The band OT VINTA ("Let’s get cracking!" in Russian) got together in 1994 in Rivne, western Ukraine. The styles their music is closest to are rockabilly and psychobilly. From the very start, OT VINTA sang in Ukrainian. That was pretty unique back then, given that most rockabilly and psychobilly bands over the world - including the Ukraine - sang in English, thinking that no other language was good for the style. But the guys from Rivne broke the mould and what is more, started their own style, called ukrabilly – an energetic blend of rock-n-roll drive with serf, blues and country tunes, flavored with Ukrainian folk music. Another interesting thing about the band is that instead of the unwieldy double bass OT VINTA are using the kozabass, a traditional Ukrainian instrument. No one else has been known to use the kozabass in rock music.
In 1994-99 OT VINTA toured all over Ukraine, performing in clubs and at open-air venues. Their first recorded songs appeared in the compilation "The First Ukrainian Rockabilly Front", where OT VINTA was the only band singing in Ukrainian. The song "You said we were going to listen to some rockabilly on Sunday" became a hit not only in Ukraine, but also in Russia.
1999 saw the band’s first concert in Moscow. The same year, OT VINTA was named Ukraine’s best rock-group at "This Season’s Pearls" music festival. Next year, the band made its first trip to Poland to play a few gigs in Warsaw and to perform at the "Pidlyasska Osin'" festival in Bialystok. Later, OT VINTA toured more actively at home and abroad. Today the band is fairly popular in Ukraine, Poland and Russia for its club performances and festival appearances. Festival history of OT VINTA includes rockabilly gatherings ("Psychobilly Night" in Poland; "Ukrabilly Explosion" in Kyiv, Visagino Country in Lithuania) as well as ethno festivals ("Pidlyasska Osin'" and "Lemkivska Vatra" both in Poland) and main rock festivals of Ukraine ("Rock Sich", "Nivroku" etc.).
During the summer of 2007 OT VINTA had a string of appearances at powerful rock festivals across the Europe - Hodokvas (Slovakia), Campus Fest (Germany), Zwarte Cross (Netherlands).
The band’s discography includes three albums:
"Dryg-Tyn-Dymba" 2002
"Darma ya nayivsya tsybuli" ("Shouldn’t have eaten so many onions") 2005
"Poperedu" ("Ahead") 2006).
A few tracks of OT VINTA can be found in collections, such as "The First Ukrainian Rockabilly Front" (1998), "Psychobilly Night" (2003/2004, Poland), "Aloha from East Europe" (2004, Russia).
privet! :) Hope to see ya soon live on stage, when i get over to ukraine for holidays! Love your music! ah... by the way... thx that I'm beeing one of your top-myspace-friends ;)
