The History of TNMK

Describing our history we divide it into two stages: before Our Era, и and Our ear.

Before Our Era: 1989-1997, Dances At The New Houses

So, Oleksandr «Fozzey» Sydorenko and Kostiantyn «Kotya» Zhuikov started a Kharkiv band called The New Houses on 14 June 1989. In a summer camp they exchanged lyrics of some streetwise songs and figured why not try and compose something of their own. Several days later the boys had about a dozen compositions, later recorded with the help of the camp?s tannoy system. Luckily, the recordings did not survive.

At the summer camp?s closing ceremony they debuted their band and later decided to re-convene at the start of the new school year in No 11 secondary (where the founding fathers studied). The first make-up of the band was as follows:

Oleksandr Sydorenko — guitar, vocals.
Kostiantyn Zhuikov — bass.
Dmytro Semenko — drums.
Ivan Rykov — guitar.

Young musicians resided in the New Houses district, which is why they decided to give their band the same name. Theirs was a career traditional for a school band: turning school desks into drums, learning basic chords etc. In September 1989 at a school subotnik (a Soviet tradition to force university students, pupils or office workers to perform manual labour on occasional Saturdays; the word comes from «subota» — Ukrainian or Russian for «Saturday») instead of painting the school gate guitarist Ivan Rykov wrote the words «The New Houses B» on the school?s shooting gallery. There wasn?t enough paint for the letters «AND». It also didn?t occur to us to take a picture of that relic. However, it did survive for almost 20 years. Take a closer look and will catch a glimpse of it.

At that point of all children?s rock-n-roll was based around Palaces of Young Pioneers. Having looked for rehearsals base far and wide the band went through an audition at the most prestigious (in Kharkiv) Lenin District Palace of Young Pioneers. 1990 to 1994 the band played there. Interestingly enough, across the fence at a specialised musical school Oleg Mykhailuta was learning to play the bassoon at precisely the same time. (Mykhailuta is later to become one of the lead-singers of the band; he was nicknamed «bassoon» or «fahot» in Ukrainian).

It worked like this — the band had a place to rehearse and was also lucky to be able to perform at the Palace of Young Pioneers? events. To do this one needed to learn to play at least one popular song a week in order not to irritate the audience with the band?s own creations.

Among the songs the band had to perform the following (mainly trashy Soviet pop-songs):

Natasha Korolyova — You and I Once Went Walking
Natasha Korolyova — The Yellow Tulips
Vladimir Presniakov Jr. — Fateful Concert
Rondo feat. Vladimir Presniakov Jr. — I Will Remember
London Beat — I?ve Been Thinking About You
Guns?N?Roses — Don?t Cry
Los Lobos — La Bamba (interestingly enough, this one is still being played)

It was during a La Bamba performance at the military cadets? and the stocking industry college students? joint party that the band met Eduard Prystupa, then — a star from the dairy college band, who was later to become another lead singer for TNMK. He started playing the piano in the band which by then was called Tanets Na Ploshchadi Kongo (a Russian language version of the Dance In The Congo Square).

Make-up of the band at that point:

Oleksandr Sydorenko — guitar, vocals.
Kostyantyn Zhuikov — bass.
Yaroslav Veriovkin — guitar.
Eduard Prystupa — pianoforte, vocals.
Maksym Lytvynenko — flute, saxophone and other.
Dmytro Semenko — drums.

The change of name was initiated by the flautist Maksym Lytvynenko who insisted that, since now there were people from different parts of Kharkiv playing in it, it should be called something else, and anyway it?s best to sing in English and have an English name. By that point amongst other songs played out to «cool» youths in Kharkiv yards was one under the title of «Dance In The Kongo Square». In the «History of Jazz» there was an interesting chapter about the Kongo Square.

