Leningrad is 20 years old, there is something to be surprised about. On the one hand, who would have thought that the St. Petersburg club art project under the patronage of Leonid Fedorov, a seasonal entertainment for the bohemians of both capitals, would eventually turn into the most sought-after player on the local music market? On the other hand, it is surprising that a group with such experience came to the anniversary not only at the peak of its form and demand, but also regularly makes sure that new songs become more popular than old hits. On the third hand, over these twenty years, Leningrad has reinvented itself several times, changing singers, styles, casts, clothes and spheres of influence, and as a result has turned into an extremely kaleidoscopic and universal entertainment, capable of answering almost any audience request - it’s hard to remember the second such Russian group that would work with such diligence for the public in in the best sense this expression.
By 2016, this publicity had reached such breadth that Leningrad had already begun to blame it. Leningrad has a reputation as a trouble-free team; they traditionally play everywhere and for everyone, which naturally causes irritation and accusations of indiscriminateness. Here, in fairness, it is worth recalling that the sought-after corporate parties, in all their alarming abundance, were initially not a sign of greed, but an elementary product of censorship (since under Luzhkov, Leningrad’s concerts were banned for a short time, and this was the heyday of the group).
In addition, “Leningrad” works with large area vibrations, which are initially designed for a certain omnivorousness. There cannot be an unpopular “Leningrad”, this is a betting group and, first of all, a mass phenomenon, Shnurov understands this very well, which is why at concerts he insists so much on all this orchestrated applause, sing-alongs and lights in the hall. The success of “Leningrad” is, strictly speaking, not praise or appreciation for it, it is rather an innate property, without it these songs simply lose their meaning, they were written for exactly this purpose. That’s why they usually listen to them for a long time, to the point of nausea.
“Leningrad” at one time taxied down this road on its own - without the patronage of major labels, without formal television promotion, without invited producers and radio hits (with rare exceptions, like WWW or “Music for a Man” - and even then they were aired in a suppressed form). In the Russian concert space, “Leningrad” has long gained a functional advantage, intertwining the features of a traveling circus, stadium monsters of rock and a ship disco. Leningrad's energy is based on completely fossil fuels - the group's concerts are truly archaic, there is a drive of purely animal origin, fueled in advance by numerous viral video clips.
Leningrad LLC is based on three principles - wit, stupefaction, social science. “Leningrad” is funny, wild and precise - the combination of these qualities makes it practically invulnerable to criticism: it is difficult to approach it with serious standards, and at the same time, it is impossible to make fun of it, because the group itself will do it for you. In the songs of “Leningrad” you can hear a lot of things, from rude to stupid, but there is and never has been any dirt or complacency in it.
The meaning of “Leningrad” is in the mood they once tamed and still retain, which Shnurov himself calls eschatological delight. “Leningrad” has privatized the very feeling of a holiday, this is its trademark, the shares of which are only rising. It is worth saying that this holiday is completely Russian. literary traditions- this is a celebration of a small, in general, person (which is most clearly captured in the video “Drinking in St. Petersburg”). Shnurov is often accused of mocking people, although he merely transforms the inertia of the usual local self-criticism into the energy of jubilation; and his notorious Louboutins also, paradoxically, came out of Gogol’s overcoat.
It would be more correct to define the Leningrad group as an orchestra. The brass section - trombone, saxophone, trumpet, tuba - in combination with xylophone, guitars, drums and Sergei Shnurov's vocals form that unique charm that makes them stand out from the rest. The melodies of their songs are a thermonuclear mixture of ska and Cuban salsa, Dixieland and chanson, obscenities and raw punk delivery; at the same time, all with brilliant irony and sometimes a clearly expressed social orientation of the texts. “Leningrad” is difficult to find a direct analogue, but in terms of energy and mood they are compared to Gogol Bordello and Tom Waits.The group first met on January 13, 1997. The musicians' original intention was to "play at each other's birthday parties."
Over the five years of its existence, “Leningrad” managed to explode the musical format with its furious fun. Without any visible effort, having created a cult status for themselves, the group led by Sergei Shnurov simultaneously pulled folk-punk from clubs to the largest music venues. The albums “Bullet”, “Checkmate without Electricity” and “Dachniki” have already entered the history of Russian rock. Crazy and often cynical songs, the dirtiest sound of a surf guitar mixed with a drunken brass band, nevertheless found an incredible number of fans. Social absurdity and shameless kitsch, multiplied by the sparkling energy of presentation, turned out to be exactly the potion/balm that Russian show business and consumers of its products needed. But even being drawn into this system to a certain extent, Leningrad continues to remain an informal group, and Shnur does not hesitate to spit on restrictions and openly expresses his views on life.
