History of creation
Many consider the founders of the Bi-2 group to be brothers, but this is not so. Leva (Yegor Bortnik) and Shura (Alexander Uman) met in Minsk theater studio. Shura was two years older than Leva and interested him in his erudition and erudition. In addition, Shura's uncle, Mikhail Karasev, was a well-known musician and composer in Belarus. 
Gradually, the boys became friends and decided to organize musical group. In 1988, a team of a dozen teenagers arose, which was called the "Shore of Truth." Leva was responsible for the lyrics, Shura played the guitar, and a certain Kostyl, who had recently been released from the colony, was the soloist.
The first performances of the group were strange performances, which often ended with the arrival of the police. But the guys were not embarrassed, they composed songs, had fun and considered themselves real punks. A year later, the number of members of the team decreased, Leva took the place of the vocalist, and the name of the group was reduced to the compact Bi-2. The musicians recorded the first magnetic album "Traitors to the Motherland", but things did not go further than this.
The main stages of creativity
In 1990, the group broke up, and Shura emigrated to Israel with his family. At first, there was no time for music - I had to work hard, and not knowing the language was a serious hindrance. Having adapted a little to the new life, Shura lured Lyova to him, and the friends continued to engage in creativity, trying to stay up to date with the events of the domestic rock party. 
A completely different life began when Shura moved to Australia in 1993. Once in the multicultural and lively Melbourne, he plunged headlong into the world of music. Shura met a huge number of performers from all over the world, attended concerts of leading world stars and, of course, did not forget about true friend, insisting on his move to Australia. Almost six years passed before Leva finally reached the “green continent”, but already six months later a demo version of the new album “And the ship is sailing” was ready, which included the famous “Barbara” and “No one writes to the Colonel”. The musicians sent the disc to Russia, where it was put into rotation, and soon they started talking about the Bi-2 group as a new discovery of the late 90s.
The public wanted to see their idols, so Leva and Shura had to leave hospitable Australia and return to their homeland. But upon arrival, everything was not as rosy as it seemed. Despite the fact that their songs were played with might and main on radio and TV, the contract for the release of the album and tour activity no one was in a hurry to conclude with them.
“No one writes to the Colonel” sounded in the film “Brother-2”
Everything changed overnight after the premiere of the film by Alexei Balabanov "Brother-2" with Sergei Bodrov, in which three songs of the group were played and the musicians themselves "lit up". Sonymusic immediately signed a contract with them, and soon the long-awaited album was released, which sold half a million copies. The team became a welcome guest at prestigious music festivals and began touring throughout the post-Soviet space. Thus, the year 2000 can be considered the official date of birth of the Bi-2 group.
On the wave of success, the musicians released the next album, Meow Kiss Me, a year later and went on a joint tour with the Spleen group. At the same time, the famous song "The Last Hero" was written, which became a kind of anthem for the post-perestroika generation. Another unconditional hit was the composition "My Rock and Roll", performed with Chicherina, for which a video was shot with the participation of Ingeborga Dapkunaite.
Bi-2 - "My rock and roll"
2004 was marked by the release of the next album of the group "Foreign Cars", as well as a whole firework of collaborations with such famous musicians and bands like Chaif, the Latvian rock band Brainstorm, Diana Arbenina, Tamara Gverdtsiteli, Zemfira and many others. All these creative experiments became the basis of the side-album "Odd Warrior", the presentation of which turned into a real event of the outgoing 2005. All the lyrics to it were written by the permanent author of the group Mikhail Karasev.
Bi-2 and Brainstorm - "Slippery Streets"
The next decade was no less fruitful in terms of the number of released albums, big hits and bold musical experiments. Leva and Shura increasingly began to invite other musicians to their concerts and themselves took part in other people's projects with pleasure, introduced new people to the group, experimented with light and sound.
In 2006, the group completely changed the composition of the musicians, after which their fifth album, Moloko, saw the light of day. In the new songs, notes of disco-punk were observed, the music itself became more electronic.