«Kongo Square in New Orleans is considered the birthplace of jazz. First it was a Black slave market, later — a place where Black musicians performed. Sticking with their melodious rhythms they produced spiritual and blues, which later developed into gospel and jazz.» (From «History of Jazz» by Ye.Ovchinnikov.)

Max Lytvynenko was so taken with this phrase that before long the band New Houses turned into the Dance In The Congo Square or simply Tanets Na Ploshchadi Kongo. It transpired later that the name had other meanings which the band at the time was oblivious to. The most pleasant explanation is in Patrikey Lisidze?s study «A Short History of Hip-Hop Music»:

«Break dance in itself wasn?t a new thing. It had been described in the last century in New Orleans as „Congo square dance“. Black slaves gathered in the „Congo“ square — to chill out, enjoy themselves and compete in the art of dancing. The annual Mardi Gras festival was especially joyous place (it goes on till this day) where team competitions were held among different ethnic groups.»

This study can be read in full HERE.

In 1994 the band got down to writing a debut album. It was happening thanks to the word «fusion». In all the existence of the band no one could quite define its style. Music Conservatoire student and jazzman Max Lytvynenko believed that the easiest thing would be to call it «fusion». («The term „fusion“ has been used in the 20th century so much and in such different contexts that has been rendered practically meaningless. Earlier stage of this music trend should be more correctly called „jazz-rock“.» — from «A Short History of Jazz For Beginners» by Mykhailo Mytropilsky.)

There was no way the band could play any jazz at that point but the word proved to be helpful. At the Kharkiv Conservatoire of Music there was a recording studio managed by someone called Oleksandr Vakulenko. The studio was proudly called «Saint Maybe Sound Factory» after a Kharkiv band «Saint Maybe». The studio occupied several rooms and had two Hungarian double-channel tape-recorders STM.

The founding fathers went to the recording studio and bravely using the word «fusion» convinced Oleksandr Vakulenko to help them. When he realised that the band?s music had nothing to do with fusion, it was too late — in four months an album titled «Loksley» was recorded (some tracks from that time — HERE). There was no thinking about what to do with all this stuff as the second album was being busily prepared.

At the exact same time Oleg «Fahot» Mykhailyuta was studying at the Kharkiv Conservatoire of Music. He readily agreed to play the bassoon along with the band at the «Young Stars of Kharkiv» competition. His nickname «fahot» (bassoon) originated at the «777» casino where he was trying to become a part-time croupier. Oleksandr Sydorenko was also training there and that?s where they met in 1992.

In 1994 the third channel of Ukrainian state TV UT-3 started broadcasting a programme made by a Kharkiv company Privat-TV — «RAP-oboima» — the first TV-programme in the former Soviet Union about hip-hop culture. The programme was presented by two chaps from the Conservatoire — Fahot (Bassoon) and Flute. Not before long they were joined by someone called Fozzey (Oleksandr Sydorenko took his nickname from Fozzy bear of the Muppets), who suggested a rock addition to the programme. When Flute moved to Moscow Fozzey took his place as a co-presenter of «RAP-oboima».

As for the band, it was having a rocky ride. The second album «Retro Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas» (1995) wasn?t completed before work on the third album «The Worst Of» (1996) began. Some lyrics from that time HERE). Life was interesting; however, new and fresh hip-hop of that time was calling. In cooperation with Fahot an attempt was made to work on a rap album (lyrics HERE). Also the Chervona Ruta song competition was nigh and everything changed at the end of 1996.

Drawing conclusions at the end of Part 1, we?d like to say that the band Tanets Na Ploshchadi Kongo produced two and a half albums and had a good chance to stand out in the biographies of its assorted members. But certainly no more. At that point over 30 musicians had played with the band. Some of them remained, eager to keep going.

End of Part 1.

Our Era. Here To Stay!

