The First Five Years 1980-84

Laibach formed in 1980 in Trbovlje shortly after the death of the Yugoslavian dictator Marshall Tito. Attracted trouble right from the start by using the highly controversial German name for Ljubljana especially in the recent state of nervousness over national stability; unsurprisingly the group's first performance Red District is banned on the grounds of its inappropriate use of symbols. It wasn't until 1982 before Laibach could deliver their first public performance, mainly due to the members being scattered around Yugoslavia on military service. The first ever Laibach concert took place in Ljubljana at the FV 112/15 Club in January. Later on in the same year in September they were the highlight at Ljubljana's New Rock festival though Tomaz Hostnik was left bleeding in the face after being struck by a bottle thrown form the crowd. Unfortunately it was in the same year that Tomaz performed for the last time before committing suicide just over a week later on December 21st.

Laibach continued but initially without a singer, therefore made heavy use of samples especially from Tito's speeches. The first release, a cassette tape with the British band Last Few Days in April 1983 heralded by two concerts by the bands along with 23 Skidoo from the UK. Laibach soon later signed a record contract with RTV Ljubljana however Laibach's infamous appearance on the TV Tednik programme resulted in the contract being ditched and soon later they were banned from even using the name Laibach. With increasing hostility at home Laibach decided to leave and tour Europe with Last Few Days. The Occupied Europe Tour 1983, performing 17 concerts in 16 cities and 8 countries. Two concerts were attempted in Yugoslavia, one in Belgrade and the other in Ljubljana but both got cancelled therefore the tour started in Vienna at the Arena Club on November 1st, ending with London at the Diorama on the 23rd of December. Two concerts in Czechoslovakia were cancelled due to the group being denied entry. The tour was also an opportunity to network, while on this tour Laibach signed a contract with the Belgian company L.A.Y.L.A.H. to released Laibach's first record. Boji/Sila/Brat Moj was released in February 1984. Staal Tape recorded Laibach's performance in Amsterdam during the tour and shortly later released Through the Occupied Netherlands.

Shortly after the tour ended they signed with the East West Trading label of Cherry Red Records, who would oversee Laibach's Western debut album Nova Akropola which was released early in 1986. The first single of the album is Panarama and was released in May of 1984. Laibach were determined to hold a concert in memory of Tomaz Hostnik on the second anniversary of his death. However there was the ongoing problem with the Slovene authorities who had a complete ban on Laibach appearing in public. They went ahead and organised the concert without using any reference to the name Laibach, cryptic radio adverts, posters went up overnight with a black cross representing Laibach and the word was carefully spread around. The plan worked and they held a successful short concert at the Malci Belic Hall on December 21st 1984.

Three major artistic groups in Slovenia - Laibach, Irwin and Scipion Nasice had decided to harness the power of a collective organisation and formed Neue Slowenische Kunst in 1984. Also following Laibach's earlier controversial use of German for their name, which translates to New Slovene Art. The movement quickly became a major force, emerging from the Slovene cultural spring of the eighties.

Donald Campbell