Punk Outlaw

Exclusive Video on the Russian Rockabilly Scene

// December 27th, 2010 // 4 Comments » // Videos

Ukraine's "The Wise Guyz"

During my trip to Russia last October, I was blown away by the intense rockabilly and psychobilly scenes in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

In Moscow, Viktor (AKA DJ Spaceman, AKA “the Jesus of Russian Rockabilly”) personally toured me around Moscow to witness the Russian rockabilly scene firsthand.

(L to R) Russian Rockabilly Fan, Punk Outlaw and Viktor

I interviewed a bunch of bands including this great rockabilly band from Ukraine, “The Wise Guyz” and a cool psychobilly band called “The BeatDevils”.

Check out this exclusive interview with Viktor and The Wise Guyz as they fill us in on the rockabilly and psychobilly scenes in Russia and Ukraine.

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Q&A On The Russian Punk Music Scene

// December 8th, 2010 // No Comments » // Photos

For those of you who may not remember, Vladimir Kozlov is a writer for the Moscow News and a local punk fan and historian. Unfortunately I did not get the opportunity to interview Vladimr when I was in Moscow last October.

However, he did graciously agree to clue me in on the Russian punk scene and history and I’m posting our interview below for you guys to see.

It’s full of some fascinating stuff if your curious about punk music in other places. Enjoy!

Vladimir Kozlov

1) DID THE PUNK SCENE EXIST IN THE FORMER USSR BEFORE THE FALL OF COMMUNISM?

I’m not sure if it is accurate to talk about a “scene”, but there were certainly punk bands in various Soviet cities. Until the mid-1980s, when Perestroika reforms were launched by Gorbachev, punk bands sort of belonged to the “underground music scene”, which comprised all kinds of music that were not officially accepted. Once some Western punk records made it through the Iron Curtain, people began to try to make similar music. Although they may not entirely understand punk ideology and culture, they certainly understood the protest component of punk. And their protest was – to some extent – directed against the Soviet system.

2) IF SO, WAS IT ILLEGAL? WHAT WAS IT LIKE?

Of course, there was no specific law saying that people shouldn’t play punk or any other particular kind of music. But bands outside the Soviet system were unable to play shows or release records. So, they distributed homespun records in Samizdat and played shows in people’s private apartments and sometimes, when there was an opportunity, at bigger venues – but that was outright illegal. Some people who organized illegal shows even went to prison for that, but that was a typical situation for the entire underground music scene, not just punk rock, which accounted for a very small part of it.

At the same time, Soviet ideologues were very wary when it came to things that were not in line with Communist ideology. And if they had problems with some quite innocuous rock bands, they sure had problems with what punk rockers did. Incidentally, there were some publications about Western punks in the Soviet press, depicting them as “protesters against the bourgeois and capitalist world.” However, when people here tried to do something similar, they were harassed, like Yegor Letov, the front man of Grazhdanskaya Oborona (Civil Defense), who was forcefully put into a mental institution for several months.

3) HOW DID THE SCENE CHANGE WHEN COMMUNISM OFFICIALLY WAS REPLACED BY A MORE DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT?

Changes began before communism was officially discarded. In the mid-1980s, thanks to Gorbachev’s glasnost policies, unofficial artists, including punk rock acts, got an opportunity to play shows. They weren’t welcome on television or radio, and there was still only one state-run record label in the country, for which putting out a punk record would be a nightmare. But that was still a major and irreversible change.

4) DID THE POLICIES OF PERESTROIKA AND GLASNOST AFFECT THE PUNK SCENE?

I already answered that – yes, people got a chance of speaking their mind, and the ideological pressure was relieved. Again, it applied to the entire underground music scene, not just punk. The punk rock scene – and it’s probably possible to talk about a scene starting from the late 1980s, – was relatively small. There was still a lack of information on what punk rock was actually about, so some bands who considered themselves “punk” and some “punks” of the period would hardly qualify as such. But that was a crazy time when everything was mixed up and everyone was confused, so that was alright.

5) WHO ARE SOME EARLY PIONEERS OF THE PUNK SCENE IN RUSSIA?

