Alexey Belkin, Alexey Skosyrev, Dmitriy Shikhardin, and Peter Sergeev worked together as buskers on the streets of St. Petersburg for about three years. The positive feedback from the listeners inspired them to officially form a band in 2003. Of the initial members, only Shikhardin had formal musical education; the rest were self-taught.[1] Initially the band was called Reelroadъ and they played The Pogues-styled Celtic punk, but later changed their name to Otava Yo and turned to Russian traditional music.[5]
In 2005 they released their first studio album, “Pod Aptekoj”,[6] named after their favourite street performance spot near a homeopathic pharmacy on Nevsky Prospect.[5]
Four years later, in 2009, Otava Yo released their second studio album, "Zhyli-byli", continuing into a musical direction they called "Russian beat".[6]
The band released their next album, "Rozhdestvo", in 2011. Containing traditional Christmas songs, it marked a deviation from their characteristic musical direction, that they ultimately returned to in their 2013 album "Chto za pesni".[6]
The band's breakthrough came with the video for the song “Sumetskaya”, featuring Russian fist fighters.[5] In 2015, “Sumetskaya” reached the No. 1 position on World Music Network’s February Video Chart, and had been viewed more than 12 million times on YouTube[4] - a number that reached 14 million in 2018, setting the record as the most-watched music video by a Russian folk band.[3]
In October 2018, Otava Yo announced their next album "Lyubish li ty?" had entered the mixing and mastering stage.[7] On September 30, 2018 the band released a video for a song from the upcoming album, "Kak na gorke, na gore" (Once Upon a Time on a High Hill), filmed at the Podporozhsky District in June.[8]
On 26 February 2022, Otava Yo announced that it would suspend its concerts in Russia and its upcoming tour in Germany, in response to the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.[9] The announcement stated, "[W]e all are unwilling participants of these tragic events... [U]nder these circumstances we cannot pretend that nothing is happening and continue playing our cheerful music." The group offered to refund tickets.
In April 2022, Otava Yo announced that they would return to concerts, including new dates for the concerts previously cancelled in March 2022 and dates for new concerts in other Russian cities.[10]
During their live-streamed Fall, 2022 concert on 6 November, they announced a forthcoming new album and suggested it would be released by an as-yet unannounced major label, with worldwide distribution.