With an almost complete blockade of the songs of the Leningrad group on the part of radio and TV due to the abundance of profanity in the lyrics of the group’s songs, a deliberately careless attitude towards the powerful of the music world and the denial of all laws of show business development, by mid-2002 the group occupied all the official and official positions. unofficial charts and was treated kindly by all kinds of Russian music awards. The leader of this scandalous famous group Sergei Shnurov has turned into media darling No. 1 and is increasingly looking like folk hero, and the Leningrad group itself was dubbed one of the most important phenomena modern culture.
The album “Pirates of the XXI Century”, released on the S.B.A./Gala records label in the spring of 2002, brought the group to a fundamentally new level, turning Shnurov and company into megastars of Russian rock music. This album has everything we love about the band. Drive and irony, love and hate, jazz and hard rock, the album is literally filled with both already familiar and potential hits. Fun and without straining, “Leningrad” is still able to rip off - here this expression has only a positive meaning - any music that comes to hand. The track listing of the album includes both the ancient rock and roll hit C"mon everybody and the soundtrack "The Hound of the Baskervilles". The album includes the mega-hit concert action films WWW (by the way, this song took 1st place in the final hit parade “Chart Dozen” on “Our Radio” for 2002), “Motorcycle”, “I have everything” (a.k.a. “Full Pockets”) and the thoughtful hit “Up in the Air” When recording the album, she joined “Leningrad”. St. Petersburg group Spitfire, providing the album with a richness of sound and very unexpected turns.
The new studio album “Tochka” by the Leningrad group was released at the end of November on the S.B.A./Gala Records label. Preparations for the release were carried out in strict secrecy, and the company did not disseminate any information about the album until the day of release. After the release of the album “Pirates of the 21st Century,” the legendary band announced they were going on an indefinite sabbatical, and meanwhile were preparing new material.
Studio work took place in St. Petersburg. Most likely, “Tochka” will truly become the last Leningrad album recorded with the usual line-up. In the future, team leader Sergei Shnurov will probably record with the musicians of the band Spitfire, who also take part in his concert performances.
“Tochka” contains ten new songs and three bonus tracks. Among the things included in the album collaboration Shnura with “Disco Crash” “Where are your hands” and the composition Money, end-to-end theme song series “Money”, which was broadcast on one of the Russian TV channels in the fall of 2002.
The work on the video Money was taken over by the same team that created the scandalous famous video WWW, the main characters of which were Sergei Shnurov and V.V. Putin. In the summer of 2002, this video firmly established itself on the Internet and only then, at the persuasive requests of TV channels, it was formatted for TV, where it migrated. The video Money, like WWW, is made in flash technology. Among the characters in the new Leningrad video richest people Russia. This time, the now disgraced Shnurov will be accompanied by prominent Russian oligarchs and some odious public figures.
The group officially announced its collapse on December 25, 2008, due to the departure of Shnurov, who announced the creation of his own new group called "Ruble".
Current lineup:
Sergey Shnurov, Shnur music, lyrics
Vyacheslav Antonov, Sevych backing vocals, maracas
Alexander Popov, Puzo bass drum, vocals
Andrey Antonenko, Antonenich tuba, arrangements
Grigory Zontov, Umbrella saxophone
Roman Parygin, Shukher trumpet
Denis Kuptsov, Kashchei drums
Andrey Kuraev, Grandfather bass
Ilya Rogachevsky, Pianist keys
Konstantin Limonov, Limon guitar
Vladislav Alexandrov, Valdik trombone
Alexey Kanev, Lekha saxophone
Yulia Kogan legs
Denis Mozhin sound engineer
The new vocalist in the group is like new wife in the family, relatives (in in this case, viewers) do not immediately accept.
Florida: People really react painfully to everything new. We were basically ready. When did you go to your first concert?, none of the 8 thousand spectators were aware that in the group new girls, . By the way, we felt quite comfortable back then, as if this was how it should be, everything was taking its course. And then I started reading comments on social networks, a lot of shit was thrown at us: they say, bring back Vox, these girls are no good, mediocre karaochists, no voices... At first I was upset. And the next morning I discovered that several hundred people had signed up for me at once, who wrote words of support in direct messages and were happy for us. You just need to get used to everything new. Alisa Vox herself also worked in karaoke; she and I started together at the Plywood bar about seven years ago.It was immediately clear from her that she would make it through, she was very stubborn and purposeful.
