musicians-from-russia

"Since my birth, there has been no freedom in this country. Here, bought judges ruin people’s lives."

"We brag about fictitious victories over the USA, old military exploits, but today we have nothing to be proud of. People are stuck in the past."

"There are a lot of problems up here. Policemen should protect the people – and here, when you see them, you get fucking scared. There’s no freedom of speech, too. Even when people want to say something, they get scared and keep silent. There’s no change among authorities – Russia is moving back to the USSR, the Stalin times. Poverty is still the main problem."

"I know what it feels like when you survive on your grandparents’ tiny pension, what it feels like when your mother gets religious and literally loses her mind because of it."

"I want to be myself everywhere - both on the movie screen and at a concert, do you understand? The most important thing for me is to maintain the self-esteem and freedom that I have now. But it is very difficult to save. You have to fight all the time. And if the question becomes that I will have to play music that I don’t want to play, but that people will like, it would be dishonest to play it, right?"

"The main thing is to remain yourself, and this is impossible for a professional actor. Although it is difficult to think ahead. It seems to me that cinema and music, complementing each other, can coexist in my life."

"The most important thing is that we would like people to reach some kind of mutual understanding, so that these huge mixed nationalities, religions, social order, finally understand each other, if possible ... And then everything would fall into place, and there are no more desires would not be."

"Almost everyone can forgive us for honesty: and, say, not enough professional game, and even not enough professional verses. There are many examples of this. But when honesty disappears, they forgive nothing."

"There is not any kind of meaning in the lyrics, in fact it was an attempt at completely deconstructing reality."

"And I don't think that parents can teach anything at all. A child is a person with his own destiny, and it seems to me that we attach too much importance, so to speak, to the formation of personality by the parents. Parents can educate there, whatever they want, and the personality is formed by itself, under the influence the environment... But one and the same environment affects some in this way, others in a different way ..."

"Russia is a popular theme in France right now, in terms of Soviet memorabilia and stuff like that. But there isn't really a serious approach to Russia, we’re like matryoshka dolls to them: 'Hey, look, Russians can play guitars almost like we do'. A lot of bands have taken the opportunity to tour abroad, consciously accepting the fact that they will be touring on bad terms in terms of both pay and concerts. I didn't want to be a matryoshka doll. The problem isn't so much the money, it's the prestige of the country. If you want to go abroad, it's best to go as a tourist."

"It is more important for me to preserve some self-respect and some inner freedom, which I now have, but it is very difficult to preserve it, I have to fight all the time with all sorts of temptations. And I fight with them ... If the question is put in such a way that I will have to play music that I do not want to play, but which people like, then it would be unfair to play it, for me it would be a temptation."

"I feel that now I can’t always reach an understanding with someone, especially with people of an older generation. I find it difficult in this situation, because they think differently. Naturally, people cannot think alike, but they must understand each other. That's why they are people."

"Almost everything can be forgiven to those who are honest. Say, for example, if we [Kino] play our music in an unprofessional manner, or sing our songs in an unprofessional way – and we have made countless mistakes of this kind – our fans will overlook this, but, if we do not try our best to be honest our fans will never forgive us."

"The most interesting thing for us is the work of independent record companies. Most often, music "for sale", music for dancing comes to us. The ears get used to the standards. And independent companies have a small circulation of records of groups that are not guided by standards. It's closer to us."