Sejo Sexon | |
|---|---|
 Sexon in 2017 | |
| Born | Davor Sučić (1961-06-07)7 June 1961 (age 64) |
| Education | Sarajevo Second Gymnasium |
| Alma mater | University of Sarajevo (attended) University of Zagreb (BA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instruments | |
| Labels | TLN-Europa |
| Member of | |
| Formerly of | Elvis J. Kurtović & His Meteors |
Musical artist | |
Davor Sučić (pronounced[dâʋorsût͡ʃit͡ɕ]; born 7 June 1961), better known by his stage nameSejo Sexon, is a Bosnianrock and roll musician,film scorecomposer, actor andtelevision director. He is the leader and co-founder ofZabranjeno Pušenje, contributing on all of itsreleases. Sejo Sexon was one of the founders of theNew Primitivism movement in his hometownSarajevo. As an actor, he has been featured inTop lista nadrealista.
Sejo Sexon started playing theguitar at the age of 12. In 1978, he formed a rock band named Pseudo Blues Band withNenad Janković, a singer andkeyboardist who was hisneighbor in Sarajevo at the time.[1] The band worked on recording psychedelic compositions in home production and did not have live performances or official releases. In 1980, they invitedZenit Đozić to the band and renamed it to thePseudo Blues Band Zabranjeno pušenje.[2]
Initially using the pseudonym Elvis J. Spahović, Sejo Sexon was one of the founders of theNew Primitivism movement inSarajevo. In 1981, while most of the band members went off tocompulsory military service,Dražen Janković and Sejo Sexon met withElvis J. Kurtović and they formed the bandElvis J. Kurtović & His Meteors.[3] The band also expanded by addingDražen Ričl and Radomir "Hare" Gavrilović. Originally formed as an optional mingle, their first performance occurred in fall 1981. They soon gets the status of a cult band whose success exceeds notability of their primary bands.[2]
Sejo Sexon performed withZabranjeno Pušenje aroundSarajevo for two years before beginning to record material for a debut album during Fall 1983 in producer Paša Ferović's modest studio. The shambolic recording process took seven months before the album namedDas ist Walter got released byJugoton in April 1984 in the small print of 3,000 copies, clearly indicative of the label's extremely low commercial expectations.[4] Although the album was initially released in the small print, the final count was 100,000 copies sold, setting a record for exceeding the initial release by 30 times. In autumn 1984, they embarked on a 60-concert nationwide tour, making them one of the biggestYugoslav rock attractions after just one album.[5]
In 1990, together with Darko Ostojić (Minka) andFaris Arapović, Sejo Sexon left Zabranjeno pušenje due to different views on political differences in Yugoslav leadership in late 1980s and the band vision as well.[4][5] In that time, Sejo Sexon and Ostojić worked on theirsolo record for Diskoton, but that studio album went unreleased due to the start of theBosnian War.[2]
In March 1999, Sejo Sexon finished the sixth Zabranjeno pušenje album, entitledAgent tajne sile (lit. 'A Secret Force Agent'). The album was released in June of the same year.[6] Next studio albumBog vozi Mercedes (lit. 'God drives a Mercedes'), released in December 2001, was record byhome made production in improvised studios inBjelolasica andIvanić Grad. The album was planned to be anoncommercial break from the major music projects. No one expected that it would become one of the best selling Zabranjeno pušenje albums. The album went on to sell more than 35,000 copies. Sejo Sexon wrote and produced four music videos (out of six) for that album.[2] For the song "Arizona Dream" he won the 2002Davorin Award for the best rock song.[7]
In 2002, Sejo Sexon went with Zabranjeno pušenje on theUnited States tour. On 26 May, the band recorded itssecond live album at theCasa Loma Ballroom inSt. Louis,Missouri.[8]
In 2004, Sexon begun to work on the double-full-length albumHodi da ti čiko nešto da!. In 2005, he wrote afilm score for the 2006 Bosnianaction comedy filmNafaka. On that project, he got an opportunity to collaborate with prominent musicians of different genres, such as:Halid Bešlić,Arsen Dedić,Lucija Šerbedžija, and the Mosque Choir Arabeske. In June 2006, the songNema više, the first single fromHodi da ti čiko nešto da! andNafaka Soundtrack as well, was released and became ahit single. Sejo Sexon wrote this song with a Bosnian prose writer and playwrightNenad Veličković. On November 16, 2006, Zabranjeno pušenje released their eighth studio album.[9]
By the end of 2006, Sexon had begun to establish asupergroupShaderwan Code (alaw book ofshadirvan), following a sort of a friendly match between the band Zabranjeno pušenje and the Zagreb Mosque Choir Arabeske.[10] The Shaderwan Code's songs harboursfolk tradition of theWestern Balkans,Bosnian root music,Islamic poetics of theBosnians andBosniaks, a concept of rock and roll as primarily progressive music open to various music influences, but also aclassic jazz sound.[11]