1997.
At the end of 1996 there was a lot of talk in the Kharkiv music circles about the selection round for the Chervona Ruta festival (a prestigious Ukrainian music festival, influential for about a decade from the late 1980s to the late 1990s, then gradually seized to exist due to lack of funding and competition from newer music festivals). Previous Chervona Ruta took place in Sevastopol and was extremely good. This one, planned for spring for spring 1997 was promising to be even better. Conditions for the selection process were simple — three songs in Ukrainian.

The band, then still named Tanets Na Ploshchadi Kongo, had only one song in Ukrainian — «Chuvaki» («Guys»), a cover version of the «Banana» song from another Kharkiv musician Vitaliy Bodlo, promoted in the Privat TV programmes by a Kharkiv actor Gosha Arnautov (a close friend of the band who is later to become a trademark voice behind the skits in all of their albums). Influenced by Arnautov?s anecdotes from the life of Ukrainian peasants the band couldn?t remain Russian-speaking. The genes were pulsing away and Chervona Ruta festival became a great chance to switch languages.

So Tanets Na Ploshchadi Kongo became a Tanok Na Maidani Kongo (same name translated into Ukrainian). The band recorded its first original song in Ukrainian «Oto Take» («That?s How It Is»), but was still missing one song for the competition. «Zroby Meni Hip-Hop» («Do Me a Hip-Hop») was put together literally in an hour two days before the selection for Chervona Ruta. The band applied for two categories in the competition — Rock and Dance and was awarded «Best band» in the dance music category.

Chervona Ruta-97 has been discussed and written about a lot. It was truly one of the greatest events in the cultural history of modern Ukraine. A lot of things just came together: a reasonable budget, great line-up and the city of Kharkiv itself, hungry for new music. Apart from the Best band award the band was given a special prize for the best hit of the festival — Zroby Meni Hip-Hop which was slightly unexpected since most of the money was on one of the other songs.

Band?s line-up in 1997:

Oleg «Fahot» Mykhailuta — vocals, arranging.
Eduard «Dilya» Prystupa — vocals.
Oleksandr «Fozzey» Sydorenko — vocals.
Kostiantyn «Kotya» Zhyikov — bass.
Yaroslav «Yarik» Veriovkin«- guitar.
Oleksandr «Zee» Zenkovych — guitar.
Leonid «Lionka» Yermolaev — harmonica.

Privat-TV?s director Oleksandr Holubchyk came to see the band and came to say hello into the dressing room after the performance. He promised to shoot a video for «Zroby Meni Hip-Hop» (What is «Zroby Meni Hip-Hop?»). By the way, the band shared a dressing room with a band from Ternopil (in Western Ukraine) called «Nameless» where someone called Igor Pelykh was playing the bass-guitar (Igor Pelykh was to become a long-term friend of the band, later a well-known Ukrainian TV presenter and Fozzey?s colleague in numerous TV projects).

The video took six months to shoot with the help of Privat-TV. It was directed by Sergiy Andrunin with some assistance from Fahot, filmed by anyone who wasn?t busy doing something else. Amongst others the band?s harmonica player Leonid Yermolaev did some of the filming and his wife Yana was cast for the leading part. HERE it is.

1998.

At the beginning of 1998 the winners of Chervona Ruta toured around Ukraine. During this tour guitarist Oleksandr Zenkovych left the band. Unfortunately, people often dream about touring and then can?t survive the real thing. During a concert in Donetsk the band was joined for the first time by a drummer from a local band «So» Viktor «Vitold» Korzhenko (later to become band?s full-time drummer). And then there were seven again. At that time the band also produced a thousand cassettes for sale during the tour which later, when TNMK?s first album was being recorded, turned out to be a great help for the pirates.

At the end of the tour the band started thinking about moving to Kiev. It was mainly to do with chances and opportunities. There were very few in Kharkiv, so it made all the sense to move to the capital and try and make progress there.

It?s not worth brining up all the mundane details. Music is what mattered. In April 1998 the band started collaborating the producer Oleksandr Yakovlev who at that point was working for the «12-2» music chart. With his help the «Zroby Meni Hip-Hop» video was successfully launched on TV and the band continued work on the album.

