INTERVIEW FOR ELEGY
Rada & Ternovnik was founded in 1991. How do you look at these ten years ?
The band changed skin a lot of times in the ten years of its existense. These days -- well, we go on living. Every line-up is a life, a separate one, sometimes a hard one, sometimes more on the merry side. It differs. We didn't become smarter in these ten years, nor wiser, nor older -- we start every period from a clean slate.
Which was your aims when you created the band ?
I didn't have any, really. I was given a voice, a talent. This is a gift which a person must use. There is no such thing as a free lunch; talent is not free. You have to work in return for it -- to sing, to write lyrics, etc. So, I did not have much choice -- I had to sing, to perform. And this means I had to create a band to perform with.
Did you achieve them?
Yes. I've recorded about 10 albums where I tried honestly to express through voice and through lyrics that which I see. This is what I wanted, and this exactly what I have done.
Are you satisfied with your evolution ?
I don't have "evolution" exactly -- I just tell about different things at different times. There is no evolution in the inner world of a human being. The evolution is -- for example -- in the techniques. Here we of course go forward. We records albums which are more interesting from the technical point of view. We used to think up albums which simply recreate live performances; now we usually invent many-sided backgrounds for our songs. In our last album the arrangements are different, and so is the sound of different tracks; only the mood of all the tracks is the same. All this concerns the form, not the substance.
Musically speaking, a lot of changes can be noticed in your career, somtimes trip-hop, sometimes more rock or new wave music, world music, Š how would you explain these changes of styles
You see, definitions are invented by crytics. I sing my songs, my band plays the music. Then, in order to write an article, a journalist uses some conventional cliches. As for us, we just play the music. In ten years, about fifty musicians passed through the band. They were, of course, very different; every one had his own ideas, feelings, his own understanding of how to interact with my songs. Every musician gave his understanding and his talent. The music was being born in the meeting point. It was different in the different periods of time simply because different people played with us, different stars were in the sky, etc. Noone is surprised when a person acts differently in different stages of his life. The band is also a live being. It changes form. Even corpses change form.
and how would you described your music today ?
Right now, there are two versions of the "Rada i Ternovnik" band. One is purely acoustic -- the line-up is a cello, a bassoon, a tabla, Anchevsky plays an acoustic guitar, then there is a double bass, and I sing and also play acoustic guitar. This is complicated music with a lot of improvisations, unexpected music, sometimes it sounds like symphonic avant-garde, sometimes like darkfolk, sometimes like something completely. The same people play in the electric line-up -- the bass player exchanges her double bass for a fretless bass guitar, Anchevsky takes an electic guitar, I no longer play and just sing, the tabla player takes up drums, and we play rough, heavy post-punk.
The title of your album " The Book of The Cruelty of Women " is very evocative !
Well, you should keep in mind that there are no references to S&M... except for, maybe, something intellectualized to a point of complete perversity.
What is the concept behind this album ?
There is a standard character in Eastern fairy-tales -- the cruel beauty. She disparagingly (and cleverly) answers love letters, she makes fools of her suitors in a social encounter, she is so beautiful that your heart breaks. One can also recall Greek syrens who destroyed mariners -- not because they howled like wild jackals, just the opposite -- their singing was just too good. In fact, beauty *is* cruelty. Beauty makes us remember a world that we cannot reach, reminds us that, our everyday oh-so-important problems aside, there exist worlds full of wonder where we are not needed now and where, most probably, we will not be allowed in the forseeable future. This is very cruel towards a person. This is like showing a rich feast to someone dying of hunger. And like a syren, I sing about a world beyond reach. Musically, this album uses a lot of exotic instruments -- tabla, didjeridoo, cymbals, Indian harmonica... even the violin sounds Indian. The result is slightly Eastern tunes intertwined with extremely sad songs. One of the songs I sang together with a Russian folk singer Mila Kikina, who sings low vocals in the background. This is female cruelty doubled.
Which were your inspirations, influences to compose it ?
We've been recording this album for almost a year and a half. The Indian harmonica in one of the songs was recorded when it rained almost constantly outside of the studio, and it was mixed next summer, during a terrible heat wave. Naturally, things like this influence and inspire. The main inspiration is always the tearing desire to finish finally the work -- to reproduce, as precisely as possible, the music that you hear in your head.
I heard that Rada & Ternovnik on stage was something amazing ! Unfortunately, I never had the chance to see you on stage ! Could you tell us about your shows ?
All our live shows are different. The important thing is, a live show gives an opportunity to tell something directly, not just through lyrics and music. Directly -- from eye to eye. This is hard sometimes -- when the audience is afraid to ease up and to take from you that which you offer; sometimes this is pure happiness -- when the people do want to hear what you have to say. On stage, we try to feel each other, to sustain improvisations, to feel the changing mood. Because of this, it is important to have the right people in the band, not just good musicians. We try to live every piece on stage as a separate life. During a single show, there are many lives. We do not have a special performance act -- no costumes, no supporting dancers etc. We do not have theatrics. We only have the stage itself, and it moves to a point between worlds. We are not here anymore. The audience can observe this existence "not here" from a comfortable distance, or they can also move "not here", and therefore to convert themselves and the surroundings into something unperishable and unearthly. This does not require any effort; in fact, this requires a lack of effort.
Russia is currently undergoing profond changes. How can the groups of the independent scene be able to " blossom " in such an economical and social environment ?
Nobody blossoms, actually. It's just that we have no choice. Me, for instance -- I just physically can't sing stupid and banal lyrics. This is the plain truth. I just physically lose my voice. So, someone took care of me beforehand, so that I'm safe from becoming a pig. My band, they also understand that it is easier to live on very small money and to have a lot of problems, rather that eat a lot, grow fat, and die, first spiritually, then bodily. And go straight to hell. In fact, there is a lot of people in Russia who suffer from the banality and stupidity all arround. We sing for these people. They find news about our shows through the Internet, they get hold of our CDs somehow, they are happy that we exist. I thing it's more pleasurable to make a hundred of people happy that to play in a disco for thousands who will dance for an hour, forget all about you tomorrow, and it is as if nothing happened in their lives. I feel responsible for these hundred people. So, one has to ignore the economic situation.
What is you opinion on the Russian scene in general today ?
In Moscow, most bands try to play in a way which avoid problems with pubs and nightclubs. This means you have to play either so that people can dance, or drink coffee (jazz) or beer (rock'n'roll). Also, there are text-based bands -- those for which lyrics are more important than music. Then there is mainstream commercial rock. But this is all very boring for me.