In Autumn 2008, Sexon worked on the next album for Zabranjeno Pušenje with the band'sguitaristToni Lović. The ninth studio albumMuzej revolucije (lit. 'The Museum of the Revolution') was released on 7 November 2009 to commemorate the 92nd anniversary of theOctober Revolution.[12][13]
In 2011, Sexon directed amusic video for the third single ofMuzej revolucije titledKada Sena pleše. It was his directorial debut.[14] He also wrote the script for the same music video. On 15 April 2011, Shaderwan Code released their debut albumKad procvatu behari.[15] Sexon also directed a music video for a song "Samir-time", the fifth and last single ofMuzej revolucije.[16][17]
In 2012, Sexon andToni Lović wrote ten new songs for the tenth Zabranjeno pušenje studio album. On 10 October 2013,Radovi na cesti (lit. 'Roadworks') was released throughCroatia Records andDallas Records.[18][19][20] He co-directed two music videos for promotion of this album. On 28 December, Sejo Sexon and Zabranjeno pušenje celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the band during a concert inSkenderija, Sarajevo.[21][22]
Sexon and Zabranjeno pušenje performed live at theExit Summer of Love 2017[23][24] inNovi Sad, Serbia, and at theBelgrade Beer Fest in 2017.[25]
In 2025, Sexon performed on the band's twolive albums,Pušenje ubija andUživo u Lisinskom.[26][27]
Sexon was working occasionally on thesketch comedy andvariety showTop lista nadrealista between 1984 and 1991.[2] In late June 1992, he started to work on a 15-minute weeklyradio shows forTop lista nadrealista. In August 1993, after 50 odd shows on radio, the group shot and aired four television episodes. Sejo Sexon produced a soundtrack for TV series and atheater playTop lista nadrealista.[2] After re-union of Zabrenjeno pušenje in 1996, Sejo Sexon and Elvis J. Kurović had more than 300 occasions where then performed liveTop lista nadrealista across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,Slovenia,Germany,Austria,Denmark andSwitzerland.[4] That tour was supported by theUSAID office in Sarajevo.
In the late 1980s, Sexon wrotefilm scores for two TV mini series for kids directed byTimothy John Byford and aired onRTV Sarajevo.[2] WithGoran Bregović and Miroslav Mandić, he won the Golden Rose award for the bestTV advertclip atMonterrey, Mexico in 1990. In 2009, Sexon was a jury member together withZele Lipovača,Davor Gobac, and Vinko Štefanac onRat bendova (lit. 'The Band Wars'), a musical contest that aired on Bosnian television networkOBN.[28]
In 1994 and later, Sexon had worked as a project manager for the Umbrella Grant humanitarian organization.[2] They organized more than 80benefit concerts across in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, and Slovenia to raise awareness about refugees of Bosnian War. In 2001, Sejo Sexon and his fellow band members from Zabranjeno pušenje took a part in asocial responsibility project in which they organized music workshops for children and youth who were victims ofland mines.[29][30] The winter workshops were held inKranjska Gora, Slovenia, while the summer workshops were held inRovinj, Croatia.[31] Project was supported by embassies of theCanada, Norway and the U.S. in Zagreb.
In 2003, Sejo Sexon married Croatian photographer Saša Midžor. They have two children together: Vito (b. 2004) and Nora (b. 2010).[32] He has a daughter named Tesa, who lives in Sarajevo, from his first marriage.[33]
Sexon has been writing short stories and columns for the Croatian daily newspaperGlas Slavonije[34] for more than 15 years. Sejo Sexon earned his bachelor's degree inhistory from theUniversity of Zagreb in 2009. Thedissertation title is "The conflict between youth subcultures and Yugoslav official policy in 1980s".[35]
Zabranjeno pušenje
Elvis J. Kurtović & His Meteors
Film scores
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984–1991 | Top lista nadrealista (TV Series) | Guest roles | |
| 2002 | Na svoji Vesni | Interpol policeman | |
| 2002 | Nafaka | Frontmen benda (uncredited) | Also composer |
| 2008 | Lud, zbunjen, normalan (TV Series) | Himself | Season 1, Episode: 33 |
| 2009 | Partizanski film | Himself | Documentary |
| 2013 | Lud, zbunjen, normalan (TV Series) | Himself | Season 5, Episode: 16 |
| 2016 | No Smoking in Sarajevo | Himself | Documentary |
| 2017 | Zarobljeno vreme | Himself | Documentary |
| 2019 | Tusta | Himself | Documentary |
| 2020 | Rokopisac | Himself | Season 1, Episode: 2 |
| 2022 | Svjetla Sarajeva | Himself | Documentary |
| |||||
| Studio albums | |||||
| Live releases |
| ||||
| Compilations | |||||
| Related articles |
| ||||
