The band was formed in
Pushkin, Saint Petersburg in 1986 by a group of friends, then students of technical colleges and young engineers, who shared the same interests in music, literature and theatre. The name
Neformalnoye objedinenie molodyozhi came from the Perestroika media lexicon and referred to the (generally derided) umbrella term by which the "reforming"
Communist party tried to "organize" (and this way control) whatever youth communities they deemed "informal" (and therefore potentially dangerous). and were surprised to find themselves among the laureates. In October 1988 Rodionov left to be replaced by Vladimir Postnichenko (alias Starikan/Gotlib Ulrich Tuzeast; ex-Orkestr Deda Mazaja, Bratja Gadiukiny) who used to jam with the band in his student years. Rodionov continued to occasionally appear with the band on stage playing flute, but retired after his health deteriorated (he died in the 1990s). In 1989 the
percussionist and
performance artist Yuri Saltykov (aka Ivan Turist) joined the band, thus completing what is considered to be its classic line-up. With him the debut '''' (Gross) album was recorded in the Dvoretz Molodiozhy Studios by producers Sergey Yelistratov and Andrey Novozhilov. it became an underground hit and made the band one of the most original phenomena of Peter[sburg]'s new rock scene. By this time N.O.M.'s musical language, initially fashioned in a rudimentary
folk rock/
cabaret style, started to harden and quickly evolved into a totally integral
post-punk meets
rhythm and blues kind of sound.), Sergey Butuzov departed, leaving a certain gap in the overall sound, which AVIA's Alexey Rakhov as a guest guitarist struggled to fill. Of the opener, "Nina" (by this time a live favourite), A. Gunitzkiy wrote: "…combining cool electro sound with fragments of delightfully crass phrases… [it] never fails to throw every possible kind of audience into the state of deep mental prostration." who pursued a solo career in 1995. The latter took him to France (where he married) and
Geneva Opera (where he continued to sing throughout the next decade). Several musicians tried to fill Liver's shoes, among them
jazz musician Yuri Sobolev (ex-Pangei) and Ivan Sokolovski (ex-Nochnoi Prospekt, Miagkie Zveri). In 1995 N.O.M. relocated to the Wild Side Club and played in Rock Side Festival, inviting Alex Rakhov and A. Liver for the occasion. Among the studio guests were Nikolai Gusev (keyboards), Zhenya Zhdanov (flute, AVIA), Alexey Popov (sax, Doo Bop Sound). Rakhov returned to AVIA to be replaced by guitarist Vitaliy Lapin (ex-Myshi). In 1996 N.O.M. released '''' (Masters of the USSR or the Monkey's Muzzle), a short film (first in the series of eight), which looked more like a compilation of early videos. The next one,
Made In Europe (1997) documented the group's European voyages. Their
Skotino-Rap (Bestiality Rap) video received the special ("For radicalism") prize at the Festival of video art staged by the Moscow
Exotica magazine. In 1996 N.O.M. opened for
Laibach in the Leningrad's Palace of Youth. Their "Ukrblues" received the
MIDEM Grand Prix at Cannes in the Low-budget video nomination. Lapin recording with both. According to Burlaka, it was "the battle of egos" that caused the conflict: Kagadeev-junior at this point was the band's frontman, while his elder brother its main songwriter. On 28 February 2009 N.O.M. performed at the Glavklub, playing songs from the forthcoming album. A week later the Moscow Ikra Club hosted the show. Originally titled '
(Brick into Stomach), it came out as ' (Above Everything) in October that year. In 2010 the band (now joined by the founder member Sergey Butuzov) started a series of highly successful concerts, playing the material from
In the Name of Reason and
Gross albums. On 20 October Sergey Kagadeyev's N.O.M.-Euro gave a one-off concert, the first in 11 years, in Moscow Ikra Club. In April 2011 N.O.M. celebrated its 25th anniversary with two shows in Saint Petersburg. On 8 May 2013 the new album '''' (In the Animals' World) was released. Later that month Sergey Kagadeyev left the band. He died on 9 September 2014 from heart failure. In October 2014 the studio album '''' (The Seven Mortals) was released, followed by a series of successful concert shows. ==N.O.M. lyrics and linguistics==