Presentation of the debut album by Jermook 'Have A Nice Trip'

On June 7, a presentation of the debut album 'Have A Nice Trip' by the Moscow trio Jermook will take place at the 16 Tons club. The program includes a live performance by Jermook themselves, as well as audio and visual support from the group's friends: videos by VJ Addams and a DJ set by Ilya Rasskazov. The group Jermook (named after a small resort town in Armenia known for its mineral springs) was formed in autumn 2002 as a free creative experiment by individuals with different musical backgrounds and ideas. The group consists of Nik Zavriev, known for his electronic project Ambidextrous, and two members of the alternative group 'Placenta' – vocalist Arusyak Mirzoyan and bass guitarist Sergey 'Morkva' Moskovkin. The hallmark of the group became the combination of seemingly incompatible elements - rock, electronics, pop music, jazz, and ethnic traditions (Arusyak was born and raised in Armenia). Each member of Jermook has their own influences, but common roots for all can be traced back to Depeche Mode, Massive Attack, Unkle, and A Perfect Circle. An important feature of the group is the absence of a clearly defined leader. Almost every song is a result of the collective creativity of all three members. The musicians are not afraid to search, change, and experiment, often re-recording, refining, and modifying a single track for several months. The trio worked on their debut album 'Have A Nice Trip' for 3 years. During this time, several songs of the group were featured on compilations 'Natural Selection' (Shum) and 'Invisible Music' (Mystery of Sound). The album includes 13 tracks, the majority of which are in Armenian. Arusyak mostly writes the song lyrics herself, but the group often refers to the works of great Armenian poets. In addition, the album features several English-language songs and a Russian-language track 'Softer than Soft' based on the poetry of Osip Mandelstam. The music on the record ranges from ethnic trip-hop and intelligent electronics to warm danceable indie-pop. Even before the album was released, some Jermook compositions made it to the radio rotation of Yerevan radio stations, as well as Moscow's 'Silver Rain' – the song 'Mountains' is regularly played on Richter-FM. After spending several years in studio experiments, the group hit the club scene. Jermook started actively performing concerts in early 2005 – since then, the group has played numerous club concerts in Moscow and other cities, shared the stage with Lali Puna, and performed at the international festival 'Avant-2005' along with the French NLF3, British Hood and Jamie Lidell, as well as at Russia's largest rock festival 'Nashestvie'. 16 Tons club, June 7, guests gather at 20:00.