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 charts, Vlad joined the legendary 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. During that time Vlad also helped newcomers with their music career, among them is a eurovision winner ukrainian singer Ruslana. 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.
JazzReview.com
