New name: Ukrainian pop singer Luna. New name: Singer Luna What is the name of the singer Luna

Simple, sincere lyrics and minimalistic arrangements in the spirit of the 90s - according to American Vogue, this is what “the face of the Ukrainian musical revolution” looks like. The publication assigned this status to Kiev resident Kristina Gerasimova, who performs under the pseudonym Luna. Her songs were not played on the radio, and her videos were not broadcast on TV. Luna's work has become popular thanks to the Internet. At the same time, the artist herself states that she does not consider herself an indie project.

Childhood and youth

Kristina Gerasimova (at the time of her marriage - Bardash) was born on August 28, 1990 in the German Democratic Republic, where her father served at that time. The family lived in the town of Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz) for about two years, after which they moved to Ukraine. The Gerasimovs settled in Kyiv.

Together with her younger sister Alina, Kristina studied at school No. 53 in Kyiv, having time for choreography classes after school. In elementary school, Christina attended folk dances, later - ballet, to which she devoted 6 years. Then the girl changed dancing to music. At art school for two years she studied solfeggio, vocals, attended a choir and took guitar lessons.

Music

Christina recorded her first demo when she was 14 years old. While studying at school and then at university, the girl wrote poetry and music, but did not consider it necessary to demonstrate her creativity to the public. The first performance took place only in 2015. The actress took part in Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days. And a year later she presented her first album “Mag-ni-you”.

Grandiose solo performance made too strong an impression on the performer: Christina took a break from creating songs and focused on performances. Following the capital of Ukraine, the concerts of the “Eclipse” tour took place in Riga, Yekaterinburg, and Moscow.

Moon, video "Autumn"

In the songs of the first album - “Boy, you are snow”, “Bottle”, “Bambi” - the melancholic mood and sound in the style of pop music of the 90s, characteristic of Luna’s work, were immediately determined. Critics draw parallels with creativity,. The singer herself names Glass Animals, groups, “Guests from the Future”, as well as performers and. She defines her own style as “soulful pop.”

At the end of 2016, Luna released the mini-album “Sad Dance”. The album made a successful debut: on the first day it took first place in iTunes Ukraine and second in iTunes Russia and iTunes Armenia.

Luna's video for the song "Ogonyok"

In 2017, the performer released her second album, “Island of Freedom.” Of the 8 tracks, 3 were presented earlier during the year: “Bullets”, “Ogonyok”, “Friend”. The video for the song “Ogonyok” turned out to be the most popular video in Luna’s assets: more than 50 people were in the frame. In 6 months, the clip collected a million views on Youtube. The songs "Jukebox" and "Free love" became hits.

Luna performs the song "Jukebox"

It is noteworthy that in the first clips, the “multi-stanker” Luna not only thought through the plot and style of the video, but also tried to control the technical side:

“On the set of “Bullet” I really gave it my all, because I thought through every shot, went to the rental store, chose lenses, a camera, set the light - in heels, then climbed into the frame.”

Subsequently, the singer agreed to delegate these responsibilities to directors. This, however, does not exclude Luna’s participation in creating the script and developing images.

Personal life

Christina was married. Her ex-husband is a producer, co-owner of the Kruzheva Music company, participant. The hit “The Ice Is Melting” is dedicated to the Moon.

In 2012, the couple had a son, George. At that time the family lived in Los Angeles. Christina describes this period of her biography contradictorily:

“I have just begun my adult life. And all this came at me. This is all great, but this America is still around, and I just found myself alone with myself and my calling to be a woman. I butted heads for a while because I wanted to remain a girl who could go to discos, smoke, party... I threw objects out of the house, screamed for the police to come and take me to the madhouse, and could run naked into the street. But that's okay, I'm not ashamed of it. I had to get over this trash."

Luna’s life returned to a calmer direction after writing her first album. As the artist admits, she was referred by a friend. The girl became interested in the connection between humans and natural cycles, the cosmos, and ways to manage their energy.

Pop singer in a regular column about rising stars

Almost everyone started talking about Kristina Bardash as the singer Luna at the same time. In feeds social networks Her amateur and simple girl videos began to flash. The most popular of them is “Autumn”, to date it has been viewed more than 90 thousand times.

On May 20, at the presentation of her debut album “Mag-ni-you,” Luna gathered a full hall - about a thousand people.

