Nemra (band)
Nemra () is an Armenian Alternative rock / Folk rock band from Yerevan, formed in 2012. The band consists of Van Yeghiazaryan (lead vocals, lead guitar), Vaspur Yeghiazaryan (bass guitar, back vocals), Marianna Karakeyan (keyboards, back vocals), and Marek Zaborski (drums). The band's songs are mostly in English, but they also perform cover versions of Armenian folk songs. To date Nemra has released two albums: "Mubla" and "Hmm". The band’s name is directly related to the name Armen, (Reading Backwards - Nemra), Armenia. The band have performed at large venues, open-air concerts, and music festivals. The band has  been featured on Armenian television programs, including "Arena Live", "Nice Evening" ,"Vinyl", "Little Big Shots, Canticle of Canticles: Old Songs with New Approach," "Non-Stop Live." The band was named "The Best Rock Band of the year" at the Swallow Music Awards 2018. Nemra competed in the national selection to represent Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "I'm a Liar"; placing second by a narrow margin. Nemra celebrated its sixth anniversary of being on stage by performing two sold-out concerts on April 6 and on May 31, 2018 at Yerevan State Puppet Theater. On  December 5, 2018, Nemra released a new song and a new music video "Because" and short time later on December 21, another song was released, titled "The past has passed" the music video for which was filmed in Kiev, Ukraine. On June 22, Nemra had a performance at Tbilisi Open Air 2019,  sharing the stage with Franz Ferdinand, Mogwai, Unkle, Rhye, David August, The Subways, Michelle Gurevich and with many others. On July 21, 2019, Nemra participated in Transkaukazja 2019 festival in Warsaw, Poland. History. 2012–2016. Van and Vaspur developed an interest towards music from an early age as both  took violin lessons when they were young. As they grew older into their late teenage years, their interest shifted more towards rock music and with the discovery of this genre their passion for music intensified even more. They started listening to rock music day and night, discovering new bands, and learning their songs. Eventually they started writing their own songs, and gradually developed a dream of forming their own band. As Van told in one of his interviews it all started in 2010 with his neighbor's run down guitar. The neighbor was tidying up his place and wanted to  get rid of some unwanted items, including a guitar. Remembering Van's interest in music, she decided to give the instrument to him. Van taught himself how to play the guitar mostly using his knowledge from music school, watching instructional videos online, and lots of practice. It was not easy however, as the guitar was old, hard to work with, and often gave Van bloody fingers. At first he tried playing songs of his favorite bands, then started writing his own songs. After writing a few songs, Van realized that forming a band was a must and, along with his  brother Vaspur, started looking for like-minded people, with similar tastes in music, who were also looking to be in a band. Eventually they met Gegham Fahradyan, who played the drums, and were introduced, through a mutual friend, to Marianna Karakeyan who plays the piano and keyboards. Nemra was formed on February 17, 2012. They began practicing together and eventually played well enough to secure gigs at pubs, clubs, and different events. By 2014 they had written about 15 songs, had recorded some of them, and had made two music videos. In 2014, the drummer Gegham Fahradyan left the band  due to creative differences. A few months later Marek Zaborski joined and the band has had the same members since then. In 2015 Nemra was the first band to represent Armenia at the "Voice of Nomads" international music festival in Ulan-Ude. The band has taken part in charity concerts. In 2016 Nemra participated in festivals including Barbecue Festival (Akhtala), Engage Vanadzor, and the River Fest charity festival, held in Getamedj. On May 7, 2016 Nemra released their first album titled "MUBLA". The reverse reading of both the album title and the band's name is best explained by a  quote from one of the band's interviews: " We have the tendency to look at things from different perspectives and we believe that each point of view can be unique and beautiful on its own". 2017. From the beginning of 2017, the band continued its activity with concerts. The band had concerts at the Northern Avenue, Charles Aznavour Square and Freedom Square. Nemra has also participated in numerous festivals, such as Music Drive international festival (Yerevan, English Park) and Airfest (Air Festival in Artsakh). On July 2 Nemra was part of the concert organized within the frames of "Arvestanots" club 's "RockDepiction" program of Ayb School. The program included students choosing their favorite Armenian rock bands and making posters of their songs and albums for 6 months. On August 12 the band participated in the EPIC Rock Fest Armenia 2017. On August 19 Nemra was part of Yell Extreme Park's birthday party concert in Yenokavan, as a special guest. At the end of summer, a concert took place by the Swan Lake. On September 10, 2017 Nemra had an open-air concert at Lovers' Park organized by Hayastan All Armenian Fund. On October 14 Nemra was a special guest  during Erebuni-Yerevan rock concert (Freedom Square). At the end of November in 2017, Nemra had several concerts in Tbilisi. 