Zoster

Zoster is an alternative rock and reggae band from Mostar, formed in the autumn of 2000 on the initiative of Mario Knezović and Dražan Planinić. The name came after Knezović got over herpes zoster, a virus that breaks out when the body's immunity drops: the band saw itself as the product of a drop in the immunity of society itself.

From the start they chose reggae, which they felt suited a region where the dose of aggression, even in music, was already too high, and their songs carry messages of tolerance, peace and progress. Their concert greeting and slogan is "Band Zoster, your band". The first single, "Majko Jamajko", was recorded in 2003 and became a hit on local Herzegovinian radio stations, and a demo followed in 2004.

The debut album, Ojužilo, came out on Gramofon at the beginning of August 2005: twelve songs recorded at Baraka studio over about three years, with lyrics mostly by Knezović and music and arrangements by the whole band. The line-up then included Knezović on vocals and guitar, Atila Aksoj on guitar and keyboards, Goran Rebac on drums, percussion and marimba, and Planinić on bass. Festival budala followed in 2007, Imači kada in 2012 and Srce uzavrelo, released by Gramofon and Menart, in 2014. Knezović has said they never recorded two albums with the same line-up, and the early records leaned most heavily on reggae.

Zoster became a festival band across the region, playing Exit in Novi Sad, InMusic in Zagreb, the Sarajevo Film Festival, Jazz Fest Sarajevo, Lake Fest in Nikšić, Soča Reggae Riversplash, Seasplash in Pula, OK Fest at Tjentište, Arsenal Fest in Kragujevac and Mostar Summer Fest, and giving concerts as far away as Barcelona, New York and London. Their first Belgrade concert was in 2009, and the band now has a large following in Serbia.

The fifth album, Najgori, appeared on Croatia Records in 2023, announced by the singles "Kuda idu svi ti ljudi" (2020), "Treba mi keš" (2021), "Čovjek želi da je ptica" (2022) and "Čovjek zvani činjenica" (2023). The band also recorded "Seksi šaman" with the virtual band Machina. On 6 June 2025 the band played its biggest Belgrade concert so far, at Luka Beograd, while working on a new album released one single at a time; the newest songs on its channel include "Ja ne očekujem nagradu" and "Dok si spavao".

Knezović, the band's frontman and the author of its words and music, is also an actor with more than thirty film and television roles, starting with Danis Tanović's Circus Columbia and including Quo Vadis, Aida?.