Slavic

Konets Filma (Конец фильма; “end of the film”) is a Russian rock band. Active since 1998, when it was founded by Russian natives of Estonia, it currently includes Evgeny Feklistov (Евгений Феклистов; vocals, acoustic guitar, songwriter), Pyotr Mikov (Пётр Миков; guitar), Aleksey Pleshchunov (Алексей Плещунов; bass guitar), Aleksey Denisov (Алексей Денисов; drums) and Stepan Tokaryan (Степан Токарьян; keyboards, backing […]

Katyn (Katyń) is a Polish historical drama released on September 17, 2007, that depicts the Katyn Massacre of 1940. The story views the events of the massacre through the eyes of the mothers, wives, and daughters of those executed by the NKVD. At the time of the story, it was unclear to the general population of Poland […]

Geegun (Джиган) is the stage name for Ukrainian born hip-hop artist and DJ Denis Aleksandrovich Ustimenko-Weinstein (Денис Александрович Устименко-Вайнштейн). The artist has remarked upon his adopted name as a combination of the second half of the American hip-hop abbreviation for “original gangster”—O.G.—and a transliteration of the English “gun,” due to his fondness for firearms. Besides being […]

IOWA is an indie-pop group from Mogilev, Belarus, who sing in Russian. A relatively young band, they have only released one album since their inception in 2009, Export (2014; no Russian or Belarusian title). The band’s moniker contains several references, namely the US state, an American acronym—Idiots Out Wandering About—and an album by the metal […]

Gogol Bordello is a self-styled “gypsy punk” band that formed in Manhattan, NY, in 1999. The band’s unique fusion of influences is largely the brainchild of frontman Eugene Hütz’s own unconventional history. Hütz, born Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Nikolayev-Simonov (Евгений Александрович Николаев-Симонов), is a Ukrainian-born expat whose Romani heritage (his mother is partially of Servitka ancestry) inspired […]

Ivan Dorn (Іван Дорн in Ukrainian; Иван Дорн in Russian) is a Ukrainian, Russian-speaking performer.Known primarily today through his career as a pop musician, Dorn has also found success as a TV personality in Ukraine, and in a handful of acting roles—most famously as Kostya in Happy Guys (Весёлые Ребята, 2014). Dorn was born in Chelyabinsk, […]

Tantsy Minus (Танцы Минус) is a Russian rock band from St. Petersburg. Officially formed in 1995 by frontman Vyacheslav Petkun (Вячеслав Петкун), the band has released five full-length albums and developed a loyal fanbase during its long career. They have also been recognized for their contributions to Russian music, receiving the prestigious Golden Gramophone award […]

Bartosz (Bartas) Szymoniak is a Polish solo singer. For many years he was also the vocalist for Sztywny Pal Azji, a Polish classic rock band that has been around since the mid-1980s. Szymoniak was born in Kalisz, Poland, toward the tail end of the Communist era. He has become a musical figure with a range of […]