In Memoriam: Sašo Banovič (May 20, 1970 – December 13, 2021)

A few days ago, the Slovenian rock and metal community lost Sašo Banovič, one of the key figures of the Postojna area, who through his commitment, enthusiasm, fire and constant involvement in rock activism left an indelible mark not only on the local scene, but on the wider Slovenian rock and metal scene as a whole.

Sašo was known first and foremost as an outstanding vocalist, a great lyricist and a music activist. He threw himself into everything with a full heart, always followed that heart with total dedication and boundless drive, and so he often acted as a kind of engine and a huge motivator, brimming with positive energy that his bandmates quickly caught too. In Postojna and the surrounding area, from the nineties right up until his untimely death, he was considered one of the pillars keeping the local rock’n’roll pulse alive.

Over his career Sašo left his mark in the bands Robin F’ Hood, Generacija X and Funkoolo, and he also recorded a few tracks under the name Sash in prijatelji. In the first half of the nineties, Sašo launched a joint music project with Slovenian guitar hero Marko Lemer, and the two left behind a handful of demo recordings. Right before his far too early passing, Sašo and Lemer had been talking about finishing the material and releasing an album. Sašo also wrote lyrics for Mary Rose, and is credited as a lyricist on the albums “Feniks” (2006, RockLine review) and “Resničen svet” (2019, RockLine review). In 2007 Sašo opened Klub glasbe Jazzy, which, until it closed in 2018, hosted plenty of well-known Slovenian as well as international rock and metal acts.

The detailed history of Robin F’ Hood and Sašo’s music career between 1996 and 2011:

Robin F’ Hood were a band whose beginnings go back to 1985. In 1987 the band started performing as Robin Hood. The first lineup was Boris Spinelli (vocals), Samo Milharčič (guitar), Željko Bajlovič (bass), Aljoša Može (keyboards) and Simon Banič (drums). Under the guidance of producer Mire Bevc, Robin Hood recorded their first three original songs in 1988 at the Akademik studio in Ljubljana. Sadly, Mire Bevc’s unexpected death meant the band never got to those first recordings. Vocalist Boris Spinelli and drummer Simon Banič left, and Klemen Ogrizek from Postojna joined on drums, along with vocalist Peter Truden from Rakek. That catapulted the band to a higher level, both technically and in songwriting, and they started channeling their creative energy into their own original music. At that time the band was playing hard rock. In 1990 Truden was drafted into the army, and Ogrizek suggested Sašo Banovič as the new singer. With the lineup of Sašo Banovič, Samo Milharčič, Željko Bajlovič and Klemen Ogrizek, Robin Hood played alongside local hard rock acts Šank Rock and Mary Rose, and the peak of that touring era for the band was a show in Venice, Italy.

In 1991 Robin Hood recorded three new demos, and a video clip too. Mitja Šabec joined the band, replacing Klemen Ogrizek on drums. Ogrizek then joined Mary Rose, where Mitja Šabec had played before him. With Šabec’s arrival the band started eyeing heavier, more metallic sounds in the style of Pantera, and they were also influenced by the sudden breakthrough of progressive metal sensation Dream Theater. To underline the new, sharper musical approach, they added an F’ to the name and became Robin F’ Hood. In 1994 the band brought in an additional guitarist, the barely sixteen-year-old but extremely talented Marko Čepak from Sežana. In mid-May 1994, this lineup recorded five demos at the Radio 94 studio. The studio was still under construction at the time, so its recording capabilities were limited, which also affected the quality of the recordings. By 1995 the band had played a ton of shows, but then activity ground to a halt because guitarist Samo Milharčič went off to the army in 1995. In 1996 Sašo Banovič joined the newly formed Generacija X.

In 1998 Robin F’ Hood came back to life with the lineup of Sašo Kuzmanovič (vocals), Samo Milharčič (guitar), Mitja Šabec (drums), Marko Čepak (guitar), Mitja Kobal (bass) and Sebastijan Ženko (keyboards). This lineup headed into the Tivoli studio and recorded two tracks. One of them, “Nikdar ne bom”, later ended up on the compilation “Tivolski pomp”. Because of differing musical views, this lineup didn’t stay together for long and called it quits.

Between 1996 and 2010 Sašo was active in two bands, and in 2001 he also recorded 9 tracks under the name Sash in prijatelji that were never officially released. In Generacija X, alongside Sašo on vocals, the first lineup featured bassist Goran Blaško, guitarist Marko Čepak ‘Maki’, drummer Roman Ratej and keyboardist Sebastijan Ženko. In 2007 Sašo joined Funkoolo, which included guitarist Mitja Lončarek (ex-Skytower), drummer Simon Barič (ex-Skytower), bassist Goran Blaško (ex-Skytower, Generacija X) and keyboardist Matej Barič.

In 2011 the members of the 1994 lineup, Sašo Banovič among them, got together, and there was serious talk and plans about reactivating the band and recording an album. Sadly, it never went beyond talk. Mitja Šabec then moved to Sweden.

“Pusti mi sanje, le še tam se vsi smejimo
Preveč je vseh teh obljub,
Ki dušo praznijo, sesajo voljo vseh idej
Pusti mi sanje, mnogim nam je le to ostalo
Le še tam se vsi, smejimo brez skrbi.”
(part of the lyrics to the Mary Rose song Sam II from the album “Resničen svet” (2019), written by Sašo Banovič)

• The following people contributed to this piece: Goran Blaško, Samo Milharčič and Eki Alilovski, whom I thank on behalf of the RockLine team for sharing information and data. Without your generous help, this piece would certainly not exist.