"Chizh & Co" (Chizh & Ko) is a famous rock band of the 90s. Despite the fact that the period of their active work and performances was relatively short, they gave listeners more than a dozen hits, which are sung by the second generation of fans of the rock genre.
The main merit in this is the talent of the soloist, songwriter, musician and band leader - Sergei Chigrakov, nicknamed "Chizh". His way to fame was not easy: he played in different bands, moved from city to city, put his soul into each composition. And his labors were appreciated - literally for a year of existence the group "Chizh and Co" without connections, producer and special budget entered the ranks of the most popular rock bands. Today, almost nothing is heard about the band: they have not announced their breakup, but at the same time they are not active. Fans still hope that "Chizhi" will still make them talk about themselves.
History of creation
The founder and frontman of the group Sergei Chigrakov has come a long way before the appearance of "Chizh & Co". He was drawn to creativity from childhood: he studied at a music school, then - at a college, often performed at city events in his native Dzerzhinsk. Having grown up a little, he wanted to found his own band. The first group, in which he participated, was "GPD" (Group of Extended Day). For its sake the musician left his city and moved to Kharkov. But he didn't stay there for long - soon "GPD" broke up because of an internal conflict.
Chigrakov and several ex-participants decided to create a new project - "Different People". Together they even recorded a few records, which at that time did not bring them much popularity. But 6 years later they found their listeners.
In 1993, being already an established and experienced musician, Sergey received an offer to release a solo album. Boris Grebenshchikov, Igor Berezovets and Andrey Burlaka contributed to the appearance of the record under the name "Chizh". It was recorded in St. Petersburg, where Chigrakov continued to build his career. He had no musicians on a permanent basis at that time, so members of other bands came to his aid. Together with them he gave his first concert in St. Petersburg. The audience appreciated his performance, and inspired Sergey decided to leave the collective "Different People", settle in this city and create a new project of his own.
In the spring of 1994 the team was assembled. The lineup included:
- Sergey Chigrakov (lead singer, author of music and lyrics, guitar, keys);
- Alexey Romaniuk (bass guitar);
- Vladimir Khanutin (drums);
- Mikhail Vladimirov (guitar).
Though Alexander Kondrashkin was not a member of the band, he played percussion with them for some time.
They recorded their debut album "Live" in this line-up, and soon followed by the second one - "Crossroads".
The rise of popularity
After the release of the first record, success did not wait. Having a good support on television, the "chizhas" were talked about by millions. They began to be invited to concerts and festivals, in prestigious clubs, respectable capital halls, on the air of radio and TV programs.
They actively started to work. In 1995 the third album "About Love" was created, which included not only their own songs, but also covers of other artists' compositions. They also released several singles, recorded a live album "Greatest Hits", which included their best hits.
The next year was marked by the release of two records at once: "Erogenous Zone" and "Polonaise". A real event was the rotation of the video for the song "Polonaise" on television. This work was a revelation for the Russian audience, as most of the video sequence was filmed in America. In 1996, the team was joined by accordionist Evgeny Barinov.
"Chizh & Co" is a group of freedom-loving musicians. Their distinctive feature was that they never limited themselves to one collective. Each of them was involved in different projects, participated in the recording of other musicians' compositions, created their own duets or had a solo career. They always had time for personal life and self-development. They believe that creativity has no boundaries, and you should not limit your talent to one project.
The year 1998 was marked by an important event: the band went on tour to Israel. There they not only gave a number of performances, but also recorded a live album "New Jerusalem". On their return the band changed its line-up - Igor Fedorov took Vladimir Khanutin's place.
In the fall of this year they went to the USA. But one planned performance musicians did not do without. They were invited to the BBC radio, where they gave an acoustic concert. The album "At 20:00 GMT" was created on its basis.
Almost the whole year 1999 the musicians spent on tour. "Chizh & Co" recorded their last album in the discography "Nothing to lose", and plunged headlong into concert activity.
The next five years they performed in the most remote cities of the country, traveled all over America, many times were in Israel, then - in Canada, Latvia and the Eastern States. All this time they periodically composed new compositions, devoted most of their time to their own projects and recorded solo albums. "Chizhov" was often invited to all-Russian and international festivals.
The band's current lineup:
- Sergei Chigrakov;
- Alexey Romaniuk;
- Evgeny Barinov;
- Mikhail Rusin;
- Denis Vasilevsky;
- Daria Chigrakova;
- Marina Shalagaeva.
Their collective is still together. They did not announce the breakup, although they did not say anything about working together for a long time. Nevertheless, in the middle of 2019 it was announced about the preparation of a new album - the first in the last 20 years. Fans are holding their breath in anticipation. They hope that the history of the band will have a continuation. You can find out about the new page in the biography of the collective in the artist catalog on the website kontramarka.de.
Discography:
1994 - "Live".
1994 - "Crossroads"
1995 - "About Love"
1996 - "Erogenous Zone"
1996 - "Polonaise"
1997 - "Bombers"
1999 - "Nothing to Lose"
