ABOUT
NEEDSHES is the alternative/indie rock artist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Otabek Salamov originally from Tashkent, Uzbekistan. His biggest influences stemmed from David Bowie, Queen, The Killers, Jack White, James Brown, RHCP, U2, a-ha, Amy Winehouse, Lenny Kravitz.
Bek started his musical journey in early childhood. He attended the music academy where he was awarded the first prize for his precision on clarinet. As a teen, his interests varied, and he was drawn to compose metalcore. He growled hardcore in nightclubs with the cross-painted face. One day he decided to dilute his hard album with melodic undertones. Soon he realized that the switch gravitated to his liking. He decided to create a new project, NEEDSHES. Bek gathered a traditional rock band line-up. In 2016 after several line-up changes, Ivan Petukhov (guitar) and Alexey Manakhov (drums) joined his team and made it possible for the sound created in the studio to fully sound live.
Someone once described him as a balancing act between the moody atmosphere of The Neighbourhood, with dainty anthems reminiscent of The Killers, a bit of the oddball nature of Jack White, and the heartbreaking ballad skillset of Coldplay.
Bek started his musical journey in early childhood. He attended the music academy where he was awarded the first prize for his precision on clarinet. As a teen, his interests varied, and he was drawn to compose metalcore. He growled hardcore in nightclubs with the cross-painted face. One day he decided to dilute his hard album with melodic undertones. Soon he realized that the switch gravitated to his liking. He decided to create a new project, NEEDSHES. Bek gathered a traditional rock band line-up. In 2016 after several line-up changes, Ivan Petukhov (guitar) and Alexey Manakhov (drums) joined his team and made it possible for the sound created in the studio to fully sound live.
Someone once described him as a balancing act between the moody atmosphere of The Neighbourhood, with dainty anthems reminiscent of The Killers, a bit of the oddball nature of Jack White, and the heartbreaking ballad skillset of Coldplay.
NEEDSHES' music has been featured in the major Lay's tv ad campaign in 32 countries of Europe, numerous Renault and LADA tv commercials, as well as international thrillers such as "Break," "She Sees Red," sitcoms, and cartoons. Otabek has won the contest Unsigned Only in 'Rock' genre with his song "Time to See," the Independent Music Awards in the category'Song Used in Ad' with the song "Unbelievable," second place in the International Songwriting Competition, and became the repeated finalist of the USA Songwriting Competition, John Lennon Songwriting, and The UK Songwriting Contest.
In 2017, NEEDSHES were selected by popular Russian radio MAXIMUM to perform at the XIX World Festival of Youth in Olympic Park, Sochi. In 2018, NEEDSHES performed at the main stage of the World Cup FIFA Fan Festival. The band has played an array of solo live gigs in legendary venues of Moscow and Saint Petersburg. In 2019, PopFarm invited them to perform as a special guest at the Moscow concert of You Me At Six.
In spring 2019, NEEDSHES released their third studio album "Truth Power," a call for awareness about the obvious truths, which are often ignored. With nine singles released since 2020, NEEDSHES has got an airplay on BBC Radio 6 Music, KUTX, idobi Radio, Amazing Radio, Hayes FM, as well as press reviews on PopMatters, American Songwriter, UPROXX, Alt Press, RIFF Magazine, POPMUZIK, to name a few.
In 2020-2021, NEEDSHES performed online at the socially distanced version of the MONDO NYC showcase, Sonicbids Home Festival, CMJ by Amazing Radio, NAMM Believe In Music Livestream (CA). Pandemic restrictions have made it impossible for bandmates to gather and rehearse regularly. This ultimately has led to the creation of a new format.
From mid-2021, Otabek is performing online as a one-man-band project on his hand-made live looping setup. He plays and loops drums, guitars, keyboard, flute, trumpet, clarinet, and world instruments all by himself. The 3-minute songs got new colors and turned into 15-minute flows of creativity and improvisation. One may catch his live shows once a month on Youtube and twice a week on Twitch.
The single "One Day" (November 26, 2021) has been featured by Spotify Japan Editorial playlist. It came with a beautiful retro collage animation video Otabek made in his home studio. His latest release, "Song for You" (February 11, 2022), is a dazzling Rock anthem about selfless love. He demonstrates an impressive sense of melody while using his distinctive palette of sounds. It's his most pretentious effort, he's singing to his strengths, and this release captures him at the height of his creativity. The sound evokes thoughts of Queen, The Beatles, Elton John, Tom Waits.
In 2017, NEEDSHES were selected by popular Russian radio MAXIMUM to perform at the XIX World Festival of Youth in Olympic Park, Sochi. In 2018, NEEDSHES performed at the main stage of the World Cup FIFA Fan Festival. The band has played an array of solo live gigs in legendary venues of Moscow and Saint Petersburg. In 2019, PopFarm invited them to perform as a special guest at the Moscow concert of You Me At Six.
In spring 2019, NEEDSHES released their third studio album "Truth Power," a call for awareness about the obvious truths, which are often ignored. With nine singles released since 2020, NEEDSHES has got an airplay on BBC Radio 6 Music, KUTX, idobi Radio, Amazing Radio, Hayes FM, as well as press reviews on PopMatters, American Songwriter, UPROXX, Alt Press, RIFF Magazine, POPMUZIK, to name a few.
In 2020-2021, NEEDSHES performed online at the socially distanced version of the MONDO NYC showcase, Sonicbids Home Festival, CMJ by Amazing Radio, NAMM Believe In Music Livestream (CA). Pandemic restrictions have made it impossible for bandmates to gather and rehearse regularly. This ultimately has led to the creation of a new format.
From mid-2021, Otabek is performing online as a one-man-band project on his hand-made live looping setup. He plays and loops drums, guitars, keyboard, flute, trumpet, clarinet, and world instruments all by himself. The 3-minute songs got new colors and turned into 15-minute flows of creativity and improvisation. One may catch his live shows once a month on Youtube and twice a week on Twitch.
The single "One Day" (November 26, 2021) has been featured by Spotify Japan Editorial playlist. It came with a beautiful retro collage animation video Otabek made in his home studio. His latest release, "Song for You" (February 11, 2022), is a dazzling Rock anthem about selfless love. He demonstrates an impressive sense of melody while using his distinctive palette of sounds. It's his most pretentious effort, he's singing to his strengths, and this release captures him at the height of his creativity. The sound evokes thoughts of Queen, The Beatles, Elton John, Tom Waits.
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