Luna -

Luna was a Yugoslav goth-rock band behind the 1984 Helidon album Nestvarne Stvari.

Members: Slobodan Tišma (vocals), Zoran Bulatović [aka Balé] (guitar, vocals), Ivan Fece (drums), Jasmina “Mina” Mitrušić (keyboards, vocals)

Background

Luna formed in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, in autumn 1981 when singer Slobodan Tišma and drummer Ivan Fece (Firči) teamed with guitarist Zoran Bulatović (Bale) and bassist Marinko Vukmanović (Mare).

Tišma studied literature and participated in the Novi Sad conceptual-art collective Kod. He formed La Strada in 1979 with bassist Danijel Stari. Fece and Bulatović played together in the late-1970s school bands Alfa and Hush. Bulatović subsequently joined Pekinška Patka and recorded the 1981 album Strah od monotonije with Vukmanović on bass.

The departure of La Strada bassist Boris Oslovčan brought Bulatović into contact with Tišma and Fece. The group faced three scheduled concerts organized by Muzička omladina Novog Sada, with appearances in Pančevo, Belgrade, and Novi Sad. Bulatović substituted on bass for La Strada and played keyboards for Fotomodel, whose regular keyboardist Senad Jašarević was unavailable. Tišma, Fece, and Bulatović subsequently formed Luna with Vukmanović.

The musicians rehearsed at Muzička omladina facilities but soon abandoned the conventional bass-guitar lineup. Bulatović wanted to concentrate on guitar and had observed the use of a bass synthesizer by the Novi Sad group Grad. Luna replaced Vukmanović with keyboardist and singer Jasmina Mitrušić (Mina), whom Bulatović knew from the Isidor Bajić music school.

Early Activity

Luna initially reworked the La Strada songs “Metropolis” and “Ulica je jako izdužena” and developed new material around guitar figures by Bulatović and lyrics by Tišma. Their early repertoire included “Ogledalo Lune,” which emerged from a rehearsal and established the division between Tišma as lyricist and Bulatović as composer and arranger. Luna made its early 1982 concert debut at the Arena in Vienna. Fece could not travel because of military-related documentation problems, so Grad drummer Julije Dondo (Đusika) substituted for the appearance.

The group subsequently performed at Novi Sad venues and the Studentski kulturni centar in Belgrade. Luna recorded early versions of “Ogledalo Lune” at MetaSound with engineer Ivica Vlatković and Radio Novi Sad with engineer Jan Šaš. In 1983, radio presenter Slobodan Konjović aired a demo on Belgrade station Studio B.

Jugoton declined a demo submitted by Bulatović and Fece ahead of the group’s 1983 concerts in Croatia and Slovenia. Luna played Zagreb and Ljubljana, including an appearance at Ljubljana club K4, before reaching Koper. Former Buldožer singer Marko Brecelj attended the Koper concert and followed the group to its next appearance in Rijeka. Brecelj subsequently recommended Luna to his former Buldožer colleague Boris Bele, a music editor at the Maribor record company Helidon. Bele arranged sessions at Ratko Ostojić’s Aquarius Studio in Belgrade with producer Saša Habić and engineer Đorđe Petrović for the debut album Nestvarne Stvari.

Discography:

Nestvarne Stvari (1984)

Sources

Ogledala Lune. Predrag Popović, Saša Rakezić, and Goran Tarlać, 2017. A 380-page oral history based on interviews with all four principal members, associates, and contemporaries. Establishes the autumn 1981 formation date and documents the early concerts through contemporary newspaper reports. (Društvo ljubitelja popularne kulture)
Zoran Bulatović Bale, muzičar: Rokenrol više nije opasan, postao je čista zabava. Stevan Gojkov, October 28, 2016. Firsthand account of Bulatović’s school groups with Fece, Pekinška Patka, the three La Strada substitute appearances, Vukmanović’s brief tenure, and the decision to use synthesizer bass. (Moj Novi Sad)
Luna — Zoran Bulatović interview. Saša Gundelj, Ispod zemlje, 2004. Reproduced interview detailing the Vienna concert, the substitute drummer, the 1983 concert itinerary, and the contact with Brecelj and Bele. (Interview transcription)
Slobodan Tišma za kraj (4): Jedini put kad sam ispao đubre. Zorica Kojić and Dragan Ambrozić, July 29, 2021. Tišma identifies the Koper meeting with Brecelj, the Ljubljana K4 appearance, the Helidon connection, and the personnel at Aquarius Studio. (Nova.rs)
Luna: “Ogledalo Lune”. Dragan Ambrozić, October 27, 2024. Contains separate firsthand statements from Tišma and Bulatović about the composition and the three recording versions, with the original demo engineers identified. (Music Box)
Slobodan Tišma o albumu La Strada: Uživo 1987. Interview covering Tišma’s association with La Strada and Luna, the Aquarius sessions, and the choice of Saša Habić as producer. (Odličan Hrčak)
Slobodan Tišma: Književnost i muzika. Biographical interview covering Tišma’s literary background, conceptual-art activity, La Strada, and Luna’s unsuccessful approach to Jugoton. (BBC / RTCG)