Awake is a Bulgarian rock band formed in 2002 at Sofia /Bulgaria/. The band, led by frontman and co-founder Ivan Ivanov, has gone through numerous line-up changes since its formation. Nowadays members of the band are Ivan Ivanov (vocals, guitar), Zhelyaz Zhelezov (drums), Petar Bratanov (guitar), Aleksander Nakov (guitar) and Emiliyan Bonev (bass).
The acclamation for the music of Awake comes in 2004 when Awake wins three awards from the popular Bulgarian radio station BG Radio. Two of them are from the contest "BG Talents" and the prize is just what the band wants - audio and video recording of their first rotated single. The song is “Za neya†/â€About herâ€/and it turns into a hit released in three Bulgarian music compilations. The third award that the band wins is from the annual BG Radio music awards 2005 in "BG Discovery" category.
Not only “Za neya†but another song – “Trapka†/â€Thrillâ€/ is released like compilation track. The name of the compilation is “Playlist†and includes 15 bulgarian rock and alternative tracks in their first ever print.
In the end of 2005, the band changes it’s drummer with Zhelyaz Zhelezov (ex Portocal, P.I.F.). That change is prompted by the new harder sound and direction of the band. Awake orientate it’s music to the big stage performances, turning back of the set full of cover songs. This moment is marked by the second single of the band – “Plain storyâ€, released in the beginning of 2006. The song is in English and it doesn’t reach the mass success of "Za neya", but this one earns to the band many fans of the rock music. “Plain story†is played by all Bulgarian rock radio stations and some online Medias like pulserted.com – UK. In the meantime Awake is already playing at the big rock festivals in Bulgaria and at Exit’06 /Serbia/.
On 17 of December Awake released it’s third single called “Little blissâ€, which gives the name of the debut album of the band, released later the same month. The album is produced by Pacific studio (owned by the drummer of the band) and it contains 11 compositions. Ten of the songs are in English. The only one in Bulgarian is “Trapka†in new unreleased version. Almost all of the songs are played on the live shows of the band and they are carefully selected from list with more than 40 songs. The exception is a song called “Verve†never played on the live show, before the release of the album. The song is the last one in the playlist and it is recorded days before the release of the album.
With the album “Little bliss†Awake uncovers itself as a modern rock band, influenced by the spirit of the classic rock of 70’s and the grunge music of 90’s, searching for it’s identity in the modern sound and vision.
Awake has frequent individual appearances on scenes at venues in Sofia /Bulgaria/ and province and in festival events like “Berkrockâ€, “Rock in Rilaâ€, Exit'06 /with bands like Franz Ferdinand, The Cardigans, The Cult, Billy Idol etc/, Apoloniya, “Rock School festivalâ€, Seattle Night etc.
AWAKE "LITTLE BLISS"
AWAKE "ZA NEYA"
AWAKE "AWAKE" LIVE AT EXIT'06
