The Beautified Project – Kilikia

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bogyx7MWhs”]
I have been following “The Beautified Project” band for several years now and either my musical tastes have evolved, or the band has changed, but I’m growing increasingly more fond of their sound. The song, Kilikia, in their interpretation is just great and so I decided to take the chance and publish some info about them on this blog.
The Beautified Project band was formed in London in 2004 by singer/songwriter Andre Simonian. After releasing its first demo album ‘Serenades For Insanity’ the project moved to Andre’s homeland Armenia in 2006, where twin brothers, guitarist and back-vocalist Armen Shaverdian and pianist and back-vocalist Arlen Shaverdian joined the band as permanent members. Although the band has three official members, during their live performances they appear as five-piece, joining them a bass player and a drummer, both of whom are session musicians.
In May 2008 The Beautified Project released their first official album ‘Behind the Happy Mask…’ It became the first English-language album ever recorded in Armenia. It was produced by music producer Serj Melkonyan. The design of the album was handled by famous Armenian graphic designer Arvin Kocharian. It was nominated for ‘Best Rock Album’ and ‘Best Album Cover Design’ in 2009 Armenian Music Awards in California. The video for the song ‘Me and My Despair’ was the first video from Armenia which was aired by Mid-East MTV. ‘Behind The Happy Mask…’ went to become one of the best-selling albums of 2009 in Armenia.
In May 2010 The Beautified Project released their second official album, ‘Beyond the Butterfly’. The album was critically acclaimed by the Armenian media. Both the album and its first music video for the song, ‘Butterfly’, enjoyed chart success in various Armenian TV channels both in Armenia and abroad.
The band’s official blog is here and their Facebook page is here. There’s also an  hour-long interview with the band’s vocalist Andre Simonian here.