There was one entertaining episode. According to the contract all the festival recording belonged to Chervona Ruta festival. The song «Zroby Meni Hip-Hop» was recorded no less than nine (!!) times with variations in music and lyrics. One version stayed in the hands of the band. The «Oto Take» song had to be re-recorded and «Chuvaky» song the band managed to steal. At the time Chervona Ruta festival was produced by Dmytro Prykordonny (now director of «&Artists» music agency which manages TNMK) who made a faulty copy of the «Chuvaky» song for the band to use in rehearsal but not to re-produce it for recordings. But crafty Fahot managed to reanimate the song.

«Dybany Mene» («Hit Me») was the second video to be shot. There was no cash for the filming so everything was done by hand. The band made the set, Fahot directed the video, Lyonya Yermolaev did the filming. All in all the video was hot for $160 including drinks and snacks for the crew. There is no doubt that this was the lowest budget video ever to reach MTV?s Top-40.

Of the songs recorded in Kharkiv perhaps the best one was «Jazzy» recorded with a jazz pianist Oleksiy «Liopa» Saranchyn and a sax-player Dmytro «Bobin» Aleksandrov. It was whilst working on this track that the name for the Saranchyn?s and Alexandrov?s band materialised — Skhid-Side (skhid is Ukrainian for «East»).

In 1998 the «Zroby Meni Hip-Hop» album was ready. The «Nova Records» company started working on its release. The album was made of songs and skits — short sets in between the musical tracks which became TNMK?s trademark. Gosha Arnautov, a Kharkiv actor and a long-term friend of the band is also a veteran of their skits having authored them for at least albums.

The album also contained a dictionary filled with Slobozhanshchyna (part of Eastern Ukraine around the city of Khrakiv where the band is from) expressions and also words made up by the band. The LP received loads of great reviews, nominations, prizes. Fahot, Fozzey and Dilya were invited to rpoduce the 1999 Chervona Ruta music festival. Accepting that invitations tuned out to be a mistake.

1999-2000

The worst loss in the Chervona Ruta?99 unfortunate story was the time wasted on the thankless task that particular festival turned out to be. Instead of working on their own material the band wasted time on the festival the organisers weren?t serious about.

On January 16 the band?s godfather — Oleksandr Holybchyk, the Privat-TV company director died. «Zroby Meni Hip-Hop» album was dedicated to his memory.

In May that year a first video collaboration between the band and the director Viktor Priduvalov was released — «Zachekai» («Wait»). This video was well-rotated in Moscow and the band started performing there. Most prominent were performances at ?98 and ?99 «RAP-Music» festivals where the band was awarded second and third places respectively.

Having started performing in clubs in Moscow the band began changing its sound. In Ukraine it was most common to play at large concerts whereas in Moscow it was smaller clubs like «Chinese Pilot Jazz-Da» and «16 Tonnes» and others. The band reduced its electronic sounds and upped the live ones.

Another good example of that year was a performance at the legendary «Anthropology» show on the Russian NTV channel. Compulsory viewing — HERE!

At the end of 1999 the band became «The Best Alternative Voice» receiving a «Golden Bird» prize. A year later TNKM was awarded the prize again at tha Tavrian Games rock festival.

At the beginning of 2000 the harmonica player Lionia Yermolaev left the band and for a while there were six. But seven is a truly magic number and in the summer the band was joined by its youngest member DJ Anton «Tonique» Baturyn.

Band?s make-up 2000

Oleg «Fahot» Mykhailuta — vocals, arranging.
Eduard «Dilya» Prystupa — vocals.
Oleksandr «Fozzey» Sydorenko — vocals.
Kostiantyn «Kotya» Zhyikov — bass.
Yaroslav «Yarik» Veriovkin«- guitar.
Viktor «Vitold» Korzhenko — drums.
Anton «Tonique» — DJ.