Around 1979-1980, there was a punk band called Propeller in Tallinn, Estonia, which many consider to be the first punk band on the territory of the former Soviet Union. The band was very short-lived and disbanded after recording an album illegally. There was some harassment from local Communist authorities involved, as well. But that was before my time and I only heard about the band years later. Another notable Soviet punk band, Avtomaticheskiye Udovletvoriteli (Automatic Satisfiers), was formed in St. Petersburg also around 1979-80, and they were probably the best known punk lineup in the first half of the 1980s. Their music wasn’t always exactly punk, but their looks and attitudes certainly were. Still, AU never really touched upon any political or ideological themes. In 1984, Civil Defense was formed, which I consider the best and most unique punk band that existed in Soviet or post-Soviet times. It was formed in an unlikely place, the Siberian city of Omsk, and recorded and self-released several homespun albums before getting an opportunity to tour. Unlike many other bands, they made very strong political and ideological statements in their lyrics.

6) HOW HAS THE SCENE CHANGED OVER THE YEARS AND WHAT IS THE SCENE LIKE TODAY?

With the arrival of capitalism, many punk bands found themselves in a tough situation. They weren’t commercial enough to become part of the new Russian show biz, but there was no alternative touring/record distribution system in place at the time, either. So, once ideological obstacles were no longer there, commercial obstacles arrived. And the public sentiment also changed. In the last years of the communist system, lots of people hated the system and were eager to embrace any kind of protest ideas, including punk. But once communism collapsed, most people were more concerned about survival in the new economic conditions and didn’t give a shit about punk. So, throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the Russian punk scene was small and basically underground. Later, a few acts had their big break and are now enjoying mass popularity, but they are punk only on the musical side. Their lyrics and ideology have little – or nothing – to do with original punk ideas.

7) WE READ A LOT IN THE U.S. ABOUT GANGS OF NAZI SKINHEADS ROAMING THE STREETS OF MOSCOW AND ST. PETERSBURG BEATING UP MINORITIES. IS THIS A BIG PROBLEM OR DOES THE MEDIA EXAGGERATE THE ISSUE?

It’s probably exaggerated, but the problem is there. There have been many cases of anti-minority violence, but you don’t always know whether it’s Nazi skinheads or a bunch of hoodlums with right-wing ideas. The authorities have recently cracked down on some right-wing groups, but I think the issue of interethnic relations is much more complicated and cannot be pinned down to just anti-minority street violence.

IS THERE A PROBLEM BETWEEN NAZI SKINHEADS AND PUNKS AT SHOWS?

Normally, there isn’t. Nazi skinheads go to their shows, and punks go to theirs. However, there is “war” between antifa punks and nazi skinheads which sometimes turns into violence at shows or near venues. The antifa movement here is rather small, and there aren’t many bands associated with the movement. However, several antifa activists have been killed allegedly by Nazi skinheads over the last few years.

9) DO PUNKS FACE HARASSMENT OR ALIENATION FROM THE POLICE OR GOVERNMENT FOR THEIR VIEWS? WHAT ABOUT FOR THEIR LOOKS?

I wouldn’t say there’s much harassment, if any. No one really cares about someone’s ideology these days, and police have gotten used to punks’ looks over the last 20 years. It’s not the 1980s when you could be detained for just sticking out among the crowd in your punk outfit.” You can face harassment if you are socially or politically active and get involved in sensitive or controversial issues, though.

10) DO THE ROCKABILLY, PSYCHOBILLY AND SKA SCENES MIX IN EASILY WITH THE PUNK SCENE IN RUSSIA?

They do, although I should say that those scenes in Russia are quite small. Even the punk scene is basically small. True, there are a few acts that are technically punk, which are part of the mainstream and are able to tour the entire country. But the vast majority of punk bands have small and mostly local audiences. Punk rock, except for a handful of acts, is not on television or radio, so bands’ options for connecting with larger audiences are limited. Russia’s territory is huge, and touring is expensive, so most punk bands have to limit their touring activities to nearby cities. Yeah, these days, with the development of the internet, bands have new opportunities for being heard, but it is still difficult.

