Mad Heads is a musical group from Ukraine whose main style is rockabilly (a combination of rock and roll and country music).
This union was created in 1991 in Kyiv. In 2004, the group underwent a transformation - the line-up was renamed Mad Heads XL, and the musical vector was directed towards ska-punk (a transitional state of the style from ska to punk rock).
In this format, the participants existed until 2013. It is noteworthy that in the texts of the musicians one can hear not only Ukrainian, but also Russian, English.
Mad Heads are the first Ukrainian artists who brought the rockabilly style to reality. The band is not only focused on him, but genres such as psychobilly, punk rock, ska punk and skate punk can be found in their repertoire. Prior to the creation of the group, such styles were unknown to the average listener.
The group began to develop in 1991 within the walls of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, its founder is a student of the welding faculty Vadim Krasnooky, it was he who gathered the artists of the group around him.
Vadim Krasnooky is also known for his social activities, he supports the development of the Ukrainian language and culture.
In the process of creating music, musical instruments such as trombone, guitar, bass guitar, double bass, trumpet, drums, saxophone and flute are involved.
Group members
The trio is considered the first composition of the Crazy Heads group; the group acquired its extended version in the face of Mad Heads XL.
For the first time, the extended line-up was tested in 2004 in the clubs of Ukraine, and the listeners liked the format so much. The members of the group have changed several times, there is no permanent composition from the beginning of the existence of the union to this day.
In total, more than 20 musicians passed through the Mad Heads group during the actual action.
Founder Vadim Krasnooky told his “fans” in 2016 that he was stopping working on this project and moving to live in Canada in order to develop his creative potential.
This happened at a concert that was dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the group. The place of the soloist was taken by Kirill Tkachenko.
Later it became known that the Mad Heads group was divided into two groups Mad Heads UA and Mad Heads CA - Ukrainian and Canadian compositions, respectively.
The musicians have been working in this format since 2017, satisfying the needs of art lovers to a large extent.
Each of the "subgroups" has six members - vocals, trumpet, guitars, percussion instruments, trombone, double bass.
Group albums
The group released their first debut album Psycholula in Germany after five years of existence. This CD and the next two are in English. Russian-language and Ukrainian-language collections have appeared only since 2003.
In total, the group has 11 albums and mini-albums (in all formats of the existence of the Mad Heads group).
Labels
During the almost 30 years of the band's existence, the artists have collaborated with various labels, including: Comp Music, Rostok Records, JRC and Crazy Love Records.
During its existence, the group has reached
The Mad Heads tour was not limited to Ukraine, the musicians visited Russia, Poland, Germany, Great Britain, Finland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The artists were also waiting for a tour of America, but it was canceled due to visa problems.
In total, the group has 27 video clips, almost all of which were broadcast on television. Participants can be seen on television, and heard on the radio, and in the pages of newspapers.
In addition to their own hits, the group is actively experimenting with Ukrainian folk songs, which they perform in modern rock sound.
The Mad Heads group is high-quality sound, extraordinary video clips, inexhaustible drive and real, live music that exists without boundaries and formats.
Interesting facts about the group
- The musicians' first instruments were a semi-acoustic guitar and double bass.
- Vadim Krasnooky justified his move to Canada as follows: "It is impossible to create a world-famous group in Ukraine, for this it is worth either moving with the whole line-up, or creating a new team."
- The Mad Heads group is the only team in Ukrainian music that exists simultaneously in two lineups in parallel on two continents.
- The diversity of languages is not only a way to convey your thoughts to listeners, but also a powerful tool. By connecting languages, you can reach a new level of perception of tracks.
- The main hairstyle of the 1990s is a rockabilly forelock.
- On September 2, 2019, the band performed at the largest Caribbean music festival on par with reggae legends in Toronto.
- A funny video for the song "Smereka" has 2 million 500 thousand views on YouTube.
- Translation of the title from English "Crazy Heads".
- The drummer of the group at the beginning of his career played standing (taking the example of Georgy Guryanov, the Kino group).
- The last video clip of the group (its Ukrainian part) was released on November 8, 2019 for the song "Karaoke". The composition itself is based on real events and was written in Odessa after the concert (that day the participants went to karaoke).
- The artists themselves say that it was "an insanely bright orgy", and this mood was conveyed in the video clip. The director was Sergey Shlyakhtyuk.
- More than 1 million Ukrainian subscribers have installed the song "And I'm at Sea" on their phones.
