The next headliner of One Caucasus Festival 2019 is An Gordonach! (Armenia)
An Gordonach! is a Scottish-Armenian rock project based out of Vanadzor, Armenia, the home of Armenian alternative music. “An Gordonach” is a traditional call in the Scots Gaelic language to members of Clan Gordon, the singer’s ancient highland clan from Aberdeenshire; it is said that Scots and Armenians share heritage and traits, so the name represented the energy and drive of the two nations.
The band was formed in late summer 2010 and quickly established its place in the Armenian underground, supported by talented metalists Vordan Karmir. The fast-paced melodies and genre-straddling offered a new sound for the Armenian rock landscape, and was hungrily absorbed by Vanadzor audiences, and the blend of punk, alternative, Britpop, and Scottish and Armenian folk harmonies was soon sought after in Yerevan and caught the attention of the alternative scene, as well as development agencies – An Gordonach! was selected to coordinate and perform at human rights events for UN agencies in November and December 2010.
The band’s music was initially inspired by folktale and literature; these underpin the lyrics and song structure of the band’s debut EP Animo non Astutia and album Bydand. However, the band moved in a more political direction for their next records, inspired by the reception of their protest song Gurr, which commemorated the events of the presidential election protests of 1 st March 2008, when 10 people lost their lives. EP Zaruhi focused on raising awareness on violence against women and girls and second album Crusaders went further to offer a blistering social commentary on corruption, oligarchic politics, etc. With the change in Armenian leadership following the Velvet Revolution, however, the band are planning a more melodic third album to for potential release in late 2020.
Join us at One Caucasus Opening Night on 22th of August and Stay with us in Tserakvi - the international center for creating new music initiatives.