Vasilisa: We will never sing like Vox, and Vox will never sing like us. It’s stupid to say “Leningrad is not the same,” because no one forces us to adapt to the performance style of Alisa or Yulia Kogan and present songs in such a way that fans would not seem to notice the substitution. No, Sergei introduced us to the public, and now new material is being written. We already have quite hit songs: I have “Sobchachki Glasses”, Florida has “Kolshchik”. In general, the main thing is that there is Sergei Shnurov in the group, female vocals add some chic, but changing girls does not make Leningrad any worse.
Florida: It's funny when they start making things up about us. My mother sent me an article that said that our names are actually Angela and Snezhana, and that we were seen in some bathhouse, where we danced a striptease on a pole.
Vasilisa: I practiced on the pole for some time, as sports load. Yes, I’ve been to the bathhouse too,detox, that's all. Noh neithersimultaneously(laughs).
Florida: And by the way, Florida is my real name. In her youth, my mother went on a cruise on a ship and heard some woman calling her daughter that name. So, no pseudonyms.
How did your parents react to the fact that you are now singing obscenities on stage?
Vasilisa: It's normal, this is creativity. In my life I don’t swear. Besides, I don't drink or smoke.My mom has always supported me. True, I was upset when I left the conservatory, but there was clearly no place for me there: everyone was so classical, academic opera singers, and I came either with a green bouffant on my head or with a pink hairstyle. Local freak. My mother and I agreed a long time ago that I would bring her a diploma of education, at least some kind, and calmly engage in creativity, make music. As a result, I am a pastry chef by training, and I can bake buns. And now I’m also a member of the coolest Russian group.
Florida: I also adhere to a healthy lifestyle. After the castingI introduced my mother to the group’s work; at first she didn’t understand, but then she got into it. On March 30, on my birthday, my mother came to a concert in Chelyabinsk,when the performance ended, sheShe said she was proud of me. I cried.
Have you met Matilda, Sergei's wife?
Florida: Yes, even at the first rehearsal. She treated us very kindly and gave us style recommendations.
Vasilisa: For the first concert, Sergei and I went to DLT to choose costumes, it was wildly fun.
Florida: We also visited, and it was very tasty. The only thing I didn’t like was black caviar, I tried it for the first time. Sergei said that we need to get used to it.
What was it like to wake up famous?
F lorida: This did not happen overnight, but recent events are indeed developing rapidly. We had six concerts, and while I still catch flashbacks every time: here I am standing on stage inJelsominoand I sing along to the uneven, drunken “I can’t live without her, I’ll scream: “This is mine!”, But here I am already on stage, in front of me is a thousand-strong audience. And it seems like the lines are the same, but everything is completely different.
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It would be more correct to define the Leningrad group as an orchestra. The brass section - trombone, saxophone, trumpet, tuba - in combination with the xylophone, guitars, drums and vocals of Sergei Shnurov form that unique charm that sharply sets them apart from the rest. The melodies of their songs are a thermonuclear mixture of ska and Cuban salsa, Dixieland and chanson, obscenities and raw punk delivery; at the same time, all with brilliant irony and sometimes a clearly expressed social orientation of the texts.
The group first met on January 13, 1997. The musicians' original intention was to "play at each other's birthday parties."
Over the five years of its existence, “Leningrad” managed to explode the musical format with its furious fun. Without any visible effort, having created a cult status for themselves, the group led by Sergei Shnurov simultaneously pulled folk-punk from clubs to the largest music venues. The albums “Bullet”, “Checkmate without Electricity” and “Dachniki” have already entered the history of Russian rock. Crazy and often cynical songs, the dirtiest sound of a surf guitar mixed with a drunken brass band, nevertheless found an incredible number of fans. Social absurdity and shameless kitsch, multiplied by the sparkling energy of presentation, turned out to be exactly the potion/balm that Russian show business and consumers of its products needed. But even being drawn into this system to a certain extent, Leningrad continues to remain an informal group, and Shnur does not hesitate to spit on restrictions and openly expresses his views on life.
With an almost complete blockade of the songs of the Leningrad group on the part of radio and TV due to the abundance of profanity in the lyrics of the group’s songs, a deliberately careless attitude towards the powerful of the music world and the denial of all laws of show business development, by mid-2002 the group occupied all the official and official positions. unofficial charts and was treated kindly by all kinds of Russian music awards. The leader of this notorious group, Sergei Shnurov, has turned into media favorite No. 1 and is increasingly looking like a folk hero, and the Leningrad group itself has been dubbed one of the most important phenomena of modern culture.