What others are saying:

Vlad Fisun, DJ, host of Aristocrats radio:“The entry of such a seemingly simple project as “Luna” into the musical field turned out to be difficult for many - for adherents of the competitive idea in music, for those who are accustomed to seeing song performers in all guises, from people's judges to culinary specialists, for those , who needs a singer to broadcast and throw down from the stage. And Christina Bardash’s project is a study of the world around her with big, moist eyes, a study in which even flowers or precipitation can cause genuine trembling, make you watch for hours how the heat of June dissolves the last cloud. in the sky. Without the roar of the timpani. And with such parameters of sound and ideological pressure, it seems that you will not penetrate the audience shackled in office chains. But they come to sing, drink and cry. Although in reality she is a cheerful girl."

Yuri Kaplan, leader of the group "Valentin Strykalo":"The form that appeals to nostalgic feelings is often devoid of new meanings, and as a rule there is nothing behind the shabby screen. In this case, everything is different. Luna’s music is certainly part of our cultural code, it speaks to the generation of the nineties in a language very familiar to them, but Now this is a conversation with adults. And there is nothing infantile in it. We are all very sad, we miss, and this is serious."

What Christina says:

In our group I write songs. When the impulse arises, I write down a poem on my iPhone. Then another mood comes, more melodic, and I write music to the poem. But I want to put the melody into some form, and here my desire is simply not enough. And in terms of music, the guys come to my aid. I'm glad they exist. Their masculine energy complements mine, we have a balance of masculine and feminine principles.

We don't want to focus on the fact that we are a group. It is enough that we ourselves know it. We have the face of the "Moon" - beautiful girl who writes songs. This image doesn't need to add anything extra.

For me, "Moon" is not just a name. I began to immerse myself in this topic, and the more I listen to the moon, the lunar calendar, the more I feel interaction with it. And the guys feel it too. But I don’t want to make myself into a person who says “if the moon told me no, then I’ll stay home.”

On the day of the album presentation, I imagined the worst case scenario so as not to be upset later. But deep down I knew that everything would be great. And when I saw the hall, I realized that this was the power of lunar standing. There was a full moon that day.

On stage I was as sincere as possible. There is no such thing that I somehow transform myself on stage. Every girl is an actress. Now I talk to you like this, but at home with my husband - in a different voice. Everyone does this, it's normal. We always play some role, but this role is organic. I don’t transform into another person and don’t act fake. These are my feelings.

“An artist must go on stage and give his all” is wrong. Above me is space, below me is the earth - these are two huge inexhaustible forces. And I am a transmitter. When people look at me, I can take power from space, power from the earth and transmit it to them through my heart.

I think my audience ranges in age. But mostly these people- dreamers. For them, sensations and emotions are very important, and they are not afraid of them.

During the concert I changed clothes three times. My friends have created a new brand, Drag and Drop, which everyone will soon hear about. I am the first to wear items from this collection. When I saw these clothes, I was very happy, because for a long time I could not decide what to wear to the concert.

For me, the right collaboration is a collaboration without nerves. When you really give each other something in return and everyone feels comfortable about it. No one suffers or caves. This desire must come from two hearts, and if it coincides, then it coincides.

I recently had a super collaboration with Victoria Kokha, a girl from Moscow. She blew up the Internet with her images. She performs on Instagram as a make-up artist under the name vivicoxy - this is her main profession. And she has another account where she creates strange makeup on her face. In this account she made a video parody of my song “Boy, you are snow.” They tagged me in the comments and I subscribed to it. Then she wrote to me that I inspired her and that she wanted to come to me. In Kyiv, we made a joint video with her, which will be released soon. Half of the clip was shot on an iPhone, half- on a Panasonic film video camera.

When I came up with the video for "Autumn", I had a certain idea- take my son and shoot a video on a laptop, but I didn’t know what would happen in the end. It was impromptu, I couldn’t predict that he would cry and that the girl in the background would pump her abs. It turned out very atmospheric.

My son teaches me a lot. I'm glad that he appeared at a stage when I had not yet matured. Because now he won't let me do it. I don’t want to become an adult and serious, I want to always remain a child.

Everything that is happening to me now, and all the results of the work done bring me closer to popularity every day. It’s not easy, the responsibility is growing, but I’m ready for it. If I am a dreamer and a child at heart, this does not mean that I do not understand how to build my life correctly.

