Dža ili Bu

1987 - 1999

The band was officially formed on May 1, 1987 by guitarist Nebojša Simeunović, bassist Duško Milojević, drummer Dejan Milojević and guitarist and vocalist Stojan Radičević Lole (1970-2016). Simeunović, also known as "Sabljar" ("Sabre-man"), spent his childhood in Libya and got the nickname from his father's hobby, sabre collecting. The first band he played in was the punk rock band Unbelievable Disgusting.

The band had the first live appearance at the Rex cinema, on January 22, 1988. During the same year, the band recorded a two-song demo, featuring the tracks "Mamin nov usisivač" ("Mama's New Vacuum Cleaner") and "Crveno" ("Red"). By the end of 1988, Radičević had already left the band, forming the band Prizori Sa Venčanja (Images from a Wedding) with Darkwood Dub member Milorad Ristić and Presing member Vladimir Marković. Simeunović then switched to vocals and the band got the temporary guitarist, Vera Kvark member Aleksandar Mitanovski, and, in October 1989, Goran Majkić became the full-time guitar player. The band had their first recordings, four songs released as VIS Dža ili Bu, released on the Drugi talas - Beograd '89 (The Second Wave - Belgrade '89) various artists compilation in 1989.

In 1990, the band recorded new material, released on the Lepa kaseta (A Nice Cassette) demo, and toured Yugoslavia. The material, with several other demo recordings, also appeared on the band's debut album Hej mornari (Hey Sailors), released on March 9, 1992 by Carlo Records. The A-side of the album was entitled Prokleti Harold (Damned Harold), and the B-side Nevidljiva ribizla (The Invisible Currant). With the witty bumper-sticker "Pobednici Splita '91" ("Winners of the 1991 Split Festival") on the album cover and the social-inspired lyrics, the album presented the band's lyrically ironical and musically guitar-oriented style found in the songs "Živeo Staljin i svetska revolucija" ("Long Live Stalin and the World revolution"), "Kraljica pica parka" ("Pussy Park Queen"), "Pobeda i poraz" ("Victory and Defeat"). After the album release, the band started touring Serbia. The band's frequent and effective live appearances, about a hundred of them in 1992, often featured cover versions of obscure songs, including "Lepi Mario" ("Pretty Mario") by Satan Panonski, which lead Index Radio to pronounce them the live act of the year. In 1994, Metropolis Records rereleased Hej mornari on cassette.

With the release of the band's second album, Spremanje ribljeg gulaša zahteva visoku koncentraciju (Preparing a Fisherman's Soup Takes High Concentration), the band toured Serbia once again, and had a first live appearance in a foreign country, in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. Like on the previous album, the band named the A-side of the album Konj (Horse) and the B-side Pas (Dog). The band's musical style influenced by numerous acts, including AC/DC, ZZ Top and Red Hot Chili Peppers, with the lyrics inspired by the end of socialism, similar to the ones found on the debut album, presented the social reality of the country they were living in. The songs "Drug Tito se krije u pećini" ("Comrade Tito Hides in a Cave"), "Velika svetska zavera" ("A Major World Conspiracy"), "Drugovi" ("Comrades"), and "Motori" ("Motorbikes"), a parody cover of the Divlje Jagode song, distinguished themselves as the most prominent. As guests on the album appeared Atheist Rap and Eva Braun members on backing vocals.

In December 1995, the band released the CD Strašni sud (Judgement Day), which, with a punk oriented sound combined cataclysmic lyrical style, with the songs "Zanimljiva geografija" ("Interesting Geography"), "Neki drugi grad" ("Some Other City"), "Uradi sam" ("Do It Yourself"), inspired by the current political situation, "Večna lovišta" ("Eternal Hunting Ground") and "Ustani i kreni" ("Stand Up and Go"), which became hits. As bonus tracks appeared five songs from the previous releases. After the album release, guitarist Goran Majkić left the band, first serving the army and then moving to the United States where he got a master's degree at the NASA Center for Autonomous Control Engineering. With former Dead Kennedys and Butthole Surfers members, he formed the band God Dog. Igor Panić took his place in Dža ili Bu.