In the summer 2000 the filming of another video «A More De?» — «Where Is the Sea» started. This sing was a cover of the Italian genius Adriano Celentano?s song. This song had its own story. In 1998 a Ukrainian music journalist Vitaly Bardetsky had an idea to make a compilation «Ukrainian Versions of Classic Disco». TNMK did «Bombini» — a cover of French songstress Mireille Mathieu «Cia Bambino Sorry». The compilation project never materialised and the song was included in the «Zroby Meni Hip-Hop» album instead. «A More De?» covering Celentano?s «Amore No» was recorded at the same time.

The song became one of the first ones recorded for the «Neformat» album. As most other TNMK?s albums it took a long time to be completed. It was started in 1999 and finished in 2001.

2001.

«Neformat» album had a wealth of new features — guest artists such as Mikhey and Nina Matvienko. The skits were produced using the material from both iconic Gosha Arnautov and classics from Les? Poderv?iansky and Nikolay Gogol.

This album is very different from the humour filled cycle of «Farming Today» the previous «Zroby Meni Hip-Hop» was based on. The band suddenly realised where it stood. That?s why the album starts with a provocative «Po Radio Spivaly Moskali» («Muscovites Were Singing On The Radio») and ends with angry «Po Barabanu» («Don?t Give a Shit»). It?s hard to stay positive in a negative environment.

The title «Neformat» was a reflection of the situation on the Ukrainian music scene. TNMK, high on the triumph of Chervona Ruta festival, were hit by the lack of acceptance from the media, and FM radio stations in particular. Muscovites On The Radio is stating that sad fact.

And while the «A More De?» was being edited another video «Po Barabanu» came out. It was a video trailing the band?s first official website, drawn by Yevgen Sannikov. Up to then it was just a bunch of fans? sites.

The website was premiered on February 16 2001. It was great when it was awarded two prizes «Design of the Year» and «Best Musical Site» at the first Ukrainian Internet Festival.

The «A More De?» was released in May 2001 but by that point the band was keen on different style videos and by autumn there were three new videos. Each had a somewhat complex fate.

«Voseny» («In Autumn») was kept until the following autumn, then «luba Luba» was meant to be released in December but no one liked the edit so it was redone by Viktor Priduvalov who completed by January. In January «PoRAPalosia Serce» was also released so there was a bit of a confusion.

At the end of the year «Neformat» was finally released. Its fate was hanging by the thread for 6 months while the talks with Volia Music were conducted. In the meantime a new song «Toi Khto» («He Who…») which was later included in the next album.

2002.

At the beginning of the year the band started working on two albums simultaneously — the next studio one and also a compilation of remakes and remixes «ReFormatsia». For the latter one tracks were recorded with other bands — «Piatnizza» and «Ia I Drug Moi Gruzovik». In the summer it was decided that «ReFormatsia» would be released first.

The band was performing a lot all that time, playing open-air in Ukraine a nd frequently travelling to Moscow. There was also the first performance in Poland at that time.

Viktor Priduvalov re-edited «PoRapalosia Serce» to Fahot?s remix «ZhuPan» and started working on «Voseny», which is considered TNMK?s best video and one of the greatest Ukrainian videos.

The video was released in the autumn. At that same time the «Enter» TV channel suggested the band makes a documentary about TNMK?s history and that?s how the ongoing «ShoPopaloShow» started.

2003.

That was a year of extraordinary concerts and unusual projects. At the beginning of March the album «ReFormatsia» was released. Later two first parts of the «ShoPopaloShow» documentary were premiered.

In April the band played a unique acoustic concert «No Kipish» inviting several very special session musicians from well-known Ukrainian bands such as Skhid-Side and Mandry.

Over the summer the band recorded several tracks for the new album and decided on its title «Pozhezhi Mista Vavilon» («Fires of Babylon City»). Two of the new songs were picked by Viktor Priduvalov as a soundtrack for his debut full-screen film «Barbie?s Wedding».

