Biography of the Bi-2 group
“Bi-2” is a rock band from Minsk and Melbourne, created in the late 80s and became famous almost 10 years later, after the release of the film “Brother” -2. Her frontmen Leva and Shura do not get tired of experimenting, collaborating with other bright rock artists, and therefore the work of “Bi-2” always remains “in trend”.
Bi-2 group
History of creation
Many consider the founders of the Bi-2 group to be brothers, but this is not so. Leva (Yegor Bortnik) and Shura (Alexander Uman) met in the Minsk theater studio. Shura was two years older than Leva and interested him in his erudition and erudition. In addition, Shura’s uncle, Mikhail Karasev, was a well-known musician and composer in Belarus.
Leva and Shura from Bi-2 have known each other since childhood
Gradually, the boys became friends and decided to organize a musical group. In 1988, a team of a dozen teenagers arose, which was called the “Shore of Truth.” Leva was responsible for the lyrics, Shura played the guitar, and a certain Kostyl, who had recently been released from the colony, was the soloist.
At first, the group was called “The Shore of Truth”
The first performances of the group were strange performances, which often ended with the arrival of the police. But the guys were not embarrassed, they composed songs, had fun and considered themselves real punks. A year later, the number of members of the team decreased, Leva took the place of the vocalist, and the name of the group was reduced to the compact Bi-2. The musicians recorded the first magnetic album “Traitors to the Motherland”, but things did not go further than this.
The main stages of creativity
In 1990, the group broke up, and Shura emigrated to Israel with his family. At first, there was no time for music – I had to work hard, and not knowing the language was a serious hindrance. Having adapted a little to the new life, Shura lured Lyova to him, and the friends continued to engage in creativity, trying to stay up to date with the events of the domestic rock party.
Group “Bi-2” at the beginning of the creative path
A completely different life began when Shura moved to Australia in 1993. Once in the multicultural and lively Melbourne, he plunged headlong into the world of music. Shura met a huge number of performers from all over the world, attended concerts of the world’s leading stars and, of course, did not forget about his faithful friend, insisting on his moving to Australia. Almost six years passed before Leva finally reached the “green continent”, but already six months later a demo version of the new album “And the ship is sailing” was ready, which included the famous “Barbara” and “No one writes to the Colonel”. The musicians sent the disc to Russia, where it was put into rotation, and soon they started talking about the Bi-2 group as a new discovery of the late 90s.
In 1998 the band reunited in Australia
The public wanted to see their idols, so Leva and Shura had to leave hospitable Australia and return to their homeland. But upon arrival, everything was not as rosy as it seemed. Despite the fact that their songs were played with might and main on radio and TV, no one was in a hurry to conclude a contract for the release of an album and touring activities with them.
Everything changed overnight after the premiere of the film by Alexei Balabanov “Brother-2” with Sergei Bodrov, in which three songs of the group were played and the musicians themselves “lit up”. Sonymusic immediately signed a contract with them, and soon the long-awaited album was released, which sold half a million copies. The team became a welcome guest at prestigious music festivals and began touring throughout the post-Soviet space. Thus, the year 2000 can be considered the official date of birth of the Bi-2 group.
In 2000, the entire post-Soviet space learned about Bi-2
On the wave of success, the musicians released the next album, Meow Kiss Me, a year later and went on a joint tour with the Spleen group. At the same time, the famous song “The Last Hero” was written, which became a kind of anthem for the post-perestroika generation. Another unconditional hit was the composition “My Rock and Roll”, performed with Chicherina, for which a video was shot with the participation of Ingeborga Dapkunaite.
2004 was marked by the release of the next album of the Foreign Cars group, as well as a whole firework of collaborations with such famous musicians and bands as Chaif, the Latvian rock band Brainstorm, Diana Arbenina, Tamara Gverdtsiteli, Zemfira and many others. All these creative experiments became the basis of the side-album “Odd Warrior”, the presentation of which turned into a real event of the outgoing 2005. All the lyrics to it were written by the permanent author of the group Mikhail Karasev.
The next decade was no less fruitful in terms of the number of released albums, big hits and bold musical experiments. Leva and Shura increasingly began to invite other musicians to their concerts and themselves took part in other people’s projects with pleasure, introduced new people to the group, experimented with light and sound.
In the photo: “Bi-2” and “Agatha Christie”
In 2006, the group completely changed the composition of the musicians, after which their fifth album, Moloko, saw the light of day. In the new songs, notes of disco-punk were observed, the music itself became more electronic.
