N.R.M.

N.R.M.
N.R.M. at concert wRock for freedom, Wrocław
Background information
Also known as	Mroja
Origin	Minsk, Belarus
Genres	Rock
Years active	1981–present
Members	Oleg Demidovich Yury Levkov Pete Pavlov
Past members	Levon Volsky Vladimir Davidovsky Benedict Konev-Petushkovich Oleg Pipin Leonid Shirin Victor Smolsky Viktor Shot Yury Tsyankevich

N.R.M. (Niezaležnaja Respublika Mroja, "Independent Republic of Dreams" in English) are a rock band from Minsk, Belarus, founded in 1981 as Mroja (Belarusian: Мроя). They are considered to be the most popular rock band in the country. They perform in the Belarusian language, and are a rallying point for political opposition to the Belarusian government, despite a performance ban used during 2006-2009 against them.

Biography

N.R.M. were founded as Mroja in 1981 at Alexei Glebov University in Minsk by Lavon Volsky (keys, vocals) and Vladimir Davidovsky (guitar). They held their first gig on 7 November 1981. Through the 1980s, there were several lineup changes. A few albums were also released. On 24 September 1989, the group played the Chervona Ruta festival in Chernovtsy, playing the songs "Šmat", "Australijskaja polka", "Mama - Mafija" and "Ziamla". In 1989, they recorded eight songs with producer Alexander Shtilman, released the following year as Dvaccać vośmaja zorka (28th Star) on Melodiya, the group's only release with the label. The lineup on DVZ was: Lavon Volsky - keyboards and lead vocals, Benedict Konev-Petushkovich - guitars, Yury Levkov - bass and Oleg Demidovich - drums and backing vocals. Davidovsky had left the group that year and was replaced by Konev-Petushkovich, who stayed on until 1992. He was replaced by Oleg Pipin and a couple of others before settling with Pete Pavlov in 1993. The Volsky-Pavlov-Levkov-Demidovich lineup would rename itself to NRM in late 1994.

Their music tends toward melodic hard rock with witty and often indirectly political lyrics. The band's albums and publicity materials generally use the Łacinka alphabet, the Belarusian version of the Latin alphabet that was widely used alongside Cyrillic prior to the establishment of the Soviet Union. Some songs from NRM's debut album, LaLaLaLa, were performed by Mroja as early as 1990.

Like several other bands that sing in Belarus, they have expressed their opposition to President Alexander Lukashenko, although they have never mentioned him by name in their lyrics. N.R.M.'s largest crowd was in Kiev in 2004, when they played in support of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, with band members expressing their hope that something similar would happen in their own country.

During this years N.R.M., along with many other Belarusian bands, was unofficially banned from FM station broadcast in Belarus. There is no written blacklist, but FM station managers have said they received unofficial "recommendations" from the authorities.

Within the next three years the group continued active its concert activity. Numerous performances abroad took place in Poland, Germany, Slovakia, Sweden. In their homeland, however, the group is included into the forbidden list, therefore they give concerts seldom and in underground conditions.

In 2007, the long-awaited sixth studio album "06" was released. It was recorded, according to Lavon Volski, under the influence of political events of spring 2006 in Belarus. The album "06" is compiled with songs of different styles. Violoncello, mandoline, keyboard were used, which are new instruments for the group. Besides for the first time songs were sung not only by Lavon Volski, but also by other participants of the group and even children's chorus.

After the meeting of Belarusian rock-musicians with the deputy head of the Presidential Administration on ideology Aleh Pralyaskouski in the end of 2007 the band was unbanned.

In 2010, Volsky left the group, who decided to continue as a three-piece. Their next album, D.P.B.Č, was released in 2013.

Albums

Year of release	Original title	Title	Label
1986	Stary chram	Old Temple
1987	Zrok	Vision
1989	Studyja BM	Studio BM
1990	Dvaccać vośmaja zorka	28th Star	Melodiya
1991	Bijapolie	Biofield
1992	Lepšyja peśni z albomau 1988-1990	The Best Songs from the Albums 1988-1990	Kovčeg
1993	Vybranyja peśni 1989-1993	Selected Songs 1989-1993	ZBS
1995	ŁaŁaŁaŁa	LaLaLaLa
1996	Odzirydzidzina	Odzirydzidzina
1997	Made in N.R.M.	Made in N.R.M.
1998	Pašpart hramadzianina N.R.M.	The Passport of N.R.M Citizen
1999	Akustyčnyja kancerty kanca 20-ha stahodździa	Acoustic Concerts at the End of the 20th Century	West Records
2000	Samotnik	Single	West Records
2000	Try čarapachi	Three Turtles	West Records
2002	Dom kultury	Palace of Culture	West Records
2004	Spravazdača 1994-2004	Report of 1994-2004	West Records
2007	06	06
2013	Д.П.Б.Ч.	D.P.B.C.	PetePaff Inc.

Other projects

• Peśniarok (1997), tribute to Pesniary
• Narodny albom (Folk Album) (1997)
• Serca Eǔropy in rock (Heart of Europe in Rock) (2001)
• Personal Depeche (2002), Belarusian tribute to Depeche Mode
• Generały ajčynnaha roku (Generals of Domestic Rock) (2004)
• NiezałežnyJa (IndependentMe) (2008)

Line-up

• Yury Levkov - lead vocals (since 2010), bass
• Pete Pavlov - guitar (since 1993)
• Oleg Demidovich - drums

Past members

• Lavon Volsky - lead vocals, keyboards, guitars (1981-2010)
• Vladimir Davidovsky - guitar (1981-1989)
• Sergei Loskutov - rhythm guitar (1981)
• Benedict Konev-Petushkovich - guitar (1989-1992)
• Oleg Pipin - guitar (1992)
• Leonid Shirin - guitar (June-September 1992)
• Viktor Shot - guitar (September 1992-1993)
• Yury Tsyankevich - percussion (1992-1994)
• Viktor Smolsky - guitar (1993)

Timeline

Popular culture

The band appeared during one of their concerts at an opposition rally in 2006, which was featured in the documentary, A Lesson of Belarusian

Bibliography

• Viktar Dziatlikovič. Ich Mroja, ich NRM. Minsk: Sučasny litaratar, 2005.

External links

• N.R.M. official site (in Belarusian)
• Rock-rebels saved by the dictator
• Belarus hardman drowns out the sounds of revolution (Article in The Times about NRM being banned from FM stations in Belarus)
• Official fan-club site