Dieter Dierks ( producer of “Scorpions”)
Great voice, great harmonies (I love harmonies), great band. It is all very impressive!When you told me that you did everything yourself, from financing, writing all songs, arranging, producing, recording, to creating all cover art as well as producing your own videos, I was even more impressed. I am glad to say, we became good friends.I’m sure you´ll make it very big and I would love to help in any way I can.
Much love
Dieter
SEVI are Svetlana Bliznakova – SEVI, Rally Velinov, Peter Petrov and Stone Angel.
Known as one of the most successful rock bands in Bulgaria, SEVI captured the public attention with their original and recognizable style, the powerful female vocals and melodic songs that can be often heard on the radio.
The band was part of the lineup of the biggest festivals in Bulgaria so far and has numerous concerts in Europe. Their music was highly appreciated by famous artists like Johnny Gioeli (Axel Rudi Pell), Thomas Vikstrom (Therion), Jen Majura (Evanescence), Luca Princiotta (Doro Pesch), who also participated in collaborations with SEVI in their albums.
Not only that but SEVI were invited to open the shows of the big stars like Europe, Black Stone Cherry, Tom Keifer, Nightwish and Evanescence in Sofia.
Story
Translated from Latvian SEVI means “Yourself” and if you dig deeper into the band’s lyrics, you will certainly find that the idea of being true to yourself, strongly embedded in their messages.
SEVI were formed as the dream of two people to have a band. Svetlana Bliznakova – SEVI (singer and songwriter) and Rally Velinov (songwriter, bass player), who previously collaborated on a number of solo projects, established the band in January 2010. Although there were many changes in the crew during the years, the core of SEVI kept on following the initial path and ideas.
The band started with original compositions from the beginning, not leaning on the well known cover songs formula. Against all odds, SEVI managed to catch the public’s attention right from the first single –“Can’t Stand the Pain”(June 2011). The band dreamed big and the video trailer of the song was the first music video trailer to be presented on cinema in Bulgaria. The song entered in the National Radio charts and also made it possible for SEVI to popularize their music outside of Europe.
They were chosen for “Band Of The Week” in Rock Symphony Radio (Lima, Peru) and the single was presented on WSF Radio (Chicago), Mani Moore Radio (UK) etc. Driven by enthusiasm and desire, the band released their second single, “Limited Edition” on the same year. The catchy riffs and lyrics and the interesting appearance of the band in the video caught the attention of public and media. “Limited Edition“entered the radio charts right away! The song stayed for more than 46 weeks at TOP10 and 2 weeks at Number 3 position of the National Z-Rock Radio – “Kamenitza Rock 40 chart”.
In 2012 SEVI caught the attention with the brave idea to organize themselves a festival, dedicated to the new Bulgarian rock bands. They called it “23 & 1/2h Rock it Marathon.” The event took place at bar “Rock it” on 17th and 18th March the same year and had huge success and massive impact on the Bulgarian rock scene! 30 bands in 2 days played on the stage of “Rock it”. The festival had a second edition on the following year with a bigger line-up and larger list of styles.
On June 14th 2012 SEVI released their debut studio album –“What Lies Beyond”. Inspired by the question “What Lies Beyond?”, the band presented the album dressed as pirates, who seek for new adventures and horizons and also decorated the stage as a pirate ship. That show put the beginning of a new approach in SEVI concerts. They wanted to be provocative and to give people a visual experience and show with all kinds of decorations and special effects. Right after the show, the band “sailed away” on a National Tour, presenting the album under the “pirate flag”. 2012 was a very successful year for SEVI. Not only they released a single, a debut album and managed to organize a second edition of their festival, but they released one of the strongest tracks in their future career. The song “Victim” was going to be a hit and the fan’s favorite track. It was released on November 30th (2012) with an amazing Acoustic Live that showed the soft side of the band and their creativity as musicians. The song topped the charts on Z-Rock Radio almost immediately and stayed at Top 10 for more than 12 weeks! SEVI continued the attack and right before the end of 2012 they presented a new trance project called “Shocked“, featuring Sugar DJ’s.
On February 13th 2013 SEVI released their first acoustic album and a DVD called “The Other Side Of SEVI”. The video was filmed during the premiere of “Victim” and the acoustic set led the band to a number of concerts showing their softer side.
In June 2013 with an extraordinary Route 66 show, SEVI presented the extreme video “Speed Up”, which was filmed on a truck, while moving around the city of Sofia during the opening of the motor season. Followed by the roar of Harley’s and free spirited bikers, the video is charged with passion, adrenaline, and the promise of boundless existence.
