Born in a small town in
the western part of Ukraine on January 3rd, Vlad began his musical
career at age 7 playing drums. "I was fascinated with rhythm and
especially drum sounds," recalls Vlad who used to bang on books,
silverware and plates. At 13 he took guitar lessons and from that moment
on the guitar became his path in his life. Vlad studied jazz and
classical music and loved every minute of it. By age 14 he won several
jazz festivals in Eastern Europe and formed his first band.
At 17 a popular rock band Forte recruited Vlad as a lead guitarist. Soon
after reaching several #1 hits in the Ukrainian and Polish charts, Vlad
joined an art rock band "Tea Fan Club" (TFC). While in TFC
Vlad was hired as a studio guitarist by Leo Studios in Lviv, Molem in
Krakow, M-Studios MTV in Berlin and worked with a varieties of well
known popular and classical artists as well as writing music for major
national shows and soundtrack for motion pictures. TFC joined the
presidential campaign endorsing democratic candidate for Ukraine's
independence and had been added to "People of the Year"
national pride list.
After Ukraine's independence, Vlad and a former leader of a well-known
Opalni Prinz, Yurok Shtyn, formed a new band, Loony Pelen. #1 hits and
#1 album in the national charts quickly followed.
Vlad's playing was described as "..a rare treasure.." (Post-Postup,
March 1993), "..brilliant guitarist, composer and arranger.."
(Y.Laniuk, Chairman of Association of Composers of Ukraine, 1995),
"..technically adept solos.." (New York Times, Nov 17, 1993
-Berlin Independence Days Festival), "without comments a must to
listen" (Post-postup, April 1994) and "very important for
those who care about serious music" (O.Shevchenko, Gallas Magazine,
Album Reviews, 1997), as well as ".. very important for
Ukraine.." (Express Newspaper, 5/94).
Soon after Berklee College of Music in Boston invited Vlad to study in
the USA by giving him a scholarship to cover the tuition. "It
changed my entire life," he states.
In 1996, Vlad moved to Boston and later to New York City to pursue his
career. "I think NYC shaped me as a musician more than anything,"
reveals Vlad. "It gave me an understanding of who I was and what I
have to say. Without New York my music would have been different."
Vlad now calls California home, having moved west in 2000. The majority
of Vladosphere was created in California, but the album is universal.
