Won James Won - An elusive "sonic matryoshka"

The masterminds behind the demonic “montage of attractions” on the masterpiece “Theorist Attack“, Russia's Won James Won are establishing themselves as one of the most fascinating acts on the European scene. Steering clear even of the muted buzz of the underground, this Moscow- and St. Petersburg-based outfit still has plenty to say, as proven by their latest 2007 release, “The Hollow Grail”. We caught up with singer Tikhon “Hee-Haw” Kubov via e-mail - a genuinely charismatic and friendly character - for a long chat, during which we discovered, among other things, just how much sincere passion he holds for our culture…

So, Tikhon, to start off, could you tell us a bit about how the Won James Won adventure began?

Dan (Danila “Muscular” Smirnov) and I have been friends since the late '90s, when we played in our respective bands, Kirpichi and I.F.K.. We wanted to break away from the usual conventions of “young people's music”, and especially from that hardcore/heavy scene. Then Mandwill, the guitar wizard, joined us, and we unleashed all that post-modernist fury we'd put down on tape. Another crucial moment was meeting R.A.I.G. and Zonder Zond (the artist responsible for most of the artwork on the label's releases, ed.), the magnificent entities who helped us enormously in shaping our aesthetic. Among other things, the ambiguous spirit of the two Russian capitals (Moscow and St. Petersburg, ed.) has also indelibly infused our sound with a particular kind of cultural paranoia.

Yes, because our line-up has always been split between two cities. And, historically, there's a certain tension between Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Moscow is seen as a soulless, consumerist Babel, while Saint Petersburg is a cultural Mecca, full of creativity and free spirits. Sure, these are stereotypes, but they also have a grain of truth to them. So: I believe our sound is born right at the border between hysterical and "relaxing" emotions.

There are many meanings, of course. As Gary Lucas once said: "You guys have the best Chinese moniker in history!". These days, though, we like to imagine it as the mantra of a hulking powerlifter obsessed with James Hetfield.

How do WJW define their music?

We don't define it. Although every time we get interviewed (which isn't often…) we come up with something new, like noise'n'roll, libidimbient [!], aural meat stew [!!], rhythm'n'bones, etc. Still, I think "sonic matryoshka" is even more fitting, so thanks for suggesting it. Also because live we tend to be both freaks and sonic terrorists. Our main goal is to have fun, which amounts to a permanent revolution

Initially, we were a trio. Don "Muscular" 271 (Danila "Muscular" Smirnov; ed.) handles production and, right now, he's the one who makes our ideas "listenable". Iohann Ludewig was our jack-of-all-trades, our lightning-fast guitarist – a flash in the night with his stiff fingers. And "The King Of Noise" (Alexander "Edward" Telpook; ed.) supplied extra oscillations and beats. Other musicians helped us out both in the studio and live, and most of them are credited in the liner notes of "The Hollow Grail". We really were like gypsies when it came to stage presence. Over the past two years, though, I've only worked with Don. In a way, we've gone back to our roots: two minds burning like a molotov cocktail.

Tell me about ZveZdaZ and R.A.I.G.

The ZveZdaZ movement covers our projects (often interconnected): Won James Won, Mux, Womba, Goon Gun and Konzy Sveta, plus any possible manifestation of our overpowering creative will. It's just a "sharp-edged" name we use to shelter our various artistic schemes. As for the label R.A.I.G., it's a one-of-a-kind pantheon of talent always on the hunt for an eclectic approach. Combined with Zonder Zond's fabulous energy, R.A.I.G. produces works whose sum goes well beyond a simple, ordinary "catalogue". These are, in fact, genuine products of human passion. We're truly lucky to be part of this creative union…

It was thanks to Zonder Zond, back in 2003 I think. I found out there was a chance to release the most far-out material we'd recorded. Later on, we talked with Igor, the label owner, and I realized I was dealing with a guy who was really in tune with the most deviant corners of the music scene. The first three records released by R.A.I.G. are, visually speaking, absolutely gorgeous! And putting together the packaging for the Won James Won, Mux and Womba records was truly a Sisyphean task. But in the end, it paid off!

