"Sad" group

SAD group was created in September 1982 as an amateur musical collective of one Palace of Culture* in Dniepropetrovsk (south-east Ukraine). Having the basic place of work all participants of the group served cultural performances PC* in free time, thanks to it they had an informal opportunity play rock music in its walls.

In a year, having spent starting creative potential, the group realized the possibility to get the professional status by means of working in different State Cultural Institutions* of the city as a professional musical collective on party service for youth. However, since summer of 1985 hard-edged struggle with the officials from State Cultural Committee* for the right on free creation the participants of the group had to refuse attempts to develop in this direction and to proceed true realization of the initial purpose to create rock-music group. Actually it meant conscious immersing in unemployment, half-legal lifestyle in conditions of regime city and the risk to lose freedom for "parasitism"**.

Two-years of self-imprisonment was replaced by the period, which can be characterized as the period of an active musical activity of the group. "SAD" took an active part in attempt to create Local Rock - Club and Regional Rock - Association, it gave concerts in Dniepropetrovsk and Dniepropetrovsk region, took part in festivals and competitions. The occurrence of the information about group in press, on radio and TV gave hope for fast "twisting"*** and wide popularity in conditions of management of culture by Soviet governmental system. Professional activity proposals on the basis of various regional philharmonic societies appeared immediately, which might have opened the way to Soviet star pop-show. However, saved by years the negative experience of relationships with the bureaucratic machine compelled the group to get the only right choice toward "hungry" freedom direction.

Further destiny of the group was defined by the period of disintegration USSR that made it's "underground" deeper, there were two "clinical" deaths of "SAD" during above time, which had led to leaving of some perspective musicians out of the band, painful reassessment of the achieved results and, as a natural consequence, change of structure and enlightenment of "survived" participants of the group by new creative ideas.

Since December 1994 "SAD" group became the professional independent musical collective (SAD Ltd.), and since 1997 after moving to Kiev, continued struggle for the right to independent creativity in conditions of actual absence of show - business in Ukraine.

The group determines their creativity as conceptual hard-rock and try to follow its best traditions. The musicians perform songs in Russian and Ukrainian using their own compositions as well as works of the great masters of a poetic genre, such as Taras Shevchenco, Daneel Andreyev, Maximilian Voloshin, Sharl Bodler, Migel de Unamuno and others.

* Palace of culture, PC, state cultural institution - special official body for cultural development of the Soviet citizens (workers).
** Parasitism - clause in the criminal code USSR for evasion from the obligatory device on work at the state enterprises in conditions of absence of private business.
*** Twisting - deducing of the performer on a level of popularity for extraction of financial and economic benefit.

information, photo from official site: http://rocksad.narod.ru/