«Mumiy Troll brings unique sound to the Slowdown» — Lincoln Journal Star (USA, Nebraska)
Mumiy Troll brings unique sound to the Slowdown
Ilya Lagutenko didn`t grow up dreaming of being a rock star. But that`s just what he`s become, singing to packed arenas with Mumiy Troll, the biggest band in Russia.
«As an 11-year-old boy in the Soviet Union, I didn`t know where I got the idea,» Lagutenko said. «I didn`t have any dream that kind of thing would become a major part of my life. But it happened. It`s rather strange and almost a magical thing from outer space. I tried to do the expected thing, go to university, work for investment company. In the end, it all ended up with me in a band that tours the world and plays songs. I can`t explain it.»
Mumiy Troll is in the first two weeks of an extensive U.S. tour. But the quartet isn`t playing arenas here. It`s in clubs, including Omaha`s Slowdown, where Lagutenko and company will deliver their Russian brand of rock `n` roll Saturday night.
«We`re not on a crusade, we`re on a diplomatic mission, more like the Peace Corps,» Lagutenko said when he called from Chicago Wednesday. «So far so good. We compare it to our previous trip to the Midwest. It was very, very cold with snow. It reminded us of Mother Russia.»
Lagutenko grew up in Vladivostok, an isolated city on the Russian Pacific Coast that was sealed off even to other Russians because of large Soviet military bases in the region. But it was the country`s primary Pacific seaport, and ships from Japan and Singapore regularly docked there, providing the young Lagutenko and his friends with their chance to rock.
«Those sailors, they would bring some music — tapes, LPs, magazines from Japan and Singapore,» he said. «We got this random choice of music, but to us, all of it was good. One day you would listen to ABBA, the next day AC/DC, then Genesis and Duran Duran. It was completely different music. But it was all rock for us.»
Lagutenko, who started his first band, a psychedelic punk outfit called Bunny Pee, when he was 11, boiled those influences into his signature sound.
«I tried to find a compromise between the prog-rock stuff, which I couldn`t play, and to be as cool as some of the New Wave bands like Blondie, Iggy Pop and Television because we liked their outfits,» he said. «Then we heard the Sex Pistols and the Ramones and said `I can play that.` In the end, it all mutated into what I call `rockapops.`»
But «rockapops» didn`t have a chance to take off until the Soviet Union crumbled in 1991.
«Everything happened so fast,» he said. «When you`re 18 and all your life you`ve been told you have no choice and suddenly one day, you do — I remember that day. I was on a student exchange in China and our teacher got us together and said, `Your country doesn`t exist anymore.` From that moment on, it`s been do what you want to do. We kind of celebrated that feeling of freedom.»
After heading off to see the world, Lagutenko returned home and got into the growing Russian music industry. Ironically, the fall of the Soviet Union had largely wiped out the Russian underground rock scene.
«You had nothing to rebel against,» he said. «We kind of emerged from that. It was at the right place at the right time. We found not dozens of fans or hundreds of fans, but millions of fans who appreciated our songs.»
Mumiy Troll had the first song ever played on Russian MTV in 1998, has released eight albums and fills arenas from Vladivostok to the Baltics. A style-setting star in his homeland, the gregarious Lagutenko played a zombie in the hit film «Night Watch» («My head exploded. … I don`t like acting after that») and voiced the monkey in the Russian version of «Kung-Fu Panda.»
But he and his band aren`t content to stay home. Last year, they released «Comrade Ambassador» to solid reviews in the U.S. and are now touring, playing wherever they can to audiences of all sizes.
«From one standpoint, it`s pretty challenging to get some new audience on your side,» he said. «We kind of have to explain from the beginning what we have been doing for the last 10 years. But when you play rock `n` roll, it`s the only way to survive and have fun. That`s why we released an EP in English this week. Now you can hear songs in English. We try to keep the same attitude. It might be a little strange for you. But it is Mumiy Troll as it is.»
BY L. KENT WOLGAMOTT