Name

The name The comes from the Slovene word ‘stroj’ which means a ‘machine’. Pronounced together with ‘the’ the phrase sounds as ‘destroy’. The is a pun with two meanings: machine and destruction.

History

The began in 1997, when a group of percussionists, craftsmen, and artists from Laško, Slovenia

Laško

Laško is a spa town and municipality in eastern Slovenia. Traditionally the area was part of the Lower Styria region. The municipality is now included in the Savinja statistical region. The town is located at the foothills of the Hum hill on the Savinja River. It is first mentioned in written...

, first developed the idea of a huge mechanical sound machine that would sound like an articulated noise orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

.

The performed at events in locations such as mines

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

, stone-pits

Quarry

A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...

, abandoned factories, large vehicles, and high buildings. It combined powerful and complex rhythms with sounds from selfmade instruments together with visual effects. Their music had a unique and futuristic sound. It was a mixture of industrial

Industrial music

Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...

, techno

Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...

, rock

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

, ethnic

Traditional music

Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...

 and jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

. They performed using heavy, rusty and strange looking instruments and ‘noisers’. The sound of the machine was upgraded with electronic effects and sound manipulations

Effects unit

Effects units are electronic devices that alter how a musical instrument or other audio source sounds. Some effects subtly "color" a sound, while others transform it dramatically. Effects are used during live performances or in the studio, typically with electric guitar, keyboard and bass...

.

In August 2000, TV Slovenija shot a television documentary about the construction of The new machine for the Sila/00 project at the stone-pit in Rečica near Laško. The film covers their work in their hometown Laško

Laško

Laško is a spa town and municipality in eastern Slovenia. Traditionally the area was part of the Lower Styria region. The municipality is now included in the Savinja statistical region. The town is located at the foothills of the Hum hill on the Savinja River. It is first mentioned in written...

and the nearby stone-pit.

The band was disbanded in March 2007 and reactivated in 2010.

Members

• Primož Oberžan – Loyz
• Aleksij Kobal - Alex Contrain
• Črt Lipovšek – Pihušek
• Dare Hriberšek – Biddonne
• Gregor Brvar – Grexon
• Matjaž Madjar – Magi
• Sonja Dernjač – Stroyna
• Sašo Kotnik – Vinkl
• Bojan Krhlanko – Boyanov
• Janez Levec - Johnny Kickers
• Miha Markošek – Mihaylo
• Aldo Ivančič - DJ Aldo

Discography

• Ventilator (StrojMusic 1999)
• Gremo! (StrojMusic 2002)
• Cona / The Zone (StrojMusic 2006)

External links

• The Stroj - official website