Deti Picasso

Deti Picasso was formed in Moscow, in early 2000 by Gaya Arutyunyan and her brother Karen. At the beginning they played alternative rock music with Russian lyrics and gained a fast mainstream success after releasing their distinctive music videos. Soon they found themselves playing at the main Russian music festivals and in the biggest rock venues. As a highlight of their early career they supported Depeche Mode and Massive Attack on their joint concert in Moscow. At the same period the band won the best newcomer band award, nominated by the prestigious Russian music magazine Fuzz. After several changes in the line-up, the band finally found its constant members in the person of Bogdan Bobrov (and Russian language lyricist), Vadim Kuznetsov (cello) and Alexey Filippik (bass).

In 2002 Deti Picasso released its first studio recording ’Mesyac Ulibok’. The album consisted of Russian songs and two compositions based on Armenian folk songs. Their first studio album strengthened their position on the local music market, but very soon lead to major changes . In 2004 the band released its second studio recording ’Ethnic Experiments’ which was based completely on Armenian folk songs. It immediatly lowered the interest of the domestic market, but opened gates for international success. In 2004 the band played its first concert in their native land, Armenia. In the same year they introduced themselves before an international audience, playing at the Sziget festival, in Budapest. The success of their second record was confirmed by numerous invitations for festivals and clubs all over Europe.

In 2006 the band released its third record ’Glubina’, this time based on Russian lyrics written by Gaya Arutyunyan, Bogdan Bobrov and Boris Poplavsky the significant poet of the Russian Silver Age. Despite of the fact that the album was named the best Russian language album of 2006 by numerous local music magazines, the band kept the fame underground, rather than mainstream success.

In 2007 and 2008 the two founding members of Deti Picasso, Gaya and Karen moved to Budapest, from where they continued touring Europe. Due to the geographical changes cellist Vadim Kuznetsov was replaced by viola player Ellina Khachaturyan and bass player Alexey Filippik by Hungarian musician Arpad Vajdovich. Between 2007 and 2010 the band toured in numerous European countries and released one more Armenian record called ’Turbo Mairik’. In the same period Gaya and Karen joined the Hungarian acid funk band Masfel. In 2010 Deti Picasso released a Russian language double album ’Gerda and Kay’, comprising illustrious guest musicians like German bassist Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten), Hungarian saxophone legend Istvan Grencso, trumpet player Lorinc Barabas, Slovenian bassist Nikola Sekulovic (ex-Laibach, ex-Demolition Band), Russian double bass player Vladimir Volkov, singer-pianist Tina Kuznetsova, Norwegian singer songwriters Erling and Bjorg Riibe-Ramskjell (Schtimm, AE).

In 2010 Deti Picasso temporarily disbanded and subsequently reunited again in 2014. The new band members comprise the Arutyunyan siblings as well as the Hungarian drummer Aron Porteleki and harpist Anasztazia Razvaljajeva. The release of their upcoming record is scheduled for Autumn 2015.

Most important festival appearences: Festival Musicas do Mundo (Portugal), Italia Wave (Italy), Sziget (Hungary), Rock for People (Czech Rep.), Pulse (United Kingdom), Fete De La Musique (France), Smeltedigelen (Norway), Prinsentuin (Holland), Trnfest (Slovenia), Era Nowa Horizonte (Poland), Nashestvie (Russia), Gogolfest (Ukraine), Tusovka (Finland).

Current line-up:
Gaya Arutyunyan – voice
Karen Arutyunyan – guitar
Anasztazia Razvaljajeva - harp
Porteleki Áron – drums, viola