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SunStroke Project
Moldovan musical group
Moldovan musical group
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | SunStroke Project |
| image | Sunstroke Project Red Carpet Kyiv 2017 2.jpg |
| image_size | 300 |
| caption | SunStroke Project at the red carpet ceremony for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kyiv, Ukraine. From left to right: Sergey Stepanov, Sergei Yalovitsky and Anton Ragoza |
| origin | Chișinău, Moldova |
| background | group_or_band |
| genre | |
| years_active | 2007–present |
| label | |
| current_members | |
| past_members |
The SunStroke Project is a Moldovan musical group composed of Sergei Yalovitsky (vocals, composer), Sergey Stepanov (saxophonist), and previously Anton Ragoza (violinist, composer) until his departure in 2019. They achieved recognition after representing Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 alongside Olia Tira with the song "Run Away", and again in the 2017 contest with "Hey Mamma", finishing in third place in the latter. The name of the group was chosen by Ragoza whilst working in the army with Stepanov, after he had an incident in which he was affected by heat stroke whilst on a field exercise.
Members
Anton Ragoza was born on 6 January 1986 in Tiraspol, MSSR. He is the violinist and primary musical composer for the band. Previously he has conducted the orchestra of Chișinău and won a series of prestigious awards in the field of classical music. Anton has a wide experience in performing in bands which play in the modern electronic genre. He identified Justin Timberlake and Michael Jackson as musical inspirations.
Sergey Stepanov is the saxophonist. He was born on 3 September 1984 in Tiraspol. He currently lives in Chișinău, Moldova. His musical taste took contours on the music of artists such as David Sanborn and Eric Marienthal; and modern DJs like David Guetta, David Vendetta and Tiësto. He loves jazz though he also likes to experiment in vocal house, pop and R&B. He met Ragoza while in the Transnistrian army, and decided to create the band SunStroke Project. In an interview at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, he identified Russian saxophonist Igor Butman as his musical inspiration.
Sergei Yalovitsky is the vocalist of the band. He previously worked as a singer on cruise lines. He has won various awards for singing in Moldova and Romania.
Career
2007–2008: "Sunstroke" era: Early pre-vocal releases
Shortly after the band was founded in 2007, their first (and as of 2014, only) official album, Don't Word More.., was released. The album is very rare, and only a few tracks are currently known to have been a part of it. One track, "Scream", is known to be the predecessor to Scream released a few years later with Myslicky.
2008–2009: Pasha Parfeni era
From late 2008 to summer 2009, Moldovan vocalist Pasha Parfeni joined the band. Three singles were released during this few-month period. Each were produced by Alex Brashovean of the former Moldovan band O-Zone. They sang for the Eurovision 2009 pre-selection for Moldova, where they took the 3rd place with the hit No Crime. Nelly Ciobanu was elected to represent Moldova at the contest that year.
2010: Eurovision, Myslitsky era
"Believe" was the first new single to be released by the band with Sergei Yalovitsky as lead vocalist (A reworked In Your Eyes was the first single to be released with Yalovitsky). It was also their original entry to Moldova's national selection for Eurovision 2010 until it was withdrawn (as well as Olia Tira's entry) in favor of "Run Away". SunStroke Project together with Olia Tira represented Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "Run Away". The final of the O melodie pentru Europa 2010 pre-selection took place in Chișinău on 6 March 2010, with the song gaining the maximum 12 points from both the jury and SMS-voting. The song reached 22nd place in the contest. Along with DJ Alexei Myslicky, several other singles were produced throughout 2010. He later departed to form Offbeat Orchestra in Russia in late 2010.
2011–present: Touring, yearly singles and Eurovision Song Contest entries
Since 2011, SunStroke Project has toured extensively and has worked more closely with their longtime label, Sens Music. An entry was made for SunStroke Project and Olia Tira to represent Moldova in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest with the single "Superman" but it did not make the next stage of selection. SunStroke Project attempted to represent Moldova in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest entering with two songs: "Lonely" and "Day After Day", the latter with Michael Ra. Both entries qualified to the semi-final from the live audition round. However, as only one song could be chosen per artist, Sunstroke Project chose "Day After Day" to ultimately move forward. After qualifying from the semi-final, they finished third in the national final.
SunStroke Project attempted to represent Moldova in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest once again, with the upbeat electro-house song "Hey, Mamma!". The band came in first place after a tight voting procedure, qualifying them to represent Moldova in the Song Contest in May. They reached third place with their performance in the 2017 competition, giving Moldova their best result in the contest. On returning to Moldova, SunStroke Project was awarded the Order of Honour by the President of Moldova Igor Dodon. SunStroke Project were also featured in Season 2 of the Netflix series, Travels with My Father, wherein British comedian Jack Whitehall travels to Moldova with his father, Michael Whitehall, in order to meet and perform with the band.
