THE HARDKISS is a Ukrainian musical group founded in 2011. After the presentation of the video clip for the song Babylon, the guys woke up famous.
On the wave of popularity, the band released several more new singles: October and Dance With Me.
The group received the first "portion" of popularity thanks to the possibilities of social networks. Then the band increasingly began to appear at such music festivals as: Midem, Park Live, Koktebel Jazz Festival.
In 2012, the musicians became guests of the international MTV EMA award, where they received an award in the Best Ukrainian Artist nomination.
The team received the next award at the YUNA award. The guys managed to immediately win two victories - "Discovery of the Year" and "Best Clip of the Year".
So when it comes to THE HARDKISS, it's about quality and original music. For many, the band's musicians have become real idols.
Soloists do not welcome the phonogram. A good performance in their understanding is not only well-staged numbers, but also a live sound.
History of THE HARDKISS
THE HARDKISS has its origins in Val & Sanina. At the age of 18, Yulia Sanina tried herself as a journalist and wrote articles.
While working on the next material, she was lucky to meet the producer of MTV Ukraine Valery Bebko. Sanina had previously tried herself as a singer. After meeting the guys realized that they were on the same wavelength.
This meeting led to the fact that a new group appeared in the music world, which was called Val & Sanina.
The guys recorded several test tracks. They then posted their debut music video to YouTube. The group was produced by Vladimir Sivokon and Stas Titunov.
They appreciated Yulia's strong vocal abilities, but advised her to sing in English, the goal was to interest the West.
In addition, the producers were embarrassed by the not entirely original name. Sanina and Bebko voted on their official Facebook page.
The musicians posted two pseudonyms for their group - THE HARDKISS and "Pony Planet". It is probably not necessary to say which variant won.
The creative path and music of THE HARDKISS
In 2011, the presentation of the first musical composition of the new band Babylon took place. A week after the video was released, one of the most popular Ukrainian TV channels, M1, took it into rotation.
The band's first concert was organized in the Serebro nightclub in the capital. A month later, the musicians pleased the fans with a video clip for the October track. The novelty was favorably received by music lovers and music critics.
In the winter of the same 2011, the guys presented one of the most successful video clips of Dance With Me. The director of the work was the same Valery Bebko. The clip was instantly appreciated by music critics. One of the critics wrote:
“Against the background of other music videos of Ukrainian singers, Dance With Me looks like a diamond among a mountain of garbage. THE HARDKISS is a pleasant discovery in 2011. The musicians are definitely going to be successful.”
DosugUA magazine called the band's new video clip one of the strongest works of the outgoing 2011. Since then, THE HARDKISS has enjoyed immense popularity.
Participation of the group in the creation of the mini-film “Intrusions in the city”
At the end of 2012, the Ukrainian team took part in the French festival Midem. The presentation of the almanac took place at the festival, which included 8 short films "In Love with Kyiv".
Actually, the soloists of the Ukrainian team also worked on one of the mini-films. Valery Bebko acted as a director, and Yulia Sanina took the place of the scriptwriter.
Filming for the short film took three days. The work of the guys was called "Intrusions in the city." This is a story about love and at the same time about the loneliness of people who live in a metropolis.
You live among a mass of people, you solve many problems every day, but at the same time you feel lonely and dreary.
In the same year, the Ukrainian group signed a lucrative contract with the Sony BMG label. Since then, the Dance With Me video has been played all over the world.
Breakdown of “relationship” with Firework sound label
In the same 2012, the musicians stopped working with the Firework sound label (Valery and Yulia started thanks to this label). The soloists of the group announced their decision on Facebook.
A year later, the Ukrainian team presented the fans with a new video clip of Part of Me. The presentation of the work took place on the channel "M1".
In the same year, the Ukrainian band "Druha Rika" and the group THE HARDKISS replenished the musical treasury with the tracks "Dotik", as well as "So little for you here".
Already in the spring, the band filmed a colorful video clip for the track In Love. This innovation was followed by the next one. We are talking about the clip Part of Me. Actually, then the team won in the nominations "Discovery of the Year" and "Best Clip of the Year".
On March 18, a solo concert of THE HARDKISS took place in Kyiv. The soloists of the group prepared a grandiose show for the audience, which turned into a musical performance.
Valery Bebko worked on the performance of the concert. Slava Chaika and Vitaly Datsyuk undertook the stylistic component. It was one of the highlights of the year.
In addition, in the spring the band recorded the soundtrack Shadows Of Time for the film Shadows of Unforgotten Ancestors. A video clip was also released for the song.
A bright end to 2013 was the presentation of the Tell Me Brother video clip. The plot touched upon acute social issues, in particular the topic of violence.
In 2014, two musical compositions were released at once: Hurricane and Stones. The soloists filmed video clips for these tracks on the territory of the then Ukrainian Crimea.
In 2014, the musicians added their debut album to the group's discography. It's about the Stones and Honey compilation. The presentation of the album took place during a tour of the cities of Ukraine.
In the winter of 2015, the band published their EP Cold Altair in the official VKontakte group. The EP was warmly received by both music lovers and music critics.
Interesting facts about THE HARDKISS
- Over the years of the band's existence, the guys managed to receive a number of music awards, as well as perform on the same stage with such stars as The Prodigy, Enigma, Marilyn Manson and the Deftones.
- Valery Bebko shot all the clips of the Ukrainian group on his own. Even before the creation of the team, he received the education of a director.
- The band's drummer never takes off his mask in public, similar to the mummified face of merry fellow Wu from the finale of "Guests from the Future". As it turned out, the drummer does not take off his mask for personal reasons.
- The team is the official face of Pepsi in Ukraine. The musicians received a decent fee.
- Once the Ukrainian team was offered to perform "on the warm-up" of the Placebo group. THE HARDKISS refused, as they considered the offer humiliating. By the way, THE HARDKISS is a global band.
THE HARDKISS today
In 2016, the Ukrainian team tried their hand at the National Selection of Ukraine "Eurovision-2016". And although the musicians were close to the first place, Ukraine in 2016 at the Eurovision Song Contest was represented by Jamala.
The musicians did not become upset. In 2017, they presented their fans with an album called Perfectionis a Lie.
With this disc, the band summed up the last two years of THE HARDKISS's life. After the presentation of the album, the band went on a big tour of Ukraine.
In 2018, the discography of the musical group was replenished with the third disc.
We are talking about the album Zalizna Lastivka - a very correct disc in terms of creation and concept, - said the soloist of the band Yulia Sanina. - It is well-composed, we recorded the tracks in one breath, despite the fact that we spent more than two years on recording the work.
In addition to musical compositions, the album contains poems of his own composition. I have been writing poetry since the age of 7. As a child, I dreamed that I would release my collection, and now the dream has come true, ”says Yulia.
On May 13, 2019, a vinyl record with the album Zalizna Lastivka was released. The musicians recorded colorful video clips for some of the tracks.
In the same year, the team went on a big tour around the cities of Ukraine with the Acoustics program. At one of their concerts, the guys announced that fans were waiting for a new album in 2020.
THE HARDKISS did not disappoint the expectations of the fans of their work. In 2020, the soloists of the group presented the disc “Acoustics. Live". In addition, the musicians again took part in the qualifying round for the Eurovision 2020 contest.
But this time, luck was not on their side. In February, the band presented a video clip for the song "Orca"