Some people say I'm better on record than live. I have special vocals. I understand that somewhere the voice sounded too loud because I couldn’t hear myself well. But I am an inexperienced artist, this was my first concert. I've never played an hour-long program before.

I love criticism, it helps me analyze myself and move on. I even felt a little uneasy when everyone praised me in the dressing room after the concert. Inside I felt: it was so cool that I felt sick.

Now I’m not the only one thinking about how the Luna project will develop. There are already many of us, and this is my achievement. Now I can only worry about my songs.

I’m not some star that was put on TV and she’s spinning there. I'm just a girl from the street, and everyone can see how I'm developing. Two years ago they would have laughed at me if I had said that I wanted to record a track. And now I have gathered a thousand people in the hall.

On November 3, Luna, a Kiev singer, performed in Moscow, about whom only the lazy have not spoken for the last six months. The Village met with Christina Bardash before and after her first Moscow solo album to understand her phenomenon.

“Boy, you are the snow that will not happen, I will prove that you are blind, like other people,” - on a chilly November evening, a thousand people in a club near Tverskaya sing in chorus the song of a girl who a year ago was known only in narrow circles. In August 2015, Kiev resident Christina Bardash posted a hypnotic clip on YouTube “ Moon", and a couple of months later - a video " Autumn", filmed by the singer herself, posing with her three-year-old son. Just a year later, I’m standing in a crowd of steamy Muscovites who have learned simple texts from these clips from the first to the last line.

Journalists undoubtedly helped to learn them: in the last few months alone, Christina was interviewed by Ivan Dorn and the editors of all important Internet sites, glossy photographers and progressive English-language magazines fell in love with her - a day i-D concert called Luna the star of the Ukrainian musical revolution. I meet Christina in the dressing room of the club " Izvestia Hall“and I immediately feel that she is tired of the persistent attention - strict and restrained, the singer sits in front of the mirror and immediately seems to establish an invisible distance, although she easily becomes familiar. “I decided not to give interviews for the next six months or a year,” she echoes my thoughts. “I would like communication with journalists to remain a mutual exchange.” Ethnic music is playing in the dressing room, there are flowers and a large dish of nuts on the table, there are a couple of hours left before the concert.

Kristina Bardash is 26 years old, and she lived most of them in Kyiv, except for her early childhood in Dresden, where her father served, and two and a half years in Los Angeles, where in the early tens she lived with her husband, producer and founder the most important Ukrainian pop label Kruzheva by Yuri Bardash. In the USA, Bardash gave birth to and raised her son Zhorik, the hero of the future video for the song “Autumn.” “Two and a half years did not tie me to the States,” Luna recalls. - Nothing inspired me there, I went a little crazy. But a year later it dawned on me what I had learned there. Taste has changed, style has appeared. You haven’t worked for two years, you just go to museums, exhibitions, vintage fairs, and look at the latest collections. In short, you are educated culturally. Of course, traveling is very important. But in Kyiv it’s somehow better to be creative.” In Ukraine, Christina was engaged in photography and music production, filming videos for Noggano and the singer Iya, who was promising at the time of her collaboration with Lace. One way or another everything recent years Bardash was closely involved with her husband's label, but it seems that now that the camera lens is pointed at herself, she is much more comfortable. I express this thought to Christina, and she nods confidently.

Bardash claims that the name of the project “Moon” was fixed after he and poetess Lisa Gottfrik composed a song of the same name from the debut album “Mag-ni-you.” After meeting Christina, it seems that there could not be another name: she talks about her passion for meditation and astrology, about the four elements, the imbalance of which, shortly after the first big solo concert in Kyiv, for some time deprived Bardash of the strength to create music. “I struggled with this for a long time in personal ways that I don’t want to talk about,” she says. In the middle of the conversation, Bardash’s Kyiv friends burst into the dressing room with a squeal, with one of whom, the energetic mulatto Annette, we talk outside the door. Annette says that she lives in Kyiv, works as a cook, and became friends with Luna about six years ago on the set of a video for the main project “Lace” by Quest Pistols, in which Yuri Bardash filmed Christina. “She hasn't changed at all since then. If you describe it in one word, it’s “space,” says Annette without hesitation.