11)   WHAT IS THE STATE OF PUNK MUSIC IN RUSSIA TODAY AND HOW DO YOU SEE IT’S FUTURE?

I guess, over the last ten years or so, punk music in Russia has been moving in the same direction as elsewhere – towards becoming pure entertainment. Little is left from the original punk ideology, and for younger generations, this is just another type of music, plus a style of clothing attached to it and some element of “trouble.” There are some exceptions, but not many. And, I think, this trend is likely to continue in the future. “Ideological punks” are a minority that isn’t probably going to be extinct altogether but their number is unlikely to increase, either.

12) WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE PUNK BANDS?

I already mentioned Civil Defense, which I consider to be the most influential Russian punk band ever. Unfortunately, it’s no longer around because its front man, Yegor Letov, died in early 2008. A band that in many ways epitomizes what punk is about and is currently active, is Adaptatsiya (Adaptation). It comes from Kazakhstan, not Russia, but they sing mostly in Russian and have a cult following here. Plus, I’d like to mention the St Petersburg based band Posledniye Tanki V Parizhe (The Last Tanks in Paris), which mixes punk ideology and aesthetics with profound and powerful lyrics.

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Exclusive Interview With Moscow Punks “Tarakany!”

// December 6th, 2010 // No Comments » // Videos

MOSCOW RUSSIA:

Here is our exclusive interview with the long running punk band Tarakany! (Cockroach).

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Last Night in Moscow – Video of Betty Boop Lovers

// November 4th, 2010 // No Comments » // Videos

MOSCOW, RUSSIA:

After "Betty Boop Lovers" Interview "Backstage"

My final night in Moscow was a Saturday night and I was to head to St. Petersburg the following day. I hadn’t planned enough time in Moscow and I ran out of time before I ran out of interviewees.

I had a few interviews that I really wanted to get including one of the old punk legends from the Moscow scene “Zhaber Punk” . “Zhaber Punk” and I had a communication issue with my Russian being non existent and he not speaking English, but mainly it was a time issue. I just didn’t have enough time in Moscow to secure an interpreter and garner the interview.

Also Vladimyr, a music writer for the Moscow Times and punk fan who wrote an excellent English language article about Russian Punk Music scene you can read from my previous post HERE. Unfortunately, Vladimyr and I made contact after I had already left Moscow.

Moscow Punk Band "Eorsi"

And then there was Dmitry from the Moscow punk band (Eorsi). Same as Vladimyr we also made contact after I’d already left Moscow. But I did get the chance to listen to Dmitry’s band at their Last FM web page and fell in love with their music, especially a couple of songs called “About Punk” and “Black Flag”. Give em a listen if you get a chance.

Eorsi has been around for 7 years and Dimitry told me they even had a “grenade get dropped” at one of their shows to which the Russian press completely ignored. Now that is punk! Maybe a little too punk?

Next time I’m in Moscow will definitely profile these guys for you. I’ll be sure to wear my flap jacket though. Keep up the good music guys!

Betty Boop Lovers @ The Real McCoy in Moscow

In the meantime, my last night in Moscow, my new rockabilly friend Viktor (AKA DJ Spaceman) took me to this cool little bar called “The Real McCoy” that was decorated like a speak easy from the U.S. in 1920s prohibition era and I might add, make a mean chicken burrito (not surprisingly, the only Mexican food I had while in Russia).

"Betty Boop Lovers" Interview

On this particular Saturday night the bar featured a bop inspired rockabilly band called “Betty Boop Lovers” . I was able to interview the guys in between sets and shoot some video of their performance which featured mostly covers but did include a performance of a catchy original called “I Can’t Touch” that I really dug.

Betty Boop Lovers

Here is some video from my last night in Moscow at the Real McCoy with my friend Viktor tearing up the dance floor to the Betty Boop Lovers. Enjoy!

STAY TUNED: Tonight is the long awaited return of Social Distortion here in New York City so look for photos and videos tomorrow! And then, FINALLY, I’ll feature some pics and videos as I made my way to St. Petersburg, Russia!

