Stereolizza

Stereolizza
Background information
Origin Kiev, Ukraine
Genres Urban pop, dance-pop
Years active 1998–present
Labels StereoZzilla Music, Magic Records, Ego Music, Kontor Records, Ukrainian Records
Website www.stereolizza.com
Members Lizza and AlecZero
Past members Ingvo, Hardtennis, LJ, Denis Fekolin, Yegor Fekolin
Notable instruments
Vocals, synths, electronic drums

Stereolizza (before 2009 – Stereoliza), is an urban pop band, based in Los Angeles, California. The core of the group is Lizza (birth name – Kateryna Shalayeva) – lead singer and songwriter; and AlecZero (birth name - Oleksiy Ginchev) – songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist.

Overview

“X.Y.Z.” – the first single from “X-amine Your Zippa” album that made the group popular in Europe in 2005-2006 remained on top of the charts of Ukrainian, Russian, Polish radio stations (Europa Plus, Europa FM, Hit FM, Gala Radio, Radio NRJ, Prosto Radio, ESKA Radio, RMF FM and other).[1][2][3]

Stereolizza’s music videos were broadcast and charted on major TV channels of Ukraine, U.S., Russia and Poland (MTV, M1, OTV, TVP1, TVP2, Polsat, International Music Feed, etc.)

The band’s songs became soundtracks for the following movies and TV shows:

History

Formation and early years (1998-2003)

Lizza and AlecZero met in a 7-piece jazz cover band[11] in Kiev, Ukraine, where Lizza was one of the lead singers and AlecZero played bass guitar. The band performed at various live venues playing jazz standards and evergreen hits for a couple of years, unless Lizza and AlecZero got together on a side to create their own music.[12] The name Stereolizza derived from playing around with the name of Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece Mona Lisa, that the band transformed into Mono Lisa and to the final band name Stereolizza that integrates feminine appearance with musical vocation.[13]

The band’s Russian language album Escape (Russian – Побег, 1999), fully written by AlecZero, was not simply a compilation of songs, but rather a conceptual Rock opera, where all songs were liaised into one piece of work – a story about a virtual girl with a name Stereolizza,[14] who lived in the World Wide Web and ran away from an imaginary Cosmo-jail into a mega-city, looking for better life and adventures. “Escape – is all about breaking stereotypes, about escaping from principles imposed by society that are suppressing many people.” [15]

Although this being the first attempt to create a virtual artist on the music scene, Stereolizza’s new album was dubiously perceived by local mass media and was not commercially successful.

International start (2003-2008)

Despite the failure of the debut album, the duo continues to write songs. Influenced by Eminem’s The Slim Shady LP and The Marshall Mathers LP, Lizza is trying herself in Hip hop, now contributing to the songwriting process with AlecZero, but this time their songs are in English. Enticed by the international potential of the band’s new material, Ukrainian Records, a licensee of Universal Music Group in Ukraine, signs them to a multi-album deal in 2003.[16]

The group gets into the studio to turn their demos into records with AlecZero supervising the music production.[17] Although, the recording process took much longer than the band expected due to the Orange Revolution that started happening in Ukraine in 2004.

Stereolizza and The Black Eyed Peas

Finally, in 2005 Ukrainian Records launches Stereolizza’s X.Y.Z. – the first single of the X-amine Your Zippa album. X.Y.Z., the abbreviation of the examine your zipper, is a derogatory message, addressed to Lizza’s imaginary partner in a promiscuous relationship.[18] The music video for the single was shot in New York City by Radioactive Films and directed by Victor Priduvalov. The song later became Stereolizza’s breakthrough hit on the European market.[2][3][19]

The follow-up single Corporate Logic derides corporate ethic rules that everybody knows of, but nobody abides by in a regular day-to-day office life. The music video, directed by Jason Argyropoulos and produced by Tree Filmworks in Los Angeles, was influenced by the era of Art Deco and the story of Bonnie and Clyde.[20]

In 2006, during The Black Eyed Peas’ Monkey Business Tour Stereolizza were selected to be the only opening act for the American band in Palace of Sports, Kiev, Ukraine. Stereolizza themselves started touring with the support of the national mobile operators Kievstar GSM and djuice, lined up with the artists like Apollo 440, Sean Paul, The Chemical Brothers and Planet Funk.[21]

