An Estonian rock fable

Take four highly motivated, slightly eccentric Estonian individuals, put them under heavy manners Soviet-style, and watch them grow..... into: a history teacher, a schlock tabloid newspaper editor, a fashion photographer, and a club/radio DJ. Then fuse their talents into an ever-shifting sonic creation, commonly known as a band.

Somehow this disparate group just had to be; coming together to share a common motivational force - subversion. Röövel Ööbik, for that was the name they chose, was formed in Estonia under Soviet rule in 1987.

Röövel Ööbik, which translates as Robber Nightingale, was once a upon a time a malevolent & mythical creature from the deep dark Russian woods whose song led everybody to an agonizing death. The evil birds methodology seemed to attract the young men at the time, who applied it to their creative vision.

Their subsequent collective vibrations carried them over land and sea to perform far and wide. From Finland on to Hungary and Poland, and even to the very bastions of Western pop culture. Firstly, in 1990, to New York and the New Music Seminar, then, in 1993, to London to record a legendary John Peel session for BBC Radio One.

In this guise, Röövel Ööbik recorded one album, entitled ‘Popsubterranea’, for Finnish label Stupido Twins, released in 1992.

Then, as Russia released its grip on Estonia the world opened up, Röövel Ööbik's sound and name mutated. New influences flooded in, jazz and funk, house, and drum & bass. The result was the album ‘Psychikosmos’ (1994)

After all that jazz the group became known as Una Bomba, sampling & fusing rock & electronica into a sound they called nihi-listening. That sound is encapsulated in their debut CD ‘Honeycombat’(1997- Plastilin?, 2000 Highpark records) and ‘Aerosol’ (2002- Umblu records) albums.

In 2004 the evil bird Ööbik rose, phoenix like & was reincarnated with new guitarist Sten Sheripov joining the lot.

In December 2005 Röövel Ööbik released their new album ‘Supersymmetry’ which has been highly acclaimed by Estonian critics. We think it deserves wider exposure, so please take a good listen!


The current four individuals known as Röövel Ööbik are:
∗ Tõnu Pedaru - vocals
∗ Sten Sheripov – guitars
∗ Allan Hmelnitski –bass
∗ Raul Saaremets – drums, beats & pieces