In 1974 Ankur Bohomir and Tomko Valsi met while attending the Ukrainian Catholic University of Ukraine. They sat around playing guitars and listening to such artists as the Velvet Underground , the Who, the Zombies- all the way to Zappa. They first formed a band called Opera Fantastic in 1975. They became very big in the already thriving Ukrainian indie music scene. In late '75 they were signed by a small label out of London called Dance Galour Records which turned into Furiosity Recordings which merged with Balloon Type Recordings thus bringing forth Balloon Furioso Records who ended up dropping Opera Fantastic. In early 1976, Opera Fantastic changed their name to Tapioca Antelope, which was inspired by a vision Valsi and Bohomir had while huffing lighter fluid mixed with Kool-Aid. They quickly became signed by Prelude Records for obvious reasons that shouldn't even need to be explained. After Recording their massive hit single 'You might have', Tap Ap was graced with another genius mind named Josyp Palvo joining the band.
Bohomir: bass, lead guitar.
Valsi: keys, guitars, percussion.
Palvo: percussion.
All three members sing and play other instuments.
In 1977 Capitol Records signed the three to Capitol Records. It took Tap Ap two years (after one year of touring) to finish their double platinum album, 'Dematriculation'. Which proved to be worth the wait; the purely orginal and inventive album is considered to be one of the most influential musical compositions of all of time.
Among Tapioca's followers are Joy Division, The Cure, Motorhead, David Byrne, and so on.
--Douglas Wolk..
