Unknown to No One

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Unknown to No One is an emerging boy band from Iraq formed in 1999 by founding members Shant Gharabedian and Artin Haroutounian who are of Armenian descent. The group is notable for being Iraq's pioneering pop group and because they formed under Saddam Hussein's regime.

1 Pre-2003 Invasion
2 Post-2003 Invasion
3 Band Members
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Pre-2003 Invasion

The brainchild of Art (Artin) and Shant, the group was originally formed in 1999, during the last years of Saddam Hussein's presidency. The duo dared to form a pop band where few had the courage to do so. They found the resources to produce their first demo song, with limited sound engineering devices. They eventually advertised for vocalists and recruited the other three members into the band - Nadeem Hamid, Hassan Ali and Akhlad Raof. They also decided on the name Unknown to No One.

They used to compose music on a keyboard, which they left in the trunk of their Volkswagen Passat. The vehicle was also their rehearsal stage, where they used to sing, especially when there was no one from the secret police following their actions. Promoting an English-singing band under such a regime was a risky thing. The group could not get any of their songs to air on Iraqi radio unless they sang for Saddam Hussein. So Art Haroutounian wrote a piece praising Saddam on his birthday. The song was aired for many times on the Voice of Youth radio program, but their original hit piece was aired only once.

Later a music record store owner offered them to produce an album. Depending on their own capabilities and without having any professional support they managed, with limited budget, to have eight songs recorded. Young people started buying their simple piece of work which was in display at the music record store.

[edit] Post-2003 Invasion

After the war broke out, the boys lost momentum at home but soon were featured in Western news programs achieving some stardom. A British talent searcher, Peter Whitehead, promised to promote their music, but he failed to secure visa for the group to travel to England. The boys experienced bitter disappointment. But with the old regime gone, new hope emerged for the pop group as people became more and more interested with Iraq's only boy band.

Today the band has managed to relocate to Great Britain and is hard at work at its first true professionally produced studio album.

[edit] Band Members

For a country torn into sectarian strife, Unknown to No One perhaps represents the opposite. The group band members consist of different ethnic and religious groups.