Open Space is a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

and

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band from

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. Formed in 2006 with an English repertoire and a few

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

songs, they later adapted mostly

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

lyrics. The band has released two full

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

s and several

EPs An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

and

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

, but in recent years the musicians play together mostly as a

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. N ...

. Since 2017, frontman Vitaliy Matievskiy has focused on his

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

duo Days of Days, and since 2018 he also writes music for his solo

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

project MATIVI.

History

Open Space was formed in 2006 by Seva Maslov (bass) and Vitaliiy Matievsky (vocals, guitar). They were later joined by Maxim Mestovskiy (guitar) and Andrey Malashenko (drums). In 2007 the band recorded their first demo EP ''Wake Up'' at the Graffity club in Minsk. They began performing regularly in Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. In 2008 they released the 5-song EP ''Beautiful''. In 2009 the band was nominated as Best New Artist at the annual Rock Coronation Awards in Belarus. In 2010 they won the award for Best Pop-Rock Band. Open Space released their first full-length album '' Deal With Silence'' on the local label

West Records West Records is a record label in the Republic of Belarus. Activity The company is engaged in production and promotion of the releases of Belarusian bands and performers. Many of the most popular Belarusian records of the 2000s, including the ...

in 2010. Also in 2010, the band played on main stages at the

Be2gether Be2gether or B2G was the largest annual music and arts festival in Baltic countries. Established in 2007, it took place in Norviliškės, Lithuania, just a few meters from the border with Belarus. In 2007, attendance was estimated at around 7,000� ...

and

Basovišča Basovišča or Basowiszcza (, , pronounced in Belarusian; Belarusian Youth Music Festival) is the festival of Belarusian alternative and rock music, which is annually conducted by the Belarusian Association of Students since 1990. The fes ...

music festivals. The EP ''Let It Go'' was released later that year. Their second full-length album ''Pressure'' was released in 2012. At the 2012 National Music Awards presented by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus and Capital TV, Open Space was honored as Best Rock Band.

Musical style

A columnist for the newspaper

Muzykalnaya Gazeta Muzykalnaya Gazeta was a Belarusian weekly newspaper that covered music and show business. History The newspaper was founded in Minsk by publisher Anatoĺ Kiriuškin (publishing house "Nestor") in 1996. Initially it came out once per week (lat ...

described the Open Space sound: “It felt like an overdose of

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

in the music. The only difference is that it is easier, more primitive, not so nice, and does not cling.” The band has been noted for memorable dance rhythms decorated with heavy guitars. The band has “clinging, catchy songs designed for a wide audience,” wrote the Belarusian music portal LiveSound, and “Open Space is a very strong band. The guys play great and will play for a very long time”. The same publication described the sound of the band as soft

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

, played very smoothly and professionally, though it is occasionally “boring”. In 2010 hosts from

European Radio for Belarus European Radio for Belarus (ERB; ; ), also known as Euroradio (; ), is an international radio station that provides independent news, information, and entertainment to the citizens of Belarus. It launched on 26 February 2006. ERB operates on FM b ...

noted that the band is often confused with

Hair Peace Salon Hair Peace Salon is a power pop band from Minsk, Belarus, influenced by Britpop bands and British indie rock. Hair Peace Salon's music is notable in Belarus rock music by its use of English lyrics. The group was founded in 1998, and they have r ...

and

Band members

* Vitaliy Matievskiy (lead vocals,

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

) (2006–) * Artem Buryakin (

solo guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featured ...

, backing vocals) (2013–) * Seva Maslov (

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

, backing vocals) (2006–) * Andrey Malashenko (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

) (2006–) ;Former members * Maxim Mestovskiy (

, backing vocals) (2006–2012) * Roman Sorakaletov (

, backing vocals) (2013) ;Timeline

Discography

* ''Wake Up'' (EP, 2007) * ''Beautiful'' (EP, 2008) * '' Deal With Silence'' (LP, 2009) * ''Let It Go'' (EP, 2010) * ''Bookseller'' (EP, 2011) *''Do You Remember'' (maxi single, 2012) * ''

Pressure Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and eve ...

'' (LP, 2012) * ''Сделай Шаг'' (single, 2014)

Participation in collections

*''«APS Sound» Volume 1'' (2012)

Press

Ultra-Music.com "Deal With Silence review", January 30 2010

Far From Moscow "Cambridge and Open Space: Pacific Fairy Tales and a Belarusian Happy Ending", January 6 2010

Rolling Stone #65 January 2010, Disc review

Far from Moscow "Open Space: Beautiful", January 23 2009

Adekvat.us Open Space - Beautiful review, May 2008

Livesound.by Boudless rock, May 2008

Relax.by Beautiful presentation review, April 2008

Euroradio.fm presentation review, April 2008

Relax.by press release for Beautiful EP, April 2008

Livesound.by concert review, November 2007

Xlam.by concert review, November 2007

Livesound.by disc review, September 2007

Press release for Wake Up EP, September 2007

British Spirit vol.1 concert, 3 May 2007

Livesound.by portal review, June 2007

Notes

{{Authority control Belarusian rock music groups Belarusian indie rock groups Musical groups established in 2006 English-language musical groups from Belarus Russian-language musical groups from Belarus