Roma Kenga

The first mentions of the Koala project appeared as early as the beginning of 2003, after the release of the tracks 'Stand Alone' and 'A Road Into The Summer,' which received good reviews from the music community, appearing in the playlists of most radio stations and tracklists of various artists in Russia and abroad. A year later, in May 2004, a release titled 'Koala – Imagine' came out on the British label Cuba Recordings, which instantly entered the world charts and brought its authors some specific, anonymous, but very noisy fame. The track 'Imagine,' written by the guys in one night in August 2003 and then practically shelved for 9 months, opened a new chapter in the project and the birth of a new star in the global electronic dance scene. Four days after the release's presentation on the radio Dynamite by DJ Fonar, 'Imagine' became the official anthem of the project 'Republic Kazantip 2004,' playing dozens of times every night throughout August on the dance floors of the Kazantip festival. Moscow record-stores Pitch and DJPro sold out two pressings of the vinyl 'Imagine,' and the track started to parade through the tracklists of not only international but finally Russian DJs, often unaware that the hit's authors were their fellow countrymen. Within three months, 'Imagine' received an incredible amount of praise from significant names in the club scene: Paul Van Dyk, Marco V, Satoshi Tomie, Jerry Bonham, Matt Hardwick, Flash Brothers, Sonny Wharton, C.O.F., Stuart Duncat, Marc Roberts, Plastic Fantastic, DJ Shields, Ben Lost & James Grant, D:Fuse, Andi Durrant, Tim Davis, DJ Fonar, DJ Koля, DJ Grad, and many other authoritative people, maintaining leading positions in their tracklists and charts to this day. On July 28, 2004, according to Internetdj.com, 'Koala – Imagine' took 2nd place in the Top 5 Ibiza 2004. The Koala project caught the keen attention and interest of British publishers, which led to the release of new records and albums by the end of 2004. On September 18, 2004, Organized Kaos & Bedrock held the 1st International Dance Music Festival Bedrock in Moscow, where Koala opened the event and performed at the Warehouse club alongside John Digweed, Luke Fair, and Jimmy Van M. On October 1, 2004, Koala participated in another Organized Kaos project - World Wide Clubbing alongside Antony Pappa. They also performed with Marco V, Tall Pall, and Different Gear. The last of five releases by Koala - 'Fantasy' was signed in early October 2004 on the label of Ben Lost, Lost Language (UK), literally a week after the track was created. 'Fantasy,' which is a hallmark of high-quality and typically British dance progressive, was written in one night and owes its largescale sound partially to the Bedrock festival, which inspired the musicians who participated in it. Already on the third day of its existence, Koala – 'Fantasy' made it into Above & Beyond's playlist aired on Ministry of Sound Radio.