Joker Out Masterpost for new fans
New fan of Joker Out? Say no more!
Getting to know a new artist you’ve found can be intimidating if it’s all in another language, so we’ve compiled some of our favourite interviews, articles and lore here! You’ve arrived in a wonderful fanbase, welcome from all of us here at JokerOutSubs!
If you’d just like a short overview of the band and their history, you can watch this excellent Finnish summary of them that we’ve translated (14m 53s).
But if you want to dive into the details, then check out our timeline, full of videos and articles translated by JokerOutSubs!
Timeline graphic:
Timeline in details below the cut 👇
Timeline in details:
How did the band form?
Joker Out was formed from two bands, Apokalipsa and Buržuazija.
Apokalipsa included Bojan Cvjetićanin (vocals), Martin Jurkovič (bass) and Matic Kovačič (drums)
They gained some traction with young people around Slovenia, particularly with their song 'Mogoče' ('Maybe'), which you can watch on YouTube here.
They came to the attention of Kris Guštin, who was inspired to start learning guitar! He discusses the details in this video (at 9:40).
Kris then met Jan Peteh, another student of his guitar teacher, and at their teachers advice, they formed the band Buržuazija.
Bojan attended their second ever gig in 2016, and decided these two excellent guitarists were exactly what had been missing from Apokalipsa, as he wasn’t happy with their current guitarists. He asked them to join, and they accepted
The new lineup (Bojan, Jan, Kris, Martin and Matic) decided to rename themselves Joker Out. The name means nothing, but they thought it sounded good and was the ‘least horrible’ of all the ideas they could think of.
So, in 2016, Joker Out was officially formed!
November 2016, Kot srce ki kri poganja:
Joker Out’s first music video was for their song ‘Kot srce ki kri poganja’ ('Like a heart that pumps blood'), filmed in Jan’s hometown of Vrhnika! We eventually got this song on Spotify on their 2023 album Live from Arena Stožice!
Music video: Kot srce ki kri poganja
English Interview (from 3:37 to 6:05): Joker Out discusses filming the music video
June 2017, Špil Liga:
One of the earliest performances for Joker Out was at Špil Liga, a competition for young bands in Slovenia. They won, and recorded their winning song, Omamljeno telo (intoxicated body) in November as part of the prize.
Live (33m): Joker Out at Špil liga
Interview (5m): Reflections on Špil Liga in 2023
c.2017/18, Bojan’s attempt at going solo:
The band took a hiatus c.2017/18, and Bojan considered going solo at that time, even working with a few producers. He eventually realised that he belonged with the band! Hear him tell the story:
Reel (1m 23s): A1 Vajb - Bojan’s fail
2019, A change up for the band:
The band began working with their current producer, Žare Pak, and their videographer Mark Pirc, in 2019 - both of whom have been referred to as the sixth member of the band. This led to a change in their sound and production quality, which culminated in ‘Gola’ ('Naked'), the first of their songs to be a big hit!
Music video: Gola
Zlata piščal ('Golden Flute') - Best New Artist 2019:
Joker Out won their first Zlata piščal award in 2019, for best new artist (one of many they’d go on to win!) This is a kind of Slovenian Grammy! Covid interrupted the proceedings, but you can see their interview for it here (3m 59s)-
Interview: Joker Out wins a Zlata piščal ('Golden Flute') for Best New Artist 2019
Umazane misli, and a new member:
During the Covid times, the band began recording their first studio album, 'Umazane misli' ('Dirty thoughts'), which was originally going to be released in March 2020 but was repeatedly delayed until October 2021. The first half was recorded with drummer Matic Kovačič, but the band felt they needed something extra and brought in Jure Maček to help write the arrangements. They loved him so much, he never left!
Interview (from 10:40 to 11:36): Bojan talks briefly about Jure joining the band
COVID times, and Cvetličarna:
The band had arranged to do two concerts at Cvetličarna, a very important venue in Slovenia and a big break for them. This was delayed several times due to Covid, but eventually managed to go ahead in October 2021 for the release of their first album.
Video (1m 14s): Cvetličarna promotional video
Live (1h 28m): Joker Out at Cvetličarna
Interview (34m 55s): Bojan discusses Cvetličarna, its importance, and Covid
Umazane misli album launch:
'Umazane misli' was extremely well received! The band would go on to win two more Zlata piščal awards, Newcomers of the Year in 2020 and Artist of the Year in 2021.
Interview (37m 08s): Umazane misli album presentation
An acting career for Bojan?
Around the same time as 'Umazane misli' was released, Bojan began considering an acting career. He acted in two episodes of the series ‘Gospod Professor’ and in another series, which was eventually reworked as a film called ‘Kaj pa Ester’ and released in December 2023. He decided music was his passion though, and he wanted to fully focus on that.
Interview (from 10:04 to 11:30): Bojan discusses his acting career
Interview (2m 11s): Kaj pa Ester interview
Interview (2m 30s): Kaj pa Ester première
Article: Bojan on Kaj pa Ester
September 2022, Križanke:
The band got straight to work writing their second album, 'Demoni' ('Demons'), and decided to present it in September 2022 at Križanke, another hugely important venue in Slovenia. This whole concert wasn’t recorded, but we have an interesting advertisement they did for it, an interview and a clip of one song live from Križanke!
Video (5m 4s): Full Joker Out Hotline trailers
Interview (2m 16s): Joker Out with parachutes to Križanke?
Live (4m 7s): 'Novi val' ('New wave') live at Križanke
Interview (44m 35s): Demoni album presentation
Another new member!
After Križanke at the end of 2022, Martin Jurkovič, one of the founding members of the band, made the decision to leave to focus on his studies.
