The rock band Balkandji was founded in the fall of 1999 by Nikolay Barovsky (keyboards) and Kiril Yanev (guitars). The idea for the style as well as for the foundation of the group was a result of long experimentation and joint work of the two in the field of musical synthesis between traditional rock music and elements from the Bulgarian folklore. The first song of the band - "Az tebe, libe, sum zaljubil" was inspired by the poet Kosio Nikolov who offered them to write a song based on one of his poems. The demo version of the song was recorded at Kiril Yanev's home. In 2000 the band participated with this song in the "Spring 2000" contest of the National radio "Horizont". In the mean time, as a side project, the group participated with two children songs in the contest "Parad na detskata pesen". The songs - "Vyatura" ("The Wind") and "Staryat Prizrak" ("The Old Ghost") won first and second place in the contest.

The activity of the group increased further as Alexander Stoyanov (drums and percussion), Vladimir Leviev (bass), Raya Hadzhieva (trumpet) joined the team. Parallel to composing and recording of the demos for their first album, the group again entered the spring contest of the National radio “Horizont" - Spring 2001 with the song “Krali Marko” (a hero from the Bulgarian and Balkan folklore) which climbed to number one. In the same year the song Kum taz Zemya("To This Earth") won second place in the contest “My reason to stay in Bulgaria”. In the fall of 2001 another side project of the group, again making use of folklore elements but this time based on electronic music, won third place in the contest "Computer Space 2001".

The opera singer Inna Zanfirova joined the group in November 2001. The style of the group was finally defined original music based on synthesis of folklore and heavy rock music. In the mean time the work on demo record for the first album "Probujdane" ("Awake") was concluded. Provoked by the offer to participate in a concert on November 29, 2001, Spas Dimitrov (guitar), Nikolay Traikov (drums) and Hristo Pashov (bass) were invited to play with the band, since at that time Alexander Stoyanov and Vladimir Leviev were studying abroad.

In 2002 Nikolay Barovsky and Kiril Yanev decided to produce the album on their own, because at the time the producers' interest in this kind of music was low. Since then more than 1000 copies were sold. The band began regular live appearances as part of the program of the club for original music O!Shipka. The percussionist Kalin Hristov (Katzko) also joined the group. The first appearance of the group outside Sofia (August 2002) was in the festival "Sluntze-Luna 2002" in the village of Trigrad in the Rodopa mountain. During the whole year the band toured the country as well as regularly performed in the club Mishenata in Sofia.

In 2003 the band recorded the song “Oi, Mari Yano”, which was included in the CD compilation "O!Shipka" produced by Toxity Records. In addition to the regular appearances in the club for original music the group also participated in a number of summer festivals including The Bikers' Fest in the village of Debnevo, the "Sluntze-Luna" Festival in the village of Trigrad, etc.

In 2004 Balkandji released it’s new single “Zvezdica” (self-released), including 5 tracks.

In the next 3 years the band focused exclusively on playing live - in clubs, various rock festivals, charity events. Three new members joined the group: Valentin Monovsky (tambura, guitars, vocal), Yavor Pachovsky (keyboards, vocal), Teodora Todorova (trumpet, vocals). The year 2005 was especially difficult for the band, as one of the founding members - Nickolay Barovsky was arrested and detained in Greece under false allegations of smuggling counterfeit money. After spending about 16 month in prison and under investigation he was cleared of all charges and returned to Bulgaria in January 2006. 2005 and 2006 were marked by club appearances in O!Shipka, Fans rock bar, and Maskata. Balkandji continues to perform regularly on the annual summer festival in Trigrad, as well as on the Sofia festivals dedicated to the great Bulgarian musician Georgi Minchev, the Day of Sofia and others. One of the highlights of 2006 was on December 1st - Balkandji played at a sold out show opening for the band Kultur Shock.

2008 was marked by some important concerts and events. On 6th March Balkandji took part in Tangra Mega Live III again as a supporting band of Kultur Shock. In the summer the band participated in the international music festival “Spirit of Bourgas”, On 20th November Balkandji made another successful concert as a supporting band of Haggard and Exciter. Together with bigger shows, the band continues with its club participations.

The end of 2008 was marked by a very important event for the band – its new and long-expected album “Zmey” (a kind of a dragon from the Slavic mythology), including 11 tracks plus a bonus remix. Written on three continents (parts of it in jail), recorded in three different studios, featuring 11 musicians, going through countless changes in song arrangements, and taking a total of 5 years to complete, due to a number of issues, the album shows the band’s progress in terms of composition and arrangement, as well as the accumulated studio experience. In short, this new album is representative of Balkandji’s concept of music.

Its promotion was on 13th December in club Toucan Bluzz&Rock in Sofia, and this was the end of one of the most successful years in the history of Balkandji. The new 2009 was celebrated with a concert in the same club on 3rd January.

You can find a fan-supported website at www.balkandji.org. Plenty of MP3s and video recordings from several live shows.

Source : http://www.myspace.com/balkandji