Joker Out Explained

Joker Out
Landscape:yes
Origin:Ljubljana, Slovenia
Years Active:2016–present

Joker Out is a five-member Slovenian indie rock band formed in 2016, who describe their genre as 'Shagadelic Rock n' Roll.'[1] They had represented Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song "Carpe Diem", placing 21st.[2] Their discography includes two studio albums: Umazane misli (2021), and Demoni (2022).[3]

Career

2016–2021: Formation and Umazane misli

The group was formed in May 2016 after the breakup of Apokalipsa, which included Bojan Cvjetićanin, Martin Jurkovič, Matic Kovačič and Luka Škerlep. Three of them (Cvjetićanin, Jurkovič, and Kovačič) were joined by Kris Guštin and Jan Peteh from Buržuazija, and Joker Out was born.[4] In November they released their first single "Kot srce, ki kri poganja", for which they also recorded their first music video.[5] On June 17, 2017, they became the winners of the 4th season (2016/17) of the Špil league (a competition for student musical groups and soloists).[6] In November they released their second song "Omamljeno telo".[7] [8] The group also performed at many festivals.

Their next single "Gola", on which they first collaborated with producer Žare Pak, was released on September 12, 2019. On November 2, they had their first completely independent concert, held at the Ljubljana Castle.[9] "Gola" was followed by the fourth single "Vem da greš" in March 2020, followed by "Umazane misli" (October 2020) and "A sem ti povedal" (July 2021). Jure Maček replaced drummer Matic Kovačič between the releases of "Umazane misli" and "A sem ti povedal". The composition "Umazane misli" was chosen by the audience as the "New Slovenian composition of the last year" at the first edition of the festival Frišno/Fresh - The Day of New Slovenian Music, which took place on October 1, 2021.[10] [11]

Their first album Umazane misli was released in October 2021. It was originally planned to be released in April 2020, but the release was postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was presented at two consecutive concerts on October 20 and 21, 2021 in Cvetličarna, both of which were sold out in 2020. The second concert was recorded by RTV Slovenia. In these two years, they received two Zlata piščal awards - the first in 2020 for "Newcomers of the Year", and the second in 2021 for "Artists of the Year".[12]

2022–present: Demoni and Eurovision Song Contest

In April 2022, they released the music video for the last single from their first album "Barve Oceana". On May 12, at the eighth edition of the Zlata piščal Awards, they were nominated for "Artist of the Year" for the second year in a row. On August 31, they released their second album Demoni, which was preceded by the song "Katrina". They held a presentation concert for the album on September 9 in Ljubljana's Križanke. On October 10, they announced on Instagram that bassist Martin Jurkovič was leaving the band to study abroad and was being replaced by Nace Jordan, a member of "Diamanti", the house band of the "V petek zvečer" show.[13] [14] "Katrina" was followed at the end of October by "Demoni", their first Serbian-language single, which represents their first official release for the former Yugoslav market.[15]

On 8 December 2022, RTV Slovenia announced that Joker Out would represent Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool. Recording for their Eurovision song took place within the month of December 2022 in Hamburg, Germany, over a 12-day period.[16] The band stated that they wanted to keep the entire song in the Slovene language, saying: "we want to translate Slovenian into a universal language of dance and entertainment that all countries understand."[17] In January 2023, the band shot their music video in Slovenia's capital Ljubljana, at the Grand Hotel Union.[18]

On the same day that the band was announced to be internally selected by Slovenian: [[Radiotelevizija Slovenija]] (RTV Slovenija)|italics=no, the broadcaster announced that their song, later revealed to be titled "Carpe Diem", would premiere on a special Eurovision broadcast on TV SLO 1 called Slovenian: Misija Liverpool on 4 February 2023, along with the Eurovision Song Contest premiering the music video on their YouTube channel.[19] On 31 January, Joker Out was drawn to perform in the second half of the second semi-final on 11 May.[20]

As part of the promotional tour, in March and April they took part in the Eurovision pre-parties in Barcelona, Warsaw, Tel Aviv, Madrid, Amsterdam and London, and before leaving for Liverpool, they said goodbye to their home audience with a concert at Ljubljana's Novi trg on April 25. In March, they were included in the list of 100 noteworthy music performers in Europe (Artists to Watch 2023), by the Association of Independent Music Labels IMPALA. On April 21, they released the single "New Wave" (an English-Slovenian version of their song "Novi val"), recorded with Elvis Costello.[21]

At Eurovision, they performed in the second semi-final and qualified for the final, where they finished in 21st place. Following the contest, the band embarked on a European tour across Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia, as well as Ireland and the United Kingdom. In June, they announced a Nordic tour for September, including shows in Norway, Sweden and Finland. They sold out 12,000-capacity arena gig in their hometown Ljubljana, on October 6, in Arena Stožice.[22] In July, they went on a sold-out UK Tour alongside Irish band Wild Youth, with concerts in Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and London. In the latter, they performed at the Electric Ballroom to a crowd of 1,500, among whom was the famous Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi.[23]

