Wednesday, June 25 2014

The Beautified Project, a well-known rock band, has risen up for the support of the Afrikyan building, which faces the prospect of being dismantled to broaden the roadway.    

"I do not want to make ashamed by the future generations for destruction of the beautiful 130-year-old building. How can we criticize our enemies if we ourselves display such an attitude to our own country?" says the band frontman Andre Simonian to ArmInfo.   

He says that to protect the Afrikyan building, The Beautified Project is ready to take any steps which do not run counter to the Constitution. "The Government violates the constitutional norms", says Simonian.   

The Afrikyan Club building is a monument of republican importance. In early XX century, before the revolution, it was an urban club visited by well-known politicians, entrepreneurs, artists and foreign guests.  

In 2004 the building was sold to a private company by the Municipality. In 2006 the Government took a decision to dismantle the building and change its location. The Helsinki Committee of Armenia and "Urbanlab Yerevan" NGO have applied to the Administrative Court of Armenia to declare the decisions of the Municipality and the Government invalid.  

The Beautified Project is an English-language Melancholic Alternative Rock band formed in London in 2005 by singer/songwriter Andre Simonian. The permanent members of the band are Andre Simonian, Armen Shaverdian, Arlen Shaverdian. The Beautified Project is the first internationally recognized English- language band out of Armenia. In 2006, The Beautified Project, Andre Simonian's solo project at the time, released its first demo album, 'Serenades for Insanity' in London. In 2008 the band recorded and released its first official album, 'Behind the Happy Mask'. 'Behind the Happy Mask' is the FIRST English-language album ever released in Armenia. The album gained much success that the band went on to release six official music videos off of this album, one of which went as far as being aired by the MTV and PMC. In 2010, the band released its 2nd official album 'Beyond the Butterfly' to a critical acclaim. The first single off the album 'Butterfly', became the band's biggest hit to date, gaining them a place on MTV. The success of the album was followed by several successful concerts in London, Vienna, Georgia and Armenia. During the band's UK tour, the international branch of BBC made a documentary about The Beautified Project.  In May 2011, The Beautified Project recorded a duet, 'Broken Smile', with the lead singer Mick Moss of the world-known English Melancholic rock band Antimatter. 
In December 2011 the band signed a deal with St. Mongoose Entertainment, becoming the first rock band out of Armenia who got signed with an American

Record Label. In 2011 The Beautified Project recorded a cover of the famous Armenian song KILIKIA which became the most watched rendition of that song on youtube. In 2012, The Beautified Project won a national award in Armenia as The Best Armenian Rock Band. In early 2012 the band made its first few steps in the American market by appearing on several American Radio Stations. In 2013 the band won The Ambassadors of Armenia in the World Award at Radio Van Awards. In 2013 The Beautified Project won an Award as The Best Armenian Rock Band out of Armenia. The Beautified Project released its new album, entitled 'United We Fall' in October 2013. The album release was followed by a European tour.