The following year, Bi-2 released the Odd Warrior-2 disc, recorded and mixed at the London-based Metropolis studio, known for its collaboration with Radiohead, U2 and Coldplay, and in 2009 they presented the public with their sixth studio album, Lunapark.
The track of the same name "Lunapark", according to the musicians, has become "a bridge from the past to the future of the group."
In 2010, Bi-2 recorded the song "Rivers of Love" together with the artists of the Quartet I: Leonid Barats, Rostislav Khait, Kamil Larin and Alexander Demidov. She entered the soundtrack to the film "What Men Talk About", like other compositions from the album of the same name "Bi-2".2011 was marked by the release of the third disc from the Odd Warrior project, in which Andrey Makarevich took part. Following the light saw the studio album "Spirit", the funds for the recording of which were collected with the help of crowdfunding, by the efforts of the band's fans. For the first time in the history of Bi-2, this album was released not only on CD, but also on vinyl, that is, it became a record in the truest sense of the word. The next album "16plus" (2014) was also created with the money of fans.
In 2015, the film The Clinch, the directorial debut of Sergei Puskepalis, premiered. Bi-2 worked on the creation of the soundtrack for the film, recording a total of 12 songs.
The activities of Bi-2 have been marked by many prestigious music awards, including the World Music Awards and several Golden Gramophones.
Collaborations with other artists
- "My Rock and Roll", "Until the Morning", "Snow Falls", "February", "Forgotten by All" - "B-2" ft. Julia Chicherina
- "Knockin' on Heaven" - "Bi-2" ft. "Chayf"
- "Slippery Streets" - "B-2" ft. brainstorm
- "Slow Star", "White Clothes", "Days and Nights", "Hush and Hush" - "Bi-2" ft. Diana Arbenina
- "Sky Without Edge", "The Soldier Leaves" - "Bi-2" ft. Irina Zhelannaya
- "My Love" - "B-2" ft. "Underwood"
- "Everything, as he said", "I'm losing the light" - "Bi-2" ft. "Agatha Christie"
- "White List" - "Bi-2" ft. Punk TV
- "And they sang songs on the radio" - "Bi-2" ft.
In contact with
Classmates
« event horizon has been looming on the horizon for a long time. I apologize for the tautology, but you can't say otherwise. For the first time, the Bi-2 group was announced back in 2016, and the musicians periodically “fed” us with new products, increasing our appetite and warming up the expectation. In winter, Leva and Shura released a collection of their songs "", which presented a kind of cast creative way collective, connected the past, present and future and made it clear that something grandiose is planned. The new album turned out to be really grandiose, both in terms of volume and content. The scope is not surprising, because the album became the band's 10th anniversary full-length release.
Several interesting surprises are waiting for us on the disc, some of which could be quite expected by fans and connoisseurs of the band's work. The album consists of two parts and was released on two discs containing a total of 16 tracks. The first part is the main one, it presents 11 songs, some of which are already familiar to listeners, the second one is bonuses - 5 songs, about which a little later. For now, I'll just say that a lot of guests are waiting for us on the disc, and some of them may seem completely unexpected.
"Bi-2" is a group that created a new look for the "mainstream", combining Western experience and the realities of the Russian scene in their work and doing it as harmoniously as possible. As a result, Bi-2 has become one of the most progressive domestic groups not just keeping up with the times, but even ahead of it, but at the same time not breaking away from tradition.
Including new album, already from the first chords you feel a characteristic and familiar atmosphere, a gloomy-mysterious trail. All this is presented in a successful union of rock and "electronic elements", which are quite a lot in the main part of the album this time.
The “genetic originality” of the Bi-2 group has long been loved by everyone and seems quite familiar and at the same time original. Their music is so peculiar and multifaceted that they just can't seem to do anything bad, no matter how they expand the field of their interaction with the music world. And the Event Horizon field is very broad.
