The musical group "Demarch" was founded in 1990. The group was founded by the former soloists of the "Visit" group, who were tired of being led by director Viktor Yanyushkin.
Due to their nature, it was difficult for musicians to stay within the framework created by Yanyushkin. Therefore, leaving the "Visit" group can be called a completely logical and adequate decision.
History of group creation
The Demarch group was created in 1990 as a professional team. Each of the guys already had experience of working on stage and in a group. The first members of the team were:
- Mikhail Rybnikov (keyboards, vocals, saxophone);
- Igor Melnik (vocals, acoustic guitar);
- Sergey Kiselyov (drums);
- Alexander Sitnikov (bassist);
- Mikhail Timofeev (leader and guitarist).
"Demarche" is the first musical group in Russia that played in the musical direction "neo-hard rock". The musical direction has acquired the necessary shades thanks to the groups: Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Aerosmith, Europe, Kiss.
The group was noticeably influenced by the work of Deep Purple and Whitesnake. Musical groups once even gave a joint concert, which was held in Kharkov, at the Metallist stadium.
And the television shooting of the group took place at the Soundtrack music festival at the Luzhniki Sports Palace in 1989. Then the guys performed under the creative pseudonym "Visit".
In the same period of time, the team introduced music lovers to fresh compositions. We are talking about the tracks "Lady Full Moon", "A Night Without You" and "My Country, Country".
The musical group was preparing for a big tour in the Krasnodar region. At the same time, the productive tandem of Rybnikov and Melnik joined the work. The guys got involved in the work of writing new hits.
Interestingly, some tracks appeared during rehearsals, so it's no exaggeration to say that everyone without exception worked on the program.
As planned, the group "Visit" held a tour of the Krasnodar Territory. After the concerts, the musicians announced to Viktor Yanyushkin that they were leaving for free “swimming”. Actually, this day can be considered the birthday of a new star - the Demarch team.
The creative path of the Demarch group
So, in 1990, a new group "Demarch" appeared in the musical world of heavy music. Actually, then the team gathered to shoot the TV show "Top Secret" in St. Petersburg.
The guys had no idea that in St. Petersburg they were waiting for an army of loyal fans. More than 15 thousand people greeted the Demarch group with a bang from the very first chords of their performance in the SKK.
The musical compositions of the group “You will be the first” and “The Last Train” for eight months held the leading position in the music section of the TV show “Top Secret”. It was a victory!
Another fact confirming the popularity of the Demarch group was the news that the video clip "You will be the first" became the best rock composition of the youth TV show "Marathon-15".
At the beginning of summer, the team again went to the cultural capital of Russia for the White Nights music festival. Then the group, together with the Rondo team and Viktor Zinchuk, took part in the Rock Against Alcohol festival.
After the festival, the guys presented the album “You will be the first” to fans of their work. The disc was released thanks to the Melodiya studio. In support of the first album, the musicians went on tour.
In 1991, the first changes in the composition of the team took place. Instead of guitarist Mikhail Timofeev, Stas Bartenev joined the band.
Previously, Stas was listed as a member of the Black Coffee and If team. Bartenev took part in the recording of the composition "Demarch", which later became the band's anthem, as well as the track "The Last Train".
In the same period of time, the position of the director of the team was vacated. Andrei Kharchenko, who stood at the origins of the formation of the group, said that this position was too small for him. Now the organizational issues fell on the shoulders of the soloists of the group.
In the same period of time, the team performed at the annual Rock Against Drugs festival. The audience of the festival is over 20 thousand music lovers.
In addition to the Demarch group, such groups as Picnic, Rondo, Master, etc. performed at the concert. The Demarch group performed the penultimate one. As planned by the organizers, the musicians played all three songs.
However, admiring spectators and fans considered that the performance of only three compositions was about nothing. The organizers listened to the opinion of the majority, so the group played six songs.
Group in the 90s
At the beginning of the 1990s, the Demarch group was already a fairly popular group. Despite this, the guys did not receive offers to perform or organize tours.
It's all because of the lack of a competent director. After the arrival of a new leader in the person of Elena Drozdova, the team's affairs began to improve slightly.
At the end of 1992, a short film about the Demarch team was released. The film included the first concerts of the group, video clips, as well as the presentation of the debut album.
Interestingly, the film was broadcast several times in a row on central television, which significantly expanded the audience of fans of the rock band.
In 1993, Stas Bertenev left the group. Stanislav has long dreamed of a solo project. Later, the musician became the founder of the group "If". A musician from Volgograd, Dmitry Gorbatikov, took the place of Bertenev.
The first and last work of their joint work was the track "If you come back home." Later, Igor Melnik recorded this track for his solo album Blame the Guitar.
In the mid-1990s, there was not only an economic, but also a creative crisis. The Demarch group tried to release new tracks.
However, the group did not find sponsors, which meant that the concerts were automatically postponed for an indefinite period.
Musicians began to believe less and less in successful "promotion". Although local TV channels broadcast video clips of the Demarch group for days.
Everything ended in a logical way. For 7 years, the band took a break and disappeared from the eyes of fans of heavy music.
Soloists of the Demarch group
Sergei Kisilev fulfilled an old dream. In the late 1990s, he became the owner of his own professional tone studio. In addition, Sergei had to master several professions. He became an installer, builder, sound engineer and sound producer.
Igor Melnik and Stas Bartenev helped Sergey in mastering the recording studio. By this time, the guys were just working hard on the formation of the "If" team.
At the recording studio, more than one album of different artists was recorded, ranging from pop to hard rock. It came to the Demarch team.
The fact is that the group's debut disc was released on vinyl, and only three tracks included in the Russian Rock album were on a CD released by the same Melodiya company for sale in Europe.
The soloists of the Demarch group decided to re-record several popular compositions from their repertoire. In parallel with this, the musicians started working on a compilation in order to release a CD.
The collection includes long-loved tracks: "Gloria", "You will be the first", "The Last Train", as well as several new compositions. It is interesting that the group worked on the album with almost a new line-up.
The bass guitar parts were taken over by Stas Bartenev. He did an excellent job. Interestingly, to record drums, the musicians used a technology that is rare in Russia, but “advanced” in Western countries.
The songs were released on a Yamaha electronic kit via MIDI with pre-sampled live drum sounds.
This album received the bright name "Neformat-21.00". The Demarch group tried to send the tracks of the record to the radio. However, the works did not get to any radio, the answer was one: "This is not our format."
The beginning of the new millennium and the further path of the Demarch group
The material for the album was ready by 2001. The well-known recording studio "Mystery of Sound" took up the production of the collection.
What the soloists of the Demarch group eventually received horrified them. Almost nothing remains of the original studio sound.
When the Mystery of Sound studio turned to the band with a request to provide several tracks for their rock collections, the soloists of the group did the mastering at their studio, and the songs began to sound better than on the Neformat-21.00 disc.
In 2002, the Demarch group began recording a collection for the Lokomotiv football club (Moscow). Work on the album lasted three years.
The collection was released in 2005. To date, the record can only be purchased at the fan merchandise store at the Lokomotiv stadium.
In 2010, the musical group presented the next studio album "Amerikasia". In 2018, the group's discography was replenished with the Pokemania disc.
The Demarch group rarely gives concerts. For the most part, you can enjoy the band's music at festivals.
Fans who watch the work of the group note that the same enthusiasm remained in the guys. Until now, I want to do headbanging to the tracks of the group.
