Slavic

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 […]

Okean Elzi (Океан Ельзи—note that this is the Ukrainian spelling) is a prolific Ukrainian rock band from Lviv. Formed in 1994, they have released nine studio albums since 1998, toured extensively throughout Ukraine, Russia, the majority of Europe, and North America, and are heralded today as one of the greatest rock bands of the former Soviet […]

Organek (also known as Ørganek) is a Polish contemporary classic-style rock band. It was started in 2013 in the Polish city Torun by singer Tomasz Organek. Organek, who grew up in Suwałki, is a composer and songwriter in addition to a singer—and he studied English philology at university. Organek’s music education was at the Katowice Music […]

Quest Pistols Show (simply Quest Pistols until 2014) is a unique and unusual Russian/Ukrainian … band, for lack of a better word. They often refer to themselves as a “show” (шоу) instead, and in their own words have, over the course of their existence, transformed from an “amateur ballet and freak boy band to a […]

TSA (short for Tajne Stowarzyszenie Abstynentów, or “secret society of abstainers”) is a Polish rock band regarded as precursors of heavy metal in Poland. The band was founded by guitarist Andrzej Nowak and bassist Tomasz “Whatfora” Zatwarnicki. While the band was founded in 1979, it has only been active during distinct periods since—1979 to 1989, […]

Sogdiana (real name Oksana Nechitaylo, Оксана Нечитайло) is a Russian-Uzbek pop singer. She sings in Uzbek, Russian, and Chechen, though most often in Uzbek. Sogdiana’s family is Chechen, but she grew up in Uzbekistan—she was born in 1984 in Tashkent. She studied the piano in school and studied at a conservatory at the same time, […]