"Anarchic frenzy and an enchanting show are provided for everyone"
Valery Skoroded, the main anarchist of Russian rock, the founder of Mongol Shuudan, is sure that it is not necessary to be able to play musical instruments to become a star. On August 30 and 31, REN TV and Legenda Production invite fans to the third festival "DC Gorbunova – Legend of Russian Rock". The participants of the "Mongolian Post" will take the stage, this is how the name of Valery Skorodeda's group translates. It will be hotter than hell, the musician promises. And on the eve of the concert, the rocker shared with Izvestia his memories of the legendary "Gorbushka".
"Our fans are never satisfied"
— Mongol Shuudan participated in the rock festival last year. How will you please your fans this time?
— We will present our most powerful program. It's going to be hotter than hell. Everyone is provided with an anarchic frenzy and an enchanting show. It's going to be an amazing concert!
This festival is dedicated to the rock legends, the bands that used to perform here. We also started on the "Humpback". And we are performing at the festival for the third time.
- why?
— Probably because such a diverse group of artists always attracts people. The program that we have prepared is diverse. Our problem is that we are a solo band. We usually give two or three-hour concerts. The target audience comes to them. So I wonder if those viewers who will attend the festival will be satisfied with the one-hour performance? Our fans are never satisfied.
Therefore, we will choose a percussive bunch of our hits. We will try to make sure that everyone is satisfied, even those who come to the Mongol Shuudan concert for the first time.
"Music critics scolded us a lot"
— It was here, at Gorbushka, that you gained your first fame. How was it?
— Yes, it happened in 1989 after our performance at a rock festival. It just so happened that we were booked as headliners for that concert. We were representatives of the Moscow rock laboratory. The organizers felt that we were a new band that could impress and conquer the audience, not only with our appearance, which was quite serious, but also with music that no one had ever heard before.
That's the way it is, because me and our band from that time have developed our own style of playing as best we can. And it should be noted that back then we didn't know how to play at all. And the music critics scolded us a lot. They said, "How is it that, with a complete lack of performing skills, you gather full halls?" That's the paradox! Nevertheless, we jumped on stage. Over time, our group has grown professionally.
The band had their own flag, which we fixed on a stand, it's such a bar on the stage. The funny story of its creation. We needed fabric to sew it. But she wasn't there, but there were orange and white checkered underpants. Our fans sewed a banner out of their underpants for a week. They stuck a skull and crossbones on it with PVA glue and the inscription "Anarchy is the mother of order." During the performance, the glue dried from the red-hot spotlights and the letters began to fall on the stage. It was funny. There are photos from that concert somewhere on the Internet. After the performance on "Gorbushka" we woke up famous. They started talking about Mongol Shuudan.
— How do you feel about your fame?
— Whether we're famous or not, I've never cared much. Nevertheless, the "Humpback" gave us a boost. This is where our professional career began. Rusty rails were laid here, along which our paths stretched into the unknown and still stretch.
"The young are pushing, and that's right"
— "Gorbushka" still serves as a growth point for musicians. How do you feel about the fact that young people are treading on the heels of masters?
— I don't know, young people don't step on my heels. If there were no generational change, everything would wither away. The young ones are pushing, and that's right. They are more energetic. But what about us, the old people? Our vision of the world is somewhere in the past. And young people conquer with energy. Musicians are jumping more on stage now, and the audience naturally likes that.
— Have you slowed down in your development?
— I can't say that. They've even accelerated in recent albums. But nevertheless.
— There are new faces in your team too.
— Yes, I recruited young musicians, they brought a new stream to our stream. I wouldn't say they're very young. But in order to stay afloat, it is necessary to update the team every five years. I'm not quite ready for that.
Unfortunately, our veterans have left the group. For natural reasons: someone got families, someone left, someone decided to stop with Melpomene and Terpsichore (laughs).
— Do you realize that you have no competitors?
— Yes, of course, no one plays in our style. That's the only way we see music. No matter how it changes over time, "Mongol Shuudan" is a special layer of our culture. We have always been distinguished by the chords that do not match each other, the arrangement is incomprehensible, incorrect. There are people with conservative education among the band's fans. They periodically poke me with their nose: "This is wrong, Valera!" Nevertheless, they dance well to my compositions on kebabs.
— Besides concerts, music lovers came to Gorbushka to buy records, cassettes, and various rock paraphernalia. Were you interested in that? Have you been shopping here?
— The fact is that I come from a very poor family, so I didn't come here to buy records. And we didn't have a record player. And even now, I don't have any records, except for Viktor Tsoi's latest CD. When he died, Yuri Aizenshpis organized a concert on Arbat in memory of the leader of the Kino group. That's where he gave me Tsoi's "Black Album." That's it, I don't have any other records, and neither does the record player.
For me, Gorbushka is a place of living embodiment of the musical genre. I've trampled this stage, and I've also been to other musicians' performances many times. I've seen a lot here, and I know its legends and secrets. There has always been an informal soup of people here.
— Is appearance important for rockers?
— Previously, musicians came to the Gorbushka not only to look at others, but also to show themselves. When you bought a concert ticket, you had to dress up informally. I've seen all kinds of outfits.: as they say, the weirder, the more fashionable. Punks with mohawks are the most uninteresting thing I've seen here.
There were also spontaneous events in this pool, I won't say carnage, but there were fights with riot police. This is where I first saw what stage diving is. I also remember that I didn't have a band, our band was just beginning, and I came to Gorbunov's Recreation center for a concert. There was a collection of different musicians on stage. And Petlyura, widely known in informal circles, ran away and suddenly jumped into the crowd. And the audience didn't know yet that it was necessary to catch an artist. The people politely parted, and Petlyura collapsed to the floor. I broke my ribs, of course. Right now, the audience is spinning, jumping, slamming. Previously, the slam was prevented by the police.
— What is a "Humpback" for you?
— Gorbunova Recreation Center is for me the land into which the grain was thrown and it sprouted. Moscow rock culture originated on the "Humpback". There were other recreation centers in Moscow where musicians gathered, but this place is sacred. And there's nothing you can do about it.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