AT best traditions group "Bi-2" the album in its semantic and emotional message turned out to be non-linear, full of images, allusions, meanings and feelings are intertwined in it. The name of the album is philosophical and not chosen by chance, the phrase itself, as the musicians say, is ambiguous and interesting for this. The "event horizon" in the understanding of Leva and Shura is the point where time stops. At this point, many phenomena crystallize.
The contents of the album can be interpreted in different ways. According to one of the leaders of Lyova's group, creativity is meant to ask questions, not give answers, and the new album is aimed precisely at this: to raise questions, to highlight the problem in all its diversity and, sometimes, even in the most unexpected refraction. And answers and solutions are the destiny of each specific listener, the degree of understanding and perception of creativity is always individual.
Now let's go over the tracks of the new album a little and start with those that were presented to the listeners in advance. The January collection already mentioned above includes two new songs that have not been released before as part of full-length albums. These are the singles "" and "Alice". The latter is dedicated to the memory of the musician Alexander Rotan, who is the author of the song's music, naturally, it occupies a special place on the album.
About the song Likes", in which the "manifestation of Internet sympathy" is played up and the real and the virtual are intertwined - needless to say, this is one of the group's new hits. A video was filmed for the song, which also served as part of the "large-scale prologue" to the album. In total, as part of the accompaniment of the new disc, the musicians shot five clips. Shortly before the release of the novelty, a video was made public for the song "", which opens the album, and the composition "Whiskey", in which we meet the first of the guests, the American-Icelandic musician John Grant. Such a union reminds us of a very significant "import" component in the history and creative heritage of the group.
Another "guest" composition, which premiered shortly before the album, "". With this track, the musicians expand the boundaries as much as possible, and probably surprised many. Together with the group, the composition was performed by one of the most intelligent rappers in our country, Oxxxymiron. The declared duet in itself gives rise to the expectation of a contrasting alternation of Lyova's enveloping voice with Miron's emotional reading. And so it happens, only a good half of the track sounds quite typical for "B-2" song, and rather slow and soft, similar in mood to "Rivers of Love". The general background and mood of the song only enhances the impression of the ending, when we still hear the recitative, later again turning into a soft chorus. Already at the level of the idea, the track "It's time to go home" was supposed to turn out to be cool and show that no genre boundaries are a hindrance to good music. Of the "previously not illuminated" compositions, it is worth highlighting: "Philosopher's Stone" and "Theme of the Century". The second, for the sake of interpreting the title of the entire album, is dedicated to the philosophy of the time, combining plots and images of history and modernity.
And now, finally, about the bonuses, which are cover versions made in collaboration with other musicians. In its format, the "bonus part" resembles the well-known "odd warrior" project, and among the invited musicians there are friends of the band seen in this project. Song " HaliGaliKrishna"from the repertoire of" Agatha Christie "performed together with its author - Gleb Samoilov. And the song closes the album Bird on the windowsill". This is the “most representative” song in terms of the number of “eminent guests”, Diana Arbenina, Nike Borzov, Nastya Poleva, Vladimir Shakhrin and others took part in its recording. Isn’t it powerful! A worthy tribute to the great poet.
I have already written a lot about the album “Event Horizon” and I catch myself thinking that words cannot describe all its fullness and depth, it must be listened to. This album is just a cosmos, a parallel universe of the Bi-2 group. I highly recommend listening to this release.
This exciting story began in 1985, when two Belarusian teenagers Lyova and Shura met on the stage of the Minsk theater studio "Rond". Both were seriously interested in music, and in 1988 a band called "Brothers ... Read all
Bi-2 is a rock band widely known in Belarus, Russia, Australia, the Baltic countries and Israel. The founders of the group are Shura Bi-2 and Lyova Bi-2.
This exciting story began in 1985, when two Belarusian teenagers Lyova and Shura met on the stage of the Minsk theater studio "Rond". Both were seriously fond of music, and in 1988 a band called "Brothers in Arms" was born, which was later renamed first to "Coast of Truth", and then to Bi-2. The non-permanent composition of the group included 15 people: there was even a brass section and a show group. In the period from 1988 to 1990, Bi-2 managed to travel all over Belarus with concerts, performing at various festivals in cities, villages and towns, a debut magnetic album called "Traitors to the Motherland" was recorded in home studios in Minsk.
