Deni Kozic, Guitarist for Film and Psihomodo Pop, Dies

Deni Kozic, a guitarist, singer and songwriter from Zagreb, has died at 62, it was reported today, September 1, first through farewell messages from colleagues on the Zagreb rock scene.

News of his death was first announced within the circle of the band Pips, Chips & Videoclips, of which Kozic was a member during one of its touring eras. No official cause of death has been given, and media reports put his age at 62.

Kozic began his active music career in the mid 1980s, more than four decades ago. His name may not always have been in the spotlight, but for decades he was present wherever the Zagreb rock scene was being made, as a guitarist who passed through the city’s most important bands. He started out in the group Ritam s ovoga svijeta. Psihomodo Pop and Jura Stublic & Film followed, two names that defined the Yugoslav and Croatian rock scene of the 1980s and 1990s. He also played in the projects Pjer Zardin & Psi od slame and Den Deri, before joining Pips as well.

He performed with Pips, Chips & Videoclips during the touring era of the album “Drvece i rijeke” (Trees and Rivers). That is also where the band’s frontman, Dubravko Ivanis Riper, comes from, and he was the first to say goodbye to his bandmate, in a Facebook post.

“Deni Kozic has left us, my guru from Zaprude and for a while a member of Pips during the ‘Drvece i rijeke’ touring era. A musician through and through, and one hell of a guy in private. Life, luckily for me, kept us together right up to today. Deny, light one up for me too, you grump, the moment you get there, rego. I love you, see you soon,” Riper wrote.

Riper wrote the message in the second person, addressing his late colleague directly, rather than speaking about him in the third person as just a musician he once shared a stage with.

Kozic was not only a guitarist passing through other people’s bands, he also wrote and sang his own songs. As a songwriter he released the singles “Nasukan” (Stranded) and “Major Tom,” both under his own name. He is also credited on the songs “Za sretnu planetu” (For a Happy Planet), “Eko gorivo” (Eco Fuel), “Morska” (Sea) and “1985.” He recorded the duet “Dvoje” (The Two of Us) with Ljubica Gurdulic, a member of the group Svadbas. That collaboration shows he moved well beyond the confines of a single band, and was present in different corners of the domestic music scene, not only the ones where he was a permanent member.

Wider audiences remember him best for one scene. In the music video for Jura Stublic and Film, he appears playing guitar on top of a skyscraper, a shot that remains one of the most recognizable images from a Croatian music video of that era. According to the Informer news portal, the video was for the song “Dobre vibracije” (Good Vibrations). For many, that shot is the first thing that comes to mind at the mention of his name, even before they recall which bands he actually played in.

This is the second death of a musician from the region’s older generation reported in recent days, following the news that Stjepan Dzimi Stanic, singer of Kauboji Dzimija, died at 98. Kozic leaves behind a body of work that connects several generations of domestic rock and roll, from Ritam s ovoga svijeta in the 1980s, through Psihomodo Pop and Film, to his collaboration with Pips in the more recent touring era. Details about the funeral have not yet been announced, and it is not known whether the family or any of the bands he worked with will issue an official statement.