As you can tell from our sound, we tend to be overblown, excessive and all-encompassing. We've got plenty of experience with "genre music", with occasional forays into the mainstream, although in Russia notions like that often end up getting distorted. So our main inspiration comes from the sheer unpredictability of existence itself, which to our eyes looks like one huge, morphological collage. If you violently mash together different genres, you're immediately compared to Zappa or Mr. Bungle – which is fine, since, after all, we grew up listening to that stuff too. But the trick lies in finding your own, deeply personal approach, both in terms of lyrics and in terms of content and arrangements. Our method is to traumatize and torture the sound after giving it a little spritz of rose perfume… So, I wouldn't dig too deep into what we listen to – also because, nowadays, it's so easy to be a walking sonic encyclopedia (the word he uses is … encycLOLpedia…, ed.) (and for free, no less!). We're voracious listeners, but films, books, historical dates, weird conspiracy theories, the most extreme Manga, local drunken fights (fights that happen under the influence of alcohol, ed.) and porn influence us more than any album or obscure musical sub-genre. Anyway, here are the ten essential records for WJW's musical evolution:

Paul McCartney – Tug of War (1982)

Krzysztof Penderecki – Conducts His Te Deum & Lacrimosa (1983)

Warrant – Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich (1988)

Bros – The Time (1989)

The Germs – Germicide (1981)

Inxs – Shabooh Shoobah (1982)

Napalm Death – Scum (1987)

New Order – Brotherhood (1986)

Bonnie Tyler & Meat Loaf – Heaven and Hell (1989)

Heino – Südafrika 1984

Uhm, that's quite a "peculiar" list…

Actually, there's nothing to analyze. Because our inspiration is tickled by the sickest and most absurd combinations…

What are the main differences between "Tol's Toy", "Theorist Attack" and "The Hollow Grail"?

"Tol's Toy" was a record born out of a spontaneous, spartan, very lo-fi process. I put together some of the tracks myself, using a weird digital program, others came together in the courtyard of the building where the recording studio was, and others still took about fifteen minutes or so to mix – and, by the way, there's a lot of pre-recorded noise running through the whole record. I'm really proud of the lyrics – a decent attempt to turn our mother tongue into something unbearable. You don't need to learn Russian – the meaning of every word is already in the way it sounds…

With "Theorist Attack", on the other hand, there was a much more laborious and thorough approach to the sound, to make it sharper, more sparkling (from our point of view, obviously) and multifaceted. The material on this record came out fast and genuine, but the arranging and mixing took a long time. But hell, it was worth it! The funny thing is that we had to wait about a couple of years from the release date to read the first review (March 31, 2006, ed.). But our music travels in a time capsule and needs to be pushed out into cosmic space along with Nintendo video games and Rubik's cubes (!).

With "The Hollow Grail", instead, we tried to record an organic live record, without programming anything and without wanting to entertain anyone. It's the sound of people who meet on stage and have a bit of soft, noisy fun, or who maybe hate that moment of energetic improvisation. Even some of our most loyal fans find this record a bit too abrasive and erratic, but that's the beauty of it! We feel no remorse toward the "demanding listener" or the respectable purposes of making music. Try putting it on after Genesis or the Mahavishnu Orchestra's live records and realize just how far, in the end, the world has pushed itself.

Can "Theorist Attack" be considered a concept album? Could you also explain the meaning of the title?

It's not a "concept" in the sense that you can trace a coherent story in it (which, as far as I'm concerned, is often also a road to failure – R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet", Meat Loaf's "Bat Out of Hell", the Who's "Tommy") – but it definitely has some prevailing themes. Essentially, it's a work about the ability to recover one's strength of spirit after a terrible loss. Back when I was adapting American scripts for my TV job, I started becoming obsessed with all that UFO mania and, above all, with the depressing story of Aleshenka. That turned into a whole new mythology, the ultimate cult of an alien Messiah who came down to our ruined world only to get hit by a bottle of vodka… The track "The Third Rerich" contains the audio protocol of Aleshenka's autopsy and some shocking revelations about her earthly "mother". The little alien creature was actually found (in 1996, ed.) by an old, demented woman (Tamara Vasilievna, ed.) in a cemetery (in the village of Kaolinovy, near the province of Kyshtym in the Chelyabinsk region, ed.). She was completely convinced that it was her daughter. Anyway, as far as I know, these materials are top-secret and potentially dangerous. In any case, I heard that the creature was stolen by the Japanese and is now kept in a crystal full of formaldehyde in a Siberian gangster's villa.

