9One of the most renowned post-Yugoslav bands, **Artan Lili**, along with the alternative rock group **16 osam 23**, will be the guests of the second night of the music segment of the Herceg Novi Comic Festival, at Forte Mare Tower on Saturday, September 6, starting at 10 p.m.
Since releasing their debut single *Džoni* in November 2012, Artan Lili has established themselves as one of the most talked-about names among the new forces of the post-Yugoslav music scene. Over the years, the band has settled into a recognizable quartet: Bojan Slačala – bass and vocals, Romana Slačala – vocals and tambourine, Marko Ajković – drums, and Ivan Skopulović – guitar.
They were also the first winners of the **Milan Mladenović Award**, presented by the Milan Mladenović Foundation. They received the honor in 2019 for the composition *D.E.P.R.A.*, which fulfilled all the criteria that make a musical work outstanding. *“It is an original, deeply individual, stylistically consistent and intelligent authorial and performance achievement, treating talent and skill without calculation or cynicism, with authentic emotion and deserved respect,”* stated the announcement upon the award presentation.
Their singles have occupied top spots on all relevant radio and TV charts in the country and the region for years. Particularly noteworthy is the song *Ako stanemo tu*, which immediately upon release took first place on Studio B’s *Diskomer* chart – something that, in the forty-year history of that list, had previously only been achieved by Bijelo Dugme, Ekatarina Velika, and Kal.
New songs, as well as reissues of the group’s now-cult first two albums, were released through regional cooperation between the two largest record labels – Zagreb’s **Croatia Records** (formerly Jugoton) and Belgrade’s **PGP-RTS**. Recently, they released their third studio album, *III*.
**16 osam 23** is an alternative music group formed in 1992.
From the very beginning, they became recognizable for striking live performances filled with energy and a high degree of instrumental competence. Although they were still teenagers, they scored their first hits right away, catapulting them into orbit as the youngest band of Serbia’s *Fast Bands* era.
Songs such as *Moja mama šnicle tuče*, *Miloš Šestić*, *Kifle s džemom*, *Tautologija*, *Bonus #1*, *Anatomija*, as well as newer tracks like *Minimal Funk*, *Kako kako kako* and *Konfuzija*, are in regular rotation on radio stations that follow the domestic alternative scene. Since their return in 2011, the band has been a regular guest at numerous music festivals across the region.
Their debut album *Iz Principa* (1995) was recently re-released on vinyl, and the band is currently working on recording new material.
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