Direktori is a Serbian oi! punk/ska group from Belgrade.
History
1989 – 1999
During the spring of 1989, vocalist Nebojša Drakula, with the former Varšavski Geto member Miroslav Pilipović "Trta" on guitar, former Pogrebni Zavod member Srđan Marić on bass guitar and former Hogari member Dragan "Rale" Rašković on drums, formed a band performing cover versions of oi! punk acts such as Sham 69, Cockney Rejects and Skrewdriver. However, it was a year after, in November 1990, that the band got the name Direktori and included another guitar player, Predrag Tošović "Peđa". At the time the band recorded their first demo recording, the song "Mrzim Hajduk", and in May 1991, they recorded "Čistićete ulice" and "Njoj". By the end of May, the band had their first public appearance in Novi Sad. Soon after the performance, the band recorded "Bando crvena", which was recorded during the Students protest on March 9, 1991, "Ide voz" and "Porno film". In February 1992, the band recorded their first promotional video for the song "Bando crvena" for the Afirmator TV show. During the same year, on April, they entered the finals of the Palilula Culture Olympics and in June the band performed at the students protest and on the Vidovdan gathering. At the time, Deca Loših Muzičarabrass section started performing with the band, giving an opportunity to the band to develop their interest in ska music. The politically explicit titles of the band's songs caused the band to be disqualified off the 1992 ZaječarGitarijada, even though they had entered the finals and were critically well acclaimed by both the jury and the audience. The band also had problems with the media as the Bulevar newspaper magazine released some anti-band texts with titles such as "Direktori smoke marijuana" or "Marijuana and anti-communism", but the fact only helped the band's popularity. In October 1992, the band, in only twelve hours, recorded seven new songs which, beside the previous demo recordings, were released on the debut album Čistićete ulice. In November, the band entered the finals of the Brzi Bendovi Srbije festival and won the best musical video award of 1992. Due to a misunderstanding with the Carlo record label, which released the debut first album, the band moved to Take It Or Leave It Records, and even though having new material ready for recording in mid-1993, it was in March 1994 that the band started recording the second album. Lesli se vraća krući was released in March 1995 and the vinyl edition appeared a year later. The album featured eighteen new songs, including the cover of Vatreni Poljubac song "Doktor za rokenrol". Guest appearances featured the Deca Loših Muzičara brass section, Plejboj member Dušan Petrović on saxophone, Ekatarina Velika keyboardist Margita Stefanović, former Logika Otkrića guitarist Goran Živković and Zion i Baga Baga percussionist Leša. At the time, German ska/reggae record label Pork Pie included the band's song "Skinhedi skankuju" on the various artists compilation United Colors Of Ska Vol. 2 featuring young ska acts from all over the world. In May 1995, the band performed at the Belgrade Dom Omladine with most of the musicians involved with the album recording. In the meantime, they decided to leave Take It Or Leave It and move to LVO Records which rereleased the band's second album. In January 1996, the band recorded a new version of "Ide voz" for Red Starfootball chant compilation. The band also worked on the soundtrack and appeared in the movie Geto, performing the song "Životinjska farma". On October 25 of the following year, the band performed at the Belgrade's KST when Serbian bands performed cover versions of punk rock classics. The song "Old McDonald", performed at the concert, appeared on the various artists compilation Punk You All. The band also appeared on the various artists compilation Svi protiv svih, released for the Paket Aranžman TV show 10th anniversary, with the tracks "Skinhedi skankuju", "Roboti od krvi i mesa" and "Mi volimo pivo". During the late 1999, the band independently rereleased the first two albums, previously available on MC and LP, on CD and released a new album, Evo vam ga. The album did not feature Tošović on guitar due to his departure to Portugal and was produced by former Svarog and Overdose member Zoran Đuroski "Đura", who also recorded guitars and performed live with the band. Guest appearances featured Block Out guitarist Nikola Vranjković, Željko Markuš and the band's youth role-model Milić Vukašinović who did vocals on the track "Smor grad". The song "Naš brat" was written by Zoran Kostić "Cane" from Partibrejkers, the song "Jedite govna" featured the theme from Cock Sparrer track "Chip On Your Shoulder", and the track "Dobro nam doš'o, direktore naš" featured the Georges Bizet's "Habanera" from the opera Carmen and the lines from the TV show Servisna stanica by Radivoje Lukić "Lola".
2006 – present
In 2006, after a long hiatus, the band released their fourth album UA direktori. In the meantime, bassist Srđan Marić started playing with the band Antifriz, with whom he recorded the album Strašno važno in 2005.
