zalagasper

zalagasper (written in lower case) is a Slovenian electronic pop duo from Maribor, made up of singer Zala Kralj and multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Gašper Šantl. They played their electronic music live on samplers, and their sound is marked by Šantl's guitar lines and Kralj's ethereal, often looped vocals.

The two met through a friend, Žiga Krajnc, who went on to direct their music videos. Their first popular singles, "Valovi" (September 2017) and "Baloni" (February 2018), were first credited on YouTube as Gašper Šantl feat. Zala Kralj, because Kralj had begun as a guest singer on music Šantl had already been releasing with other vocalists. From April 2018 they performed as equal partners under the name Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl and signed with Universal Music Slovenia. "Valovi" won the Zlata piščal award for song of the year, and in October 2018 they released a third single, "S teboi".

In November 2018 they entered "Sebi" for EMA 2019, hoping mainly to introduce their music to a wider audience. On 16 February 2019 they reached the superfinal through the jury and then beat Raiven and her song "Kaos" in the public phone vote. On the day of the show they released their first EP, Štiri, with all four songs they had put out until then. In May 2019 they represented Slovenia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv with "Sebi" and finished 15th in the final. The same month they received the Zlata piščal for newcomer of the year.

In June 2019 they renamed themselves zalagasper, without diacritics, so that the name would be easier to write for people abroad. Their first song in English, "Come to Me", came out on 7 June 2019 and was followed by "Signals" in October. They also guested, with Ezra, on "Ubijalci sanj" by the Dravle Records collective. Their first full-length album, 4, was released on 14 February 2020, and a second, love letter, in 2022.

In 2023 Zala Kralj ended her music career to study Slovene literature and English, and Gašper Šantl continued zalagasper as a solo project.