On Saturday, August 3, at the final concert of the Visaginas city festival and the Visaginas space festival, he will return to the first line-up of the group “Noize MC”, from which the history of this group began once, at the beginning of this millennium.
The leader of “Noize MC” Ivan Alekseev, a rap and rock star, was famous in Russia for many years as a creator of anti-war music, who organized concerts criticizing the aggressive policy of his country since the occupation of Crimea, emigrated with his family to the West, Lithuania, in the very first days of Russia’s current aggression against Ukraine. now living in Vilnius.
In his interview, A. Pichas talks about his school days in Visaginas, the beginning of the “Noize MC” group, and what he did and is doing after returning to Lithuania, the world of its underground music, according to the press release.
– Andrej, did you play in any Visaginas band when you were still at school, or did this interest arise already during your studies?
– It seems to me that all I did in Visagin was playing. We had a garage with equipment in the third district, and we rehearsed and recorded there for several years. From 1998 to 2001, we did this very actively, then – the final exams and the classical distribution of the people of Visaginas.
– There was a time when the Orbitos disco space was very lively and there were many subcultures in Visaginas. How do you remember the musical life of the city at that time? Maybe you played or partied at Orbita too?
– I remembered the duality of the city’s musical life: there was the “Orbita-Banga” axis and the “Triangle-chambers-garages” axis. The famous representatives of the first played covers at local events, and the second – non-stop created and recorded their cult “black metal” albums (laughs). I was definitely among those who were busy creating and recording their cult black metal albums. I didn’t appear in the city in particular, I tried to go to Vilnius more often to the “Zarazza” cassette store, I corresponded with the bands of the capital, which I found through the legendary website www.hardcore.lt. Although, of course, I know very well what “sessions” are in Orbita, and I even played there a couple of times with Visaginas punk band “ДемонтажЪ”.
– How do you remember the period of the 2000s, moving to Moscow? How did you meet Vania Noize? How do you remember him from those days? What has changed now?
– That period was extremely stressful for me, because, after a relatively calm life in Visaginas, I suddenly became a student of philology, on whom all the world’s books and theories about literary text analysis fell… (smiles). In addition, being abroad, I quickly realized that despite the difficulties with the state language at the time, to put it mildly, Lithuania is my home, and the Vilnius punk scene is the desired platform for self-realization. And it was in this environment that I met Vania and his regular bassist Saša. The guys were a real refresher for me! We studied at the same university and lived in the same dormitory, where the frame vacuum gradually united us into a live musical collective “Protivo Gunz” (the first word means “against” in Russian, the second is a transcription of the English “guns”). Vania always had a lot of material, and I could finally forget about creative troubles (smiles). We would just learn ready-made pieces and perform them live in the most incredible places.
It is difficult to compare Vania then and now, because our communication was always strictly limited to music matters and never crossed the boundaries of close friendship. So in answering this question, I will limit myself to music. In the past, his choice of sound tools was much more modest – guitar with or without “distortion”, bass line, acoustic or imitation drums, scratches on records, vocals. As for genres – rapcore, pop-punk, rock, reggae. It made me feel claustrophobic at times. Now, in preparation for August 3rd. for the concert, I enjoy the various sound palette in the songs “Marse faina”, “Open Air”, “Everything is like pas ženu”, “Cooperative Swan Lake”, “Lietaus pariša” and others. Now I hear everything that I missed then – a lot of electronic, atmospheric and lo-fi, industrial, glitchthe same noise‘oan ultra-dirty guitar tone emerged, sometimes spilling into blackand bass with effects.
– Still many young people from Visaginas (as well as all of Lithuania) go to study abroad, and the question arises – should they return or not? Why did you decide to come back?
– I was a huge fan of our region’s DIY underground both before and during my studies and after. Groups (“Dr. Green”, “Bramborak/Bora”, “In Stora/Tesa”, “When My Authorities Fall”, “Žiurkės”, “Per Kryžių ir KanĆă Tavo”), autonomous spaces (Green Club, ” Infoshop, Zabadaks, XI20, ÜLASE 12), festivals (TABUNS, Zombiland, Darom, Padarom, Multicore, Sala, Swampfest) attracted me a lot . I just couldn’t resist it all. So in my case, the decision to return was very simple. I was sitting at work at the European Court of Human Rights, and I wanted to sit at the rehearsal of “The Hook”.
– Information about you spread widely, of course, after Vania Noiz’s post with the song “Lietu pariša“… What emotions and thoughts arose when you found out that Vania is moving to Lithuania, your hometown?
– After learning about his decision to live with us, I felt relieved. Somehow the clouds were gathering too heavily above him. His move was accompanied by action – from organizing band rehearsals in “Kably” to a huge night trip in an Opel Astra car, with an overnight stay in the same Opel Astra, from Vilnius to the border with the Pskov region via Zaras, Daugavpils and Rėzekne, when the car’s speakers sounded the Latvian “Tesa” album, and the news about ZAE was scary from the news portals. After that I got used to it, and today the thought that Vania once lived outside of Lithuania causes me cognitive dissonance (smiles).
– A simple banal human question: seeing how the group is developing now and to what extent it has grown, what feelings does it give you? Is there an ounce of sadness that you are not with them?
– There is a drop of sadness that you are not with them, but it has nothing to do with the scale of the group. I just really love Vanya and Sasha. It was clear to me from the beginning that I would happily spend the rest of my life with these people. But life is one, without the ability to choose in it at all, and I chose my path. I never doubted the correctness of my decision, but it did not wipe that drop of sadness from my cheek… 😉
– As I already know, you are still playing concerts in Vilnius. Tell us a little about how your life in Lithuania turned out after your return and who are you playing with now?
– After returning to Lithuania (the process was not linear), I immersed myself in the world of punk rock concerts, played a lot, recorded, created paraphernalia, club “XI20” became my base for 16 years. Gradually, the “November 20th Orchestra”, a punk rock orchestra of 8 musicians, grew out of this activity. I play drums and write lyrics there. In addition, I host a radio show on the Radio Vilnius station about the musical sketches/drawings that accompany my work, it is called “Under the umbrella”.
– We are really looking forward to the concert, renting apartments for that day in the city has long since ended. What are your feelings before the concert on the main stage in your hometown? With a band you haven’t played with in 20 years? Is there a “class reunion” feel?
– I don’t have the feeling of a class meeting, and I don’t have the feeling that something special is happening either. Maybe because playing a concert is the norm of my life: there were concerts with Vania, then there were concerts without Vania, and now there will be a concert with Vania, and then again there will be concerts without Vania. Everything is simple! (smiles) But don’t see cynicism in my words. Believe me, I am preparing responsibly and with great pleasure, I am in the mood to enjoy the event to the maximum and, of course, I am excited (smiles).
Oh, one more thing I want to add: I have never worked at Visagin in my life. I just don’t understand what it means to wake up in, say, the third district, do some exercise, go to the store and go to do work tasks, say, in the second (smiles). And this coming experience of going to work at Visagin really interests me a lot. I will stay in “Pavasara” (garden community), I will not do any exercise, so that the sticks do not fall out of my tired hands during the concert, and I will travel to the Second, to the “soundcheck” (smiles).
– When you hear the word “Visaginas”, what are the first 3-5 associations that come to your mind?
– It so happened that I hardly know anyone in the city and I don’t socialize at all. Although I am constantly there. For me, it’s a space where I can be alone. Such are the associations – forest, lake, garden, bonfire, reading in a hammock.
#drummer #Visaginas #experience #Noize #choice #live #create #Lithuania #Culture
2024-08-03 04:44:59
