Oleksandr «Fozzey» Sydorenko and Kostiantyn «Kotya» Zhuikov started at Kharkiv, Ukraine band called The New Houses on 14 June 1989. At the summer camp closing ceremony they debuted their band and later decided to re-convene at the start of the new school year. The first line-up:

Oleksandr Sydorenko — guitar, vocals.
Kostiantyn Zhuikov — bass.
Dmytro Semenko — drums.
Ivan Rykov — guitar.

Young musicians resided in the New Houses district, which is why they decided to give their band the same name.

Line-up in 1994:

Oleksandr Sydorenko — guitar, vocals.
Kostyantyn Zhuikov — bass.
Yaroslav Veriovkin — guitar.
Eduard Prystupa — pianoforte, vocals.
Maksym Lytvynenko — flute, saxophone and other.
Dmytro Semenko — drums.

The change of name was initiated by Maksym Lytvynenko who insisted that, since now there were people from different parts of Kharkiv playing in it, it should be called something else. On of the band's song was «Dance In The Kongo Square».

«Kongo Square in New Orleans is considered the birthplace of jazz. First it was a Black slave market, later — a place where Black musicians performed. Sticking with their melodious rhythms they produced spiritual and blues, which later developed into gospel and jazz.» (From «History of Jazz» by Ye.Ovchinnikov.)

Another explanation is in Patrikey Lisidze's «A Short History of Hip-Hop Music»:
«Break dance in itself wasn't a new thing. It had been described in the last century in New Orleans as „Congo square dance“. Black slaves gathered in the „Congo“ square — to chill out, enjoy themselves and compete in the art of dancing. The annual Mardi Gras festival was especially joyous place (it goes on till this day) where team competitions were held among different ethnic groups.»

In 1994 the band got down to writing a debut album. At same time Oleg «Fahot» Mykhailyuta was studying at the Kharkiv Conservatoire of Music. He readily agreed to play the bassoon along with the band at the «Young Stars of Kharkiv» competition.
That year UT-3 channel started broadcasting Privat-TV's «RAP-oboima» — the first TV-programme in the former Soviet Union about hip-hop culture. Fahot and Fozzey (nickname of Oleksandr Sydorenko) were its anchormans along with Flute.

At the end of 1996 band decided to take part in the selection round for the Chervona Ruta festival. Conditions for the selection process were three songs in Ukrainian.

So Tanets Na Ploshchadi Kongo became a Tanok Na Maidani Kongo (same name translated into Ukrainian). The band recorded its first original song in Ukrainian «Oto Take» («That's How It Is»), but was still missing one song for the competition. «Zroby Meni Hip-Hop» («Do Me a Hip-Hop») was put together literally in an hour two days before the selection for Chervona Ruta. The band applied for two categories in the competition — Rock and Dance and was awarded «Best band» in the dance music category.

Line-up in 1997:


Oleg «Fahot» Mykhailuta — vocals, arranging.
Eduard «Dilya» Prystupa — vocals.
Oleksandr «Fozzey» Sydorenko — vocals.
Kostiantyn «Kotya» Zhyikov — bass.
Yaroslav «Yarik» Veriovkin - guitar.
Oleksandr «Zee» Zenkovych — guitar.
Leonid «Lionka» Yermolaev — harmonica.

In 1998 the «Zroby Meni Hip-Hop» album was ready. The «Nova Records» company started working on its release. The album was made of songs and Gosha Arnautov's skits, which became band's trademark. The LP received loads of great reviews, nominations, prizes. The group was joined by Victor «Vitold» Korzhenko
In May 1999 a first video collaboration between the band and the director Viktor Priduvalov, «Zachekai» («Wait»), was released. This video was well-rotated in Moscow and the band started performing there. Most prominent were performances at 1998 and 1999 «RAP-Music» festivals where the band was awarded second and third places respectively.

In 2000 Leonid Yermolaev left the band, but recently Anton «DJ Tonique» Baturin joined them. «Neformat» album was released. The title «Neformat» was a reflection of the situation on the Ukrainian music scene. TNMK, high on the triumph of Chervona Ruta festival, were hit by the lack of acceptance from the media, and FM radio stations in particular. The song "Muscovites On The Radio" is stating that sad fact.

At the beginning of year 2001 the band started working on two albums simultaneously — the next studio one and also a compilation of remakes and remixes «ReFormatsia». The band was performing a lot all that time, playing open-air in Ukraine and frequently travelling to Moscow. There was also the first performance in Poland.

June 2004 was the most intense month in the history of the band. There was the release of «Voda», the release of «NeDilya», then the band took part in the well-known «For Bayar» reality show and then «Pozhezhi Mista Vavilon» («Fires of Babylon City») was released. The album was launched with an acoustic concert in the Kiev club «Babuin» and was possibly the best live performance of the band ever.
Then there was the French tour, then a truly phenomenal homecoming concert in Kharkiv, and then Dilya left the band to concentrate on his solo career. His last performance was on August 18 in Kiev and the following day the band played in Kirovohrad without him. That autumn two more albums were released «Jazzy Live» and Fozzey's ”MetaMoreFozzey”. So in total, that year the band had a maxi-single, a studio album, a live album, two solo debuts and four new videos.

In 2005 pianist Oleksiy «Liopa» Saranchyn officially joined the band and the band started working on the new album. «Syla» («Power») was ready by September 2005.

At the end of 2006 Fozzey released his second solo album «Mono MetaMoreFozzey».The band released two DVDs: a collection of all videos and the three part documentary «ShoPopaloShow».

See detailed history on their official website: http://www.tnmk.com.ua Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.