Iztok Koren, born in the village of Beltinci in Prekmurje, a social worker by profession, is a Slovenian multi-instrumentalist who currently lives in Ljubljana.

He began his musical journey in 2000 with the dynamic-playful-melancholic post-rock band Škm banda, continued with the loud-expressive-chaotic post-industrial noisecore duo Hexenbrutal, achieved wider recognition with the imaginary-dreamy freak folk trio Širom and, in addition to other occasional musical projects, during the “lockdown” he also created an intimate-minimalist-zen solo project under his own name. In 2024 he founded the international trio Na tej strani nebes with fellow members from Belgium, and in 2025 a duet with Polish guitarist Raphael Roginski.

Iztok also creates music for theater, dance performances and movies. He collaborated several times with theater director Mirjana Medojevič and with dance choreographer Matjaž Farič and he made music for Petra Seliškar's movies Mountain won't move and My summer holidays.

Iztok plays banjo, gembri, balafon, kalimba, percussion, drums, steel drum, guitar, synthesizer, morin khuur and effects.

Raphael Roginski, is guitarist, composer, performer, improviser, cultural animator, and researcher of musical folklore. Trained in both jazz and classical traditions, he later expanded his studies in musicology and ethnomusicology. By merging diverse traditions, he seeks musical and performative systems independent of dominant popular culture.

He performs music from Turkish, Bedouin, African, Kurdish, Greek, Georgian, Persian, Armenian, and many other traditions – often collaborating directly with musicians rooted in those cultures.

His fascination with the folklore of Kurpie led to collaboration with Genowefa Lenarcik, a renowned folk singer and daughter of Stanisław Brzozowy. Together with the last Polish Roma musicians, he founded the band Drom.

His interest in early music resulted in the project Bach Bleach (Bach’s works on prepared guitars) and the album Plays Henry Purcell, which reinterprets Purcell through the lens of 1980s cold-wave aesthetics.

His deep research into guitar techniques, classic blues musicians, and the sound of 1950s–60s instruments is reflected in projects such as Wovoka and Shy Albatross.

He also works within the global new jazz scene. His music frequently accompanies artistic projects – documentary and animated films (e.g. works by Man Ray, Viking Elling, Lidia Skvorcova, Borderland Fairy Tales Collection), performances (Małga Kubiak, Jerzy Kalina), traditional and multimedia theatre (Lothe Lachmann Videoteatr “Poza”, Paweł Miśkiewicz, Piotr Cieplak, Michał Walczak, Maja Korczakowska), and literature (Tadeusz Różewicz, Mieczysław Myśliwski, Mieczysław Abramowicz, Andrzej Stasiuk).

The first shared sounds between Iztok Koren and Raphael Rogiński came to life some time ago, stemming from their collaboration with the band Širom. As instrumentalists seeking both the ancient voice of their instruments and the sound of tomorrow, they play using unconventional techniques and within alternative musical systems. With a sensitive attention to finding a place for sound—both acoustically and ideologically—they create a polyphony of ever-changing colors. Their instruments form a moving ornament of cultures and worlds.

Polyphony itself—as an idea of encountering the other, of building a platform—is the common denominator of their work. As enthusiasts of traditional music, they draw inspiration from it, yet their aim is to create music for the modern human—a universal soundtrack.

Iztok Koren & Raphael Rogiński

Nocturnal Consolations

1 I Put Horns on My Worries

2 Labyrinth of Air - Fire Cat

3 Island in the Midst of a Dried-up Sea

4 Secrets Reveal Themselves Gently

5 Labyrinth of the Sea - Sunken Sun

6 The Children Have Grown Up

7 I Submerge Myself

8 The Spirit is Becoming a Desert

9 Labyrinth of Earth - Night Sun

10 Time Accelerates

11 Labyrinth of Oblivion - End of insomnia

The album was created through the collaboration of two instrumentalists seeking the ancient voice of their instruments alongside th e sound of tomorrow. With sensitive attention to discovering the space for sound - both acoustically and ideologically - Raphael Roginski and Iztok Koren have created a polyphony of ever-changing sonic colors. This polyphony itself - as the idea of one encountering the other to build a platform - is the common denominator of their work. As enthusiasts of traditional music, they draw inspiration from it; yet, their goal is to make music for the modern human and create a universal sonic landscape.