Jitters (

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 ...

: ''«Джи́ттерс»'') was a rock 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, which played mostly

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and

post-grunge Post-grunge is an offshoot of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid-1990s alternative rock bands such as Bush (British band), Bush, Candlebox, Colle ...

. The band was formed in 1998 and released the album ''Split Before, Together Now'' (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 ...

), as well as several EPs. In 2007, Jitters broke up and its members joined other groups: Konstantin Karman teamed up with Hair Peace Salon, and Ivan Barzenka and Pavel Kudrin joined beZ bileta.

History

Early years as a trio (1998–2002)

Jitters was founded by school friends Konstantin Karman, Syargey Kondratenka, and Eugene Vial in

, Belarus, in 1998. Inspired by the works of world-famous

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

and

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

groups

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Cornell switched to rhythm guitar in 1985, replaced on drums initially ...

the Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The ...

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AiC) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1987. Since 2006, the band's lineup has comprised vocalist/guitarists Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney. Voca ...

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

, and

Mudhoney Mudhoney is an American rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, on January 1, 1988, following the demise of Green River (band), Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner (guitari ...

, the trio acquired their first musical instruments and decided to learn how to play melodic, solemn, and

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

tunes. Their first performance was held at the Minsk club Alternative (later known as the A-Club) in 1999. Their debut promo CD included two English-language compositions, "Floating Light" and "Consumed". Oleg "OK" Klimov from the ''

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 ...

'' reviewed the disc and said the songs were written by "new romantics who have been down with

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 ...

". Thanks to the demo, the band was invited to participate in the national music festival Rock-kola in

Novopolotsk Novopolotsk or Navapolatsk (, ; , ) is a city in Vitebsk Oblast, Belarus. Founded in 1958, it is located close to the city of Polotsk and the name literally means "New Polotsk". In 2008, its population was 107,458. As of 2025, it has a populatio ...

in 2001. The following year, Jitters almost disbanded as drummer Vial emigrated and left the trio, while Karman began playing bass with the band Маркі. Jitters went on a half-year hiatus but returned with a new lineup.

Quartet (2003–2007)

In 2003, Jitters became a quartet. Guitarist and backing vocalist Aleh Vial and drummer Artur Luchkov joined founders Konstantin and Syargey. Both new musicians played in the

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

as well. The band won first prize in the category "Rock Music" at the Piirideta Muusika festival in

Narva Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia border, E ...

, Estonia, in June 2004, where Hair Peace Salon performed as well. In July of the same year, they participated in the Polish festival

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 ...

. For this performance, Volha "OSa" Samusik from ''Muzykalnaya Gazeta'' compared them to British rock band

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

In October 2005, Vial left Jitters in order to devote more time to Hair Peace Salon, where he sang lead vocals and played guitar. He was replaced by Ivan Barzenka, who had previously played in the bands

Rosary The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the ...

Paparis Paparis () is a village in the municipal unit of Valtetsi, Arcadia, Greece. It is situated on the northern slope of the mountain Tsemperou, at 670 m elevation. It is 4 km south of Athinaio, 4 km east of Anemodouri, 12 km southeast of Megalopoli ...

, Port Mone, and Па Глазам. In the spring of 2006, Jitters invited a new drummer, Pavel Kudrin, to record the EP '' Pick Me Up''. Luckov remained with the band as a touring drummer. Jitters spent 2006 playing frequent concerts and touring with Hair Peace Salon, Open Space, and Milque Twins. Together with Hair Peace Salon, they played the Polish festivals Rock bez Igły in

Tychy Tychy (Polish pronunciation: ; ) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, approximately south of Katowice. Situated on the southern edge of the Upper Silesian industrial district, the city borders Katowice to the north, Mikołów to the west, Bie ...

, and Fiesta Borealis in

Olecko Olecko (former since 1560, colloquially also , since 1928) is a town in northeastern Poland. It is in Masuria, near Ełk and Suwałki, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. It is at the mouth of the Lega (river), Lega river which flows into the G ...

. In 2007, Karman joined Hair Peace Salon, and the two bands released the split album '' Split Before, Together Now'', which combined ''Pick Me Up'' with Hair Peace Salon's ''Gipsy''. Music critic Alena Sobolevskaya from ''Muzykalnaya Gazeta'', in reviewing the album, wrote "The collective captivates with very intelligent but interesting and bold energy. Hooligan vocals insistently crawl through the ears, very confident arrangements give a pleasure".

Cessation of activity (2008)

On the eve of the release of the split album in 2007, Karman told xlam.by "We decided to temporarily freeze the Jitters project, and since we have been acquainted and on friendly terms with Hair Peace Salon for a long time, there were no obstacles to unification. We have been exchanging musicians previously. There will be two voices in HPS now". Pavel Kudrin and Ivan Barzenka joined beZ bileta. Barzenka later became the frontman of the funk rock band ContraBanda. Lead guitarist Syargey Kondratenka moved to

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Discography

* '' Promo Disk 2000'' EP (2000) * ''Promo Disk 2003'' EP (2003) * ''Promo Disk 2004'' EP (2004) * ''Promo Disk 2005'' EP (2005) * ''Jaded'' EP (2005) * '' Pick Me Up'' EP (2006) * '' Split Before, Together Now'' (split album with

, 2007)

Band members

* Konstantin Karman – lead vocals, bass (1998–2007) * Syargey Kondratenka – guitar (1998–2007) * Ivan Barzenka – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards (2005–2007) * Pavel Kudrin – drums (2006–2007) * Eugene Vial – drums (1998–2002) * Aleh Vial – lead guitar, backing vocals (2003–2005) * Artur Luchkov – drums (2003–2006) ;Timeline

Footnotes

Literature

* уклад. Дз. Падбярэзскі і інш

References

External links

Bandcamp page
{{Authority control Belarusian alternative rock groups Belarusian indie rock groups Musical groups established in 1998 Organizations based in Minsk Belarusian musical quartets Belarusian musical trios Funk rock musical groups Musical groups disestablished in 2007 Post-grunge groups Sibling musical groups Belarusian pop music groups Britpop groups English-language musical groups from Belarus