Russia's LOUNA To Release 'Behind A Mask' In April

No other rock group from Russia has exploded onto the music scene quite as rapidly as LOUNA. The band, winners of the 2009 "Best New Artist of the Year" Russian Alternative Music Prize (RAMP) and the 2012 "Female Vocalist of the Year" Nashe Award are poised to take over the American hard-rock scene with their new album, "Behind A Mask", in stores and available online April 30 via Red Decade Records and MEG/RED.

"Behind A Mask" will open the eyes and ears of the American rock music scene by showcasing the pure blistering talent of LOUNA and the soaring vocals of the band's lead singer Lousine "Lou" Gevorkian (in a world that has become immersed in autotune and over-production, "Behind A Mask" boasts true musical talent with only 10-15 seconds of vocal correction on the entire 45-minute record). "Behind A Mask" features 10 of the band's best songs from their first two albums and have been painstakingly adapted into English by American producer and lyricist Travis Leake (THE SLOT). The album was mixed by renowned producer/engineer Dan Korneff (BREAKING BENJAMIN, THE PRETTY RECKLESS, PAPA ROACH, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, PARAMORE) and mastering duties were handled by the legendary Ted Jensen of Sterling Sound in New York.

On March 26, "Behind A Mask" will be made available for pre-order and the tracks "Mama" and "Business" will be released as singles. This will be the first time that "Business" is released as a single anywhere. The accompanying music video for the first single, "Business", is one of the most expensive and elaborate productions in Russian music history according to the film company, InnerVision.

LOUNA's reputation extends beyond their musicality to include the focus of their personal passions as found in their lyrics and actions. They are the most commercially successful rock band of the modern protest movement (of which PUSSY RIOT has become the most internationally renowned). They donated their song "The Time of X" to the White Album project raising funds for PUSSY RIOT's support and defense. MTV USA came to Moscow in October of 2012 and featured LOUNA in an upcoming documentary about protest music around the world called "Rebel Music", which should air in the fall of 2013 on MTVU nationwide.

Formed in 2008 by TRACKTOR BOWLING lead singer Lousine Gevorkian and bassist Vitaly Demidenko, the idea behind LOUNA was to pursue wider musical ideas that didn't fit in with their original band. They recruited guitarists Rouben Kazariyan and Sergey Ponkratiev, and drummer Leonid "Pilot" Kinzbursky. After the release of their first EP, which lyrically focused on the many modern social problems that exist, they were quickly named the aforementioned 2009 Best New Artist of the Year at the annual Russian Alternative Music Prize (RAMP) awards.

They released their first album, "Let's Get Louder" in December of 2010, selling out every venue during their first national tour of Russia supporting the album. Two singles, "Fight Club" and "Let's Get Louder" reached #1 on the Russian radio charts, with "Fight Club" remaining in the top 10 for a record-breaking 16 weeks and also being named the 2011 Rock Song of the Year at the annual Nashe Awards. Along with this, LOUNA was nominated for Breakthrough Artist and Solo Performance of the year. Their second album, "The Time of X", released in February of 2012 has already produced a #1 single, "Mama", and their most recent single "People Looking Up" entered the Russian chart in the top 10.

LOUNA has performed on the main stage at every major festival throughout Russia. Earlier in 2012, they were invited to perform as one of the main headliners at the 50th-birthday concert festival honoring Russian rock legend Victor Tsoi of the band KINO, playing to audiences of over 15,000 people in both Moscow and St. Petersburg.