Another great inspiration for this record comes from Karel Čapek's novella "War with the Newts", written in 1936. So these are the themes – the human/alien duality, flesh/steel, and the pornography of the Seventies overshadowing the progress made by Nasa's research. As for the meaning of the title, it's obviously a crude pun on "Theorist Attack", although there's something deeper to it too. In theorizing, you can actually trace a certain sexual power – hence the popularity of rhetoric, or the appeal of pornography. Everything is theoretical, even perception. A carefully constructed concept is like an uninterrupted orgasm. We can trace all this back to Greek myths, anarchic urban legends, Kabbalah allusions, and now, to WJW's music too! It's a prolonged attack on your senses, whose circumstances go beyond all known limits.

1. Тоby Or Not To Be

A little theft from Nino Rota. A dumb "surf" track.

2. История Мира (The World History)

Ever since rap became "hip-hop", I started hating it. And the worst shit is Russian hip-hop. So I wanted to prove I could be more passionate and faster than all those pretentious idiots. It was therapeutic. The first version sounded a bit like Body Count stuff.

3. Красный Нетопырь (A Red Bat)

The singer is Sergei Kagadeev, former frontman of Nom, an iconic St. Petersburg band. We're planning to record more tracks with him for our next album. I think his voice brings us back to old-school "depth", but not like, say, Leonard Cohen. We wanted to make a video for this track, a kind of opera, but we never found the money. Basically: plenty of red velvet, fabulous aristocracy, and a ballerina getting beheaded on stage.

4. Промискуитет (The Promiscuity)

This one sounds like the Residents losing their minds in Amsterdam. A filthy jam about fucking without limits.

5. Yumiko-Chan Takes A Lesson In Harmony And Concentration

A daydream induced by Hentai. It also includes vocal sounds from Japanese tradition.

6. In Your Arms I Bleed

The dark one. This was inspired by Coil and the manga "Ichi The Killer". It took more than ten different arrangements before we landed on the final one.

7. Dawn + Dusk

A cover (!) of Slapp Happy mixed with indie rock. Basically, we're against drugs, but on the days we were recording this we were tripping on some seriously heavy mushrooms. "Dusk" is about a foot fetishist obsessed with an FBI robot.

8.  Hot War Kid Z

It sounds like a cross between Atari Teenage Riot (as you rightly pointed out) and the Who.

9. Bed For The Scraping (K.V.T.P. Solitude Capsule)  

Well, Fugazi... That was the first time I asked an artist if they were okay with us "covering" one of their songs. Ian McKaye told me he had no problem with it, as long as I sent him a few copies of the record for their archive. I was thrilled when I saw Ian's email in my inbox.  

10. Sensha Chitsu Hyouhakusha ("Manda" Wash Car)

The inspiration comes from Kazuki Tomokawa. A virtual pinball machine crackles in the background. The first time I humiliated myself in front of a microphone! Let's skip the details.

11. Pocket Atlantis Masturbo (Die Schulstubensintflut)  

This one's my favorite. It's a bit like “The Flood of Ixtlan, part 1”. An ode to the cataclysms of a civilization bent on destruction.

12. Please Be With Me (La Сhambre de Jasmen)

There's something to do with Eric Clapton here; there's a macabre plunderphonic interlude, and it was all recorded in an asylum.

13. Третий Рерих (The Third Rerich)

The last three tracks make up a bizarre UFO trilogy. Here we have Aleshenka being dissected while everyone talks about some higher spirituality.

14. John The Millimeterone

Pure rock! The most “Won James Won” moment ever.

15. 555 в четверти (E.T. Ego In Arcadia)  

We wanted the grand finale to be truly moving and cathartic. It has a very sad feel to it, but there's still hope in there. In the opening section you can hear both the real sounds of aliens scanning the outskirts of Moscow with lasers and that sort of thing, and samples of the drunken rambling of a guy losing his mind during a regatta, right before he disappears. I'm genuinely obsessed with unsolved disappearance cases.

So, about the samples: your records are full of them, taken from radio, film, everyday life, and so on. What do they mean to you?

We've been using them since our very first record, and we'll keep using them. Even though we're surrounded by audio sources, it's not that easy to catch the juicy fragments and turn them into something communicative. We're still not tired of film samples, even though that's the most overused kind. You can always get something intriguing out of mass culture, but at the same time, not everyone will be able to spot the source, so the sample ends up becoming a completely separate “image” of its own. We love talk-show chatter: it keeps getting more and more apocalyptic. TV these days should always be left on, just to catch the latest prophecies.