In 2023, the band participated once again in the Moldovan national final with the song "Yummy Mommy" and placed second behind the winner, their former one-time lead singer Pasha Parfeny.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details | Don't Word More.. |
|---|
Extended plays
| Title | Details | Don't Touch the Classics, Vol. 1 | Don't Touch the Classics, Vol. 2 |
|---|
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | MDA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Peak chart positions for singles in Moldovan Airplay: | AUT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BEL | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Fl) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FRA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GER | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NLD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NOR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SPA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SWE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SWI | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "No Crime" | "In Your Eyes" | "Summer" | "Run Away" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (with Olia Tira) | "Play with Me" | "Walking in the Rain" | "Superman" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (feat. Olia Tira) | "Amor" | "Sunshine" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (feat. Deepcentral) | "Not Giving It Up" | "Lonely" | "Home" | "Maria Juana" | "Dam Dam Dam" | "Hey, Mamma!" | "Sun Gets Down" | "I Want You" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (feat. Broono) | "Amor" | "Boomerang" | "Mango" | "D.F.M.M." | "Рosomakha" | "Pepperoni" | "Rasstrelyay Lyubovyu" | "Shake It" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (featuring Fox Banger) | "Beloe" | "Cosa Nostra" | "Netflix & Chill" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (featuring Fox Banger) | "Champagne" | "Yummy Mommy" | "Ghostbusters" | "Dancing Like it's '74" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | *}} | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Don't Touch the Classics, Vol. 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Don't Touch the Classics, Vol. 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | — | 31 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Don't Touch the Classics, Vol. 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | rowspan="26" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | 149 | 27 | 49 | 56 | 52 | 70 | — | 89 | 18 | 55 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| *}} | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 36 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "*" denotes that the chart did not exist at that time. |
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Album | "Bad Girls" | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Olia Tira feat. Sunstroke Project) | "Go On" | |||||
| (Jucătoru feat. Sunstroke Project) | "Razorvu mechty" | |||||
| (Mila Kulikova feat. Sunstroke Project) | "Tocame" | |||||
| (Timebelle feat. Sunstroke Project) | ||||||
| 2011 | Non-album singles}} | |||||
| 2013 | ||||||
| 2014 | ||||||
| 2018 |
Promotional singles
| Title | Year | Album | "Spit" | "Rain" | "Skream" | "Believe" | "Sax U Up" | "Epic Sax" | "Scream" | "Listen" | "Sunshine Day" | "Set My Soul On" | "Party" | "Ce bine imi pare" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (feat. Alex Calancea Band) | "Look At Me" | ||||||||||||||
| (feat. Olia Tira) | |||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Non-album singles}} | ||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Don't Touch the Classics, Vol. 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Don't Touch the Classics, Vol. 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Don't Touch the Classics, Vol. 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Don't Touch the Classics, Vol. 2 | |||||||||||||||
| 2011 | |||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Don't Touch the Classics, Vol. 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | Don't Touch the Classics, Vol. 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Non-album single}} | |||||||||||||||
| 2016 | |||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released. |
Cover songs
| Title | Year | "Rise Up" (Yves Larock cover) | "Desire" (Michael Canitrot cover) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 |
Internet phenomena
Sergey Stepanov's saxophone solo in "Run Away" became famous across the Internet as a meme known as "Epic Sax Guy" or "Saxroll".{{cite news |title= Is this guy the Web's new rickroll? |first= Damon |last= Brown |url= http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/08/02/damon.brown.epic.sax.guy/
In December 2010, SunStroke Project appeared on the Moldovan TV programme Sare şi piper and sang a song titled "Epic Sax", named after the meme.
The phrase "Epic Sax Guys" forms part of the lyrics of the SunStroke Project's single "Superman", when they unsuccessfully attempted to represent Moldova in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest.
Stepanov himself acknowledged his viral fame playing the "Run Away" saxophone riff when the group was interviewed during the first semi-finals of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. During the performance of "Hey Mamma" in the 2017 contest, Stepanov again became a minor internet meme in the form of "Ultra Sax Guy".
In 2020, the video game character Jax got a so-called "friendship"-ending move in the Aftermath expansion of the video game Mortal Kombat 11, in which Jax was playing the sax in a similar fashion to Stepanov. The scene, titled "Epic Jax Guy", went viral with over half a million views on YouTube.
References
References
- Currinn, Jonathan. (4 April 2019). "Sunstroke Project Have Released Their First Single Since Being A Duo Titled "Boomerang"". CelebMix.
- link
- "Interview with SunStroke Project & Olia Tira (Moldova)".
- "Everything you wanted to know about Epic Sax Guy! | Moldova.org".
- "Sunstroke Project {{!}} Official Website - About".
- "Moldova: First semifinal tonight". BlogILKAR'S LIFE AFTER HELSINKI 2007.
- (6 March 2010). "Sun Stroke Project & Olia Tira vor reprezenta Moldova la Eurovision Song Contest 2010!".
- Honciuc, Bogdan. (17 January 2015). "Moldova: 24 semi-finalists selected after live auditions".
- Vautrey, Jonathan. (4 March 2023). "Moldova: Pasha Parfeni wins Etapa Nationala 2023 with "Soarele si luna"".
- "austriancharts.at – Discographie SunStroke Project". Hung Medien.
- "ultratop.be – Discografie Sunstroke Project". Hung Medien.
- "lescharts.com – Discographie Sunstroke Project". Hung Medien.
- "offiziellecharts.de – Discographie Sunstroke Project". [[GfK Entertainment]].
- "dutchcharts.nl – Discografie Sunstroke Project". Hung Medien.
- "norwegiancharts.com – Discography Sunstroke Project". Hung Medien.
- "Top 100 Canciones — Semana 20: del 12.05.2017 al 18.05.2017". [[Productores de Música de España]].
- "swedishcharts.com – Discography Sunstroke Project". Hung Medien.
- "hitparade.ch – Discographie Sunstroke Project". Hung Medien.
- (17 November 2024). "New music from Eurovision artists: 2024 Week 46 part 1".
- (21 December 2025). "New music from Eurovision artists: 2025 Week 51".
- "Mila Kulikova feat Sunstroke Project". SensMusicChannel.
- "Ce bine imi pare". Serghei Orlov.
- "Yves La Rock - Rise Up [Sunstroke Project Vandalism Remix]".
- "Sunstroke Project la Sare şi piper".
- (9 May 2017). "Eurovision Song Contest 2017 - First Semi-Final - Live".
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