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Exclusive Video: Ukranian Rockabilly from Moscow

// November 1st, 2010 // 5 Comments » // Videos

MOSCOW, RUSSIA:

I promised more video as soon as I got near a solid internet connection so here we go. As I said in some of my previous posts, the rockabilly scene in Russia is pretty intense. And from the sound of “The Wise Guys” it’s a pretty big scene over in Ukraine as well.

The Wise Guys

These guys were at the Grease Bar in Moscow playing for an appreciative crowd of rockabilly and psychobilly fans who didn’t show any European reserve when it came to the dance floor. They flat tore it up.

Now I’m more of a punk rocker than a pure rockabilly fan… but I am a big Elvis fan and while rockabilly was well before my time, I do appreciate the raw musicianship of bands like “The Wise Guys” to play authentic rockabilly music.

Check em out as they play this little Elvis ditty “That’s Alright” to an enthusiastic rockabilly crowd in Moscow.

STAY TUNED AS WE MAKE OUR WAY TO ST. PETERSBURG NEXT!

PS Any drummers or bass players in the South Florida, USA area, hit me up with a comment on here. I have a myspace contact in a punk band that could be looking for your skills!

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Video from Moscow’s “Tarakany!” Performing “Cold Feelings”

// October 29th, 2010 // No Comments » // Videos

NEW YORK CITY:

Back in the U.S. after a travel day from hell yesterday.. 24 hours traveling from St. Petersburg to Moscow, then finally to my apartment in NYC. I slept like the dead last night.

Ahhh but home where the internet is fast, the weather is warm(er) and people (usually) speak English. It’s always good to be home, even after a great trip with some really cool folks like I encountered in Russia.

Tarakany! from Moscow

As I said the internet is faster so that means it’s time for a more video, a lot less words. I knew you’d like that.

As promised in my original post, here is a flip cam video of Tarakany! (Cockroaches) performing Social Distortion’s “Cold Feelings” taped on my first full REAL day in Moscow at their rehearsal.

And if you really want to see something cool, check out this other  video I found floating around on You Tube of Tarakany! performing the same ditty, but in Russian.. Now that I dig!

STAY TUNED: Next week, more video from Tarakany!, The Moscow Rockabilly scene and the punk and rockabilly scene from St. Petersburg.

I’m off to nap now.

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Moscow Madness: Cockroach On The Loose

// October 25th, 2010 // 5 Comments » // Photos

MOSCOW, RUSSIA:

Lets kick off our Russian trip coverage!

Disoriented, sleep deprived and confused. This describes how I felt when I woke up my 1st morning in Moscow.

Dima - Lead Singer for "Taratany" (Cockroach)

The day before, Dima, lead singer and one of the original members of the long running punk band (17 years) “Tarakany!” (Cockroach!), had arranged for me to attend their band rehearsal at 11AM  and I was to meet him at the Metro (subway for you New Yorkers) station at 10:45AM Moscow time (yup! that’s 2:45AM NYC time and to my poor unadjusted body).

What punk band, hell, what musician rehearses at 11AM? Well, as I was to find out Dima and his crew at “Tarakany!” are a hard working, disciplined bunch. Maybe that explains their staying power for so many years.

The guys were preparing for a big concert for their fan club and they don’t mess around. They rehearse hard.

The metro stations in Moscow are incredibly crowded and for the uninitiated and jet lagged, chaotic and slightly intimidating.

If you have ever been to New York City and experienced Grand Central or Penn Station at rush hour then you sort of, slightly get the picture.

Having never met Dima and only glanced his photo on MySpace and being without a local cell phone to make contact, I thought it would be a miracle if we actually were able to get together in the madness of this Moscow train station.

With Dima’s instructions to “meet in the middle” I wasn’t even sure where the middle was? The middle of what? Well, as I later discovered during my trip  this is a very common (and reliable) meeting place for Muscovites as the trains are the most efficient means of travel in Moscow, so almost everyone takes them as car traffic above ground is a legendary mess.