2017–2018: Participation in "Depi Evratesil" Song Contest. On December 27, 2017, Nemra was selected as a participant in the Depi Evratesil competition, the winner of which would represent Armenia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The song "I'm a liar", which was written by the lead singer and guitar player Van Yeghiazaryan, was released on January 15, 2018․ The first semi-final took place on February 19, 2018; Nemra received the highest number of points from the jury panel  as well as the public televote, and proceeded to the final. The final took place on February 25, 2018; Nemra took the second place. During "Depi Evratesil" Song Contest Nemra won the hearts of the audience, the proof of which were the voting results. 2018. To celebrate their sixth year of activity, Nemra performed at a concert at Yerevan State Puppet Theater on April 6; the tickets of the concert were sold out in three days. This was followed the next day by an open-air concert at Charles Aznavour Square. On April 13, Nemra was part of "Kindness is  here and now" charity concert at Aram Khachaturian concert hall organized by Help Armenian Children. Nemra supported the 2018 Armenian revolution from the beginning and on April 25 joined the movement in the form of a concert. Օn May 7 they held a welcome concert for Serj Tankian and the participants of the movement at Republic Square, performing their best-known songs in front of more than hundred thousand people. On May 31 Nemra had its second big solo concert of the year at State Puppet Theater. The fans had gathered in front of the stage, singing along Nemra's  songs and dancing under their rhythms. Special guests of the evening included Gor Sujyan and Lav Eli band. On June 14, after the viewing of the 2018 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony and the first game the campetition on a big screen by the Rio Mall parking lot, Nemra had a concert. On June 16, Nemra participated in the Artsakh Airfest 2018 at the Stepanakert Airport. On July 21, Nemra had a concert on Yell Extreme Park's "Magic birthday party" in Yenokavan. On July 28, Nemra had a concert at the Sevan Startup Summit Closing Ceremony. On August 19 , Nemra had a performance at Epic Eye Music and Arts Festival in Tsaghkadzor. On September 2, Nemra participated in One Caucasus festival held in Poladauri, Georgia. On October 20, within the framework of the "Kapan Day 2018" celebration, the band performed at the Kapan Culture House. On October 21, Nemra took part in the concert organized to celebrate the 2800th anniversary of Yerevan. The rock concert was held in Charles Aznavour Square. On December 5, Nemra had an open-air concert in Vanadzor. On December 5, Nemra released a new song and a new music video ""Because"". On December 10 , Nemra had its last solo concert of 2018 at State Puppet Theater. The band performed their well-known songs as well as some newer songs including their latest single "Because", performed live for the first time. On December 21, Nemra released a new song and a new music video ""The past has passed"" filmed in Kiev, Ukraine. 2019. On February 14, Nemra released a new music video ""Room N11"". On April 7, Nemra had an open-air concert at Lovers' Park. The band also performed one of their latest singles ""The past has passed"" and the new blues song called  She's beautiful"", which is not yet recorded. On April 11, Nemra was invited to perform at Tbilisi Concert Hall and received the Caucasus Music Award "Phoenix" 2018. On April 27, Nemra had a performance at the Banants Stadium reopening ceremony. This concert was followed by an open-air concert in Artashat to celebrate the Citizen's Day․ On May 11, Nemra had an open-air concert in Kapan within the framework of "Europe Day" celebration. On May 24, Nemra had an open-air concert at the Komitas Square in Echmiatsin to celebrate the last bell. On May 25, Nemra  took part in the concert organized to celebrate the opening of Cultural Center in Tashir. On June 4, Nemra released a new song and new music video ""Why"" which is a dialog between humans and Mother Earth"." On June 7, Nemra had an open-air concert in Abovyan. On June 22, Nemra had a performance at Tbilisi Open Air 2019,  sharing the stage with Franz Ferdinand, Mogwai, Unkle, Rhye, David August, The Subways, Michelle Gurevich and with many others. On July 16, Nemra released their second album titled "Hmm" . The album's presentation was accompanied by a