Kontrabant

Kontrabant is a Slovenian folk and ethno band that has been part of Slovenian music for more than twenty years. It sings in many languages, from Romani and Hungarian to rock English and everything in between, as well as in various Slovenian dialects, and its concerts mix lively playing with storytelling and poetry set to music.

The band is Béla Szomi on accordion, guitar and lead vocals, Pál Szomi on drums, guitar and vocals, Dušan Železnikar on guitar, bouzouki and vocals, Matijas Severhen on cello, bass, guitar and vocals and Gašper Povše on violin and mandolin, with the clarinettist and singer Kika Szomi Kralj as an occasional member. Their lyricist is Karel Turner.

Their first album, Utrinek/Akaun, came out in 1995, followed by Regrat u salat (1997), Z nogami v zrak (2001), Prešvercano (2004), Dobri geni (2009), Sladki bes (2013) and Tavozoban (2014). Vrnitev domov/Hazateres (2015) gathers songs from their concert in Lendava on 12 December 2015, and Vidno je nevidno came out in 2021. There are also compilations: Smuggling Gypsies (2011), Najboukše prešvercano (2017) and Muravidék (2018) for Hungary.

Their first videos, "Hej Roma" and "Odi mala", were made in 1996, followed by "Samo zate" and "Regrat u salat" in 1997, "Dal ti bom pesem" and "Prekmurje" in 2002, "Na predjesen" in 2013 and "Tel (Zima)" in 2015. Their repertoire also includes the Romani song "Djelem Djelem".