The founders of the Amatory group are two current members - Daniil Svetlov and Denis Zhivotovsky, who were familiar from childhood. In 1998, the guys spent a lot of time with musical instruments, and they got the idea to create a musical group.
Start
Denis and Daniel had similar musical preferences, so they gathered almost every day at Svetlov’s apartment, where they began to do creative work. Denis played the acoustic guitar, and Daniel tried himself as a drummer. In the fall of 1998, the guys met Yevgeny Potekhin, who not only approached the role of the second guitarist, but also had an excellent voice, which helped to solve the problem with the vocalist. Denis Zhivotovsky stops playing the guitar and tries himself as a bass player, thereby organizing a full-fledged rock band. In 1999, Potekhin proposed the name Amatory, which was immediately approved by all members of the collective.
First performances
The guys played their first concerts in schools, bars or various underground clubs. A year later, Amatory recorded their first demo, which when played simply obliged them to take a second guitarist, because the sound of their debut songs left much to be desired. After a long search, the guys found the right musician, who became Sergey Osechkin. The first Amatory rehearsal took place on April 1, 2001. This date can be officially considered the group’s birthday. In this composition, the team successfully played several concerts, but the big surprise for everyone was that Yevgeny Potekhin was taken into the army for two years. This meant not only the loss of the main guitarist, but also the lack of vocals, songwriter and generator of all ideas regarding the development of the group.
After a short break, the composition of the Amatory group gathered new strength and decided to move on up the creative ladder. Daniil Svetlov became the temporary vocalist, and the music and lyrics remained with Sergey Osechkin.
In the fall of 2001, rapper Lexus appeared in the group, who was responsible for the recitative in the songs. Just a year later, the guys from Amatory recorded the Spermadonarz cassette with a joint project of Animal Jazz and Bricks.
The debut album Amatory becomes an album entitled "Forever Hiding Fate", which was released in 2003. The album quickly gained popularity among rock listeners and even received an audience prize at the Fuzz 2005 Prizes. The group also got the opportunity to perform at the largest Russian festivals.
New vocalist
In 2004, the group undergoes the first changes when the team leaves Lexus. His place is taken by Stigmata guitarist Igor Kapranov. In Amatory, the latter changed his role a little and was engaged only in vocal parts. The team immediately began work on a new album and a few months later released the album "Inevitability" under the guidance of renowned producer Jacob Hansen. Only thanks to him the band began to play in the "western" style, which only added to the popularity of Amatory. Igor Kapranov after several successful concerts, according to FUZZ magazine, became the voice of a generation.
At the end of 2004, the Amatory group with the bands Jane Air and Psyche went on a tour of Russia, thereby gaining popularity among Russian youth.
In 2005, the group released the first DVD-album, as well as the sensational single "Black and White Days." A year later, the third full-fledged album entitled "The Book of the Dead" is released, directed by the same Jacob Hansen. In 2006, the Discovery EP mini-album was released, on which there were only 6 tracks.
In March 2007, a fateful event happened in the biography of the group - the guitarist of the group Sergey Osechkin dies of cancer. Due to the difficult tour schedule, the group urgently needed a new guitar player.
Peak of popularity
In 2008, Amatory released the single "Breathe with Me", which immediately takes a leading position in all music charts. At the end of the year, the collective recorded another album with the title VII, listening to which caused mixed reactions among journalists, listeners and critics. At the end of 2009, the group released another single and with it a video clip.
In 2010, Igor Kapranov leaves the group, and Vyacheslav Sokolov, who previously performed in various metal bands, took the place of the main vocalist. In November of the same year, the fifth album entitled "Instinct of the Doomed" was released.
In 2011, when the group celebrated its tenth anniversary, they decided to present a gift to the audience and went on an anniversary tour with two vocalists - Vyacheslav Sokolov and Igor Kapranov.
In 2012, the guitarist Dmitry Rubanovsky leaves the band, replaced by Ilya Kukhin, who played in Sokolov’s previous bands. In the middle of the year, together with vocalist Animal Jazz, a cover of their hit "Three Stripes" was recorded.
In the fall of 2012, the group announced the suspension of their creative activity, explaining that the musicians currently have no way to go on long and long concert tours. They called the final tour "Last Concert?".
Immediately after this, another change in composition occurs, and instead of Alexander Pavlov, Ilya Borisov takes the place of the guitarist, who became a regular member of the group.
Rebirth
In the period from 2013 to 2015, the rock band Amatory took a break and performed only at selected major festivals. In the fall of 2015, the active creative activity of the team resumed. Together with the new guitarist of the group Dmitry Muzychenko, a single entitled "Stop Time" is released, which made a very high profile on the Internet and attracted unprecedented interest in the group.
In October 2015, the team released the album "6", which in all components was different from the last discography of Amatory. Alternative music with might and main sounded on Russian stages and festivals, and the group has a lot of new fans. But it’s worth recognizing that the Amatory’s new songs didn’t like the “old” fans of the band in any way.
In the fall of 2016, the official release of the new EP entitled "Fire" took place. In addition to the new sound, the voice of the famous rapper ATL was added to the party of Vyacheslav Sokolov.
Since 2017, the group goes on a big concert tour, which has captured several countries. A distinctive feature of the trip was that the listeners themselves could determine which songs would be played at the concert.
Possible end of creativity
In March 2018, Vyacheslav Sokolov was kicked out of the group with a big scandal. The team members said that in recent months Sokolov did not pay any attention to the group, devoting time to other projects and drunkenness. The last drop of patience was Vyacheslav’s participation in the TNT TV channel’s musical project, where he noted that Amatory’s albums had lost their fame and relevance.
Today, the band members are busy with their solo projects, and most likely, in the near future the group will announce the end of their career.
Awards
In 2005, Amatory won the Rock Alternative Music Prize in the "Band of the Year" nomination thanks to the released album, and the clip for the acclaimed single "Black and White Days" became the clip of the year.
At the end of 2009, the team won the “Our Radio” award in the “Internet Choice” nomination, and a few weeks later the single “Breathe with Me” won the “Song of the Year” nomination.