At the end of summer 2000
Aleksey Vorontsov (drums) and
Sergey Manus (bass) came to the idea of playing ska-music.A little bit later, ] after a little search, they met
Yuri (guitar) and
Aleksey Igumenov (vocals) .
Further, like in any other ska-band, there were some difficulties with the brass section, but at that very September
Max Shalimov (saxophone) and
Anton (trumpet) joined the band, but the latter one couldn't get acclimatized and left the band two months later.
Max Tchuvakov , who at that time played in the band
«Male Factors» , was invited to Anton's place. So the first structure of the band was completed:
Aleksey Igumenov (vocals)
Yuri (guitar)
Sergey Manus (bass)
Aleksey Vorontsov (drums)
Max Shalimov (saxophone)
Max Tchuvakov (trumpet)
Having got some play-list, the band took up thinking over its name, and some time later it was decided to take the name
«Gufs Brothers» . The first concert on March, 1, 2001 was given with this name. The bands
«Distemper» and
«Klopy» also took part in that gig. We can say that the first performance was full of enthusiasm and was a great success. It had great support from the audience and musicians' good rendering of their program.
But they had to change the name, because, as it turned out, there was already existing and giving concerts one more band with the same name. At that very time the name
«Shootki», that's been existed till these days, was invented.
One month later concerts with
«Malefactors» and
«Distemper» took place, and after some time a crisis and breakdown started in the band. It started whet the trumpeter left the band, then the bass-player, who was the one on whom a lot of things depended, and finally the guitarist. The remaining members of the band tried to find new musicians on advertisements, but it didn't bear fruits.
But in January, 2002 through their friends they found both
Vladimir Veselov (guitar) and
Cyril Kalinin (bass) , who were playing in a ska-band, that wasn't of great value at that time. Three songs of that band passed into the hands of
"Shootki" with
Vladimir and
Cyril : Mozgi (brains), Ska, Dusha (the soul), after a little revision these songs have become their hits. And in March, 2002 the band gave a concert in
«Distemper» and
«Necondition» .
After a few concerts they had to say good bye to their vocalist, and
Cyril started singin and playing bass-guitar at the same time. At that time a new trumpeter
Ilea Nikolayev came into the band, and, though not full, the brass-section was formed. Then there were a number of concerts in the clubs «Svalka (scramble)», «Estakada (scaffold bridge)», «Vermel». In the Autumn of 2003 the trombonist
Vlad Maximov joined the band, and the brass-section became full. In December that year the band set to recording their album.
The further history of
«Shootki» has elapsed in routine and rehearsal work. There has been a great amount of solo concerts. In spring of 2004 the trumpeter Ilea left
«Shootki» . After some time, full of concerts and fun,
DJ Pin (keys) , noted for his ska-disk-jockey activities and having played in the vanished into thin air project
«Second Head» , joined
«Shootki» .
However,
DJ Pin (keys) didn’t stay in the band too long and in the autumn of 2005 he left the
«Shootki» .
Alex Voroncov (drums) also left the band in the middle of 2006. No doubt he was the true leader of the group since the very beginning of the existence of the
«Shootki» .
With the group’s development came the realization that the band needed a trumpet for a better wind harmony. And in the autumn of 2006
Roman Tuchin joined the band. After a number of intensive rehearsals Roman played his first concert with the
«Shootki» in the «Vermel» club. During 2006 the band gave several performances in St. Peresburgh. But nearly six months later
Roman left the group and was replaced by
Dmitry Vybornov (also trumpet) . The latter was rather famous in Moscow ska scene for a countless number of projects and bands he had taken part in.
Today the structure of «Shootki» is:
Cyril Kalinin (vocals, bass)
Vladimir Veselov (guitar)
Nikolai Kurenev (drums)
Max Shalimov (saxophone)
Vlad Maximov (trombone)
Dmitri Vibornov (trumpet)
The music style of the band can be characterized as ska music with punk elements, but at present the group come off its usual style and is trying to play traditional ska music. The repertoire of the band includes instrumental songs. In October of the year before last the debut album of the band was released. It was spread by rather impressive edition. At present the group is working on the second album. «The Shootki» gives performances on tours and often plays at Moscow clubs.
