"Nochnye Snaypery" (Nochnye Snaypery) is a phenomenal rock collective, which cannot be called "just another rock band". Firstly, the founders were two young girls, which was a unique phenomenon in Soviet times. And secondly, compositions with deep and wise meaning, which make you think, are not always peculiar to this genre. Such songs as "31 Spring", "You Gave Me Roses", "Asphalt" brought them the greatest fame and expanded the geography of fans far beyond Russia. For 27 years of existence the discography of the band includes 10 studio albums, 18 mini-albums, 2 compilations, 5 concert versions. Moreover, lead singer Diana Arbenina recorded two solo records. And there were about 35 music videos, thousands of hours spent on tour, hundreds of performances at festivals, crowded stadiums and other ordinary things for "stars" of the world scale.
The history of the band's formation
The duo of Diana Arbenina and Svetlana Surganova is considered the first composition of the "Night Snipers". Diana was born in Belarus, but at an early age moved with her family to Chukotka. At one time she lived in Kolyma and Magadan. From childhood she was interested in music and studied at a music school. But she decided to enter the department of foreign languages.
Svetlana was born and grew up in Leningrad. She was also a musical child from a small age, learning to play the violin. But after school she continued her education in the pediatric academy.
On August 19, 1993 the girls met. It is this day is considered the date of the foundation of the group. At first they called themselves an acoustic duo and sang together. In addition to performing, the girlfriends independently wrote music, playing guitar and violin. At the time of their first serious performance at the ІІІ All-Russian festival of author's song they did not have a name yet. But they were able to conquer the audience with ease. After the successful debut their duet stopped for a while: Diana returned to Magadan to finish her studies. A couple of months later Svetlana came to her. There the musicians made the first steps to fame. Already in six months they began to perform regularly in the casino "Imperial" - in Arbenina's alma mater. The girls often organized apartment parties, records of which today are the most valuable for fans of the collective. In that period the name appeared. After one evening concert the girls with their instruments returned home by cab, and the cab driver jokingly called them "night snipers", mistaking the guitars in their cases for weapons.
In 1994 the girls went to conquer St. Petersburg. There they quickly found their audience: they performed at various underground and rock'n'roll events, took part in creative actions, gave concerts in clubs and at festivals. This period can be called the period of their formation, the stage of preparation for the release to the general public. And already in 4 years the musicians managed to loudly declare themselves.
Creative way
1998 was the most successful year for them. They released their debut album "A Drop of Tar in a Cask of Honey", added several new members to the line-up (Goga Kopylov became the bass-guitarist, Alik Potapov became the drummer), switched from acoustic to electronic sound. Such qualitative changes were a huge success. The musicians became recognizable and sought-after artists. On the wave of fame "Night Snipers" went on their first big tour to the cities of Russia, and then to the CIS countries.
The next year they released their second album "Children's babble", which included home and studio recordings from 1989 to 1995.
With the advent of the new millennium, the glory of the Night Snipers took a new turn. The song "31 Spring" from the third album "Rubezh" stayed on the top positions of the charts for several months. The band signed a contract with the RealRecords recording studio and plunged into work with new strength. They were welcome guests at any concert, and the Snipers' songs were known by heart and sung by entire stadiums.
At the peak of popularity the guys released another album "Tsunami". And after the release they make a shocking announcement: the lead singer Svetlana Surganova leaves the band. She starts a solo career, and Diana Arbenina takes the responsibility to continue writing the history of the band.
The renewed composition actively tours, writes songs, releases records. In 2003 they celebrated their 1-year anniversary with a large-scale concert in "Luzhniki".
In 2005 the band in cooperation with Kazufumi Miyazawa (a famous Japanese musician) released a joint album SMS. This step widened the audience of Night Snipers, and their song "Koshika" broke into almost all Japanese charts. In the same year, Arbenina receives the prestigious Triumph Award for high achievements in literature and art. She becomes the first Russian performer who performed at the Japanese festival "Fuji Rock". During this period, the artist was a participant in a joint project with the cult group "Bi-2". Then there was a tour in Switzerland. And at the end of the year a collection of anti-songs and texts of Diana "Catastrophically" was released.
Dense touring schedule in cities of Russia, USA and Israel did not prevent the band from working on the creation of a new album. In the beginning of 2007 the record "Bonnie and Clyde" was released, on which such maestros of rock as Leva and Shura from "Bi-2" worked.
In parallel with musical activity Arbenina wrote a book, which was published in 2007 and was called "Deserter of Dreams". A year later she released a sequel - an audiobook "Sleep Deserter: I Speak". These works were only a small part of Diana's writing career. In her creative biography there is also participation in various TV projects and shows. About the personal life of the vocalist is known a little: officially she was married once. Now she is raising twins.
For the last ten years, the group "Night Snipers" does not slow down. They regularly replenish their discography, write soundtracks for movies, travel with concerts around the world. The current lineup includes: permanent lead singer and songwriter Diana Arbenina, guitarist Denis Zhdanov, bass guitarist Sergey Makarov and drummer Alexander Averyanov. Their creativity has no limits, they are constantly developing, realizing new ideas, experimenting with sound. The concerts of the band still gather full halls and stadiums. About what the band will please us in the near future, read in the catalog of artists on the website kontramarka.de.
Discography (studio albums):
1998 - "A drop of tar in a barrel of honey".
1999 - "Children's babble"
2001 - "Rubezh"
2002 - "Tsunami"
2004 - "SMS
2007 - "Bonnie & Clyde"
2009 - "Army 2009"
2012 - "4"
2014's "Balloon Boy"
2016 - "Only Lovers Survive"
2019 - "The Unbearable Lightness of Being."
