Siddharta (band)

Siddharta
Siddharta band, Warsawa 2014.
Background information
Origin	Slovenia
Genres	Alternative rock, Alternative metal, Progressive rock
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Multimedia Records KifKif Records
Website	www.Siddharta.net
Members	Tomi Meglič Primož Benko Jani Hace Tomaž Okroglič-Rous Boštjan Meglič
Past members	Primož Majerič Cene Resnik

Siddharta is a five-piece Slovenian alternative rock band formed in 1995. They are named after a novel by the German writer Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha.

Siddharta was formed in 1995 when four friends – Tomi Meglič (vocals, guitar), Primož Benko (guitar, back vocals), Primož Majerič (bass) and Boštjan Meglič (drums) – got together and named themselves after a well-known Hermann Hesse novel because they liked the sound of it.

Their earliest work was first performed in front of an audience on 17 March 1995. The band had 40 visitors packed in their rehearsal place at Šentvid High School in Ljubljana, but at this first show the raw energy characteristic for Siddharta's live performances in the years to come could already be felt. Soon they started developing their own sound, enriched with a saxophone. Cene Resnik joined the band, who at that point mostly played club gigs and at the end of 1996 they played their 14 demo tapes in a famous club in Ljubljana, K4.

In 1997 Siddharta – alongside a lineup of other promising young bands – took part in the Tivolski Pomp project, which resulted in a compilation for which Siddharta contributed their song Lunanai and made their first TV performance in the Pomp show on national TV.

After their headline performance at Slovenia's biggest rock festival, the Rock Otočec festival Siddharta retreated from public life and locked themselves up in the studio. Six months of Siddharta silence later their second album Nord broke out in May 2001. An English version was also recorded. Peter Penko (Laibach, Silence, Coptic Rain) and Žarko Pak (Big Foot Mama, Radyoyo) worked as producers; many guests were invited to work with the band for Nord: Tomaž Humar, Anita Kay, Boštjan Gombač, Bojan Cvetrežnik, Robert Rebolj and others. For the recording of the Nord album Siddharta invited the bass player Jani Hace, who later joined the band as a full member.

Siddharta's third video, the video for B Mashina was recorded, which launched the band to the stars; the video remained on the charts for over ten weeks.

The sales of Nord broke all known records of that time as over 7,000 copies were sold in less than two months after release. In Slovenia, the only band to top that was U2. Nord has been sold in 30,000 copies.

Siddharta won another Zlati petelin award in 2001, the Music Group of the Year award.

In the spring of 2001 the band set out on an all-Slovenian stage expedition, playing nearly 80 live performances, selling out even the largest sports halls. In September 2001 their fourth video was recorded, Samo Edini, both in Slovenian and in English just as B Mashina was. After the launch of the video the Nord sales rose 80 per cent.