Uma2rman ("Umaturman") is a pop-rock group of Nizhny Novgorod brothers Vladimir and Sergey Kristovsky, who came together in 2003.[1][2] The group's first single and hit was "Praskovya," and the song "Night Watch" became the title track of the film of the same name.[3][4] The group has released seven studio albums, recorded songs for films and TV series, and become one of the best-known bands from Nizhny Novgorod.[1]

Beginnings

As children, both brothers studied at a music school, but they dropped out and for a time took up sports.[1] In their youth they returned to music by different paths: Sergey sang pop songs in bars, restaurants, and casinos in Nizhny Novgorod, while Vladimir leaned toward punk rock.[1] Music brought in no income, and both tried many professions: Vladimir worked at a gas station, as a driver, and as a morgue attendant, and studied in the jazz department, majoring in trombone; Sergey worked at a champagne factory and as a kindergarten teacher.[1][2]

Vladimir started out together with a friend from Nizhny Novgorod, Albert Rodin, and tried more than once to break into the Moscow scene: the producer Ivan Shapovalov listened to his recordings but did not take them on.[1][2] One of the songs from that tape, "Zabyvayu" ("I Forget"), Vladimir later gave to Lyubov Uspenskaya, who recorded it as a duet with Philipp Kirkorov.[1]

In 2003, Sergey suggested that his brother re-arrange his songs from scratch and pitch them to labels in the capital.[1] The brothers recorded their first album in a single night at a studio that friends had given them for the night, and sent it to Moscow for an audition; one of the Moscow labels signed them to a contract.[1][2] At first the project was called "Not of Our World," and then it took the name of the Hollywood actress Uma Thurman: a song with that title was already in the repertoire, and the numeral 2 in the spelling Uma2rman stands for the two brothers.[1] Under the contract with the French branch of Warner Music, the name was written as Uma2rmaH.[5]

Recognition

In the fall of 2004, the group gave its first club concert in Moscow, at the club 16 Tons: the brothers, who wrote the songs and sang, were joined on stage by a lead guitarist, a keyboardist, and a drummer.[4] By that time Uma2rman had two hits: "Night Watch" and "Praskovya the Girl."[4] In the summer of 2005, the group opened the Nizhny Novgorod program of the Nashestvie festival.[6] It also performed at the Maxidrom festival.[1]

The group's third album, "Where Dreams Lead," came out in the spring of 2008, and its presentation took place on March 14 at the Apelsin club in Moscow.[5] By this time Uma2rman had the song "Papiny Dochki" for the TV series of the same name, "It's Summer in the City," duets with Timati and Lyudmila Gurchenko, a duet with Patricia Kaas, and a solo concert at the Olimpiysky arena.[5] Later the group recorded an updated song for the sequel to "Papiny Dochki," and the video "Stars" (2022) was filmed in space with the participation of cosmonaut Sergey Korsakov.[2]

Nizhny Novgorod Songs and the Twentieth Anniversary

In April 2023, for the band's twentieth anniversary, the song "Koromyslova Tower" was released. Vladimir Kristovsky wrote it after a tour of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, inspired by the legend of a woman defender of the city who fought enemy scouts and died together with them — according to the legend, one of the Kremlin's towers is named in her honor.[7][3] The band played the anniversary concert in new arrangements with the Russian Philharmonic orchestra.[3]

Uma2rman's songs were collected in the two-part tribute album "Stars Count Us", with 19 and 15 songs: they were covered by Leonid Agutin, Basta, Leningrad, Zivert, Komnata Kultury, and others.[3] With the Metro Gorkovskaya project, the band made a remix of "Night Watch" and shot a video in a metro depot; the Italian singer Wiwo translated "Proshchatsya" ("To Say Goodbye") into Italian and recorded it as a duet with the band.[3] According to the brothers, their concerts in their home city of Nizhny Novgorod regularly sell out.[3]

Links

  • Official website (uma2rman.com)
  • Wikidata (Q1288444 — entry in the free knowledge base)
  • VIAF (143478063 — Virtual International Authority File)
  • ISNI (000000009705825X)

Sources

  1. kp.ru — Komsomolskaya Pravda — The Band "Uma2rman" Turns 20: Biography of the Musicians, Songs, Personal Life
  2. vm.ru — Vechernyaya Moskva — Uma2rman: First Album Recorded in a Single Night
  3. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — The Kristovsky Brothers Talk About What Inspires Them in Their Native Nizhny Novgorod (June 24, 2026)
  4. zvuki.ru — Zvuki.Ru — Nochnoy Dozor — Report on the Concert at the "16 Tons" Club (September 6, 2004)
  5. iz.ru — Izvestia — Vladimir and Sergey Kristovsky, Leaders of the Band "Umaturman": "A Traffic Cop in Nizhny Novgorod Told Us: 'Here I Am Uma Thurman!'" (March 4, 2008)
  6. Vremya N — Ska, Punk, and Alternative Music, Nizhny Novgorod Style, Will Be Heard at "Nashestvie-2005"
  7. Vremya N — The Band UMA2RMAN Releases a New Song, "Koromyslova Bashnya"