The trail around the rapidly debuting singer Luna, woven from space and esotericism, low-budget VHS videos mounted on the knee, light eroticism and muted minimalistic sound, could not help but puzzle critics - just think, the wife of the producer who successfully transformed the group Quest Pistols into the Quest Pistols Show , begins sending homemade clips to the right editors, persistently calling itself a DIY project and talking about the primacy of sincerity in its music. Luna says that she produces herself, but she doesn’t deny the team’s help either. Thus, her sound producer Alexander Voloshchuk is responsible not only for the sound on Luna’s recordings, but also for the songs of the 17-year-old R’n’B star “Lace” Andro, whom journalists without hesitation dubbed the gypsy The Weeknd. Voloshchuk plays bass at Luna's concerts. The rest of the musicians were gathered before the first solo concert in Kyiv in May of this year. There are two of them - keyboardist Andrey Latik and guitarist Alexander Karev. “Latik is the Kiev version of Johnny Jewel, who plays in The Chromatics and Glass Candy. He collects old synths, he has about 12 of them, and all of them are tailored to this sound,” says Voloshchuk. “This is a Kiev crowd, everyone here knows each other. Guitarist Shurik is best friend Sasha Voloshchuk, continues Bardash. - When we had a meeting about the first concert, Sasha told him: “You understand that this is a serious group?” This is not just a chick." His wife Christina denies participation in the project, although in her community on VKontakte Yuri Bardash is sometimes the producer of Luna.

Kristina writes simple texts that stay in her head for a long time, both herself and in the company of co-authors: for example, the ballad that ends the first album “Boy, you are snow” and the cold “Planes” were written to her by a long-familiar author who works with “Lace”, whose name is Kristina asks not to advertise. “He suffers from a mental disorder and is generally a rather complex person, but he easily found a common language with me. Sometimes he comes and says: “Kristin, give me some money for medicine, and I’ll write you a song?” I agree, and so we get “Airplanes.” Well, you’ve heard “Planes,” right? There is very strong text there. It could have been written either by me or by him.”

Behind the scenes, Christina Bardash has a team of managers, PR agents, photographers and cameramen. They all fuss and move at an accelerated pace - in contrast to the spectators who accumulate in the hall, lazily walking past the bar with pina coladas. I say hello to every third person - journalists, photo editors, producers, creative students and just pleasant faces from my Facebook feed are everywhere. “I often play the Moon in my sets,” says a friend of the editor-in-chief and organizer of fun gay parties. - It's going great. IN last time I put on the song “Boy, you’re snow,” and my friend burst into tears, walked around and couldn’t calm down.” A few minutes later, Christina Bardash, in a black bodysuit and a white lace dress that compliments her elven appearance, rises onto the stage, the audience roars deafeningly - and then they don’t stop, singing along to the songs with the same passion that reveals what was playing in each of them in headphones on repeat this summer.

Luna has only three large solo performances behind her: in Kyiv - in May of this year, in Riga and Yekaterinburg - as part of the current Eclipse tour. Knowing this, you are impressed by what you see: the musicians are comfortable together, behind Christina each other is picturesquely replaced by video installations in the spirit of songs: astrological symbolism, a night highway, scenes from anime. At the end of the track “In the City of Mods,” Christina picks up a smartphone and films herself and fans with the front camera - the image is projected onto a large screen. Looking intently into the lens with his big eyes, Bardash speaks to the audience: “I know that real fashionistas have gathered here today: all the designers, all the most beautiful girls and their husbands." The Moscow public looks at each other, not recognizing themselves in the listed segments of the population. Deliberately naive phrases either come out accidentally, or echo an infantile image: “A knife hurts, just like love,” “Often the outside world prevents your dream from coming true, so you must listen to your heart” - Bardash’s true spontaneity ultimately reveals itself not in the videos and interviews, but in random words thrown from the stage.

Closer to the end of the concert, when the center of the hall sings along with the Moon new song, and couples inspired by romantic lyrics sway around the edges, I go off to look at the singer’s merch - sweatshirts, T-shirts and iPhone cases. It, like any product produced by Luna’s team, looks super relevant: Cyrillic font in dark shades and simple styles; This is what a collaboration between Gosha Rubchinsky and H&M, who took the cover of “A Star Called the Sun” as a reference, would look like this, with some discounts. “Even her merch is cool,” sighs a girl nearby.

After the concert, as if after successfully passing an exam, Christina jumps on stage in euphoria and then leaves, but not for long - a few minutes later an enthusiastic guy rushes past me shouting: “She allows you to take pictures with her!” Success, luck, a new victory for Ukrainian music in a country of youth raised on soulful pop songs about the complexities of love.