The album “Pirates of the 21st Century,” released on the S.B.A./Gala records label in the spring of 2002, took the group to a fundamentally new level, turning Shnurov and company into megastars of Russian rock music. This album has everything we love about the band. Drive and irony, love and hate, jazz and hard rock, the album is literally filled with both already familiar and potential hits. Fun and without straining, “Leningrad” is still able to rip off - here this expression has only a positive meaning - any music that comes to hand. The album's track listing includes the ancient rock and roll hit “C'mon Everybody” and the soundtrack “The Hound of the Baskervilles.” The album includes the mega-hit concert films “WWW” (by the way, this song took 1st place in the final hit parade of the “Chart Dozen” on Nashe Radio for 2002), “Motorcycle”, “I have everything” (a.k.a. “Full Pockets”) and the brooding hit “Up in the Air.” When recording the album, the St. Petersburg group “” joined “”, providing the album with a richness of sound and very unexpected turns.
The new studio album “Tochka” by the group “Leningrad” was released at the end of November on the label “S.B.A./Gala Records”. Preparations for the release were carried out in strict secrecy, and the company did not disseminate any information about the album until the day of release. After the release of the album “Pirates of the 21st Century,” the legendary band announced they were going on an indefinite sabbatical, and meanwhile new material was being prepared.
Studio work took place in St. Petersburg. Most likely, “Tochka” will truly become the last Leningrad album recorded with the usual line-up. In the future, team leader Sergei Shnurov will probably record with the musicians of the group “,” who also take part in his concert performances.
“Tochka” contains ten new songs and three bonus tracks. Among the things included in the album are Shnur’s collaboration with “Disco Accident” “Where are your hands” and the composition “Money”, the cross-cutting musical theme of the series “Money”, which was broadcast on one of the Russian TV channels in the fall of 2002.
The work on the “Money” video was undertaken by the same team that created the infamous “WWW” video, the main characters of which were Sergei Shnurov and V.V. Putin. In the summer of 2002, this video firmly established itself on the Internet and only then, at the persuasive requests of TV channels, it was formatted for TV, where it migrated. The “Money” video, like “WWW,” was made in flash technology. Among the characters in the new Leningrad video are the richest people in Russia. This time, the now disgraced Shnurov will be accompanied by prominent Russian oligarchs and some odious public figures.
The group officially announced its dissolution on December 25, 2008, due to the departure of Shnurov, who announced the creation of his new group called “Ruble”. The group reunited in 2010.
Current lineup:
Sergey Shnurov, Shnur - music, lyrics
, Sevych - backing vocals, maracas
Alexander Popov, Puzo - bass drum, vocals
Andrey Antonenko, Antonenich - tuba, arrangements
, Umbrella - saxophone
Roman Parygin, Shukher - trumpet
Andrey Kuraev, Grandfather - bass
, Pianist - keys
Konstantin Limonov, Limon - guitar
, Valdik - trombone
, Lekha - saxophone
Yulia Kogan - vocals
- drums
Discography:
Bullet
Mat without electricity
Summer residents
Made in ass
Bullet+
Pirates of the 21st century
Dot
For millions
Babarobot
Huinya
Bread
Indian summer
Aurora
Henna
Eternal flame
Fish
Evening Leningrad
Scandal, sincerity, shockingness, joy and the Leningrad group - all these are links in one chain. for a long time provided work for lawyers who were handling lawsuits in batches about the use of profanity in songs. Fans are tearing apart these poems for quotes. The prediction about the imminent decline of the group did not come true - stadiums of many thousands gather for concerts. Clips of “Leningraders” are discussed even within the walls of government institutions.
History and composition
There is no clarity on the date of formation of “Leningrad” - either January 9 or January 13, 1997. The first number is the day when Shnurov and Igor Vdovin decided to create new project, the second is the day of the first concert. It turns out that in 4 days the friends managed to play with keyboardist Andrei Antonenko, drummer Alexander Popov, drummer Alexei Kalinin and saxophonist Roman Fokin. Ilya Ivashov and Oleg Sokolov played trumpets.
Shnur himself doesn’t remember the members’ names; he says the group is a folk group and grew on its own. In 1998, Vdovin left, and Sergei and Popov tried to replace him. As a result, the leading role of the vocalist remained with Sergei. Over the 20 years of life on stage, at least two dozen people passed through the Leningrad school. There were also such colorful personalities as. At one time, the group tried to repeat the experience, touring simultaneously in several cities with different lineups.