In August the band played the song «Voda» («Water») in the courtyard of Bausky Castle not far from Riga and became a part of the film.

On August 18 the band played a joint concert with Skhid-Side jazz band in the Kiev club «44» and recorded a concert album «Jazzy Live». By the end of the year «Pozhezhi Mista Vavilon» was completed.

2004.

But the album was released only in early June. The band was waiting for the «Voda» video to be completed and that was delayed through technical problems.

The year started with an artists? competition to do the new album cover artwork. Dmytro Gapchynsky was picked and by the time the album was finished recording talks began. In the meantime both Fozzey and Dilya completed their debut solo albums — «MetaMoreFozzey» and «NeDilya» respectively.

In May the band?s first maxi-single came out «Voda/L'Eau» which was also bilingual — Ukrainian and French. The band was preparing for a French tour and recorded several songs in French. The maxi-single also included TNMK?s duo with 5Nizza «En Automne».

June that year was the most intense month in the history of the band. There was the release of «Voda», the release of «NeDilya», then the band took part in the well-known «For Bayar» reality show and then «Pozhezhi Mista Vavilon» was released. The album was launched with an acoustic concert in the Kiev club «Babuin» and was possibly the best live performance of the band ever.

Then there was the French tour, then a truly phenomenal homecoming concert in Kharkiv, and then Dilya left the band to concentrate on his solo career. His last performance was on August 18 in Kiev and the following day the band played in Kirovohrad without him.

The band wished him well. He stayed a good friend and is always welcome to come and sing on stage during a concert.

Then there was filming of a promotional Highway Code film to be later shown in schools all over Ukraine. Then there was a new avalanche of videos. In a few weeks director Tara Khymych shot «Ta Ty Sho» and «Aresht» in Lviv while Fahot brought back his film director?s past and directed «En Automne» feat. 5Nizza.

That autumn two more albums were released «Jazzy Live» and Fozzey's ”MetaMoreFozzey”. So in total, that year the band had a maxi-single, a studio album (awarded Best Album by music.com.ua), a live album and two solo debuts, also four new videos. It was a good year.

2005.

Do you recall reading about the magic number 7? From the beginning of the year pianist Oleksiy «Liopa» Saranchyn officially joined the band and the band started working on the new album.

In February the band released a jolly video «Ta Ty Sho», then Viktor Priduvalov put together a video from the band?s French tour footage «TIkayu». The video was premiered in the Kiev?s Molody Theatre.

In the spring the band recorded two duos — one with a pop band ViaGra and another — with Ukraine?s pop queen Sofia Rotaru — a version of the legendary «Chervona Ruta». The band also started work on the new album and decided to call it «Syla» («Power»). A song with the same title was written in France as well as another one — «Zabuv» («I Forgot»).

In June the band parted ways with its producer and manager Oleksiy Yakovlev after seven years of collaboration. Irreconcilable differences meant that the band signed up to the «&Artists» agency.

In July Fahot, Fozzey and Tonique played in a Russian gangster movie «Nenasytni» (The Insatiable«). Over the summer touring went hand in hand with recording and the album was ready by the beginning of September.

First of all, «Zabuv» maxi-single was released, with a video by Viktor Priduvalov shot on several Nokia N-90 mobile phones.

The next video «Granylu» («Grains») was shot in St. Petersburg by a Russian Oleksand Igudin. The video was premiered at the album?s launch. «Syla» was awarded best album by several Ukrainian musical websites.

2006.

«ShoPopaloShow» is developed into part three, directed by Kadim Tarasov. That year was memorable by a huge number of concerts. The band played at over 10 festivals in Ukraine and Russia. A few cover versions were recorded at that time for the TV. People here are simply mad for covers. Seriously.