I’m stopping by the afterparty of Luna’s concert at a popular club on Taganka. It is full, there are many people around who appeared in Izvestia a few hours ago. At the door I encounter a well-known promoter and co-owner of the establishment. Having started talking about the heroine of the evening, he snorts: “A completely commercial project. Now these will begin to appear every six months. It's a shame that singers who try much harder don't get as much attention. By the way, today for the first time in my life I was asked to assign a security guard to the artist. Well, I added it, of course - I have three of them, all beautiful.”

Indeed, Luna is often talked about using expressions like “commerce” and “production project.” She is compared to Lana Del Rey, the bomb of 2012, a diva with an exquisite legend that was carried around the world by journalists, but if Lana appealed to the aesthetic spirit of the American 60s, then Luna is described today by resorting to highlights from the post-Soviet 90s and chaotic 2000s : Sveta and the projects of Max Fadeev, Linda and the Total group, Irina Saltykova and Anzhelika Varum. Kristina Bardash herself willingly lists these and related names when she talks about her parents’ favorite music, and thinks deeply after a question about music from today that is important to her - most likely, it’s a matter of excitement before the concert. But in fact, after the solo concert in Moscow, it becomes clear that all the talk about sincerity or its imitation, about Luna’s independence or involvement in her husband’s production center is actually meaningless: when a full audience starts chorusing the chorus of a song called “Sad Dance,” and the men in the hall they start writing to their ex-girlfriends, what difference does it make how many people were behind the production of the dance? The success of Luna, which was ensured by the spectacular arrangements of the people of Kiev, who listen better than many to the Western trend, the animal charisma of Christina Bardash and infantile lyrics that took the main thing from songs about playboys by Natasha Vetlitskaya and the well-aimed pearls of Ilya Lagutenko, is a consequence and continuation of the process of legitimizing music, which is somewhat years ago it was considered shameful. “The breadth of all fields, the depth of all seas, the height of the clouds, the beauty of your shores does not allow me to drown” - such ideally simple and accessible sensuality was nurtured by Eva Polna and Yuri Usachev; in 2016, it just needed to be given a form that would be appropriate not only for house parties, but also for the Science and Art club. Luna did it.

"It seems to me that this good example myth-making,” I’m talking about Christina Bardash with a music critic I know, former editor-in-chief of a well-known music publication. “It took us so long to create a myth around an artist that everyone would believe in, and now it finally happened.” On November 3, the day of the Moscow concert, Luna releases a video for the song “Knife”, which well illustrates her gradual transition beyond this DIY myth - it was shot by the Moscow production group Great Fruit, also partial to nostalgic aesthetics, and who shot the video for the store “KM20”, the fashionably revived brand of sneakers “Two Balls”, the festival “Swallow” and producer Lay-Far. Regardless of whose hands Christina Bardash created herself, someone else’s or her own, her rapid ascent to the status of the most fashionable Russian-speaking singer is intriguing - and it may well continue as long as teenagers who grew up after the collapse of the USSR will be touched by simple songs about breakups, sung to the sound of vintage synthesizers. That is quite a long time.

“What difference does it make whether we are a commercial project or a non-profit? - a few days later I call Bardash and Voloshchuk in Kyiv, and we discuss the results of the tour and plans for the future. - Well, commercial. For me, a non-profit project is the group “Lyudska Podoba”. Musicians often say that they don't care about money. I love money for smart people this is a blessing. If you invest them in development, it only helps to achieve wonderful goals. And about
90s - I don’t like that we are being pulled into the past. We are not from the 90s, not from the past. I understand that there is a trend, and I have nothing against it, but our music is much broader.” “This is the exploitation of a trend,” interrupts Kristina Voloshchuk. - No matter what you do, they say: “Ah, the nineties!” A revolution in fashion, everywhere. Nowadays everything is tied to the 90s.” “Well, yes, revolution. - Bardash concludes his thought thoughtfully. - They don’t play on the radio, they don’t show on TV, but the full audience sings all the songs by heart. How so? This is a revolution for me personally. And I will further develop in this direction.”

Attractive appearance, pleasant voice and nostalgic performance style, characteristic of pop music of the post-Soviet space of the 90s in modern processing, allowed the performer to gain wide popularity among an interested audience.