Now in Latin America it’s pretty easy to meet up with people I’ve never met,  because I’m obviously one of a handful of gringos, often the only gringo. But in Moscow, I could easily pass for Russian (until I spoke). So Dima and I each arranged to be wearing our respective CBGB’s shirts.

So I’m in the middle of the train station with my coat open to prominently display my CBGB’s thermal and Dima spots me right on time, 10:45AM. Another thing I was to learn that Muscovites seem to be very punctual, even musicians and yes, even punks!

Dima kisses his girlfriend goodbye and I try to keep up with the long legged (think Joey Ramone kind of tall and lanky), fast walking lead singer as we walk at an incredibly fast pace to rehearsal. Moscow is the only city I’ve seen to beat New York’s hustle and bustle… it is one intense city, even for and maybe especially for punk musicians.

Dima says he learned English like a lot of people I’ve gotten to know over the course of my travels for “Punktology”, from listening and playing American Rock music.

The rehearsal space is fairly typical and we pretty much have the place to ourselves (it is 11AM after all?!). It’s a very professional rehearsal space, complete with all the latest audio equipment and a “green” room to hang out in.

After some brief introductions to the guys in the band, they jump right into rehearsal and I’m thrilled when they rip into a kick ass version of Social Distortion’s “Cold Feelings” . It may be 3AM NYC time, I may be exhausted, jet lagged and confused but this gets me in the mood. Social D. is better than coffee!

Dima’s voice has a powerful, raspy and dare I even say slightly Mike Ness quality. He’s professionally trained and you can tell he’s dedicated to his craft. The whole band is.

They get right to it in rehearsal with very little horsing around and as Dima tells me, they will often rehearse 3 or 4 hours per day. Though they occasionally have to get other work to pay the rent (Moscow is an extremely expensive city), most of the time music is their full time gig and it shows.

I was really impressed with their work ethic. They barely took time for the interview in between rehearsal sessions.

I discovered these guys are not only hard working but damn good musicians. I guess years of rehearsals at 11AM pays off.

They rip through a couple more covers including a ditty from the Ramones “Poison Heart” and I think that is so appropriate because if I had to describe the style of these cockroaches, it would be Social Distortion meets Ramones meets Moscow. It’s a unique sound but with some familiar touches.

Next they tear into their originals of which they have a significant number including a new song “Dog’s Heart” which is due out this year.

As I said, we were able to knock out a very quick interview during a break in between rehearsal sets and Dima invited me out that night to a punk club with them where one of their friends was playing.

I really wanted to go but it was a case of bad scheduling because I had another commitment with Victor (AKA DJ Spaceman) who already had me scheduled for a pretty heavy agenda of interviews that evening, including a rockabilly band that made the trip in all the way from  Ukraine, whom I couldn’t disappoint.

I needed two of me, cause I’m really bummed I didn’t get to see the punk show that night and even more bummed I didn’t get to see Tarakany! perform for their fans on Sunday night. If it was anything like their rehearsal I know it kicked ass.

The band’s heavy punk sound suits my personal taste but alas, I have for you dear viewer a couple of clips from rehearsal, including their version of “Cold Feelings” by Social Distortion and “Dog’s Heart” their new song. Both of these are coming up real soon as soon as I find a wi-fi connection that can handle the upload.

I also have several of their CDs and I plan on getting a nice feature segment on them together so you’ll be able to hear more from these Russian cockroaches right here real soon so just stay tuned.

In the meantime I’d like to thank Dima and the guys from Tarakany! for their gracious hospitality allowing me to sit on an important rehearsal. So sorry I couldn’t make the show guys.

I hope you will be sure to check out their MYSPACE Page where you can sample more music and get to know the Tarakany! from Moscow, Russia. Who knows, maybe they’ll be in a city near you soon so look out for them.

Up next: I narrowly escape arrest by police as I clandestinely film an interview in Red Square. STAY TUNED!

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Moscow.. Let the Madness Begin

// October 23rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Events

MOSCOW, RUSSIA:

OK here is the deal. Moscow is 8 hour ahead of New York City so I’m waking up around 1AM to eat breakfast. Needless to say I’m usually going to sleep around that time. Thank God for sleeping pills.