Album concept inspired by Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange
The following year, Bi-2 released the Odd Warrior-2 disc, recorded and mixed at the London Metropolis studio, known for its collaboration with Radiohead, U2 and Coldplay, and in 2009 they presented the sixth studio album Lunapark to the public.
The track of the same name “Lunapark”, according to the musicians, has become “a bridge from the past to the future of the group.”
In 2010, “Bi-2” recorded the song “Rivers of Love” together with the artists of the “Quartet I”: Leonid Barats, Rostislav Khait, Kamil Larin and Alexander Demidov. She entered the soundtrack to the film “What Men Talk About”, like other compositions from the album of the same name “Bi-2”.
2011 was marked by the release of the third disc from the Odd Warrior project, in which Andrey Makarevich took part. Following the light saw the studio album “Spirit”, the funds for the recording of which were collected with the help of crowdfunding, by the efforts of the band’s fans. For the first time in the history of Bi-2, this album was released not only on CD, but also on vinyl, that is, it became a record in the truest sense of the word. The next album “16plus” (2014) was also created with the money of fans.
Bi-2 in full force
In 2015, the premiere of the film “Clinch”, the directorial debut of Sergei Puskepalis, took place. Bi-2 worked on the creation of the soundtrack for the film, recording a total of 12 songs.
The activities of Bi-2 have been marked by many prestigious music awards, including the World Music Awards and several Golden Gramophones.
Collaborations with other artists
- “My Rock and Roll”, “Until the Morning”, “Snow Falls”, “February”, “Forgotten by All” – “B-2” ft. Julia Chicherina
- “Knockin’ on Heaven” – “Bi-2” ft. “Chayf”
- “Slippery Streets” – “B-2” ft. brainstorm
- “Slow Star”, “White Clothes”, “Days and Nights”, “Hush and Hush” – “Bi-2” ft. Diana Arbenina
- “Sky Without Edge”, “The Soldier Leaves” – “Bi-2” ft. Irina Zhelannaya
- “My Love” – ”B-2″ ft. “Underwood”
- “Everything, as he said”, “I’m losing the light” – “Bi-2” ft. “Agatha Christie”
- “White List” – “Bi-2” ft. Punk TV
- “And they sang songs on the radio” – “Bi-2” ft. Andrey Makarevich
- “My Angel” – “Bi-2” ft. Elena Kaufman
- “It was simple” – “Bi-2” ft. Vasily Shumov
- “Coda” – “Bi-2” ft. Igor Zhuravlev
- “Blues” – “B-2” ft. Anastasia Poleva
- “Island” – “Bi-2” ft. “Picnic”
- “Blade Runner”, “I’m Coming”, “Angel”, “Captain”, “Book”, “He Will Be Alone” – “B-2” ft. Varya Demidova
- “Kite” – “Bi-2” ft. Anton Sevidov
- “Touching the Ground” – “Bi-2” ft. Nike Borzov
- “Trembling” – “Bi-2” ft. Gleb Samoilov
- “Off-road” – “Bi-2” ft. Masha Makarova
- “Sadness”, “Someday” – “B-2” ft. Christmas tree
- “Dark Skies” – “B-2” ft. “Semantic hallucinations”
- “It will rain” – “Bi-2” ft. Garik Sukachev
- “Whiskey” – “B-2” ft. John Grant
- “It’s time to go home” – “B-2” ft. Oksimiron
Scandals
In May 2017, Leva Bi-2 was detained at a Moscow stadium before a football match. During a search, marijuana was found in his pocket. The musician was fined 3 thousand rubles, accusing him of violating the rules of conduct at sporting events.
Lyova Bi-2 was caught with weed in his pocket
Discography
- Sexless and sad love (1998)
- Bi-2 (2000)
- Meow kiss mi (2001)
- Foreign cars (2004)
- Moloko (2006)
- Lunapark (2009)
- What Men Talk About (2010)
- Spirit (2011)
- #16plus (2014)
- Event Horizon (2017)
Bi-2 group now
The group continues to regularly delight fans with new work. In 2017, the 10th anniversary album “Event Horizon” was released, recorded with the participation of the National Symphony Orchestra of Prague. As part of the album, the track “It’s time to return home” with Oxxxymiron was recorded.
In 2018, the musicians played themselves in the film What Men Talk About. Continuation ”, performing a song on a platform in the Neva.
“Bi-2” on the set of the film “What Men Talk About. Continuation”
