✍️How to Translate a Band: The Story of Joker Out Subs
Original article written by X coffeebiscuit - a member of JokerOutSubs - for the Language Centre Newsletter at a UK university, Summer 2025 edition
Written by one of our amazing Joker Out Subs members, this article was featured in the Language Centre Newsletter of a UK university with nearly 50,000 students and staff.
We’re beyond proud to see our story shared with such a wide audience! 💙
Full article under the cut 👇
You’ve probably never heard of the Slovene indie rock band Joker Out, and frankly, it would be surprising if you had. However, the aim of this article isn’t to promote this five-piece band from a small Central European country, but rather to explore a fascinating phenomenon they inadvertently became part of – one that touches on language, language learning, and translation.
Photo: JokerOutSubs logo
After Joker Out achieved all they could within Slovenia, they decided to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023, hoping that exposure to 160 million viewers would serve as a springboard for an international career outside their home country.
Sure enough, the band soon gained a sizeable and enthusiastic international following. This new audience began to show interest not only in the band’s music but also in Slovenia itself – its culture, history, and language. To understand the lyrics better, many fans started learning Slovene as well as Serbian, as the band’s lead singer, who is bilingual, writes songs in both languages.
At the same time, a group of Slovene linguists and translators took the initiative to support the band’s growing popularity by making it easier for international fans to follow them. They set out to translate all Joker Out related content, both old and new: lyrics, concert videos, interviews, articles, TV and radio appearances, and social media posts.
PHOTO : Joker Out at Eurovision 2023
The group named themselves Joker Out Subs (JOS) and quickly organised themselves online, collaborating remotely via the communications platform Discord and using Google Docs to manage their ever-growing workload.
Soon they were joined by Joker Out fans from other countries, who wanted to contribute to the project by translating content into their own languages. People with graphic design and social media skills were also invited to join, freeing up time for translators to focus on the linguistic work. In addition, fluent English speakers were recruited to proofread the translations to ensure they were as accurate and clear as possible.
Today, Joker Out Subs consists of over 50 members from around the world, translating into about 15 languages – including Finnish, Turkish, and Japanese. They have their own logo and visual identity and share their translations on all the main social media and podcast platforms, such as Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, Tumblr, and more recently, Bluesky.
Although all members of Joker Out Subs are volunteers, there is nothing amateurish about their work. Every stage of the translation and publishing process is double- or even triple-checked.
It begins with a full transcription of any spoken content, which is thoroughly checked. This is followed by a translation into English, which is reviewed by another Slovene speaker before being proofread by an English speaker. These stages often involve animated discussions, particularly when grappling with colloquialisms, culturally specific references, or newly coined expressions. Once the translation is agreed upon, the graphic designers and social media team prepare the visuals and publish the translated content. The same workflow applies when the original material is in Serbian, Dutch, or Spanish – languages also spoken by the band members.
At this stage, other Joker Out Subs language teams are invited to translate the English version into their own languages, and these translations are then added to the videos.
From the very beginning, the group decided to also include proofread Slovene subtitles wherever possible in order to support language learning. Not long after, they were proud to find out that teachers of Slovene at more than 25 universities across the world now recommend Joker Out Subs’ videos with Slovene subtitles as a useful resource for language learners.
As evidenced by the above, all Joker Out Subs members feel a strong responsibility to present the band accurately, avoiding any misinterpretations that could potentially affect the band’s reputation.
Joker Out Subs’ efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. International fans value their hard work and eagerly look forward to translations of new content. Moreover, the band themselves clearly appreciate the group’s dedication, enthusiasm, and professionalism. They regularly share Joker Out Subs posts on their own platforms, offer them exclusive interviews (which are promptly translated into multiple languages), and occasionally invite them to translate new material before it’s publicly released – a sign of how much they trust the team not to leak any confidential information to the wider fan base.
PHOTO : One of Joker Out Subs’ original interviews with the band
Thanks to these collective efforts, more than two years after their Eurovision performance, Joker Out have not only retained but grown their international fan base. Fans continue learning Slovene and visiting Slovenia because of the band. Joker Out now tour regularly across Europe, including the Balkan region, where fans sing along in languages they don’t speak.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the band’s success is that they didn’t need to switch to writing songs in English to gain international recognition, defying even their own expectations. While a few songs in their repertoire are in English, this appears to be a creative choice rather than a commercial strategy.
With all of their content translated by a committed and highly professional group of fans, Joker Out have managed to remain authentic and culturally relevant to their home audience, while simultaneously reaching new listeners across the globe – spreading their music, language, and culture far beyond anything they could have imagined.
Curious about Joker Out Subs? Visit their Linktree: linktr.ee/jokeroutsubs
Want to learn more about the band? Check out their Instagram: @joker_out_official
PHOTO : This is where you can see Joker Out this year.