In April the band was awarded Best Band in the «Hip-Hop and R&B» category at the «ShowBiz Award». In the summer Fahot became Johnny Depp in «The Pirate Of the Caribbean — 2». The band made two videos — «Vidryvaisia» and «Molodets». The latter one became a first with respect to animation.

The Fahot and Fozzey recorded a series of English radio lessons for the BBC «Rock English with TNMK». Then the two voiced some more animation films «Terkel I Khalepa» and «Happy Feet».

In the autumn the band decided to celebrate a decade of our era and a special show «TNMK?s 10 Seasons» was played on November 30. To this date all of the albums were re-released with bonus tracks in the «Limited Edition» series. The band was also awarded «Golden Disk» by Moon Records right there on stage. «Syla» had sold 55,000 copies.

Around the same time Fozzey's second solo album «Mono MetaMoreFozzey» was released. In the last two days of the year the band released two DVDs- one — a collection of all videos and the other — three part documentary «ShoPopaloShow» .

2007.

The celebratory theme continued into the New Year: such as a competition for selection of tracks for the «Golden Hits» compilation. «ReFormatsia — 2» will be the next step, including the best remakes and remixes from the most promising DJs.

«Molodets» video was launched on February 18. In the meantime Fahot voiced Jack Sparrow for the third lot of Pirates. Keep reading the news!

So many things were planned for this 2008 year. Something was done,
something — not, there was done something unplanned, and that things,
which were planned surely, have been put forward. This always happens and
not only with TNMK. Among main tasks we had: our studio, new album and new
video. And while two of these points are done, the band couldn’t write the
album until the end of 2008. The work is still in process.

2008.
In January the 2 albums were presented — «ReFormatCia-2» and «ReFormatCia-2.2». The first one came out as a CD, the second became the
first :) ukrainian internet-album. The band wanted to release the second
part in April and make recording in August. For this moment it’s still
filling with interesting remakes and... is waiting for its time and its
faith.

On February, 19 after a long pause the band played an acoustic concert,
performing at the «Moloda Gvardiya» fest in October Palace in Kiev. The
gig attended Ivan Dorn from «TwoNormal», he beat-boxed, and Fahot played
bassoon for the first time in 10 years. It was quite good.

In February Fozzey debuted with his own column in «Focus» magazine. Than a
clubbing concert session of TNMK started, consisted of special programme,
which Ukraine could hear only in Kiev, because in other cities the band
usually play at the huge events. This tour was interrupted by common
concerts and continued till May.

On the first spring day the band selebrated an incredible event — band’s
pianist Olexij «Lyopa Tarasych» Saranchyn marriage. After that repetitions
took place, during which the band was working on new material, and the
club concerts.

By the end of March director Kadim Tarasov ended editing of a new version
of «Mushu jty» video for Top Studio remix. Uncluding clip-mix «Granuly»
(Bangi Hap vs TNMK), it was the second remix video for «ReFormatCia -2»
album.

April started with long-awaited recording in studio. The band recordered 2
tracks for the next album — «Temno» and «Spam». It was decided to record
the other tracks in own studio, which was being built by Fahot. Also a lot
of club concerts were played in different ukrainian cities. On April, 19
the band organized pre-premiere demonstation of documentary Kadim Tarasov
film «ShoPopaloShow. Sziget», which described TNMK visit to Hungary and
performance at the legendary Sziget festival.

In the same month there was presented a song for Harkiv football club
«Metallist» fans — «Metallist, go ahead!». The idea came out in October,
2007, after visiting a football match «Metallist» — «Everton» (UEFA). By
conception, the song sang bandmates from Harkiv: Oleg «Fahot» Mykhailiuta,
Olexandr «Fozzey» Sidorenko, Konstyantyn «Kotya» Zhuikov, Olexij «Lyopa
Tarasych» Saranchyn and Yaroslav «Yarik» Veryovkin.

