Mumiy Troll in Hi Dive — ColoradoDaily.com (Denver)

Mumiy Troll in Hi Dive (Denver)

The members of Mumiy Troll found it very interesting to land in the U.S. on Inauguration Day.

The Russian rock band was kicking off a cross-country tour to promote its new CD, Comrade Ambassador, and the group was busy taking in the sights and sounds of Washington, D.C.

«It`s all so exciting to be in Washington,» frontman Ilya Lagutenko said. «If we didn`t know better, we might think the excitement was for us.

„We`re from this isolated town in the eastern Russia. It`s a place where cargo ships came in, but that`s where I got tapes and records from when I was young.

„That`s when I decided my new hobby would be rock `n` roll.“

Lagutenko started a garage band in the `80s, when it was still illegal to perform rock shows in Russia. As the country`s political climate loosened, Mumiy Troll became a very popular band.

«I call our music rock-a-pop, because in the Russian media they`re really strict about what is rock and what is pop,“ Lagutenko said. «We try to find somewhere between the two. It`s a good compromise.

„We also add jazz and progressive rock — and we unite all this into our music. We play the kind of music we enjoy.“

Mumiy Troll is anxious to promote Comrade Ambassador. It marks the first time the band has released a CD outside of Russia.

The band is also anxious to show Americans what Russia is all about.

„We want to show people in America the other side of Russian people,“ Lagutenko said. «There`s still lots of stereotypes about the KGB ruling the country and the Mafia. We want to show that the people of Russia do have human values.

„Our agency is really trying to promote the concept of a Russian-speaking band, It`s kind of an experiment. We call it musical tourism.“

Wendy Kale