In 1991, Shura, and then Lyova, moved to Israel. In Israel, Bi-2 actively write new songs, and perform, albeit in a non-permanent line-up, at various festivals and club venues. In 1992, Bi-2 performed at the Jerusalem Rock Festival, where they took first place.
At the end of 1993, Shura left for Australia to live with relatives, since in Israel he did not find incentives to further creative development groups. Leva remains in Jerusalem, serves in the Israeli army and works computer graphics. However musical activity The group did not end there: Shura and Leva made songs by phone, as well as with the help of audio letters. Shura sent a musical "fish" to a friend, and he sent texts in response. In Australia, Shura manages to create his own band "Shura B-2 band and associates", and also takes part in the Australian darkwave project "Chiron" as a guitarist. In February 1998, Leva arrives in Australia, and the Bi-2 group solemnly unites. Leva joins "Chiron" as a second guitarist, but despite some success in the goth circles of Australia, the musicians realize that they need to develop their own project. Friends recruit local musicians and record in Melbourne their full-fledged debut album"B2".
Soon Leva and Shura find out that in Russia their songs are played with might and main on the radio. In 1999, friends went to conquer Moscow. The Bi-2 song "No one writes to the Colonel" is noticed by director A. Balabanov and makes it the title theme of his film "Brother-2". In the wake of the film's popularity, the song becomes a massive hit, and the B-2s turn into superstars overnight. The release of the clip "Barbara" and the radio single "No one will come" reinforces the success. The second big hit of Bi-2 was the composition "Silver" recorded with a string quartet.
At the beginning of 2001, the long-standing friendship of the Bi-2 and Splin collectives unexpectedly turns into a creative alliance: the leader of the Splin group Alexander Vasilyev and the musicians of the Bi-2 group recorded a joint song called Fellini. The "Fellini Tour" became a grand event in the history of Russian rock music: two super-popular bands with resounding success visited more than 20 cities with joint concerts - from Siberia and the Urals to the Volga region, through both capitals. In May 2001, the Fellini Tour reached New York!
In December 2001, Sony Music Russia releases a new Bi-2 album "Meow Kiss Me", which sold 70,000 copies on the first day of sales. "My rock and roll" with Yulia Chicherina is added to the collection of Bi-2 star duets.
In March 2004, the album "Foreign Cars" was released. Bi-2 actively collaborate with other musicians, recording joint compositions with the Chaif, Brainstorm, Diana Arbenina and others groups. In 2005, this collaboration grew into a whole double album "Odd Warrior", which brought together more than a dozen Russian and not only rock stars. At the same time, Bi-2 create their own new program, which is successfully performed in Moscow and St. Petersburg, accompanied by a symphony orchestra.
The beginning of 2006 was a turning point for the group: Leva and Shura decided to change the concept of the team and completely renewed the line-up. New stage in the development of the group was marked by a change in image and style: the album "Milk" was recorded in the style of "disco-punk". The first sign from the new album and the personification of all the changes that have occurred with the group was the single "Durochka". Technical "disco-punk", ironic lyrics and new look of the musicians were ambiguously received by the band's fans. but, nevertheless, it was unanimously recognized that the changes benefited the group. The release of "Milk" is accompanied by a large-scale concert tour, radio presentations on "Our Radio" and Radio "Maximum", extensive press coverage, a change in design on the group's official website, as well as the appearance of Bi-2 Internet pages on fashion portals Myspace and Livejournal . On July 26, 2007, the official release of the DVD Bi-2 " [email protected] club". This DVD, which was based on the concert-presentation of "Moloko-tour" in Moscow, became the second official DVD of the group. It included 20 live tracks of Bi-2, and as bonuses - a song performed by Andy York, guest presentations, three additional live tracks of Bi-2 and 5 video clips.
