Samonikli

Samonikli
Samonikli: Marko Novaković, Milan Pavlov, Bojan Drndić, Vukašin Veljković (on drums)
Background information
Origin	Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Genres	Beat music, rock, instrumental rock
Years active	1963–1969 Brief reunions: 1985, 2003, 2005, 2006
Past members	Milan Pavlov Marko Novaković Bojan Drndić Vukašin Veljković Marin Pečjak Branislav Grujić Slobodan Matijević

Samonikli (Serbian Cyrillic: Самоникли, trans. Indigenous) was a former Yugoslav rock band, notable as one of the pioneers of the former Yugoslav rock scene

The band Samonikli was formed in 1963 by four Belgrade high school students. The band was named after a book of short stories by writer Prežihov Voranc. Group members changed frequently in the early period, but by 1964 they stabilized in the following lineup: Marin Pečjak (vocals), Milan Pavlov (guitar), Marko Novaković (bass guitar), Bojan Drndić (rhythm guitar) and Vukašin Veljković (drums). Initially the band performed at school proms and college dance parties. The band covered rock hits, as well as traditional songs and 1930s and 1940s schlagers, while their own songs were mostly The Shadows-inspired instrumentals.

In 1965 and 1966 they played regularly at dances at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Technology and soon became widely popular. In 1966 they won first place at a country-wide youth festival of rock bands, which entitled them to represent their country at an international festival of youth orchestras in Hungary, which featured well-known Eastern European groups, such as Illés, Metró, Omega, and others, where they were viewed as a "western" group. The April 1966 issue of Belgrade youth magazine Susret wrote that Samonikli were the first "electric guitar band" in Belgrade to work with a group of violinists, preparing their subsequent two recordings, "Dozvoljavate li gospodine" and "Povetarac i ja", the latter of which became one of the top hits of 1966 on a popular Radio Belgrade II music program called Muzički automat.