How do your songs come together?

Usually we start from an image, a concept. Then it's a bit like: “Now let's make a song that starts off like Sade, then turns into a harsh-noise labyrinth in the style of Wumpscut, then we throw in a stupid blues riff that sounds like a duck quacking; then a shaman's grunt, and finally a coda that's somewhere between Coldplay and Swans”. But it can also happen that a random passage or some eccentric sound effect kicks off the writing process. We write very quickly and throw every idea into the mix. Only afterwards does Dan, our sound producer, start refining the recordings, until the whole thing changes shape completely.

It seems to me that “Tol's Toy”, your debut, clearly shows this way of working... It's actually an incredibly varied, chaotic record, where every idea gets thrown in, with few second thoughts, into a kind of sonic blender...

Well, that's true of pretty much all our records to some extent. The initial sessions for “Theorist Attack” kept us busy for four days, but the final result, sound-wise, is very different. That said, we usually leave the vocal tracks as they are. That's partly because I only get to the studio in Saint Petersburg once in a while, so I don't have much time for overdubs. There's a lot of rawness and imperfection in the singing, which makes it feel much more “alive”. We don't touch the vocals during production the way we do with the other instruments.

Still on the subject of “Tol's Toy”, what were the sound sources for the “concrete” assemblages that tirelessly pervade the work?

There really are a lot of assemblages. I used to walk the streets, go through underpasses, visit public places and offices, recording their hum. The sounds around us are always beautiful and “accessible”. When a sound is blurred and raw it turns out to be very poetic. No two cement mixers sound the same. Birds sing different “tunes”. Drunks and crazy old men have a unique timbre. Girls laugh in a wonderful way. And even if you literally destroy a vinyl record, it will still produce sounds. Vinyl records are a manifestation of eternal life. My greatest ode to concrete aesthetics is the record “Evidence Of Letta” (the most recent album, so far, of his solo project WOMBA; ed.). I was crazy not to film the recording process. You should have seen it: it was pure alchemy!

What processes did you use to combine and rework those “concrete” assemblages? How much did the type of process matter in the final composition?

We're deeply fascinated by technology. Everything moves. Playing with just a laptop is boring, but we've done it. We've experimented with acoustic sound, with raw, unfiltered feedback, a bit of everything really. We own a lot of pedals, synthesizers, a few samplers, but in this field you can't compete with the true fanatics. In Russia, in the underground scene, there are a lot of guys who build their own gadgets for effects and pour a huge amount of energy into the DIY spirit. For instance, we also use a lot of Chinese toys as musical instruments. As far as I'm concerned, I can say the Korg Kaoss Pad has never let me down. Sure, it's not that cool to use pre-made sounds, but it's a great machine for processing vocals live. I'd also warmly recommend the products from 4mspedals. Anyway, all the battles pitting digital against analog are really pointless – we use both and we're happy. Music is safer than sex.

Going back to “Theorist Attack”, I described it as “a demonic ‘montage of attractions’”, with an obvious nod to the master Sergei M. Eisenstein. What do you think of that description?

I like it. Eisenstein was pretty hysterical, and he too felt right at home with skulls and skeletons. Also, according to his diaries, pornography was his secret hobby. And, damn – that haircut! I have to say, though, that our biggest influence came from the editing style of Russ Meyer and Alain Resnais. The progression of rigorously organized frames.

How do your lyrics come about? Do you have a particular method?

Well, I've written a lot of lyrics following a conventional method, and I still do, although it's starting to bore me. WJW is a great outlet for tearing down the boundaries between verse and chorus. Film samples, fragments of “found” conversations, unintelligible speech from people on the street, invented slang – it all gets folded into our language. Right now, my goal is to make the Russian language as unpredictable and fluid as possible. The best lyrics come out spontaneously, and besides, we love improvising a lot. I hope the next record will feature even more languages, including animal languages. At least 40% of our lyrics can't be translated, but that doesn't make them meaningless. Modern culture is fragmented, and the more you shatter it, the better it gets…

The lyrics of “История Мира (The World History)” feel like a genuine Joycean stream of consciousness. Among other things, there are references to De Chirico, Carrà, Lautréamont, Kandinsky, Rauschenberg, Wells, Eliot, etc.

