SCH (an abbreviation for "
Schizophrenia") is the musical and artistic project and band (or rather the band-
alterego)[1] of Senad Hadžimusić, who is better known by his nickname Teno. Formed in the early-eighties in
Sarajevo, the band has had an intensive creative and live existence. SCH represents one of the most significant names in the field of
alternative rock music in the
former Yugoslavia. Radio Student Ljubljana's Igor Bašin has noted: "As Ljubljana's got
Laibach and Belgrade's got
EKV and
Disciplina Kičme alias
Šarlo Akrobata, thus Sarajevo's got SCH. SCH is the key-name of the Sarajevo Alternative Scene."[2]
Bosnian writer
Miljenko Jergović once described SCH as "...a group of Sarajevan alternative maniacs who have, infinitely and into infinity, dissipated more wild energy and artificial rebellion than one could fit into all the gothic underground cellars from Hamburg to London."[3]
A number of reviewers have commented on the precise, determined, and
industrial aspects of their sound and production, shared by German
industrial,
noise, and
Krautrock bands.[5] Eldin Hadžović notes in
BH Dani, "Noise has been a common denominator in the band's 20-year-old work, during which numerous line-ups have styles came and went, together with high and lows (the latter principally being a long production/performing pause)... SCH has not deviated one inch from its principal task - to serve as a mirror to our reality, seen through the prism of schizophrenia... SCH sounds like nothing that came before them, or anything that may come after they’ve gone."[6]
SCH's second phase began in early 1985, continuing from an emphasis on recording and performance to a study of war, which became a theme in prior to and throughout the
Yugoslav wars. This period (1985–1991) was characterized by radicalization of the band's sound and its shifting from post-
new wave into
harsh noise and
industrial. Influences during this period included
Swans,
Sonic Youth,
Throbbing Gristle,
SPK,
D.A.F. and early
Einstürzende Neubauten.[7]
SCH continued to perform and record during the
Siege of Sarajevo (1992–1995), but disbanded for several years thereafter, following a 1995 performance in Prague. During the hiatus (1995–2002),
Teno published a book of SCH lyrics[8] as well as During Wartime... Again!.[7]
VRIL (2002) marked a new and still actual phase in the band's development, in which electronic instrumentation and sampling have largely replaced its former, "classic" line-up of guitar, bass and drums.[7]
Live line-up
As of 2007, SCH live consists of Senad Hadžimusić Teno on vocals/guitars/synths;
Rida Attarashany on synths/rhythm machine.