On May, 1 took place a performance at the «Tavria games» fest, and on May,
2 the band played in Lviv at the City day. This performance can be truly
named as open air of a new age — it was a solo multimedia show of TNMK. In
a week the same performance happened in Ivano-Frankivsk.

May was the most sturated month in 2008. The band made lots of things:
during one week TNMK ended club tour with Kiev concert, shooted a new
video in Prague, performed in Harkiv and Poznan (Poland). In Prague took
place shooting of «Temno» video, the first single from the next album.
Fahot was the director and Yaroslav Pilunsky was the operator.

Among May events we also want to mark out «Shady lady» remix, which Fahot
made by Ani Lorak’s request and presentation of Ukranian championship of
beach football anthem — «Zapalysya groyu» song, which was written by TNMK
and German sound-atelier «HBO».

In June «Toyota tour» started, which went through big ukrainian cities. At
the same time was released a concert video «Banzay», which was made by
Kadim Tarasov, based on film «ShoPopaloShow. Sziget» and video of TNMK
performance in Hungary. And during the «Fortetsya» fest in
Bilgorod-Dnistrovsky the song «Temno» was played for the first time.

Besides, June was also marked by Moscow performance at the «Usadba. Jazz»
festival. It was that rarity event, when the band played «Jazzy»
programme. TNMK joined an old friend — jazz saxophonist Dmytro «Bobin»
Alexandrov.

In July the band played the last three concerts of Toyota tour and had the
holidays.

In August among other concerts took place «SNICKERS URBANіЯ tour» and the
work on the other projects, which are not announced yet. By the way,
during Kiev concert of «SNICKERS URBANіЯ tour» was played the song «Vse
chesno» by Dymna Sumish feat TNMK («ReFormatCia-2.2» album).

There? ve been a lot of concerts this year. In September started the next
and very pleasant tour — «Djuice Music Drive». At the same time our studio
opened. But there was no time for recording, because the band was
travelling, although, between the concerts musicians had little holidays
in Capathians.

While the hard negotiations with television about forth part of
«ShoPopaloShow» have been continuing, the first part of this epopee
appeared at the web-site and on YouTube, which finally had the full
subscribe «All TNMK videos». At the same time a song «Football weekend»
was recorded for the request of TV-show of the same name.

On October, 8 the band played at the final show of «Djuice Music Drive»
tour together with Croove Armada and... finally came back for recording its
new album. TNMK recorded 4 songs, which have been waiting for their time a
lot.

Also in October a football team of ukrainian artists «Maestro» was
presented, which includes Fozzey as a player. By the end of the month
brilliant band Kryhitka Cahes presented video for «Voseny» track (TNMK
cover from «ReFormatCia-2» project). As the original version, this
photoclip was shot near Potapci village (Cherkassy district).

The songs, which were recorded in October, the band at once wanted to
play. Literally in November. Logically it was decided to play them at
homeland — this concert took place on November, 29 in Harkiv.

And at the beginning of the month, on November, 6, «Temno» video was
premiered. The presentation took place in Kiev club «Salminsky», and the
TV-premiere — on «M1» channel.

Among December events we can? t forget the fact, that tnmk. com portal was
defined as The best web-site of ukrainian musicians by newspaper «Dilo»
research.

At the same time recording of a new album continued. One more pleasant
thing — the sixth concert in Harkiv (December, 20). All in all during the
year the band played more, than 60 times, and set its own record for
touring number of kilometres.

Summing up, we want to notice, that this year was good for TNMK, and if
the band could reach everything planned, it would be called in another way
and you would be not at tnmk. com, but at the beatles. com :)
And, thanks to financial crisis, all musicians around the world have a
lot of time to record new material! :)

P. S. Otherwise, in 2008 there took place some side-projects: Olexij «Lyopa
Tarasych» Saranchyn took part in recording of Svyatoslav Vakarchuk album
«Vnochi» and Fozzey is preparing to release the third part of
«MetaMoreFozzey».

Thanks for listening!