My hotel is cool with one exception. VERY, VERY slow wifi in my room.

My Russian language skills consists of 4 words “Da (yes), Nyet (No), Spasibo (Thank You) and Vodka (Vodka), which I haven’t even partaken of yet, but hey when your this jet lagged I feel buzzed all the time already!  I feel like a narcoleptic (is that how you spell it?), I could sleep literally anywhere, anytime. Back on the caffeine wagon.

I tell you this so that you will be prepared that my updates will be delayed just a bit. Not quite in real time but since I”m a good 8-11 hours or so ahead of most of you cats, it could be just as well.

Tonight is my final night in Moscow and then on to St. Petersburg and already I have some great stories to tell, and some great punk and rockabilly music to share with you, good interviews, nice video, fun pics, you name it, it’s coming.

So be patient dear reader. Once in St. Pete and near some decent wi-fi, you’ll get the whole Moscow Punk Outlaw story including one involving an undercover police officer who apparently took exception to my brazen filming in Red Square. Since I’m writing this from my hotel lobby rather than a Moscow holding cell, you can probably deduce there is a happy ending involved. Ahhh but the trip is still young so stay tuned!

In the meantime, take my word for it, Moscow is one cool place with some cool punks and rockabilly cats and good stuff is on it’s way.

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Russia’s Svetlanas.. since 1977!

// October 19th, 2010 // No Comments » // Photos

What do you say about a punk band that’s been playing punk music since 1977?

What do you say if that band been playing for over 30 years in a country like the Soviet Union?

Well if you’re producing a documentary on the global punk music scene and traveling to Russia you say “these guys must have some stories to tell, I gotta get an interview and see them play”.

Ah but the punk Gods weren’t smiling on me this time, at least as far as Svetlana is concerned. Turns out while I’m in Russia, they are touring Italy.

Svetlanas

Which now makes sense as I found they they now live in Italy so I guess I’m gonna have to hit them up when I go visit my psychobilly pals “Evil Devil” next year.

But the fine folks from Svetlanas were nice enough to answer some questions for me about their music, their influences and the punk scene in general in Russia. As it turns out they’ve toured the U.S. before and are due back here next year so be on the look out for these guys at a venue near you.

Svetlanas

They also have a new CD coming out later this month. In the meantime you can sample some of their music on their myspace page.

Speaking of their music, I really liked this ditty called “Chernobyl Boy” which you can hear by clicking the link below.

Chernobyl Boy by Svetlanas.

Now what’s more punk or more Russian than that song?

And as you will plainly see by the interview below… the dudes (and dudette) are clearly not only talented and dedicated musicians, they are pretty damned funny too.

Enjoy!

Experiencing American Culture On Tour

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Russia – A Punk Preview

// October 18th, 2010 // No Comments » // Photos

As you may know I’m heading to Russia later this week to try and find out a little of the lowdown on the punk, rockabilly and psychobilly scene.  Russia is a BIG country (the world’s largest with 6.6 million square miles), I have a short time (8 days) and have just limited myself to the two largest cities (Moscow & St. Petersburg).

If you live in the U.S. you know how New York City is NOTHING like the rest of the country. Nor is Los Angeles or Las Vegas or Miami or any number of places a traveler who only has 8 days might spend in the U.S. In Colombia, the same could be said of the differences between Bogota, Medellin and Cartagena, really like visiting 3 different countries.

So I know I’m missing a lot of what Russia is about but as I said, I have 8 days not 8 years, so I am going to do the best I can.

Luckily, the response from Russia has been incredible with people emailing me and offering to show me around Moscow and St. Petersburg and eager to participate in the documentary “Punktology” so I hope by later this week, there will be some first hand photos, video and reports from Moscow.

In the meantime, I’ve made contact with a few punk rockers who don’t live any where near Moscow and St. Petersburg and I really wanted to try to at least get some of their point of view.

Now granted I can only really communicate with people who speak at least some English and this is not to be representative of the entire Punk culture in Russia by a long, long shot. This is just meant to help me prepare for my trip and my interviews and I thought might be cool to share with you.

So here goes. Sophia is a punk rocker that lives in Perm, Russia, a city of around 1 million or so located in the European part of Russia. She’s an English teacher (hence her excellent English skills) and a punk musician, having played in no less than FIVE punk and ska bands.

Sophia agreed to answer a few preliminary questions I had about Russian punk and they are below for your (and mine) reading enjoyment! Thanks to Sophia for taking the time.

As for me, I’m busy getting ready for what Russia has to offer. So wish me luck!

P.S. The ??????? are where Sophia is naming Russian bands using the Russian Cyrillic alphabet. The blog software won’t accept the names for some reason and turns it into ???? My apologies on this technical difficulty. I’ll try figure this out and fix.

Sophia from Perm, Russia

PO: HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INTO PUNK MUSIC?

SOPHIA: Well I was about 13 years old, and the first band I heard was Green Day. Then I went with Ramones and Sex Pistols, and some Russian bands like Purgen and NAIVE, I also listened to ????????? ??????, ????????, ????????? ????.

Discovering punk-music was kinda revelation for me, I started to search and listen to anything that people can call “punk” I knew this was MY cup of tea. And after like a year of being involved into punk I met my named brother Ramon and we decided to arrange our first band called HandGrAnade

PO: WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS?

SOPHIA: Nowadays among all the kinds of punk music my favorites are oi! and California punk (Green Day surely, Yellow Card’s “Ocean Avenue”, Blink 182, Offspring, anti-flag, Captain Everything!, Rancid, NoFX, MxPx, early works of A.F.I. etc & Cock Sparrer, Sham 69, Dropkick Murphys, Brigada Flores Magon and so on). But there are some other bands to my liking not connected with these genres, like Misfits, Mad Sin, Nekromanticks, The Cramps, Bloodhound Gang, Buzzcocks, Tiger Army, Dead Kennedys, Rollins Band (btw being a Henry Rollins fan now I translate his Black Coffee Blues into Russian)

Sophia's Ska Band "The FlashMOB"

PO: TELL ME ABOUT SOME OF THE BANDS YOU’VE PLAYED IN?

SOPHIA: As I already said my first band was called HandGrAnade (the mistake is made deliberately as there should be the anarchy symbol instead of the wrong letter “a”). Actually it consisted of Ramon playing the guitar and me singing. That’s what I started with, to tell the truth it was not really serious, Ramon and me arranged about two more bands and after that he became interested in the hippie culture, got involved into “Beatles” and things like that, as far as I know now he deals with psychedelic rock.

So when he left punk I stayed alone in my musical aspirations, but fortunately two more friends were near me that time and the last punk-band I organized with them was called “St. Patrick’s Days”, we even gave one concert and I still have the shittiest record ever taken there I can’t help mentioning that we played two covers on Rancid there, “Roots Radicals” and “Radio”. And if in the first bands all the lyrics was russian, for S.P.D. I started to write songs in English and working with music now I still prefer to write in english as I consider the language to be more preferable  for expressing the thoughts, though now I deal with music which is closer to ska and reggae.

PO: ARE THERE A LOT OF FEMALE PUNKS IN PERM, RUSSIA?

SOPHIA: Ha ha ha well, there are plenty of them I think, but in perm (and generally in Russia) people are not used to express their opinion really freely (it’s the consequence of mentality formed in the soviet time, it works subconsciously), so it wouldn’t be easy for you to find a girl with a mohawk in perm a guy – possible, a girl – I don’t think so. What is more Perm’s equivalent of punk culture is closer to the English variant of culture, than to the American. So our punk is connected with ska and indie better than with rockabilly or psychobilly, as far as I know we don’t have a single psycho/rockabilly band here (it’s for the question #9), so girls here (as the majority of the guys) prefer to look more casual as English traditional skinheads and mods did. It’s pretty and at the same time points out your belonging to a certain group of people.

PO: WHAT IS THE PUNK SCENE LIKE IN PERM? IS IT BIG? IS IT GROWING?