X-amine Your Zippa album, released in Ukraine (2006), Poland (2006), Russia (2007), EU (2006) and UAE (2007), established Stereolizza as one of a kind white female hip-hop performer at that time. Some mass media claimed Lizza was “Eminem dressed in a skirt”.[12]

Album track list:

No.TitleLength
1."Goodbye, Pimp!"  3:42
2."X.Y.Z."  3:35
3."Since We Live Together"  3:12
4."Favorite Mistress"  4:05
5."Corporate Logic"  3:39
6."N.Y. Hairy Tale"  3:20
7."Rapture" (Blondie's cover)3:21
8."Cop My Getup"  3:30
9."Rough"  3:07
10."When You Are Here"  3:34
11."Love Fight Game Loser"  3:36
12."Trust To Yourself"  3:47

The European version of the album released by Universal Music Group International (London, UK) also included a cover song to Blondie (band)’s Rapture.[22]

In 2007 Stereolizza was being sponsored by the manufacturer of kid’s clothes and uniforms Yunist, taking part in photo shoots, runways and charity events for kids.[23][24] At that same period of time Lizza accepts an offer from Playboy [25] to pose for their November 2007 front cover, thus demonstrating her contradictory behavior that made her even more liked by the band’s fans and hated by the others.

In the end of 2007 M1 Music Channel invites Lizza to be a celebrity co-host of Guten Morgen – a national daily morning show.[26] Writing songs for the next album with AlecZero and playing occasional shows, Lizza was combining her music and hosting career all the way through the middle of 2008.

Move to the U.S.A. (2008-present)

Stereolizza performing live during DJUICE Festival

When Stereolizza felt they had enough material for the new album, it turned out Ukrainian Records were not able to cover the recording costs and to further invest in the artist’s career, and Stereolizza were dropped from the label thereafter. By coincidence, at this very moment the band received an offer from several U.S. promoters to play shows in the United States. The band packed their instruments and left Ukraine to perform in a couple of American cities, not yet knowing that Los Angeles would then become their final destination.[27]

Having settled in Los Angeles the group continued to play shows at local live venues, colleges and universities.

Later on AlecZero and Lizza become U.S. residents, upgrade their home studio and form their own label, StereoZzilla Music.[28] At this time AlecZero further develops his hands-on music production skills, which made it possible for the band to complete their songs independently and release them on their own label.

In 2012 Stereolizza released a pop-dance single Carousel. It was produced by AlecZero, mixed by Ariel Chobaz, mastered by Brian Gardner (Big Bass) at the Bernie Grundman Mastering. The cover art for Carousel was created by a world-renowned graphic designer from Brazil Adhemas Batista.[29] The track received an award from Malopolskie TV as Best Summer Hit of 2012.[30][31]

Four months later a Swedish house label Clubstream pink released Stereolizza’s Carousel Club EP with remixes from Inossi, DJ S1 and U4Ya.[32]

Go Back To Your Mama – another recent track from the band. Stereolizza continues to work in the style of urban pop, keeping their “hook” from the times of X.Y.Z. – aggressive verses and melodic choruses, but this time adding some elements of house music. The music video was shot in Los Angeles and Lancaster, California and premiered on M1 Music Channel.[33]

Go Back To Your Mama EP was released worldwide by Ego Music on March 15, 2013 and included remixes by Rico Bernasconi & Jordy and Stereo Palma.[34]

Go Back To Your Mama - Release History

Region Format Date Label
Poland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria[35] iTunes digital download January 9, 2013 Magic Records
Germany, Austria, Switzerland[36] iTunes digital download February 1, 2013 Kontor Records
Israel[37] iTunes digital download February 28, 2013 Teta Making Music Israel
Italy & worldwide[38] EP (remixes) digital download March 8, 2013 E2/Ego Music
Spain[39] EP (remixes) digital download April 22, 2013 Roster Music
Greece[40] iTunes digital download May 13, 2013 PlanetWorks
Latin America[41] EP (remixes) digital download May 2013 MAS Label
Hong Kong[42] EP (remixes) digital download June 3, 2013 ToCo Asia

Band members

Current members

Former members (touring)