The new lineup recorded the album Kao da ničeg nije ni bilo (Like Nothing Ever Happened), in the late 1997, produced by Igor Borojević. On the album appeared the cover version of The Undertones single "Teenage Kicks" with lyrics in Serbian language entitled "Pas koji hoda sam" ("A Dog that Walks Alone"). The cassette edition of the album was published by ZMEX in January 1998, and, nine months later, the band released the CD edition under their own label Fabrika. The disc also included six of the band's promotional videos, the band biography and photos.

On the Spring of 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, the band ceased to exist. Simeunović formed the gothic/industrial band Chernobyl In House in April 1999, releasing the album 12 in 2002 through Active-Time.

2003 - present

In 2003, the band was reformed in the lineup which, beside Milojević, Panić and Nebojša Simeunović, featured keyboardist Stevan Đorđević and bassist Vladimir Markoš, and in 2005, the band released the best of compilation Retrovizor (Rear-view Mirror). Beside the selected songs from the band's career, the compilation also featured four live recordings, made at the band performance in the Belgrade Youth Center in January 1999, and new songs "Opasne igre" ("Dangerous Games"), a cover version of Beograd song, and "Ilegas".

The band started writing new material, recorded at the Fabrika studio from May to October 2006, released on the album Ultra muk (Ultra Mute) by Multimedia Records in 2007. The album featured fifteen songs, including the cover version of Satan Panonski song "Lepi Mario", which the band often performed live, and the two new songs from Retrovizor. The bonus, enhanced CD, featured the band biography, discography and two music videos, for "Aljaska" ("Alaska") and "Ustani i kreni". The album brought a more heavier sound, mainly influenced by industrial music and nu metal, especially with the politically inspired songs "Metak" ("Bullet"), "Rasprodaja" ("Sellout") and "Silikonska dolina" ("Sillicon Valley"), and the rebellious "Alien" and "Zid" ("The Wall").

Having released the album, the band started a live promotion, playing at the major festivals in Serbia, the Novi Sad Exit, Nisomnia festival in Niš and the Dani Piva festival in Zrenjanin. The band also performed as an opening act for Kaiser Chiefs at the Belgrade Arena, on June 19, 2007, and, on November 9, they celebrated their 20th anniversary with a concert in the Belgrade's Students' Cultural Center. The concert featured guest appearances by the former band members, vocalist Stojan Radičević, bassist and the current band manager Duško Milojević and guitarist Aleksandar Mitanovski, Mravi member Saša Ivanović and Kanda, Kodža i Nebojša trumpet player Marko Petronijević.

The band celebrated their 25th anniversary in May 2012, at the Vračar Rocks concert, featuring guest appearance by the original bassist Duško Milojević, and with a release of the compilation album Dobre stvari (Good Stuff) for free download via MTV Serbia official website. The album features 25 songs spanning the band's whole career, including three new songs and three rerecorded songs from the first album. In the autumn of the same year, the band was joined by another guitarist, Vladan Vasiljević "Vaske", while Markoš was replaced by Vuk Pavlović (formerly of Gangbangers).

In June 2013, the band released their seventh studio album, Kukovo leto, through PGP-RTS. The album was recorded during 2011 and produced by Theodore Yanni. On June 26, 2014, the band performed, alongside Billy Idol, Psihomodo Pop and Tempera, at the Belgrade Calling Festival.

The band's eighth studio album, Sedma sila was released in October 2016 through Mascom Records. The album was previously announced with three singles: a punk rock cover of Leo Martin's song "Odiseja" ("Odyssey"), released in November 2015, the new version of "Živeo Staljin i Svetska revolucija", released in February 2016, and "Diktatore" ("(Oh,) Dictator"), dedicated to Prime Minister of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, released in April 2016. Sedma sila featured guest appearances by singer-songwriter Nikola Vranjković and Bjesovi frontman Zoran Marinković.

Legacy

The lyrics of 7 songs by the band were featured in Petar Janjatović's book Pesme bratstva, detinjstva & potomstva: Antologija ex YU rok poezije 1967 - 2007 (Songs of Brotherhood, Childhood & Offspring: Anthology of Ex YU Rock Poetry 1967 - 2007).

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles