What does the Shibanski mean? It started out as a random word thrown out at an early rehearsal when the original lineup was discussing possible band names. But it has become a way of describing the shadow of Mina Demian, the man behind the Shibanski.
A prophetic voice once said that you can always sing secular music before dedicating yourself to religious music, but people will hate you if you do the opposite.
Mina started out singing in church choirs and Sunday school plays, thinking that that was the extent of music. But after discovering the blues in the back of a Fiat in the late 90’s, he realized that church wouldn’t be enough. 20 years later, he realized that he can live with people’s hate.
If his tagline is ”music in the key of pain”, the caption reads, ”gospel music for sinners.”
His raw stage presence, focus and intensity are distinctive, haunting, and intense. Mina’s sound has the growl and fire of the blues, tempered only by the smooth and sultry in his folk and soul vocals. His songwriting draws on tales of loss, regret, lust, rage, love, politics, all captured into direct, vulnerable lyrics. Every performance for Mina feels like it’s his last and he knows how to captivate an audience from the first bar.
The Shibanski’s first single ”(I Want to Seduce) Sofia)” - poetry set to a haunting funky R&B composition - is set for release on the 1st of May 2021. Two more singles and his first EP are in pre-production.