In the meantime, work on the continuation of the Odd Warrior project, which began in January 2007, was nearing completion. in early August, Shura took a part of the future disc for mixing to Melbourne, to his old friend, sound engineer Adam Kalaitis. "Odd Warrior-2", like the first project, brought together about two dozen artists to convey to the audience the work of Mikhail Karasev, Shura's uncle and former musician of the Sunny Side band.
On August 22, 2007, bi-2, accompanied by the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Felix Aranovsky, performed with resounding success in Jurmala. The concert consisted of two parts: the first - songs in orchestral arrangement, and the second - electricity. The concert was hosted by popular presenters Natalya Olesik and Alex Dubas.
The summer of 2007 ended with the performance of Bi-2 at the first Moscow International Rock Festival, dedicated to the day city, - "Happy birthday, Moscow". Autumn 2007 was rich for Bi-2 in all sorts of nominations: people of the year, Mtv Russia Awards, RAMP - these are just a few of the awards for which the group was nominated thanks to the active support of their fans. As a result, Bi-2 received, perhaps, one of the most prestigious music awards Russia - the best rock project of the year according to the results of the audience voting MTV Russia Music Awards 2007!
As a New Year's gift for 2008, another Internet album was posted on the band's website, which included the symphonic part of the Bi-2 concert with an orchestra in Jurmala, as well as a couple of no less interesting bonus tracks. January 8, 2008 significant event of a personal nature, a son was born to Leva. The boy was named Aviv.
The period of late February - early March 2008 was marked by the release of the disc "Odd Warrior 2". The release took place in three stages: on February 28, a deluxe edition was released consisting of 16 tracks + 4 videos ( documentary about "NV 2" and three clips); On March 3, an issue of "Citizen k" magazine with an enclosed special edition of "Odd Warrior 2" (13 tracks only) went on sale; and finally, on March 4, the regular edition (without bonuses) appeared in stores. Like the debut disc "nv", the second disc of the project includes compositions by Mikhail Karasev, performed together with Bi-2 by famous Russian and foreign musicians. All the same voices of Diana Arbenina, Tatyana Litvinenko, Inna Zhelannaya, the Samoilov brothers from Agatha Christie, Irina Akimtseva from Litmus sound on NV 2 ... For the first time they tried themselves as participants in the project Alexei Romanov ("Resurrection") , Sergey Mazaev (" moral code"), Roman Suslov (" Polite Refusal"), Alexander f. Sklyar ("Va-Bank"), Alexei Kortnev ("Accident"), Irina Bogushevskaya, David Brown ("Brazzaville"), Louis Franck ("Esthetic Education"), Punk TV and "Truffele" Well, the "creative core", as before, was Mikhail Karasev, Lyova and Shura Bi-2, Evgeny Pankov, Anton Sevidov and Oleg Chekhov.
On April 17, Bi-2 and Diana Arbenina received the 2008 MTV Movie Award for the best soundtrack - the song "Because of Me" for the film "I Stay". And a month later, the film directed by Alexander Darug "Masha and the Sea" was released in Russian cinemas, where Shura, Lyova and other Bi-2 participants themselves appeared in the frame in cameo roles and sang "My Love". In late April - early May, Bi-2 visited Germany with a concert tour. The tour program could be called "The Best of": it included hits from all the band's records, as well as several compositions from the side project "Odd Warrior 2". The end of spring Bi-2 was celebrated with a big solo concert in the club "Orange" on May 30th. The main surprise last concert spring" was the premiere new song Bi-2 called "Muse". It was this song that became the first single of the group's next numbered album. Summer 2008 B-2 spent in the studio working on a new album. However, the group appeared at several major festivals, including a grand rock concert in Tel Aviv on June 12, "Maksidrom" at the Olympic on June 14 and "Invasion" in the village of Emmaus. In addition, the guys were also noted in a number of side projects: for example, they produced and recorded the song "Tempers" in the electro-dance style for Chicherina, and also took part in the filming and recording of the soundtrack for the TV movie "The Reversal of Fate", where Leva played one from the main roles.
