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N.R.M. is a rock band from Minsk, Belarus, founded in 1994. They are arguably the most popular rock band in the country. They perform in the Belarusian language, and are a rallying point for political opposition to the Belarusian government, despite a performance ban.
The band grew out of a previous group, Mroja (which means "dream" or "vision"), and N.R.M. stands for "The Independent Republic of Dream". Their music tends toward melodic hard rock with witty and often indirectly political lyrics. The band's albums and publicity materials generally use the "lacinka" alphabet, the Belarusian version of the Latin alphabet that was widely used alongside Cyrillic prior to the establishment of the Soviet Union.
Like several other bands that sing in Belarusian, they have expressed their opposition to President Alexander Lukashenka, although they have never mentioned him by name in their lyrics. N.R.M.'s largest crowd was in Kiev in 2005, when they played in support of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, with band members expressing their hope that something similar would happen in their own country. Rock Band Speaks to Generation of Belarussians (Article in Washington Post) A concert is a cry for freedom Rock-rebels saved by the dictator Belarus hardman drowns out the sounds of revolution (Article in The Times about NRM being banned from FM stations in Belarus) Official fan-club site Polish Embassy of N.R.M. (Official Polish N.R.M. Fan-club)
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