SOPHIA: Punk scene in Perm ha ha ha ha ha ha ha well, it’s one of not so easy questions, in no way it’s growing D: unfortunately, even local punk-bands perform very seldom here, they prefer to play in other cities instead. The problem is local again. In Russia the issue of the opposition of fascists and antifascists is very very sharp and it prevents music from developing. As for Perm, once upon a time all the punk-musicians were just labeled as antifa and all the music here almost died, because of constant derangement of the concerts!!!

First punk-bands appeared here in the beginning of the 2000s, the boom of punk fell on 2005-2007 when all our “legends” appear “Pretty Green”, “Linoleum”, “Frenzied Kids”, “Pleentoos”, “Grey Sunset”. After that the culture almost died away because of the “ideological issue”.

Nowadays we have three best punk-bands of Perm, they are like the punk-image of the city: “Linoleum” (punk/ska/core), “Pleentoos” (fast melodic punk) and “???????, ???” (punk-rock). If you want I can send you their CDs, or something. But they play only on some important punk-events in Perm, for instance when some bands from abroad come, as in 2008 “The Useless ID” visited us and all the three bands played with them, this year french band HOGWASH is coming and they are playing with them too. Frenzied Kids, a legendary punk/hardcore band doesn’t exist anymore, but everybody still remembers them. And one more local band deserves to be mentioned it’s Wild Rover it’s kinda punk’n'roll in English traditions and they play pretty often in the small clubs always creating cozy and friendly atmosphere, so their performances for local old punk-company are a sort of family reunion.

PO: DO PEOPLE DISCRIMINATE AGAINST PUNKS? (TREAT PUNKS BADLY?)

SOPHIA: This question refers us to the previous ones, #4 and #5 in particular. Cause as I said in #4 punks here look pretty casual, so ordinary people pay almost no attention to local punk-culture, but there’s an ideological problem. I can answer the next question too by saying that here the society doesn’t need to fight the youth cultures. They do it themselves. Dividing into different groups, for example fascists and antifascist, as I mentioned before. The most of punks disappeared here because one day everything got divided into black & white, left & right, fa & antifa. And lots of free guys had to make their choice. Cause if you are in the middle you’ll be hated by both. I personally had friends in both, left and right sides I just needed to be in contact with a lot of people as I wanted to develop my musical skills and I wanted to communicate with as many music lovers as possible. And surely I was hated by both. Right now the tension seem to go down in a way, but there are still a lot of problems connected with intolerance and irresistible carving of young people for destroying each other, being guided by some prejudice and double standards – the things that are naturally opposite to the punk itself.

PO: WHAT ABOUT THE POLICE, DO THEY EVER HASSLE THE PUNKS?

SOPHIA: Not really

PO: WHAT DOES YOUR FAMILY THINK ABOUT YOU BEING A PUNK ROCKERS?

SOPHIA: Hahahahah well my mom doesn’t pay much attention to it already (at first she was really scared) but she still hopes that I’ll forget it some day But I don’t think so, punk is not an image, it’s the way of life, the way of thinking so to speak, how can I refuse one day anything that makes me the person that I am

PO: IS THERE A BIG ROCKABILLY OR PSYCHOBILLY SCENE IN PERM?

SOPHIA: Unfortunately no There was only one band Catafalque Riders, but they performed long ago only once, and even no records are left after them.

PO:  WHY DO YOU THINK PUNK MUSIC IS SO BIG IN RUSSIA?

SOPHIA: Is it? Hahahahaha Well actually I think it depends, I personally wouldn’t say punk-music is big in Russia, among the famous punk-bands the best is NAIVE, nowadays they don’t play anymore, but Radio ???? are their worthy successors. These are relly well-known bands, speaking about the rest, even more or less known Moscow and St. Petersburg bands, well, you know Russia is a big country and I’m sure there are millions of punk-bands here, but there’s no punk movement, there are few guys with mohawks, there are few bands who play well. There is a try to copy foreign music, but there’s no really thoughtful background. It’s not enough at least.

PO: DO YOU THINK PUNK MUSIC CAN HELP THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE?

SOPHIA: Sure. What people need is to open their mind and let punk make them THINK.

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