Autumn 2008 brought with it important changes in the composition of the group: Yanik Nikolenko, a famous rock musician, joined Bi-2 as another member. musical biography includes the legendary project "Oedipus Complex", the groups "Splin" and "Ceti". As a full-fledged member of the team, Yanik made his first public appearance on October 4 at the group's big solo album at the B2 club. Before that, he went on tour with the guys a couple of times to get used to the new repertoire.
From 1 to 5 November 2008 Bi-2 toured Belarus. The concert tour called "25 songs in chorus" covered Minsk, Gomel, Bobruisk and Molodechno. One of the sensations of this tour was the participation in it of the reunited group "Sunny Side". Another sensation was that the songs for the Bi-2 set list were chosen by their fans themselves, sending their applications to the official website. During these tours, Belarusian television filmed a documentary about Bi-2.
In mid-December, Leva and Shura Bi-2 celebrated the third anniversary of their "Biology" radio show. December 14 in the club "16 tons" was organized by them in honor of this event music Festival. It was attended by dj Dima Yaponets, the Moscow teams "Manicure" and "Dot dash", as well as the Motorama group from Rostov-on-Don. All of them are frequent heroes of the Biology programs.
With the departure of 2008, the work on the new Bi-2 album was also completed: it only remained to mix and master the recorded material in Australia. At the last solo concerts of December in the clubs "B1 maximum" and "B2", Bi-2 showed the fans a few more songs from the upcoming album - "The Globe of the Earth" and "Tesla".
In January 2009, Leva and Shura went to Australia, where they mixed their new album. The work was in full swing for about 2 weeks, a record number of songs for the group's albums was mixed - 17. And already on January 9, the second single was released - The Globe of the Earth. Everyone who was lucky enough to hear this song earlier at the group's concerts or in the Biology program fell under its charm. Shura called it one of the most beautiful songs on the new record.
January 21 in the club 16 tons Bi-2 performed with a solo program. The guys started their set with an exclusive premiere - a song called "David Bowie", which was performed by Leva Bi-2 to the accompaniment of Anton Sevidov on keyboards. The whole concert was held on a powerful charge of positive energy, the audience "with a bang" accepted both the time-tested hits of the group, and new items - "Karaoke", "The Globe of the Earth". An unusual clip for Bi-2 was soon filmed for the latter - very conceptual and minimalist (there is practically nothing in the frame, except for the group), the entire clip is designed in the "noir" style.
In winter, the guys managed to visit America, the Baltic countries with concerts, where they presented their sensational program with symphony orchestra. Then they went on tour in the Urals, and a few days later they visited London, where one of the most famous studios in the British capital was reserved for the next week. there, under their leadership, the last, final stage of work on the new album - mastering - took place.
On May 5, the shooting of the concert-presentation of the new Bi-2 album, called "Lunapark", took place at the "B2" club, especially for the viewers of the A-one TV channel and the "Pair run" program. Bi-2 this evening performed songs from the new disc, until the official release date of which there was only a week left! Some songs were absolute premieres - for example, "Bowie", "Third Rome", "Shambhala", "Luna Park". The audience enthusiastically accepted all the new songs, and "The Globe of the Earth" was greeted by the audience as a real hit.
So, on May 19, the long-awaited release of the fifth numbered album of the Bi-2 group "Lunapark" took place. With the release of Lunapark, a whole new chapter in the history of Bi-2. A special promo site was launched, completely dedicated to the album "Lunapark". In addition to the photo gallery and full information about the release, it also contains all the lyrics to the album, clips, audio section.
