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New life for Ognian Drandiyski’s O.J. Band

БНР Новини
Photo: private gallery




The song you have just heard won the special prize of the Golden Spring-2014 Radio Contest. Thanks to this award, a Bulgarian band once again performed at the "Eurosonic Noorderslag" festival in Groningen, the Netherlands, which was held in mid-January this year. Author of “I Will Always Remember You" is Ognian Drandiyski. The musician told us more about his participation in "Eurosonic" and about his "O.J. Band” in an interview with Elena Tsvetkova:

Снимка"It is a large and very well organized festival, held each year in about 30 clubs in Groningen. Four bands perform at a single stage each night, which means that more than 300 musicians participate. My band presented a 40-minute show including just our own music. We did not have the chance to meet and listen to other bands as we had some pretty tight schedule. O.J. Band was established together with friends years ago. We started it together with Rossen Cheshmedzhiev, my music producer, with the idea to play in clubs the music we created the studio. We were four men: two guitarists, a bassist and drummer. Unfortunately, Rossen Cheshmedzhiev passed away. After that I started working with other musicians, but finally the band split up. I started performing alone - just my voice and a guitar. I also have a solo album. Most of the pieces included in it were recorded in the Factor Studio.”

Along with the participation in the Golden Spring contest I decided to create the new O.J. Band. Performing in a band is much different. My songs have been revived and they are now performed the way they should be. We have also started creating new songs that are to be included in a CD. We already have 5 new songs and one of them is in Bulgarian. We plan to finish the album by the autumn of 2015.We have been enriching our repertoire in order to appear on the club stage and at festivals.

There are two periods in Ognian Drandiyski’s career - American and Bulgarian. In 2001 he returned from California and settled to live and work in Bulgaria. Many people associate him with alternative band Shangri La.

“It is a very cool band," says Ognian. "I was lucky to meet the musicians after I returned from the United States. They needed a second guitarist and so I became part of the formation. These were great years characterized with good music."

Ognian Drandiyski says he earns his living only through music. He performs in night clubs and bars. Fans are expecting the new project of the O.J. Band but now let’s listen to a song from his solo album.

English: Alexander Markov



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