Video (2m 20s): Martin's departure
Thankfully, he was replaced by the wonderful Nace Jordan, who remains the bassist in the current lineup.
Article: Nace Jordan discusses joining the band
2023, Eurovision:
Joker Out were then internally selected to go to Eurovision 2023, and began recording their Eurovision song, 'Carpe Diem', in Hamburg in December 2022. To learn more, you can watch the Carpe Diem series, a documentary series which followed their entire journey.
The first episode, recording Carpe Diem, can be found with subtitles in multiple languages by JokerOutSubs!
Video (16m 41s): Carpe Diem Ep. 1 - Hamburg
The band performed their song for the first time live on Misija Liverpool, a televised debut, on the 4th February 2023.
Video (27m): Joker Out performing at Misija Liverpool
There are quite literally hundreds of interviews with Joker Out during the Eurovision era. Here's one from just before the final, that we have translated.
Interview: Joker Out before the final on the 13th May
And a few English interviews that became famous in the fanbase!
Interview (24m 29s): Eurovanja
Interview (8m 10s): Seize the Day situations
Interview (17m 18s): Tiktok Live
Interview (6m 30s): ‘Never have I ever’
Interview (14m 12s): Madrid Eurovision
Result
Joker Out came 21st at Eurovision, which they were satisfied with.
Interview (1m 36s): Bojan talks about their results
European tour and Sunny Side of London (22nd September)
Luckily, the best was still to come for Joker Out! The rest of 2023 was spent on an extremely successful European tour, and they also released their first English single, 'Sunny Side of London', in September.
We at JokerOutSubs were also thrilled to interview the band twice on their tour!
Original Interview (15m 25s): JokerOutSubs interview in Tampere
Original Interview (14m 37s): JokerOutSubs interview in Poznań
6th of October 2023, Stožice:
All of this, however, was building up to Stožice. This is the biggest closed venue in Slovenia and Joker Out managed to sell out their October show there - an extremely important milestone for Slovenian artists.
Interview (15m 4s): Stožice and their whirlwind post Eurovision career
Live: Full concert live-streamed part 1 and part 2
A lovely moment at Stožice was when former members Martin Jurkovič and Matic Kovačič joined the band onstage to perform 'Kot srce ki kri poganja'!
Interview (2m 4s): Martin and Matic discuss the experience
Interview (5m 9s): Joker Out post Stožice impressions
London era and Everybody’s Waiting:
Joker Out spent the beginning of 2024 in London, where they wrote new music, did live cooking shows on Instagram and met the incredibly talented photographer, Damon Baker, who did a beautiful series of photoshoots with them. They also released their next English single, 'Everybody’s Waiting', in February.
They sat down with us at JokerOutSubs to discuss all this on the 20th February!
Original Interview (59m 13s): JokerOutSubs interview in London
March and April 2024, ‘See you soon’ tour:
The boys then embarked on the ‘See you Soon’ tour, another very successful European tour. They played three new songs live during the tour, two of which we translated from the concert videos of our members!
Live: First performance of 'Bluza' ('Blouse')
Live: First performance of the hugely popular 'Šta bih ja' ('What would I')
We at JokerOutSubs also interviewed the band a fourth time in Padova!
Original Interview (22m 7s): JokerOutSubs interview in Padova
Now you know a little bit about Joker Out’s history, let’s look a little bit at the members of the band as individuals!
Who are the members?
Bojan Cvjetićanin - singer
Charming, charismatic and an all round green flag, deep down we’re all Bojan girlies! See him here on Cosmopolitan's Blind date, Portrait with Coffee and a lovely interview he did for Delo!
Interview (8m 49s): Cosmopolitan's Blind date
Interview (18m 3s): Portrait with Coffee
Article: “If we believed that we were “kings”, that wouldn’t be us”
Jan Peteh - guitarist
The mysterious mathematician of the band, Jan and his cat Igor have stolen the hearts of the fanbase. Here he is on Undercover Mathematician and on Metropolitan podcast with ex bassist Martin!
Interview (3m 26s): Undercover mathematician
Interview (43m 57s): Jan and Martin on Metropolitan podcast
Kris Guštin - guitarist
Known for his organisational expertise, 'slay pose' and 'cake baking skills,' Kris stays fabulous on and off stage!
Video (1m 5s): NGVOT backstory (Kris’ breakup) at Cvetličarna
Article: Interview with the entire Guštin family
Jure Maček - drummer
Described consistently by his band mates as ‘čaga’ (party), Jure brings a chaotic energy to Joker Out that we love to see!
Video (41s): Jure’s cheating (in school!) story
Interview (18m 3s): Sunday Chat on Radio 94
Nace Jordan - bassist
The oldest member of Joker Out, Nace is a genuine sweetheart who fit like a glove into Joker Out despite joining much later!
Article: "Enriched by a special [Eurovision] experience"
Interview (18m 24s): Interview with JokerOutSubs in Umag
Get to know the whole band!
They mostly do interviews together, so here are some of our favourites!
Interview (16m 52s): Vičstock Unplugged
Video (7m 3s): Joker Out pre-Križanke Instagram Q&A compilation
Interview (54m 42s): Multisciplinary panel at Bežigrad High School
Article: Joker Out for DELO
Article: Joker Out for Mladina magazine
Interview (6m 42s): Joker Out for RTV SLO
Interview (1h 1m): Joker Out for N1 podkast
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning a bit more about our favourite band!
If you’d like even MORE translated interviews, articles and Instagram stories, you can find us on Tumblr, X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Spotify under the name JokerOutSubs!
P.S: If you wish to share this post with new fans, we also provided QR codes!