Introducing Gravity Co
Ivo Chalakov – guitar
Peter Samnaliev – keyboards
Stefan Popov – drums
Gravity Co are an innovative band from Bulgaria who started out as a side project making music for the computer game Trans in 2001. Since then they have carved a niche for themselves with an original electro indie sound, with warm vocal melodies over pumping electronic beats. Having released three studio albums and a live performance DVD, Gravity Co are the most successful modern Bulgarian band in recent years who have performed to full capacity venues and supported the likes of the Stereo MC’s, Fun Lovin’ Criminals and more recently Ladytron.
In October 2008 Gravity Co’s music was celebrated at the 10th Anniversary Ceremony of Bulgaria's Music Television MM (the Bulgarian equivalent of the Brits). The Band started the night with 5 nominations and received the the prestigious "Band of the Decade" and "Pop/dance album of the Decade" awards. Every year the awards are voted by selected independent journalists and the team at MMTV and in the past two years Gravity Co have won a total of 6 statuettes. The band also premiered one of their new tracks “Behind the Sun” at the special awards ceremony which was very well received by critics and fans.
Gravity Co also performed at the SPIRIT of Burgas festival, which took place in Bulgaria for the first time in August 2008. It was this year’s newest and much anticipated festival in South East Europe and the band were interviewed by MTV European who were the events official media partner. Their performance of ‘Empty World’ was also included in the special program about the festival which was broadcast across the MTV European Network in 16 countries.
Hot on the heels of the success in their home country, Gravity Co ready to break out into the international music scene. The band will release their new single ‘Faded’ in January and will promote their music internationally for the first time. Check out 'Faded' on their myspace page and look out for the remixes coming soon. www.myspace.com/gravityco
Gravity Co have also been chosen to perform a special live showcase at next years Noorderslag EuroSonic event, after winning Bulgarian National Radio’s annual Golden Spring contest. Taking place in Groningen, The Netherlands from 15th – 17th January, Noorderslag is the Music Conference and Showcase Festival for the international live music industry. Gravity Co. will perform on Thursday 15th January at the Musziekschool from 12:15am to 1am.
Making their debut in 2002, Gravity Co. released their first single ‘Away’ accompanied by an art-school style video directed by Gravity Co.’s Producer Georgi Stanev. The bands first release topped MM TV’s (Bulgaria’s most popular music television) International Airplay Chart, holding on to the #1 spot for three consecutive weeks. ‘Away’ was later be included in NovaXposure – the monthly compilation released by ‘Radio Ventures’.
Gravity Co’s second single ‘Mr. No One’ proved the bands potential, making the playlist in BMG’s official weekly video compilation, alongside the likes of Carlos Santana and Christina Aguilera.
The band stretched the boundaries further when Bill Withers granted official permission to record and release a cover version of his all time classic ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’.
‘Away’, ‘Mr. No One’ and ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ all made the cut for Gravity Co.’s highly anticipated debut album ‘U’ released in December 2002. An instant success, ‘U’ brought home the first music awards – ‘Best Debut’ and ‘Best Pop/Dance Album’, from MM TV’s annual awards.
In July of 2004 ‘Wings’ the pilot single from Gravity’s second album is released becoming, the first video by a Bulgarian Artist with airplay on MTV! Boasting Giorgio de Chiricho inspired 3D animation – courtesy of one of Bulgaria’s finest Alexander Sokerov – ‘Wings’ was played 13 weeks running on MTV’s World Chart Express.
On March 6th 2005 the bands second album ‘Instinct’ saw the light of day. Shortly after the release Gravity Co were awarded ‘Best Band’ at the annual MM TV awards and were also named ‘Band of the Year’ at the Melo TV Mania’s annual awards.
2006 would prove to be one of Gravity’s most eventful years. Starting off with another award for ‘Best Rock/Alternative Song’ for ‘What I Want’ (‘Instinct’ 2005) at the annual MM TV awards, followed by the release of ‘Empty World’ with a special video that became a cult favorite. The video edit version of the song has since become Gravity Co’s Trademark Song.
Having released two celebrated albums, Gravity Co teamed up with a wide range of popular Bulgarian DJ’s to remix some of the band’s hits. Adding two brand new song’s to the mix, ‘Paper Trail’ and ‘The Evidence Came’ with lyrics contributed by Gravity’s new lyricist Boris Cheshirkov.
On the 6th of October the band launced their third album ‘Mixedup’ with a unique 3D show in front of 3000 fans at Sofia’s Hristo Botev Hall. Hailed as a memorable sensual experience, the live event premiered the next single ‘Paper Trail’, to which Italian director Armando Costantino (known for his work with Saint Germain) filmed an ‘urban’ –esque video, which aired in 2007.
On the 25 of March 2007 on the night of the BG Radio Music Awards Ceremony, the band were called to the stage to collect the ‘Best Band Award’. The prize was a gift to Gravity Co from their loyal and evidently united fans, as online listener voting essentially won the Award. Thank You All! It is also important to note that until recently BG Radio did not allow any foreign language songs on its frequency... but on that night, Gravity Co performed the first foreign language song at any BG Radio Music Awards Ceremony.
Gravity Co are the uncontested winners at the 2007 and 2008 MMTV Music Awards, with a record 6 awards (10 in total since the band’s debut):
Band of the Decade
Pop/dance album of the Decade
Best Pop/Dance song – Empty World
Best Pop/Dance Album – Mixedup
Best Band
Best Music Video – Empty World (Directed by Valeri Milev)
www.gravityco.com
www.myspace.com/gravityco
