The "discovery of the year" at the festival Jazz Koktebel and received "the best underground band of the year" according to Cultprostir
Atomic Simao, perhaps the most famous band of Ukrainian underground, playing psychedelic and acid jazz.
Atomic Simao is Jora Valchuk (drummer), Nikita Gavrilenko (bass guitar), Zhenya Sofiychuk (guitar), Andrey Dvoryashin (percussion, vocal), Dima Dudko (saxophone), Andrei Volkov (keys).
“We started playing with Zhenya (guitarist) and our friends in the garage at Nivki. Just jamming, it was more like a mix of grunge and Brit-pop. We had a concert in Kharkov, but Zhenya was not able to come with us. There, we met guys who were also playing tonight and on a smoke break we asked them to jam with us. It turned out very well, and so Atomic Simao was born. For two years we played with Kharkovians, and released the first album, which we recorded at the Kharkov studio Driben Indie Records, ”says Jora the drummer.
The band began to attract other musicians. A saxophonist Dima appeared, who we call "band brains". Kharkovians gradually began to lose interest and at some point in general, they stopped studying music. That is how the current "Kievian" band was formed.
Atomic Simao's debut album “Nodo” was released in 2013. This is a psychedelic longplay, each track is both self-sufficient and dependent on all the others. The vocals, if they do appear, are deeply in the background and as an additional instrument that does not carry a semantic content. “Nodo” is an instrumental space rock made on a whim and born in endless jam sessions.
- We recorded the first album on the first try. Just clicked record and jam. Then it was cut, and it also came out on vinyl, ”
2014 was the year of publication. The group has earned the title of the "opening of the year" at the festival Jazz Koktebel, as well as the status of "the best underground band of the year" from the Cultprostir. In addition, they toured not only in Ukraine, but also went abroad a couple of times and released their second album, Sphyro.