“История Мира (The World History)” really is a stream of consciousness. The perspective is that of a young man sitting next to his girlfriend in a black Ferrari. He's tripping on LSD and the girl turns into Death. In reality, it's just another variation on “Toby Dammit” (by Federico Fellini, ed.).

Why did you decide to entrust the intro of “Theorist Attack” to these words: “Now you are a man. Bury your first toy and your mother's picture”? Is there, perhaps, some subliminal message you wanted to convey?

Yes! Life after separation. Life after loss. Breaking out of the cocoon. 

Do you believe that, in the age of rampant downloading, the essence of music will end up changing completely? And, incidentally, what do you think of the peer-to-peer phenomenon?

I think it's pointless to debate the pros and cons of downloading, because file-sharing will never be stopped. As an artist, I know that, either way, I wouldn't be setting aside a considerable sum even if my band got signed by a major label. Without major distribution, file-sharing can be a great way to promote your own music. Still, I hope people don't stop buying records. That's why R.A.I.G. tends to make every one of its releases something unique, both in terms of artwork and packaging. The people who buy records are the ones who can't help but want to touch something with their own hands. You can count me among them, although, honestly, I buy fewer records than I used to. Anyway, R.A.I.G. has a free-download section, where WJW have also made a couple of EPs available. It's like a kind of highway leading straight to your hard drives, brothers and sisters!

Speaking of your EPs (“Dante's Divine Comedy” and “The Flood Of Ixtlan”), I have to say I don't like them all that much, especially the first one…

Some say “Dante’s” is boring, others say “Ixtlan” is melodramatic: everyone has their own opinion, that’s all. “Dante’s Divine Comedy” is an ambient piece, recorded for a video installation based on photographs taken for an exclusive edition of that immortal masterpiece. It probably sounds better accompanied by the images, but I don’t think we hold the rights to release it as a DVD. Either way, it was a real challenge for us to create something so immersive and minimal. I know a girl who uses this EP for meditation. During her spiritual journeys she sees colourful ruins and abandoned castles.

“The Flood Of Ixtlan”, on the other hand, was our attempt to tackle a long track. For us, it’s really hard to take things seriously. But we still wanted to make an epic piece of over thirty minutes, with various sections… basically, a long suite in the tradition of Pink Floyd, Yes, etc. It was recorded in 2005, but we only dug it back up in 2008. It’s another sign of our eschatological obsession with global disasters, combined with a twisted eroticism. Like everything we’ve done, it’s sparked mixed reactions. I think we might put out a third EP with outtakes and live material, which would give us a proper trilogy. Then we’ll start on another one.

Then there’s the live album “The Drisneyland Chronicles Vol.I”…

That was our first attempt at “capturing” WJW live. Some parts sound good, but overall the tracks don’t come across that well. Still, it’s got great artwork. We can never get enough skulls!

“Theorist Attack” is full of references to Italian culture (Fellini, Pasolini, De Chirico, Carrà, etc.). Do you love Italy? Have you ever been? Is there any Italian band or musician you particularly like?

I’ve never been to Italy, though I hope to make up for that sooner or later. But my girlfriend is pretty obsessed with your country, as are some of my friends. I’m definitely influenced by Italian art. Since my father is a painter, I’ve been surrounded since childhood by collections covering the early Futurists, Metaphysical painting and Arte Povera.

Cinema is a world of its own: I’m a huge admirer of Fellini, and there are plenty of references to his films in WJW’s music. For instance, the track “Edward In His Glasses” from “Tol’s Toy” mentions Sandra Milo. We’re also huge fans of classic giallo films, where you find the greatest simplicity combined with psychedelic plots! Another big influence is Alessandro Baricco, who I consider one of the best writers of our time. “City” and “Castelli di rabbia” are among the books we keep going back to.

As for music, we’re not experts on the Italian scene, but a few musicians intrigue us. Luigi Russolo – a titanic figure! The hilarious noise acts Splinter Vs. Stalin and Toby Dammit (again!). Naturally, Bad Sector, Zu and Black Engine. But also Kirlian Camera, Manuel Zurria, Ephel Duath, A.I.T.!, Ensoph.

Actually, that’s a question you should ask our friend Zonder Zond. I know he has a huge collection of Italian noise/dark-folk/electro-acoustic/electronic music. He says your scene is really thriving. And let’s not forget Mr. Celentano. Without him, I’d never have learned how to behave like a gentleman around a woman! By the way, you have the most sensual language, both phonetically and visually.

