Otava Yo
Otava Yo (Russian: Отава Ё, ота́ва meaning "aftergrass"[1]) is a Russian folk rock band from Saint Petersburg, formed in 2003.[2]
Otava Yo | |
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Origin | Saint Petersburg, Russia |
Genres | Folk rock, world music |
Years active | 2003–present |
Labels |
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Associated acts | Reelroadъ |
Website | otava-yo.sbp.ru |
Members | Members |
The band has performed in 30 countries,[3] including Mexico, France, Estonia, China, Portugal, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Belgium, Norway, India, the United States, the UK, Italy, Denmark, Iran and Japan.[4]
History
Alexey Belkin, Alexey Skosyrev, Dmitriy Shikhardin and Peter Sergeev used to do busking together on the streets of St. Petersburg for about 3 years. The positive feedback from the listeners inspired them to officially form a band in 2003. Of the initial members only Dmitriy had formal musical education, but the rest were self-taught.[1] Initially the band was called Reelroadъ and they played The Pogues-styled Celtic punk, but later changed their name to Otava Yo and turned to Russian traditional music.[5]
In 2005 they released their first studio album “Pod Aptekoj”,[6] named after their favorite street performance spot by a homeopathic pharmacy on Nevsky Prospect.[5] Four years later, in 2009, Otava Yo released their second studio album "Zhyli-byli", continuing into a musical direction they called "Russian beat".[6]
The next Otava Yo's album “Rozhdestvo” of traditional Christmas songs released in 2011, marked a deviation from their characteristic musical direction, that they ultimately returned to on their 2013 album "Chto za pesni".[6]
The band's breakthrough came with the video for the song “Sumetckaya”, featuring Russian fist fighters.[5] In 2015 “Sumetckaya” reached the No. 1 position on World Music Network’s February Video Chart and had been viewed for more than 12 million times on YouTube,[4] a number that reached 14 million in 2018, setting the record as the most watched music video by a Russian folk band.[3]
On August 2018 Otava Yo announced that their next album "Lyubish li ty?" had entered the mixing and mastering stage.[7] On September 30, 2018 the band released a video for the song "Kak na gorke, na gore" (Once Upon a Time on a High Hill) filmed at the Podporozhsky District in June from the upcoming album.[8]
Members
Current Members
- Alexey Belkin – vocals, bagpipes, gusli, zhaleika
- Alexey Skosyrev – vocals, acoustic guitar
- Dmitry Shikhardin – vocals, vielle
- Yulia Usova – vocals, fiddle (2011–present)
- Lina Kolesnik – vocals, fiddle (2019–2020; substituting for Yulia Usova on maternity leave)[9]
- Petr Sergeev – bass drum, darabouka
- Vasiliy Telegin – bass guitar (ca. 2019–present)[10][11]
- Denis Nikiforov – drums (ca. 2019–present)[10]
Past Members
- Natalya Vysokikh – fiddle (2003–2011)
- Timur Sigidin – bass guitar (2009–ca. 2019)[12]
Discography
Title | Translation in English | Album details[13] |
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Под аптекой (Pod aptekoj) |
Under the Pharmacy |
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Жили-были (Zhyli-byli) |
Once Upon a Time |
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Рождество (Rozhdestvo) |
Christmas |
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Что за песни (Chto za pesni) |
What Songs |
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Лучшие песни 2006—2015 (Luchshie pesni 2006—2015) |
Best Songs 2006–2015 |
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Дайте маленькое времечко весёлому побыть! (Dayte malenkoe vremechko vesyolomu pobyt!) |
Give just a little time to be merry! |
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Любишь ли ты? (Lyubish li ty?) |
Do You Love? |
|
Videography
- Про Диму и Петю (2010)
- Про Ивана Groove (2012)
- Дворник (2012)
- Что за песни (2014)
- Сумецкая (2015)
- Иванушка-рачек (2016)
- Ой, Дуся, ой, Маруся (2017)
- На речке, на речке (2018)
- Как на горке, на горе (2018)
- Яблочко (2019)
- У кошки четыре ноги (2020)
Awards and nominations
Year | Song | Award | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | Oh, Dusya, my Marusya | NYC Indie Film Award[14] | Best Music Video | Won |
Maykop International Film Festival | Best Music Video | Won | ||
Russian World Music Awards[15] | Best Music Video | Won | ||
2018 | BELIFF London International Film Festival[16] | Best Music Video | Won | |
Once Upon a Time on a High Hill | Los Angeles Film Awards[17] | Best Music Video | Won | |
2019 | California Music Video Awards[18] | Best Foreign Language Video | Won |
References
- Peleckis, Mindaugas (January 31, 2019). "OTAVA YO: True Russian folk music, not just another balalaika orchestra (interview)". Radikaliai. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
- "Otava Yo". Womex. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
- Vinogradov, Sergey (May 26, 2018). "Otava Yo: Svirels and gusli win the world". Russkiy Mir Foundation. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
- "Otava Yo RUS". Suklegos. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
- Mukhin, Zakhar (May 22, 2017). ""Otava Yo": There is no musical confrontation between St. Petersburg and Moscow" (in Russian). Kulturomania. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
- "Otava Yo". Earthbeat. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
- "Otava Yo tells about the new album "Lyubish li ty?"" (in Russian). Kulturomania. August 3, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
- "Otava Yo released a new videoclip for "Kak na gorke, na gore"" (in Russian). Musecube. October 5, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
- "Отава Ё - Всероссийский утренник (Otava Yo - concert for children)". Otava Yo. May 10, 2020.
- "Corvus Corax & Otava Yo, Zelyonka, Зелёнка". Зелёнка / Zelyonka / Отава Ё / Otava Yo. April 12, 2019.
- "About us". Otava Yo. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
- "About us". Otava Yo. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
- "Audio". Otava Yo. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
- "Winners - June 2017:". NYC Indie Film Awards. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
- Antipova, Daryana (December 5, 2017). "Winners of The 2nd Annual Russian World Music Awards Announced". World Music Central. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
- "The BELIFFestival Winners". BELIFF London International Film Festival. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
- "LAFA WINNERS October 2018". Los Angeles Film Awards. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
- "2nd Annual California MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS Winners Announced". TasteTV. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
External links
- Official website (in Russian)
- Otava Yo on VK
- Otava Yo's channel on YouTube
- Лаврские встречи. Алексей Белкин, фолк-группа «Отава Ё». February 12, 2019. Soyuz.