The first promoter was the main “auctionist”. Fame came quickly: who else would dare to swear on stage, look like and not be ashamed of being drunk. The “Leningraders” were barred from entering the capital; the group’s creativity horrified the mayor, who did not see anything bright and positive in it.
Despite the success, some musicians were tired of this style of existence, and conflicts began within the team. Leningrad switched mostly to studio work.
In 2002, the biography of the group opened new page. The renewed Shnurov produced the songs that formed the basis solo album and the eighth studio album “Leningrad” - “For Millions”. Started to go on stage new line-up, some of the “old guys” went to the “Spitfire” team, which helped record albums and accompanied them at concerts.
Soon, women appeared as participants in Leningrad, first as backing vocalists. She became the first full-fledged soloist. According to Shnurov, the team parted ways with her due to creative differences. The girl came to replace her and sang the songs “Bag”, “I’m Crying and Crying”. The highlight of the soloist’s participation in the group was the unforgettable “Exhibit” (“Louboutens”). This time, the frontman explained the singer's departure by saying that "
In 2002, the album “Pirates of the XXI Century” released two hits, which became business card St. Petersburg team - “Up in the Air” and “WWW”. At this time, a concert took place, called the last by the group leader. The program of the performance spoke for itself: “Without you, p***”, “Sp***y”, “Fag***s”.
Song "WWW" by the group "Leningrad"The volume of profanity began to decrease with the albums “Bread” and “Indian Summer”. In addition, the girl began to solo, and even the most loyal fans would not have liked the abuse from her lips. In the summer of 2004, the song “Gelendzhik” resounded along the Black Sea coast of Russia, and in 2008 Shnurov Once again announced the breakup of the group.
Clip " Sweet Dreams" marked the official revival of "Leningrad". The male version performed by Vsevolod Antonov was called “Bitter Dream”. From that moment on, the “Leningraders” were called not a group, but a group.
Song "Gelendzhik" by the group "Leningrad"In 2011, two albums were released at once - “Henna” and “Eternal Flame”. The song “Loves Our People” hit the charts. In 2012, it was the turn of the hit “Fish of My Dreams.” The reason for writing the song was an Internet meme in which fisherman Viktor Goncharenko shouts “Ide!”
October was marked by "The Candidate". The song was written by Shnurov, and performed by bandmate Adolfych, aka Puzo, and in the world - drummer and bass guitarist Alexander Popov. The only thing that fans didn’t like in the video was the scene with the killing of the cat, although the video was preceded by the phrase that “not a single animal was harmed.” The Leningrad frontman commented on his personal Instagram account that even if these shots offended anyone, then faith in humanity remains.
Song "Ch.P.H." group "Leningrad"Already in November of the same year, the group presented their next creation - a video for the song “Voyage”. The filming of the video was again entrusted to , which received the UK Music Video Awards for “Kolshchik”. According to tradition, “Leningrad” collected everything that is not welcome on television - tobacco smoking, scenes of violence, flavored with profanity.
In 2018, Sergei gave himself and his fans a birthday present - he released an album with the laconic title “Everything.” And he explained why:
“This word is very Russian, multifaceted, if you like, comprehensive and insignificant at the same time. And the masters of short reviews, with which the Internet is teeming, will definitely write “g***”.
The album includes 8 compositions that were previously performed at concerts, but received studio treatment for the first time. In the video for the song “Role”, popularly nicknamed “Not Alena”, in addition to staged shots, clips from Internet videos depicting drunk women are used. The album will not be released on discs or records - it is available only through Yandex.Music, iTunes and the official channel on Youtube.
Song "Zhu-zhu" by the group "Leningrad"An animated video for the track “Zhu-zhu” soon appeared on this channel, in which she took part. In it, the performers ridiculed their fellow citizens who were always dissatisfied with something. Shnurov and Ionova became the prototypes of the main characters, the cat was copied from Sergei’s pet, and the credits sound Chinese folk song performed by students from the Middle Kingdom.
Clips
- "Monkey and Eagle"
- "Vacation pay"
- "HLS"
- "Khimki Forest"
- "Karasik"
- "Exhibit"
- "Drinking in St. Petersburg"
- "Kolshchik"
- "Zhu-zhu"
- "Not Paris"
Discography
- 1999 – “Bullet”
- 2000 – “New Year”
- 2002 – “Point”
- 2003 – “For Millions”
- 2006 – “Indian Summer”
- 2010 – " Last concert"Leningrad"
- 2011 – “Henna”
- 2012 – “Fish”
- 2014 – “Minced meat”
- 2013 – “Tsunami”
- 2018 – “Everything”