The band started 2014 working on a new album and serious changes in the crew. Оn April 23th 2014, SEVI presented their 5th single and video—“On My Own”. Written by Svetlana Bliznakova and the Italian singer Pino Biaggioli in 2006, now fully arranged by SEVI, the song turned out to be one of the most ambitious projects of the band and one of the most loved songs by the fans.“On My Own” entered the top of the radio charts and stayed for couple of weeks on number one position at the National Z-Rock radio chart – “Kamenitza Rock 40“! Summer of 2014 was very successful for SEVI. They were chosen to participate on Kavarna Rock Fest, where the international jury chose SEVI to open the night of Europe, Krokus, Gus G and Pretty Maids.
In July started the first European tour for SEVI. They made concerts in Greece, Italy and Serbia. SEVI participated on the Italian festival Pirates of Rock and played at the main stage of the Serbian festival Gitarijada just before the great Serbian band Riblja Corba. In February 2015 with a big concert in Sofia, SEVI presented the book “The Price to Be Yourself” written by the journalist Nikolay Hristov. Still in 2015 SEVI conducted a 4-month European tour inRomania, Itlay, Serbia and Bulgaria.The next big step came when they were selected for an opening act at the concert of Tom Keifer ( Cindarella ) and his band in Sofia.
SEVI kicked off 2016 with the release of their 6th video – single – “Don’t Hesitate”. The music video was aired soon after with great success on a popular video-share-websites and some foreign music televisions.
The song was part of the band’s second independent album “The Battle Never Ends” which is in sale since May 13th 2016. The album consists of 11 hard sounding and soul touching songs that challenge us to truly look into ourselves and our surrounding. Marco Barusso – engineer of Lacuna Coil – took part in the mastering of the album. Many other musicians chose to support the band with this album, including Luca Princiotta (Doro Pesch). SEVI’s new album has been praised by lead magazines throughout the World such as “Metal Hammer”, “Foreworks”(UK), “Powerplay”(UK), the Latin American “Rockmelodico”, “Barikada” (Bosnia & Herzegovina) and it was aired on radio & TV in Europe, Latin America, USA and Australia. SEVI made a 6 months tour to present the album with more than 30 concerts in Bulgaria and abroad. In September, they were chosen to open the first concert of Nightwish in Bulgaria. On 18th November SEVI released a second single from the new album called “Destiny”.
On 16 May 2017 SEVI opened the concert of “Europe” at Arena Armeec Hall, Sofia. Soon after that, SEVI released thе singles “The Call”, “Am I Alive?” and the ballad “Broken Wings” – songs from the upcoming new album “Follow Me”.
The album was released on March 09th 2019 featuring artists like Thomas Vikström (Therion) and Jen Majura from Evanescence.
In June 2019 SEVI released the video of the featuring song with Jen Majura “To Hell and Back”. Fast cars, fire, passion and strong guitar riffs. The song was very well accepted by fans and media.
During the summer of 2019 the band was part of the line-up of some of the biggest festivals in Bulgaria, such as “Hills of Rock, “Varna Rock,” and many others along with names like Disturbed, Avantasia and W.A.S.P
SEVI also played on couple of festivals in Greece, Serbia and Romania.
One more big step came in 2019th. SEVI were chosen to open the show of Evanescence in Arena Armeec on 11th of September. Jen Majura got on stage and played the featuring track “To Hell and Back” dressed in SEVI shirt along with the band. Almost 6.000 people were screaming “Sevi” & “Jen”.
2020 started with a new single “Shattered” presented officially on March 06th especially for the band’s 10th Anniversary show. The song is part of the band’s upcoming 4th album.
During the pandemic, the vocalist Svetlana Bliznakova recorded a duet acoustic version of”Song of Hope”(Crush 40) feat. Johnny Gioeli. The vocalist took part also in the debut solo album of Svetlana (“Tomorrow”) that was released the same year.
SEVI recorded another duet song with Johnny Gioeli, called “Drowning”.
In April 2021 SEVI started the new season with another stunning video from the upcoming album. “Dark Knight” is like a metal fairy tale, filmed in the fabulous castle Ravadinovo.
The spring of 2022 started with the release of the brand-new single “Hate You” which is expected to become part of their upcoming 4th album. The band worked on the track with the world-famous producer and songwriter Kane Churko, whose name stands along with the projects of some rock giants like Five Finger Death Punch, Ozzy Osbourne, Halestorm and more. The one and only Alice Cooper chose to share the track on his radio show page “Nights with Alice Cooper“.
Right after the premiere, the band hit the road on a short Switzerland tour with Johnny Gioeli and his band Hardline. Johnny then visited Bulgaria for the premiere of a new featuring song with SEVI – “Drowning”.
Right after that, the band took off on a tour with Geoff Tate(Queensryche) in Germany.
In the end of 2023 the band has just released their 4th album “Genesis” .
SEVI took off 2024 with a new drummer and a new guitarist presented on the brand new single “World That Doesn’t Fit”
The band is preparing a “Genesis” tour to support their new album with gigs in Switzerland, Italy, England, Belgium and more.