Krassy Halatchev

Electronic Press Kit

CHIWAWA is a rock/pop electronic duo with Laurie Gordon (vocals, keyboards, guitars, bass, toys), the daughter of Hungarian immigrants, and Krassy Halatchev (bass, vocals, guitars. drums, knobs), born and raised in Communist Bulgaria. CHIWAWA's sound is a fluctuating mood, a wave of changing winds, polarity in vast directions pointing to a single target - harmony! Lead vocals are equally distributed between the male and female singers. Instrumentation goes from sparse and gentle to abundant and manic. The band's forte is heavy grooves and visceral adhesive melodies. On stage, CHIWAWA electrifies with two or three, or four or more bodies, dabbling with instruments and computers, topped with a solo violin or a trumpet… Laurie met Krassy in 1991 when she answered a classified ad which read: "International Band Seeks Female Vocalist." What "International" really meant was four young Bulgarian immigrant musicians defecting Communist Bulgaria in a band called Ping-Pong. With Laurie they became Short Confession. Within three months of their meeting, Krassy was being deported and Laurie had "no choice" but to save the band. What started out as a "greencard marriage" blossomed from desperate measures into true love; Laurie and Krassy settled into the Bohemian culture of Montreal, Canada. in 1994 Laurie started her own band CHIWAWA with Luc St. Pierre (keyboards, programming). Krassy, now playing in The Clouds (former Ping Pong), filled in as a drummer for CHIWAWA. A couple of years later he became a permanent member (bass, programming). Soon after Eric Willis (guitars) also joined the band. CHIWAWA's debut album, "The Sick World Of Yona", was released in 1998; produced by Steve Whitfield (The Cure, The Mission.), it quickly became a hit with the critics. Despite a diagnosis with early breast cancer a week before the debut release, Laurie continued to perform and front CHIWAWA, writing songs and releasing Chimeres (2002), Bright (2005), Always About You (2007) and Bus Stop Chinese Buffet (2009). Laurie came through louder and bolder then ever and made a full recovery. CHIWAWA continued to write songs (not all released) with different songwriters and musicians, including Camelle Hinds (Paul Weller) Russ Broom (Jann Arden) and UK garage king Mikey Benn. The duo also worked with the late Oscar nominated animator Ryan Larkin on his final animation film Spare Change, which Laurie directed on Ryan's behalf after his death in 2007. Ryan was considered "the Frank Zappa of animation." Laurie's company MusiVision and The National Film Board of Canada were the producers of "Spare Change", which is based on Ryan's experience as a panhandler begging for spare change on the streets of Montreal. Ryan moved in with CHIWAWA in the last years of his life and came back to his art. A feature documentary film of how Ryan Larkin and CHIWAWA became friends, and together performed a small miracle will air on CTV Television early 2011. Delicious CHIWAWA music is featured in both films. CHIWAWA's latest album "Watermark" was released September 14, 2010. The first two singles from it ("Don't Twist My Mind" and "Calma Calma") are already making waves on the radio. Currently CHIWAWA is scoring the soundtrack for academy award winner Co Hoedeman's new animation film "55 Socks". The band is also preparing to commence work on a brand new feature film by a 3-time Oscar nominee Gerald Potterton. Future projects include 2 more feature films, beginning production in 2011 and 2012.