great solo concert  at Yerevan State Puppet Theatre. The band performed songs from the first and second albums and the new song called "Hmm", from which the album got its name. Special guest of the evening was Narek Barseghyan from Bambir. On July 21, Nemra participated in Transkaukazja 2019 festival held in Warsaw, Poland. On July 31, Nemra was special guest during Square One's birthday party. On August 10, Nemra had an open-air concert at Shahumyan square within the framework of the "Yerevan summer 2019". On August 22, Nemra  had a performance at "One Caucasus" Festival in Tserakvi, Georgia. On September  21,  Nemra had an open-air concert in Gyumri within the  frames of "Armenian Independence Day" celebration. On September 27, Nemra participated in "Armenia in Rock" Festival at Freedom Square. On October 19, Nemra had a performance at Ararat Challenge Festival within the framework of Aurora Forum. This concert was followed by an open-air concert to celebrate the 2801th anniversary of Yerevan. On November 13, Nemra had an open-air concert to celebrate Rio Mall's birthday anniversary. On November 16, Nemra had a performance at Russian-Armenian University to celebrate International Students' Day․ On November 23, Nemra had  a performance at AGBU Armenia within the framework of  "Yerevan Book Fest". Nemra's last concert of 2019 took place on December 25, at Shahumyan square. With this open-air concert Nemra said goodbye to the passing year. 2020. On April 28, Nemra performed live on Armenian public TV, in the framework of the show <nowiki>"Artakarg hamerg"</nowiki> (Emergency concert). There were no spectators in the hall, but the communication was organized with live comments. On May 4, Nemra performed live stream concert on the official Facebook page of the RA Government. On August 16, Nemra released a new  music video for the song "She's beautiful". Serj Tankyan, the frontman of the world-famous rock band System of a Down, praised the band's work, sharing the video on his Facebook page. 2021. After a long break, Nemra decided to resume concert activity on February 19, performing in Mezzo classic house club. As the tickets for the first concert were quickly sold out, soon after that, on February 27, the second concert also took place. The 3rd performance in Mezzo took place on May 7. This time also the tickets were rapidly sold out.On May 22, Nemra  had a concert in Gyumri (Garage Club). On May 28, Nemra had an open-air acoustic concert at Dan’s garden. On June 5, Nemra participated in Alteration festival, featuring five different local rock bands. On July 4, Nemra had an interactive open-air concert in Dzoraghbyur, sharing the stage with Lav Eli band. On July 11,  Nemra had an open-air concert in English Park, before The UEFA Euro 2020 final's live streaming on a big screen. On July 24,  Nemra had open-air concert in Dilijan, at Hover Gardens. On July 25,  Nemra released a new music  video for the cover version of the Armenian folk song "Zim Khorodig Yar". This song had since a long time ago been in the band's repertoire, usually being the opening act for Nemra's concerts. On July 31, Nemra performed in Gyumri for the second time in 2021 with an open-air concert at GGH. The tickets were quickly sold out. On August 20, Nemra had a concert-interview on Radio Van. On September 9, Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall ( Yerevan Opera Theatre ) hosted a concert entitled "Armenian Rock for Children with Cancer". During this event Nemra, along with Lav  Eli and The Beautified Project, had an acoustic performance. On September 11, the band released the long-awaited music video for the song "Daisy". It was shot in the Armenian Women Museum in Gyumri, which was a filming location for famous Armenian movies, including "Triangle" and "The tango of our childhood". Serj Tankyan, the frontman of System of a Down, praised the band's work for the second time, sharing the video on his Facebook page. On September 26, at Radio Van Nemra had a live performance of the song Qele, Qele - dedication to the 152nd birthday of Komitas, the  founder of Armenian national school of music.   On October 31, for the fourth time in 2021, Nemra performed at Mezzo classic house club.   On November 19, the band had a concert on Armenian Public TV - a non-stop live performance of Nemra's hits in English and cover versions of the beloved folk-songs.   On December 11, at a newly opened Platform concert hall Nemra had a 3-hour solo concert, performing nearly all the songs of the band's repertoire. 2022. On January 1, Public Radio of Armenia greeted the new year with a concert-interview of Nemra. On  February 18, Nemra performed at Mezzo classic house club.   On March 6, Nemra released a new music video for the song ""Arnem Elnem"", the remake of the Armenian folk song with fresh vibes. On March 19, Nemra had a solo concert at Platform, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the band.