Childhood and education

The period of life in Germany had practically no effect on Christina, who was still little at that time, although she recalled in an interview her mother’s stories about joint walks through the Dresden Art Gallery or her birth in a boat sailing along the Elbe.

WITH early childhood Christina strove for music and art, which was greatly encouraged by the girl’s parents. Their considerable merit was that Kristina Gerasimova studied at music school in vocal and piano classes.

By the singer’s own admission, the event that determined her desire for musical career, was a trip to Cuba in 2002. Finding herself far from her parents, Christina did not study, but only composed songs, enjoying the special Cuban atmosphere of freedom and joy.

In 2007, the future singer Luna successfully graduated from Kyiv school No. 53 with in-depth study German language. The next stage was studying at one of the Kyiv universities at the Faculty of Journalism. Although directing and music attracted the girl much more than the profession of a journalist.

Beginning of a musical career

Interview with Kristina Gerasimova

Relations with Yuri have never been easy. According to the singer herself, first her pregnancy, then postpartum depression ruined the relationship between the spouses, and in 2014 they decided to temporarily separate. It was during this period that Christina experienced a creative surge, wrote more than 30 songs and, having previously set music to the text, published compositions called “Moon” and “Vigray” on her YouTube and Soundcloud accounts. The new performer quickly attracted the attention of the audience.

According to Christina’s memoirs, in her childhood she was already interested in music of a certain genre and direction. Her circle of interests firmly included Zemfira, Mumiy-Troll, Linda and Guests from the Future. This greatly influenced musical style the Moon itself in the future. Christina's songs belong to pop music, while the performer herself and her fans associate the specifics of her compositions with the nostalgic aesthetics of the musical culture of the 90s of the last century.

Quick take off

Moon - Autumn

Christina’s first public performance took place as part of the autumn fashion show “Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days”, where she managed to captivate the audience with her simple love songs. It is noteworthy that in the following years the singer took part in this event more than once, leaving her mark even in one of the fashion collections, items from which were decorated with lines from Luna’s texts.

The period from the end of 2015 to May 2016 was entirely devoted to preparations for the release of Kristina Gerasimova’s first studio album, entitled “Mag-ni-you.” It was for its release that the singer took the pseudonym Luna. It was presented in full at the singer’s debut solo concert in Kyiv. A number of lyrical and memorable compositions (“Moon”, “Autumn”, “Magnets”, “Bottle”, “Distances” and “Boy, you’re snow...”) immediately captivated major Ukrainian and Russian radio stations. The album was produced by Luna herself.

Until the end of 2016, the main occupation of Luna and her partners was touring the CIS countries and Israel, and on November 3, the singer’s debut Moscow concert was a success. In parallel with this, on October 28, 2016, Luna released the mini-album “Sad Dance”.

Constant touring and separation from her son served as inspiration for Luna to create songs on the theme of love at a distance, which were included in her second studio album, “Freedom Island.” The release was scheduled for November 18, 2017, and the main single of the disc was the song “Free Love”, the video clip for which collected a record number of views for the singer on YouTube - 4.8 million. Soon after its release, the album reached 3rd place in downloads in the Russian-language section of iTunes.

Video making

The video that Christina Bardash shot for Yulia Nelson

The successfully completed work gave the girl self-confidence; later, the list of Luna’s works included videos for compositions by the singer Inaya and the group “Nerves”. By the way, all projects, except for Yulia Nelson, belong to the Ukrainian company “Kruzheva Music”, the founder and owner of which is Yuri Bardash.

Luna's personal life

Moon - Light

All latest news You can learn about Luna’s life from the vocalist’s pages on Instagram and VKontakte, and you can get acquainted with her compositions and videos on the singer’s profile on YouTube.

It is known that on April 12, 2019, Cosmonautics Day, Luna will present a new, very personal album “Enchanted Dreams” in one of the clubs in Minsk.

Louna is a Russian rock band. Some journalists call it a “side project” of another famous rock band called The Musicians Themselves, however, they refute this definition in an interview. They insist that Louna is an independent project. The band gained popularity in 2010, when they released their debut album called “Make It Louder!” Immediately, the songs of this group topped the popular “thematic” charts.

Group name

It comes, as you might guess, from the word Luna. The final touch was the letter “o” added to the name by guitarist Ruben.

