Unknown to No One

Unknown to No One is an emerging boy band from Iraq formed in 1999 by founding members Shant Gharabedian and Artin Haroutounian who are of Armenian descent. The group is notable for being Iraq's pioneering pop group and because they formed under Saddam Hussein's regime.

Pre-2003 Invasion

The brainchild of Art (Artin) and Shant, the group was originally formed in 1999, during the last years of Saddam Hussein's presidency. The duo dared to form a pop band where few had the courage to do so. They found the resources to produce their first demo song, with limited sound engineering devices. They eventually advertised for vocalists and recruited the other three members into the band - Hassan sent them a letter to the mail box they put in the advertisement the played on the local radio (V.O.Y) then Hassan's cousin Akhlad and their friend Nadeem joined and formed "Unknown to No One" or "UTN1".

They used to compose music on a keyboard, which they left in the trunk of their Volkswagen Passat. The vehicle was also their rehearsal stage beside some other members houses , where they used to sing, especially when there was no one from the secret police following their actions. Promoting an English-singing band under such a regime was a risky thing. The group could not get any of their songs to air on Iraqi radio unless they sang for Saddam Hussein. So Art Haroutounian wrote a piece praising Saddam on his birthday. The song was aired for many times on the Voice of Youth radio program, but their original hit piece was aired only once.then they released the 1st single ( fancy girl ) which was their 1st love song

Later a music record store owner ( Alan Enwia ) offered them to produce an album. Depending on their own capability ties and without having any professional support they managed, with limited budget, to have eight songs recorded. Young people started buying their simple piece of work which was in display at the music record store and they sold more than 2000 copies in 2002 .then after the war the boys had a big media interest and they did many interview with ( bbc´cnn´ruiters ´ap´and many more becos of that interest they were contacted by some english producers becos they had some potential hits in the demo album they did in 2002 ( hey girl ). However, that Western media interest brought some toubles also as after an American journalsit had interviewed Alan Enwia, Enwia was taken to intorrogation by Saddam's Secret Police. Then a British journalist found his way to one of the band members', Hassan, house and interviewed him. The next day, Saddam's Police paid Hassan's parents a visit and terrified them.

for more infotry www.myspace.com/utn1 www.utn1.comand also try to catch them on the facebook page ( utn1 fanclub)

Post-2003 Invasion

After the war broke out, the boys lost momentum at home but soon were featured in Western news programs achieving some stardom. A British talent searcher, Peter Whitehead, promised to promote their music, but he failed to secure a visa for the group to travel to England. The boys experienced bitter disappointment. But with the old regime gone, new hope emerged for the pop group as people became more and more interested with Iraq's only boy band.

In 2004 the boys lost the hope of producing some new music so they were disconnected for a while until they met with ( LCI) company who signed the band and moved them to Jordan and then London where they recorded (While We Can ) their first international song, which talks about the situation in Iraq. In 2006 they went to Lebanon to start a career in the middle east. They prepared and recorded their new English album in 2007 and they recorded the first Arabic hit ( Jamila ), which was one of the most popular songs in the Lebanese charts in late 2007

They are currently working on the second hit and also for the release of the English album.

Discography

Singles

* "While We Can" ( طالما نقدر )
* "Jamila" ( جميلة "Beautiful" )
* "Loughat El Ayn" ( لغة العين "Language of the Eye" )

Band Members

For a country torn into sectarian strife, Unknown to No One perhaps represents the opposite. The group band members consist of different ethnic and religious groups.

*Artin Haroutiounian is an Armenian Christian, vocals and keyboards.
*Shant Garabedian is also Armenian Christian, vocals and drums.
*Nadeem Hamid is an Iraqi Shiite, vocals.
*Hassan Ali Al-Falluji is an Iraqi Shiite, vocals and guitar.
*Akhlad Raof is an Iraqi Shiite, vocals and joza.

Former Member: Diyar Dullari, Sunni Kurd, vocals and guitar

See also

* Armenians in Iraq

References

* [http://www.utn1fan.webs.com/ UTN1 Fansite]
* [http://azad-hye.blogspot.com/2004/11/unknown-to-no-one.html UTN1 Blog]
* [http://www.utn1.com/ Official Site of UTN1]
* [http://www.azad-hye.net/news/viewnews.asp?newd=108 News on UTN1]