Band members

Current members

Former members

Timeline

Discography

Albums

Title! scope="col" rowspan="2"
DetailsPeak chart positions
LTU
[24]
Umazane misli
  • Released: 18 October 2021
  • Label: Self-released
  • Formats: LP, CD, digital download, streaming
72
Demoni
  • Released: 31 August 2022
  • Label: Self-released
  • Formats: LP, CD, digital download, streaming
44

Live Albums

Title! scope="col" rowspan="1"
Details
Live from Arena Stožice
  • Released: 6 May 2024
  • Label: Shagadelic Records
  • Formats: LP, streaming

Singles

Title! scope="col" rowspan="2"
YearPeak chart positionsAlbum or EP
SLO
[25]
FIN
[26]
LTU
[27]
SWE
Heat.

[28]
"Kot srce, ki kri poganja"2016
"Omamljeno telo"2017Umazane misli
"Gola"2019
"Vem, da greš"2020
"Umazane misli"
"A sem ti povedal"2021
"Barve oceana"2022
"Katrina"Demoni
"Demoni"
"Carpe Diem"20231 12 4 4rowspan="5"
"New Wave"
"Sunny Side of London"
"Everybody's Waiting"2024
"Slovenian: Šta bih ja|i=no"
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations for Joker Out! Award !! Year !! Category !! Nominated work !! Result
Zlata piščal 2020 Song of the Year "Gola"
Newcomer of the Year Joker Out
2021 Artist of the Year
2022 Artist of the Year
Song of the Year "Umazane misli"
"A sem ti povedal"
Album of the Year Umazane misli
2023 Artist of the Year Joker Out
Album of the Year Demoni
MAC Rock Song "Barve oceana"
Zlata piščal 2024 Song of the Year "Carpe Diem"
Artist of the Year Joker Out