Genre

The genre of this group can be defined as experimental alternative music. Some consider it alternative metal. The collective’s creativity is at the intersection of many styles and genres of recent times. The Louna group is one of the most unusual projects on the Russian stage today. In her songs you can hear echoes of an alternative line, which is the main one. At the same time, grunge notes are also heard (post-grunge - in the official version). It is safe to say that a genre to which the work of this group could be classified does not yet exist. Therefore, it makes no sense to build analogies. The classification into a genre such as alternative metal is somewhat far-fetched. We can consider the work of this group an experiment that has already proven its worth. The Louna group has thoughtful, vibrant lyrics. They are aimed at combating various vices of modernity, including social injustice and religious fanaticism.

Group composition

The vocalist of the band Louna is Lusine Gevorkyan. She currently participates in 2 teams at the same time, also performing in the Tracktor Bowling team. Today, a large number of people believe that she is the founder of alternative vocals in our country.

The second participant is Vitaly Demidenko, who is better known as Vit. This is the band's bassist. He also competes in Tracktor Bowling. Vitaly has his own fan club.

The band's guitarist is Ruben Kazaryan. He is also a part-time author of texts on English. Ruben played in bands such as Ens Cogitans and Southwake.

Another guitarist is Sergey Ponkratiev. He has also been seen working with the two bands mentioned above - Ens Cogitans and Southwake.

Drummer - Leonid "Pilot" Kinzbursky. He is a talented drummer and longtime fan of the band Tracktor Bowling.

Create a group

The creation of the team dates back to September 2008. It was then that members of Tracktor Bowling, a Moscow alternative group, Vitaly Demidenko and Lusine Gevorkyan founded this band. They were also joined by guitarists Sergei Ponkratyev, Ruben Kazaryan and drummer Leonid Kinzbursky.

In the group's work, the emphasis was immediately placed on powerful sound, as well as on the intellectual content of the texts. Louna's songs charge the listener with energy and make him think.

First performances, first awards

On May 23, 2009, the group's first performance took place. It is considered the date of his birth. The performance took place at the Tochka club in Moscow. The young and not very well-known team won the RAMP Award in 2009, receiving it in the “Discovery of the Year” nomination. The rock band Louna subsequently gained great fame in the musical community. Louna has been a headliner at various rock festivals. In 2009 - at Extreme Girlzz Fest, in 2010 - at Metal Summer Fest" and "The Neighboring World", in 2011 - at "Invasion" and Kubana, in 2012 - also at "Invasion" and Kubana, etc.

Debut album

The band's debut album, "Make It Louder!", as we have already said, appeared in 2010, in the summer. Its release was made in the fall of the same year. This event was a turning point in the history of the team. Pronounced irreconcilable social position and unconventional music provoked the interest of the general public as well as the media. Let us note that the leader of “Cockroaches!” took part in the recording of the debut album. (Russian punk band), as well as Ervin Khachikyan, keyboardist of the band System Of A Down.

Growing popularity

In February 2011, the team presented the single “Who Do You Trust?”, made together with the vocalist of the Lumen group Rustem Bulatov. In the summer of the same year, at the invitation of the organizing committee of "Invasion-2011", Louna performed at main stage this festival together with such stars of Russian rock as “Alice”, Gleb Samoilov, “DDT”, “Kipelov”, “Splin”, “Lyapis Trubetskoy”, “Pilot”, “King and the Clown”, “Chaif”, “Bravo” ", "Bi-2" and others.

The composition "Fight Club", included in the debut album, was included in the rotation of "Our Radio" in January 2011. And a week later - and into the “Chart Dozen” (rock chart). This song rose to number two and managed to stay on the chart for 16 weeks. Later, in the summer of the same year, another song of the group - “Make it louder!” - within a month it reached the top of the charts and did not give up its position for 2 weeks.

The expert council of the “Chart Dozen. Top 13” (an annual award) nominated the Louna group to the finals in as many as 3 nominations - “Best Soloist”, “Song of the Year” and “Breakthrough”. In addition, the group was invited to perform at the award ceremony, which took place at Crocus City Hall on March 7, 2012. Louna became an award winner, winning the “Song of the Year” (“Fight Club”) category.

