With more than just a passing resemblance to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and their own unique sound, Zdob și Zdub are not exactly your stereotypical act to enter the Eurovision Song Contest. Their major breakthrough to a wider European audience came in 2005 when they performed Boonika Bate Toba, gaining Moldova’s best ever placing, 6th. But the band have actually enjoyed a lengthy career already prior to that appearance, having released 9 albums, 2 of which are entirely in Russian. The line up of the band has changed over the years, but the present line up consists of Roman Iagupov (vocals), Mihai Gîncu (bass guitar), Sveatoslav Starus (guitar), Andrei Cebotari (drums), Victor Dandeş (trombone, accordion) and Valeriu Mazîlu (trumpet, bagpipe).
They formed in 1994, primarily singing in Russian with a much harder sound than their present one. In 1998, their music begain to change direction and undergo significant change, with the discovery of their own Moldavian roots and the switch from singing in Russian to Romanian. In 1999, arguably one of the highlights of their career was to take part in the Russian MTV party from the Red Square in Moscow, alongside major names such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Gorki Park. Another highlight for them was to be warm up act for Rage Against The Machine.
They have toured extensively throughout Eastern Europe, but also in Germany, The Netherlands and Italy. The music video of their song Bună Dimineaţa! was awarded music video of the year in Romania in 2001. Furthermore, their track Everybody in the Case Mare was featured in the short film Călătorie la Oraş in 2003. In 2007, they even were shown on the BBC series Michael Palin’s New Europe! 2011 sees the band once again set their sights on bringing home a victory in the Eurovision Song Contest to Moldova with their own unimitable brand of music, this time without the grandmother banging the drum.