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ABOUT US . 2023-11-19 . Joker Out . en-US . 19 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231119074355/https://jokeroutband.com/about-us . live .
  2. Web site: Slovenia has spoken: It's 'Joker Out' for Liverpool 2023. Eurovision.tv. 8 December 2022. 8 December 2022. 8 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221208124303/https://eurovision.tv/story/slovenia-has-spoken-its-joker-out-liverpool-2023. live.
  3. News: 2022-12-08 . Joker Out Slovenia's 2023 Eurosong entrant . en-US . Slovenia Times . 2022-12-23 . 2022-12-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221223225831/https://sloveniatimes.com/joker-out-to-be-slovenias-2023-eurosong-entrant/ . dead .
  4. Web site: 3 July 2020. 2020-07-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20200703154118/https://www.prulcek.si/2016/12/magic-januar.html. Magic januar. dead.
  5. Web site: 5 August 2020. 7 November 2016. Joker out predstavljajo video Kot srce, ki kri poganja. 18 May 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220518004824/https://www.zarolaj.si/joker-out-predstavljajo-video-kot-srce-ki-kri-poganja/. live.
  6. Web site: 3 July 2020. 18 June 2017. Joker Out: mladi upi, ki so zmagali na četrti Špil ligi. 28 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191228052321/https://www.rtvslo.si/zabava/glasba/joker-out-mladi-upi-ki-so-zmagali-na-cetrti-spil-ligi/425373. live.
  7. Web site: 3 July 2020. 2020-07-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20200705040820/http://www.kioskhmhm.com/nova-skladba-shagadelicnih-joker-out/. 17 November 2017. Nova skladba shagadeličnih Joker Out. dead.
  8. Web site: 5 August 2020. 5 December 2017. Joker Out z novim singlom Omamljeno telo. 24 May 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220524085303/https://www.24ur.com/ekskluziv/glasba/joker-out-z-novim-singlom-omamljeno-telo.html. live.
  9. Web site: 5 August 2020. 27 September 2019. Joker Out novembra z velikim koncertom na Ljubljanskem gradu. 17 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221017123147/https://www.rocker.si/joker-out-novembra-z-velikim-koncertom-na-ljubljanskem-gradu/. dead.
  10. Web site: 31 January 2022. 23 September 2021. Frišno/Fresh 2021 – katera bo nova slovenska naj skladba zadnjega leta?. 17 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221017121642/https://www.rtvslo.si/zabava-in-slog/glasba/frisno-fresh-2021-katera-bo-nova-slovenska-naj-skladba-zadnjega-leta/595031. live.
  11. Web site: 31 January 2022. 2 October 2021. Nova slovenska glasba zazvenela v "Frišni" preobleki. 19 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221019231426/https://www.rtvslo.si/radio-regionalni/nova-slovenska-glasba-zazvenela-v-frisni-preobleki/595998. live.
  12. Web site: 5 August 2020. 18 June 2020. Zlate piščali prejeli Joker Out, Koala Voice, Dan D in Marko Brecelj. 7 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201107013017/https://www.rtvslo.si/zabava/glasba/zlate-piscali-prejeli-joker-out-koala-voice-dan-d-in-marko-brecelj/527479. live.
  13. Web site: 13 October 2022. 11 October 2022. Skupino Joker Out zapušča basist Martin Jurkovič. 20 January 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230120182458/https://www.24ur.com/popin/glasba/skupino-joker-out-zapusca-basist-martin-jurkovic.html. live.
  14. Web site: 28 October 2022. 11 October 2022. Vemo, kdo se bo skupini Joker Out po odhodu kitarista pridružil na odrih. 2 January 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230102183611/https://www.metropolitan.si/scena/glasba/ekskluzivno-smo-izvedeli-kdo-se-bo-skupini-joker-out-po-odhodu-kitarista-pridruzil-na-odrih/. live.
  15. Web site: 28 October 2022. 27 October 2022. JOKER OUT grejo na jug – DEMONI izidejo na noč čarovnic. 8 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221208163823/https://www.rocker.si/joker-out-grejo-na-jug-demoni-izidejo-na-noc-carovnic/. dead.
  16. Web site: Granger . Anthony . 29 December 2022 . Slovenia: Joker Out Eurovision Entry Recorded . 5 February 2023 . Eurovoix . en-GB . 12 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230112093506/https://eurovoix.com/2022/12/29/%F0%9F%87%B8%F0%9F%87%AE-slovenia-joker-out-eurovision-entry-recorded/ . live .
  17. Web site: D'Eila . Luca . 4 February 2023 . Slovenia: Joker Out reveals "Carpe Diem" music video — watch now! . 5 February 2023 . ESCUnited . en-US . 30 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230330235053/https://www.escunited.com/slovenia-joker-out-reveals-carpe-diem-music-video-watch-now/ . live .
  18. Web site: Granger . Anthony . 23 January 2023 . Slovenia: Joker Out Film Music Video for Eurovision Entry . 5 February 2023 . Eurovoix . en-GB . 23 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230523074430/https://eurovoix.com/2023/01/23/joker-out-film-music-video/ . live .
  19. Web site: 8 December 2022 . Evrovizija: na Misijo Liverpool se podajajo Joker Out! . 8 December 2022 . . sl . 8 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221208231025/https://www.rtvslo.si/zabava-in-slog/glasba/ema/evrovizija-na-misijo-liverpool-se-podajajo-joker-out/650251 . live .
  20. Web site: 2023-01-31 . Eurovision 2023: Allocation Draw results . 2023-01-31 . Eurovision.tv . EBU . en . 2023-02-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230203005317/https://eurovision.tv/story/eurovision-2023-allocation-draw-results . live .
  21. Web site: "Pridružimo se karnevalu pozitivnih sprememb" – Joker Out in Elvis Costello izdali skupni videospot . 21 April 2023 . Slovenian . 30 May 2023 . 14 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230514084923/https://www.rtvslo.si/zabava-in-slog/glasba/misija-liverpool/pridruzimo-se-karnevalu-pozitivnih-sprememb-joker-out-in-elvis-costello-izdali-skupni-videospot/665665 . live .
  22. Web site: Joker Out embark on sold out UK tour . 16 August 2023 . 2023-08-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230816135816/https://www.gov.si/en/news/2023-07-14-joker-out-embark-on-sold-out-uk-tour/ . live .
  23. Web site: Slavni glasbenik na koncertu Joker Out, v zakulisju je nazdravil z njimi . 21 July 2023 . Slovenian . 16 August 2023 . 16 August 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230816141212/https://siol.net/trendi/glasba/slavni-glasbenik-na-koncertu-joker-out-v-zakulisju-je-nazdravil-z-njimi-611773 . live .
  24. Web site: 2023 21-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100). AGATA. lt. 26 May 2023. 26 May 2023. 27 May 2023. https://archive.today/20230527080713/https://www.agata.lt/lt/naujienos/s21-2/. live.
  25. Web site: Slovenia – Radio Airplay Chart – Settimana 20.2023 – dal 12/05/2023 al 18/05/2023. Radiomonitor. Italian. 20 May 2023. 19 May 2023. 19 May 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230519081758/https://radioairplay.fm/classifiche-musicali/classifiche/slovenia/radio-airplay/20-2023/. live.
  26. Web site: Joker Out – Carpe Diem. Musiikkituottajat. fi. 20 May 2023. 19 May 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230519143200/https://www.ifpi.fi/lista/artistit/Joker+Out/Carpe+Diem/. live.
  27. Web site: 2023 20-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100). AGATA. lt. 19 May 2023. 19 May 2023. 19 May 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230519080551/https://www.agata.lt/lt/naujienos/s20-2/. live.
  28. Web site: Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 20. Sverigetopplistan. 19 May 2023. 19 May 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230519132338/https://www.sverigetopplistan.se/chart/215?dspy=2023&dspp=20. live.