olympics, in 1980, which was one of the first performances of a punk rock band in Belgrade. Later, the band became a cult attraction and, even though they had no recordings, managed to sell out the Zagreb Lapidarij.

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" ("Yet, I am 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 Babić "Kebra", which was not well-accepted 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 Ilić "Ćirilo" 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.

Post-breakup

Urbana Gerila core consisted of Branko Rosić, later to become journalist, and Vladimir Arsenijević, 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.

Discography

As Urbana Gerila
Title Released
"Proces" /
"Bez naslova"
1981
As Berliner Strasse
Title Released
"Maske"
1983