The presentation of the new album of the Bi-2 group "Lunapark" took place in the amusement park "Karusel" on May 21. By the time the presentation began in Moscow, a two-hour downpour had passed and the current was cut off on the stage flooded with water. The concert was moved to a tent for the guests, among whom were actor Maxim Vitorgan, musicians Yulia Chicherina, Elena Kaufman, Alexei Kortnev, Vasily Shumov and others. Host Kirill Kalyan addressed the audience, who apologized to the fans for force majeure and promised, that, no matter what, the group "Bi-2" today will present its "most powerful and fantastic album." After the very first song "Muse" the first question was addressed to the musicians: why are they performing today in a stylized security uniform (pauses between songs were used for the press conference). To which Shura bi-2 replied: "From now on, the members of the group are the guards of the amusement park." The party ended with a solemn cutting of the cake with the design of the disc "Lunapark" and free rides on the rides.
On June 5, the premiere of the next single from the new album took place - the song "Bowie". "Bowie" is one of the main and most powerful songs on the new album. Lyova and Yanik wrote the text for the song, and helped to arrange the arrangement good friend Bi-2, musician Anton Sevidov. On the same day, in the capital's music store "Respublika", the Bi-2 group talked with their fans for about 3 hours. The event began with an autograph session. At the table they signed a new disc "Lunapark", posters, postcards, and at the same time everything that resourceful fans held out, all the musicians of Bi-2. A lot of people came, and the autograph session dragged on. It even had to be interrupted for a short time to conduct a scheduled interview for Rolling Stone magazine. Bi-2 joked a lot, talked about their touring adventures during a recent tour of the cities of Siberia, recalled the stories of "green concerts", failures and successes, shared plans for the future. Most of the questions, both from journalists and from the audience, were, of course, about the new album "Lunapark". Bi-2 spoke with pleasure about the work on the record and revealed the secret of its name.
The presentation-concert of the new album took place on June 13 at the "B1 Maximum" club. The "B1" stage was decorated in keeping with the album's style, with a large streamer featuring the "Lunapark" cover in the background, and inflatable eyes of various sizes hung on the sides. At about nine the concert began with a performance by the special guest of the evening - the group "Tesla boy". Bi-2, who came on stage next in identical black and white shirts, started with one of the main hits of the fresh disc "Muse". "I wonder if there are people in the audience who have already purchased our new album? Well, how do you like it?" Shura asked. The audience made it clear with enthusiastic shouts that Bi-2's record was a success. In response, the artists played “the most romantic composition of the Lunapark album, Shambhala.” In addition, Deadly Number, Black River, Karaoke and the title track Lunapark sounded from the new disc that evening.
Tour "Lunapark" continued in a tour of far east Russia, and on June 3 another high-profile premiere took place - a video clip for the song "Bowie". The video was based on the shooting of the presentation concert, which took place in the B1 Maximum club. The clip also includes footage of the group preparing for the concert from the dressing room, usually hidden from prying eyes. In the new video, the musicians appeared in an unusual way - masks with a face were made especially for filming david bowie. The video was directed by Dmitry Makhov and Artem Pugach, the founders of the A-one channel, who filmed concerts of such famous bands like Korn and Apocalyptica.
As is often the case with status groups, the best songs written as if unscheduled. So this time, Leva and Shura, good friends of the guys from Quartet I, looked at the light and stayed until the end of the filming of the film What Men Talk About, recording along the way one of their best albums.
The current line-up of the group
Leva Bi-2 - vocals, guitar
Shura Bi-2 - vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar
Andrey Zvonkov - guitar
Maxim Andryushchenko - bass guitar
Boris Livshits - drums
Jan Nikolenko - flute, keyboards, melody, backing vocals
Albums of the group Bi-2:
"Bi-2" (2000)
"Meow, kiss me" (2001)
"Foreign cars" (2004)
"Moloko" (2006)
Lunapark (2009)
"What Men Talk About" (2010)
Side projects:
"Odd Warrior" (2005)
"Odd Warrior 2" (2008)
The history of one of the most popular Russian rock bands in the 2000s is striking, first of all, in its geographical scope - Shura and Lyova were pretty shaken around the planet. Shura Bi-2 (Alexander Nikolaevich Uman) and Lyova Bi-2 (Igor (Egor) Mikhailovich Bortnik) met in 1985, when one was 15 and the other 13 years old. It was in Bobruisk, in Belarus, in the Minsk theater studio.