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Top40.com Charts, Retrieved May 23, 2007
  2. 1 2 Euro Web Charts. Issue #157. Retrieved May 3, 2007
  3. 1 2 Top40-charts.com. Retrieved October 24, 2012
  4. ↑ Кинопоиск, Movie Credits. Retrieved August 18, 2012
  5. ↑ Soyuz.ru "Сборник Здрасьте, я ваше папо!", Soundtrack list. Retrieved September 12, 2008
  6. ↑ Кинопоиск, Movie Credits. Retrieved August 18, 2012
  7. ↑ Episode World, "Moonlight (2007). Retrieved September 16, 2012
  8. ↑ TV.com, Moonlight - Season 1, Episode 10: Sleeping Beauty. Notes - featured music. Retrieved October 23, 2012
  9. ↑ IMDB, TV series profile. Retrieved September 16, 2012
  10. ↑ "Forever Strong Wiki Page, Soundtrack
  11. ↑ Stereofame.com, Bio. Retrieved October 23, 2012
  12. 1 2 Sushko, Yulia. "Eminem in a Skirt", Max Magazine (Ukraine), April 2006
  13. ↑ Zvezdi.ru. "Stereolizza's bio". Retrieved October 23, 2012
  14. ↑ Demchik, Oleg. "She fell in love and wrote songs about him. He turned out to be a computer." 2000 Newspaper (Ukraine), issue #24(126), June 13, 2002
  15. ↑ Special Radio. From the album liner notes. Retrieved April 10, 2012
  16. ↑ Fcaua.com, Artist bio: Stereoliza. Retrieved October 23, 2012
  17. ↑ Discogs.com, Alex Ginchev Profile. Retrieved July 27, 2012
  18. ↑ "Artist of the Week: Stereolizza." (Interview), Welcome 2 NYC Magazine. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  19. ↑ "Stereolizza only trust professionals". Art Mozaic (Ukraine), issue #24, June 18, 2006
  20. ↑ "Corporate Art Deco", interview with Stereolizza. Pink Magazine (Ukraine), April 2006
  21. ↑ "DJUICE Music Drive Tour. Line-up", Last.fm. Retrieved October 24, 2012
  22. ↑ Amazon.co.uk Retrieved October 24, 2012
  23. ↑ "Stereoliza Will Open "Yunist" Store." E-motion.com, June 6, 2007 Retrieved October 24, 2012
  24. ↑ "Stereoliza became a face of "Yunist" school uniform." Musictime.com.ua, March 13, 2007. Retrieved October 24, 2012
  25. ↑ "Stereoliza. Sweet Life of Ukrainian Hip Hop". Playboy (Ukraine), November 2007
  26. ↑ Skrypal, Anna. "Love affair with a TV camera." July, 2008. Retrieved October 24, 2012
  27. ↑ Serge. "American Roller-Coasters: Stereolizza", Zavtra.fm, July 9, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2012
  28. ↑ StereoZzilla Music's Official Website. Retrieved October 25, 2012
  29. ↑ "Adhemas Batista Will Create Stereolizza's cover artwork!", Stereolizza's official website. Retrieved October 23, 2012
  30. ↑ "Stereolizza's "Carousel" is Voted The Best Summer Hit 2012", Stereolizza.com, August 16, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2012
  31. ↑ "Music Zone Recommends - Stereolizza's Summer Hit 2012!" Malopolskie.tv, August 14, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2012
  32. ↑ "Provocative Ukrainian Signs With Swedish Record Label." Mi2N.com, July 6, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2012
  33. ↑ "Go Back To Your Mama Premier", Stereolizza.com, October 5, 2012. Retrieved October 23, 2012
  34. ↑ Release Credits Info on iTunes
  35. ↑ "Zespół Stereolizza powraca z nowym, elektryzującym hitem!". www.magicrecords.com. 2013-01-09. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  36. ↑ "Kontor - House of House Volume 17". www.buy.kontor.tv. 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
  37. ↑ Teta Making Music
  38. ↑ "New singles: Stereolizza "Go Back To Your Mama"". www.egomusic.net. 2013-03-08. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
  39. ↑ "Stereolizza's EP on iTunes Spain". www.itunes.apple.com. 2013-05-07. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
  40. ↑ ""Go Back To Your Mama" Greek Release". www.stereolizza.com. 2013-05-13. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
  41. ↑ "+MAS Label - Releases, Go Back To Your Mama". MasLabel.com. 2013-05-15. Retrieved 2013-06-06.
  42. ↑ "Stereolizza "Go Back To Your Mama" iTunes Hong Kong". iTunes. 2013-06-03. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
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