Viza
Encyclopedia
Viza is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. As Visa, the band has released two EPs and two full length albums, along with an award winning music video. In the "De Facto" and "Eros" albums, the music is pervaded by sonorities taken from Armenian, Russian and Greek traditions blended with elements of rock and dance. In the newly released album, "Made in Chernobyl", Russian and Eastern European styles and themes take center stage. Viza describes itself as "a passport into a musical endeavor that touches its conspirators, cultural, spiritual, and literal influences, while translating them into a perfect balance of old world nostalgia, modern experimentation and social revival".
Viza is currently associated with Serjical Strike Management headed by Serj Tankian
from System of a Down
. With sold out shows in the US and Canada, Viza fans are now also tuned in around the world. In August 2010, Viza embarked on a special tour in Europe, opening for Serj Tankian’s “Imperfect Harmonies” tour in the cities of Yerevan, Athens, Hamburg, Cologne, Paris, Zurich and Bologna. Viza captivated their audiences with their edgy performances and experienced raving reviews from fans in every city.
As of March 2011 the band is in the studio in Los Angeles recording their sixth album, “Carnivalia” which is expected to be released sometime late summer.
On April 20, 2011 the band released their first single "Bake Me In Clouds" from the forthcoming full length CD titled "Carnivalia".
Viza is currently associated with Serjical Strike Management headed by Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer–songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, playwright, record producer, poet, and political activist...
from System of a Down
System of a Down
System of a Down, also known by the acronym SOAD and often shortened to System, is a rock band from Southern California. The band was formed in 1994. It consists of Serj Tankian , Daron Malakian , Shavo Odadjian and John Dolmayan...
. With sold out shows in the US and Canada, Viza fans are now also tuned in around the world. In August 2010, Viza embarked on a special tour in Europe, opening for Serj Tankian’s “Imperfect Harmonies” tour in the cities of Yerevan, Athens, Hamburg, Cologne, Paris, Zurich and Bologna. Viza captivated their audiences with their edgy performances and experienced raving reviews from fans in every city.
As of March 2011 the band is in the studio in Los Angeles recording their sixth album, “Carnivalia” which is expected to be released sometime late summer.
On April 20, 2011 the band released their first single "Bake Me In Clouds" from the forthcoming full length CD titled "Carnivalia".
Discography
- Visa (EP) - 2001
- Maktub - 2006
- De Facto (EP) - 2007
- Eros - 2008
- Made in ChernobylMade in Chernobyl'Made In Chernobyl' is the 2010 album by American band Viza. Compared to the band's previous efforts it utilises Russian themes and musical motifs.-Track listing:# Trans-Siberian Standoff - 3:33# My Mona Lisa - 1:46# Viktor - 4:38# It's All Wrong - 3:36...
- 2010 - Carnivalia - 12/10/11
Band members
- K'noup Tomopoulos - Vocals, 12 string guitar
- Jivan Gasparyan Jr. - DudukDudukThe duduk , traditionally known since antiquity as a Ծիրանափող is a traditional woodwind instrument indigenous to Armenia. Variations of it are popular in the Middle East and Central Asia...
, ZurnaZurnaThe zurna , is a multinational outdoor wind instrument, usually accompanied by a davul in Anatolian folk music. The name is from Turkish zurna, itself derived from Persian سرنای surnāy, composed of sūr “banquet, feast” and nāy “reed, pipe”... - Orbel Babayan - Electric GuitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, Tar, SazSazSaz can be a nickname for the given name Sarah, or may refer to:* Saz , a family of Iranian and Turkish stringed musical instruments* Sameh Zakout, rap artist* saz, the ISO 639-3 code for the Saurashtra language...
, Vocals - Shant Bismejian - Electric Guitar
- Andrew Kzirian - OudOudThe oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
- Alex Khatcherian - BassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Suguru Onaka - Keyboards, AccordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
- Chris Daniel - Percussion
- Hiram Rosario - Drums
Former members
- Johnny Nice - Guitar, Keyboards
- Carlos Alvarado - Guitar
- Danny Shamoun - Percussion