Creative experiments beyond the measure of progressive teenagers who staged Ionesco and Vian frightened the leadership of the Palace of Pioneers, and the studio was dispersed, but Shura and Leva had already managed to become friends and started now musical project- Band of Brothers.
The current fans of Bi-2 would hardly recognize their favorite group in this trash (from the Brothers, which quickly became the Shore of Truth) - Kostyl stood at the microphone, who managed to serve time in a colony for juvenile delinquents, all in Zon tattoos, yes and in general, there was a real hell at the concerts. In 88-90, the crazy show that the “Coast of Truth” gave out could be seen in all cities and towns of Belarus - the group even performed in the Bobruisk prison and on the Rassvet collective farm. They played something like ska, with pipes - the composition sometimes reached 15 people. There was something to see: the highlight of the program was the coffin, which was dragged onto the stage. From the coffin jumped out "Budennovets" - Lyova in a shot through shirt, raped a pillow, then tore it and threw feathers at the audience. The Belarusian public generally agreed that this was a very cool group. In 1989, "B-2" (i.e. "Coast of Truth-2" - a kind of "restart" after the next dissolution of the group) recorded the first magnetic album "Traitors to the Motherland", according to the name of its main hit. In 1991, “traitors to the motherland” had to literally become - there was obviously nothing to do in the collapsing USSR, and first Shura, and then Lyova, emigrated to Israel. They play there rarely and inconsistently, already, of course, without any horns - you won’t get a brass section, and even success at the local level is not particularly encouraging - the Russian-speaking musical party “boils in its own juice” and nothing particularly interesting happens in it. They play acoustics, write songs, perfect arrangements - it was at this time that many hits were written, which later would become incredibly popular in Russia. Leva goes to serve in the Israeli army and gradually moves away from music, Shura leaves for Australia. Friends often correspond and call each other across half the planet, but Bi-2 no longer exists. It could all end there, but Shura in Australia does not leave music - he plays with local groups, writes music, puts together his little groups.
Communication continues - Lyova sends texts from Israel. Together with Victoria "Victory" Shura revives Bi-2 in Australia, even recording the album "Asexual and Sad Love" in 1998, which, although it was already printed, is not on sale due to a default in Russia. In the same year, Leva finally decides to come to Australia. The musicians reunite and start writing a second album. The record, which was supposed to be called "And the ship is sailing" never saw the light of day, but the tracks from it came to Russia and got into the rotation of "Our Radio" and radio "Maximum". In 1999, following the songs, the Bi-2 group also went to Russia, but in a "minimal lineup", only Shura and Leva - the rest of the musicians had to be looked for in Moscow. The group performs at the first "Invasion" in "Gorbushka", shines on television. The turning point was participation in the creation of the cult record of the 2000s - the soundtrack to "Brother-2".
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B2
Bi-2 is a rock band widely known in Belarus, Russia, Australia, the Baltic countries and Israel. The founders of the group are Shura and Leva. This exciting story began in 1985, when two Belarusian teenagers Lyova and Shura met on the stage of the Rond theater studio in Minsk, where Pavel Natsvin worked as a sound engineer. Both were seriously fond of music, and in 1988 a band called "Brothers in Arms" was born, which was later renamed first to "Coast of Truth", and then to Bi-2. The non-permanent composition of the group included 15 people: there was even a brass section and a show group. In the period from 1988 to 1990, Bi-2 managed to travel all over Belarus with concerts, performing at various festivals in cities, villages and towns, in the home studios of Minsk a debut magnetic album called "Traitors to the Motherland" was recorded. In 1991, Shura, and then Lyova, moved to Israel. In Israel, Bi-2 actively write new songs, and perform, albeit in a non-permanent line-up, at various festivals and club venues. In 1992, Bi-2 performed at the Jerusalem Rock Festival, where they took first place.