Superhiks

Superhiks ( _mk. Суперхикс) is a popular ska-punk and reggae band with occasional swing, latin and Balkan folk music elements from Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. They gained international prominence after appearing on MTV France and MTV Israel.

Biography

The band is formed by three high school friends: Petar Mladenovski (the frontman and bass guitar player), Boris Minov (guitar player) and Zoran Žežov (drums), up in the early 1990s, starting with mixture of ska and hardcore punk music.After several personal changes, today, the 6 membered band also features a 3–piece horn section consisting of trombone Branko Ilievski, trumpet Aleksandar Spasovski and flugel horn Dimitar Todorovski as well as drums and percussion set played by Darko Popov-Daro.

Superhiks shared stages with many world famous acts such as: Manu Chao and Radio Bemba, Fun Lovin Criminals, Fishbone, Tito and Tarantula, Henry Rollins, Rico Rodriguez, H-Block and many others.

The bands debut release, Čekaj be vikam, kade be malku (“Wait a second…”) was released on the Lithium Records label in 2000 and received radio air and TV play on all commercial stations nationwide. The album was reviewed in national and international publications and received critical acclaim for it’s distinctive sound and socially conscious attitude. The video for its third single Rade was shown on MTV France and MTV Israel as well as the other European TV stations.

Superhiks had appeared on numerous national and international compilations such as "Ska Generation" (BRP Records), "I Woke up in motion" (H.O.P.S. Contact Recs.), "Ska Factor Positive" (Ohoho Records) and others.

Their follow-up album Trumano was released in November 2003 again on the Lithium Records label. During the first month it was sold out in 25000 copies. Trumano's 4 singles followed "Rade"'s success and occupied all the radio and TV charts in Macedonia as well as the Balkans. The record is being supported by aggressive touring nationwide and around Europe in 2004. The tour finished with 3 hour show in their hometown Skopje playing in front of 5000 people.

In 2006 Superhiks released their third (live) album from their biggest concert. It was printed in 35.000 copies and it was sold out for less than 7 days.

Superhiks were awarded for the best Macedonian band in 2001, 2002 and 2004 and their Skopje Fair concert was awarded for the best rock concert in 2004 in Macedonia.

Trivia

The band got its name after Superhik (in Italian: "Superciuk"), a fictitious anti-Robin Hood character who "steals from the poor and gives to the rich" from the italian comic book Alan Ford that had and still has a cult status in the former Yugoslav countries.

Audio samples

* [http://www.superhiks.com.mk/old/mp3m/rade2.mp3 Rade]
* [http://www.superhiks.com.mk/old/mp3m/gol.mp3 Gol]
* [http://www.superhiks.com.mk/old/mp3m/nova_kaledonija.mp3 Nova Kaledonija]
* [http://www.superhiks.com.mk/old/mp3m/mister_birokrat.mp3 Mister Birokrat]

Video

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FldmOO1TbY Superhiks on Youtube]

ee also

*Music of the Republic of Macedonia

External links

* [http://www.superhiks.com.mk Superhiks - Official site]
* [http://www.lithiumrecords.com.mk Lithium Records]
* [http://www.myspace.com/superhiks Superhiks on Myspace]
* [http://www.muzika.hr/default.aspx?id=9968 Superhiks Live at Skopski Saem 11/06/2004 CD Review at Muzika.hr magazine] hr icon