Uncategorized | Experience Viza

VIZA Releases FORWARD MARCH the Video

May 18, 2023 by vizadmin No Comment

VIZA is proud to release a captivating animation music video for the punk rock anthem “Forward March” off the group’s “Aria” record. The video realizes the vision of frontman K’noup for a thrilling, avant-garde narrative involving a kangaroo and a boxer.

“Forward March always came across to me as either a hockey fight or boxing match soundtrack – so naturally when we were in discussion in pitching music video concepts for Aria back in 2014 I had this vision of a David versus Goliath story but in the vein of kangaroo boxing. I went ahead and put my idea down to paper and imagined a hierarchical kangaroo-based world where humans were oppressed – an inverted reflection of how, in many ways, we treat animals in our current world,” stated K’noup.

“Special thanks to Shamiram Khachatryan at Tumo for helping bring this vision to life with the professionalism and exquisite artistry of such talented Armenian youth at Syndicats Studios,” stated oud player Andrew Kzirian. In 2017, during a visit to Armenia for a VIZA performance, Kzirian conducted an oud themed workshop at the Tumo Center with the Tmbata Orchestra, which led to a close relationship between the band and the Tumo team. With K’noup’s already completed screenplay-treatment for “Forward March”, the inertia was unmistakable. Eventually, this all culminated in the group connecting with Tumo’s Syndicats Studios for an exciting animation music video project for “Forward March”.

“Kangaroo boxing has always been a visual stimulant to me thanks in part to the archived footage of the early 20th century – so this fight was very much inspired by those early black and white scenes of man versus kangaroo. Thanks to Tumo for coordinating everything with Syndicats Studios as they did an excellent job taking the vision and putting it into motion. It feels like an old Batman cartoon,” added K’noup.

The ”Forward March” music video release comes in the midst of new tracks Yesterday, Ms. Information and the yet to be imminently unveiled Thunderbolt and Maggie Mae’s Tavern tracks which are all part of the band’s 100 song project. VIZA’s talented group of songwriters continues its hard work and is excited for the coming months where a substantial amount of new material will be shared with fans on a regular basis.

Make sure to stay tuned for more information and updates as we continue our work!

VIZA IG: @vizamusic

VIZA FB: @vizamusic

VIZA Twitter: @vizamusic

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100

January 27, 2023 by vizadmin No Comment

How many VIZA songs exist? How many have been released since the band’s inception? We were curious ourselves so we did a full count and found that, when you add up all of VIZA’s albums, EPs, and singles, that quite amazingly, 83 is the current number. This doesn’t include all the covers VIZA has released over the years and the most recent releases of “Yesterday” and “Ms. Information”, which are in fact VIZA’s 84^th and 85^th songs. So here the band goes, kicking off the 100 project! This will be a thrilling ride as the group continues to prepare for many more compositions slated for a continuous stream of releases over the coming months into 2023 and beyond, with a unique and interesting objective of hitting the 100 mark for total releases by VIZA.

“I consider Maktub the official beginning of the band and the birth of our sound. I would’ve never guessed after all these years we are almost to 100 songs recorded but then again Maktub means ‘all is written’ in Arabic, so I shouldn’t be surprised,” said frontman K’noup.

“To complete 100 songs is quite the meaningful milestone,” stated theoudplayer Andrew Kzirian. “We’ve had such a winding road and amazing experience with all our different records and the evolution of the band’s sound – it’s an important achievement to make it to the century mark, and even more meaningful to share it with our supporting and loving fan base – get ready for a lot of new music!” he added.

A brief examination of the historical record highlights the various albums, EPs and singles which led to this important juncture. First came the album Maktub in 2006 (11 tracks), the De Facto EP in 2007 (6 tracks), the album Eros in 2008 (15 tracks), followed by the band’s first full length and groundbreaking rock themed record Made in Chernobyl in 2010 (11 tracks). 2011 was a busy time as the cover of Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar) was released, followed by the single Bake Me in Clouds in 2011, and the album Carnivalia in 2011 (12 tracks). With this new-found buzz and cutting edge material VIZA answered the overwhelming demand for considerable touring at various premier festivals and as direct support for Serj Tankian and Gogol Bordello, leading up to the band’s big release of the album Aria in 2014 (12 tracks). Aria elevated the band to new heights which led to continued touring with Skindred and more headline touring in Europe. As part of a successful Kickstarter campaign, the band released the In Coins single in 2014, the Midnight Hour (Dingle Rock) single in 2014, the Fuego single in 2014, and the covers for When Doves Cry and Naïve Melody in 2014. After a brief hiatus, the group recorded and released the Unorthodox Revival I EP (6 tracks) and Unorthodox Revival II EP (6 tracks) both in 2018, followed by the Eros single in 2019 and the Loyal Tea single in 2020.

The recent release of the new single “Yesterday” kicked off the 100 project effort, presenting the listener with symbolic storytelling and compelling soundscapes, incorporating classic VIZA elements such as soft, sweet sections of spiritual singing set against folky, dancey grooves, juxtaposed with intensely passionate choruses where the music intensely transforms into a life of its own. And the societal parody “Ms. Information” was the band’s scintillating follow up second track, exploring the heavy rock sensibility of the group along with a driving rhythm, lyrical poetry in the form of critical commentary about our world and captivating visual artwork.