Second album

The group's second album, "Time X", was released in February 2012. The disc included several protest-themed tracks. In addition, the album included several lyrical compositions. In the same year, in March, solo concerts were played in St. Petersburg and Moscow, dedicated to the release of the second album. 14 new songs were included in it. The leader of the famous group took part in the recording, as well as Alexander Ivanov, the leader of the group “NAIV” (which broke up in 2009) and the current project “Radio Chacha”.

In an interview, S. Mikhalok said that he likes to collaborate with musicians from Louna. He noted that the bulk of duets in rock and roll and on the stage are created when producers want to derive some benefit from it. However, Louna is not a commercially driven project.

New assault on the "Chart Dozen"

The song “Everyone has the right” has been in rotation on “Our Radio” since February 2012. She stayed in the “Chart Dozen” for more than two months, reaching third place. The composition “Mama” topped the hit parade for three weeks in a row in August 2012. In total, she stayed there for more than three months.

June 12, 2012 marks the group’s performance at the “March of Millions.” Along with the main studio activities, the recording of an English-language album is also being prepared. The band, according to the musicians, has plans to perform at the largest rock festivals, including world-class events.

“People look up” is a song that started airing on “Our Radio” on November 16, 2012. A video was also shot for it by Svyatoslav Podgaevsky, who had previously made videos for this group for the songs “Mama” and “Make It Louder.”

Louna conquers America

In 2013, on January 25, it became known that the group's first English-language album would be released under the name Behind a Mask. The Red Decade Records label will take part in its publication. The song Mama was first heard on Chicago radio 95FM W.I.I.L. on March 22. After that, 138 Americans called into the air. About 75% of them said they liked the song. One even confused the Louna singer with the In This Moment singer. The single Business was released on March 26, followed by a high-budget video of the same name, which was presented to Western viewers. Also in 2013, on February 24, the group’s English-language website began operating. At the same time, the track list of the future debut album appeared.

Based on popular voting on February 24 of the same year, L. Gevorkyan was recognized as the best rock vocalist in Russia. She beat Helavisa, Zemfira and Olga Kormukhina. The vocalist of the group Louna won the “Best Soloist” award, which she received from the hands of a famous actor.

The band's first English-language album was released on April 30, 2013 (Behind a Mask). It received positive reviews from various online publications in the United States.

A tour of US cities took place in the fall of 2013. Louna played concerts in 26 cities in America with The Pretty Reckless, a US band, and Heaven's Basement, an English band. In 44 days, Louna traveled through 13 states. During the tour, in addition to live performances, the group gave numerous interviews, performed an acoustic set on a Chicago radio station and was received with great interest by American radio listeners. The group’s songs were in rotation on seven of America’s largest radio stations, and the song “Up There” took 13th place on the WIIL FM chart. At the American concerts, all albums and paraphernalia were sold, which indicates a high interest in the band’s work.

Album "We are Louna"

The albums of the group Louna replenished their list on December 1, 2013 with the appearance of a new one - “We are Louna”. It was recorded using crowdfunding, that is, with money from listeners. The fundraiser was recognized as one of the most successful in the history of music crowdfunding in our country. In the fall of 2013, a large-scale tour of the United States took place.

2014 in the history of the group

In 2014, work was underway on a video for the song “With You”. It came out on June 30th. In May of the same year, the group played two anniversary concerts for its fifth anniversary in the capital, and one in St. Petersburg. At the fifth anniversary, her friends performed with the group. Among them we can note Ilya Chert, Rustem Bulatov, “Cockroaches!”, “Elysium”, “Brigade Contract”, “Prince”, “Stigmata”, “Fantastika”, etc. A documentary film called “We are Louna” was also released. .

2015

In 2015, the premiere of the composition “The Fighter’s Road” took place in the “Chart Dozen”. The song immediately reached sixth place, and a month later topped the charts.

In February the group returned to concert activity. Interest in it from the media also increased: the team began to be more actively invited to appear on various radio broadcasts. From January to May this year, the group visited 40 Russian cities, covering almost all regions. This tour, called “Even Louder!”, is currently the largest in the history of the group. Almost all cities of this tour were sold out. According to the unanimous opinion of metropolitan and regional promoters, Louna is currently one of the most popular rock bands in Russia.

On May 30, 2015, the discography of the Louna group was replenished with the collection The Best of, which included best songs. Bonus tracks - “The Path to Yourself” and “Freedom” (acoustic arrangement). “In Me” is a song included in the album in a version recorded together with D. Rishko.