This talented group of songwriters continues its hard work and is excited for the coming months where a substantial amount of new material will be shared with fans on a periodic monthly basis.

Yesterday, Ms. Information and all following releases of the 100 project will be available on all major streaming platforms for your listening pleasure and/or purchase.

Make sure to stay tuned for more information and updates as we continue our work!

VIZA IG: @vizamusic

VIZA FB: @vizamusic

VIZA Twitter: @vizamusic

UncategorizedAlexan Khatcherian, K'noup, Oud, Rock Music, Shant Bismejian, theoudplayer, VIZA

Ms. Information

January 11, 2023 by vizadmin No Comment

VIZA continues its musical journey, with the band’s next track ready for imminent release on January 14th, 2023 on Youtube as a lyric video premiere and everywhere else on January 15th. The second track from this new effort is titled “Ms. Information”, a punerrific commentary as a follow up to last month’s initial release “Yesterday”, with many more compositions slated for a continuous stream of releases over the coming months into 2023.

“Society has become an echo chamber of distorted truths and authentic deception. Not that it was never like this, but with social media and the birth of AI it’s even more prevalent now. Ms. Information was written as an anthem for those seeking clarity to an unjust system that has mankind on the ropes,” said frontman K’noup.

Listeners will love Ms. Information’s heavy guitars and rocking drums, accompanying the lyrical detailing of humanity’s wild and wacky current social environment. “When I wrote the lyrics to Ms. Information I wanted to give this very problematic issue an identity. The play on words made it easy for this to happen. Misinformation in itself is nothing more than the gossip previous generations dealt with but scaled to a much larger and more sinister degree,” added K’noup.

“Writing this song with Vaz as producer was refreshing. The ideas flowed out so naturally and we are thrilled to share it with VIZA nation,” said guitarist and songwriter Shant Bismejian.

“The moment I heard Shant’s demo I knew this song could be huge. Everyone’s contribution elevated the track more and more. I’m thrilled to be a part of it,” said co-producer Vazgen Norashkharyan.

“Ms. Information explores ideas that we all think about in the modern world – messaging and what is pumped out into society and how this can play a significant role in driving narratives in the world around us,” said oud player Andrew Kzirian. “And on a less serious note, I really love the experimental opportunity of soloing on the oud in a hard rock setting,” he added.

The team continues to work and is excited for the coming months where a substantial amount of new material will be shared with fans. Yesterday and Ms. Information are just the beginning of this new effort.

All new releases will be available on all major streaming platforms for your listening pleasure and/or purchase.

Make sure to stay tuned for more information and updates as we continue our work!

VIZA IG: @vizamusic

VIZA FB: @vizamusic

VIZA Twitter: @vizamusic

UncategorizedAlexan Khatcherian, K'noup, Misinformation, Oud, Rock Music, Shant Bismejian, theoudplayer, Vazgen Norashkharyan, VIZA

YESTERDAY

November 16, 2022 by vizadmin No Comment

VIZA is back at it again, teeing up new material for imminent release before the end of 2022. The first track from this new effort which will see daylight soon is titled “Yesterday”, with many more compositions slated for a continuous stream of releases over the coming months into 2023.

“The ideas just kept pouring out – sometimes on the oud and sometimes on the guitar – and in bringing this out to the universe it became clear that this kind of special feeling was back to create and record again,” said oud player Andrew Kzirian. “Emerging from the pandemic and what we all dealt with the past couple of years, in an odd twist, I basically wrote a substantial collection of material in the evenings and on weekends when the environment was a bit more subdued and quieter, and organized it all together along with scores of ideas from over the years that have been sitting dormant in laptop spreadsheets, mobile to-do lists and voice memos.”

“And most importantly – it’s exciting to start sharing them with the world,” he added.

When it comes to symbolic storytelling and compelling soundscapes, VIZA is no stranger to adventure and Yesterday is no exception. As a story of inseparable memory and deep, personalized emotion, revealing a weaving tale of two siblings and their experiences together over several years and stages of their lives, Yesterday incorporates classic VIZA elements such as soft, sweet sections of spiritual singing set against folky, dancey grooves, juxtaposed with intensely passionate choruses where the music intensely transforms into a life of its own.

“Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away…wait wrong song. Aside from the Beatles similarity within the title, Yesterday is classic VIZA built on a solid rhythm, honest lyrics and a catchy ear worm chorus,” said frontman Knoup.

The team has been hard at work and is excited for the coming months where a substantial amount of new material will be shared with fans. Yesterday, quite fittingly, is just the beginning of this new effort.

“I’m really looking forward to the release of this new song,” said guitarist Shant Bismejian. “And this is just the beginning, as we have several other new tracks we are recording right now,” he added.

Yesterday and all following releases will be available on all major streaming platforms for your listening pleasure and/or purchase.

Make sure to stay tuned for more information and updates as we continue our work!

VIZA IG: @vizamusic

VIZA FB: @vizamusic

VIZA Twitter: @vizamusic

UncategorizedAlexan Khatcherian, Duduk, K'noup, new music, Oud, Rock Music, Shant Bismejian, theoudplayer, VIZA, Yesterday

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