Tell me about your “intimate project”: Womba.

I’ve been messing around with effects pedals and found sounds since the mid-Nineties. I’ve recorded quite a few CD-Rs. I called this collage-based work “Home-Fi”. Then R.A.I.G. released the record I made in 2001, “The 27th Baku Commissar”, and two years later came “Evidence Of Letta”, built on vinyl loops and scratching. I’ve also put together a compilation of old material, “Montagna Futuro”, but right now I don’t know when it’ll come out.

It seems to me that, in terms of deconstructive spirit and love of chaos, “Evidence Of Letta” (as well as many of the short tracks on “The 27th Baku Comissar”) is fairly similar to “Tol’s Toy”, don’t you think? What kind of technique did you use to record the album?

The inspiration for the WOMBA project came from the birth of my daughter: I’ve been recording her voice since she was tiny. You know, I also have a real passion for vinyl: I collect it, hunt it down at flea markets, rescue it from the rain and snow – and I couldn’t give a damn about the music on it! So I started experimenting with the records. I’d break them, pour every kind of chemical additive onto them, clean them… basically a bit of everything. Nobody loves “Evidence Of Letta”, but it’s so full of love and imagination that one day it’ll become a classic. A cult one, too.

As for inspiration, try taking a look at this site: http://cookshop.wordpress.com/. It’s the penthouse of wonders!

The way you work reminds me a lot of Milan Knizak’s “Broken Musik”, do you know it?

No. But maybe you can pass me something.

Recently, though, Goon Gun came into being. Preceded by the EP “Ghosts of Marx”, the album “Gone Dawn” is coming out right around now…

It's a dance project: simple songs of mental torture, with a darker undercurrent. Loneliness, vanity, oppressed souls: those are the themes of Goon Gun. Dancing is sexy! We're big fans of Justice, MSRTKRFT and MGMT, but the greatest dance album of all time is the first one (“Dubnobasswithmyheadman”, 1993; ed.) by Underworld.

Meanwhile MUX is the duo project of Edward Telpuk and Danila…

Their music leans more toward the industrial/dark-ambient side. The two of them are still playing and will keep doing so, but I don't know if they have new material ready. We played some MUX stuff during one of our last shows, and a couple of their tracks can be found on “The Drisneyland Chronicles Vol.I”… Also, the two of them, together with Iohann “Mandwill” Ludewig, are also among the members of Pravda (an outfit devoted to post-hardcore/screamo sounds; ed.).

And Konzy Sveta?

Actually, that's another moniker behind which WJW was hiding. A little trick to get noticed by those promoters who'd grown tired of us. It seems they like new projects. So there you go: a handful of friends of mine, to play improvised noise-rock and distorted electronics with.

By the way: you said you work in television. What exactly do you do?

Yes, I've been working in TV for 6-7 years now. I'm a screenwriter, an editor, and I also do a bit of dubbing. I've also started working as a VJ for Russian MTV, which is the least fashionable thing a guy who wallows in the underground can do, but it's fun enough. I'm always happy to pour some absurdity into the routine of television.

In the age of webzines, do you think music criticism has, in some way, shed its skin?

Definitely. The only purpose of print magazines these days is bathroom reading. Paying for someone's opinions is ridiculous. It's more interesting, say, to browse Rate Your Music and read the various reviews written by real people, rather than reading something written by often self-indulgent hipster journalists.

But maybe there are so-called hipsters in the world of webzines too, no?

Hipster is a hipster word, okay? The more accurate term is “snob”. I don't give a damn about people like that. Taste doesn't make a person.

Ah, well: on that I completely agree. Speaking of Rate Your Music, I saw you have an account. What do you think of this latest craze? 

It's definitely a great place to communicate and exchange information. For instance, thanks to that site a lot of people got to hear WJW. There are, anyway, plenty of other intriguing blogs devoted to every kind of genre. As for music writing, I'm all for “experimental” things, for sui generis reviews. You know the people who say words can never be a substitute for sound? Well, then why not turn reviews into genuine works of art, valid in their own right? We can smash the limits and push our imagination to its breaking point with impossible challenges!

I agree with you on these last points too. But let's talk a bit about your live shows…

When we released “Tol’s Toy”, we didn't think about playing live, but afterwards some offers came in and we started out with a three-piece line-up, which sometimes grew to as many as seven members. We had a blast, playing mostly in Moscow and doing some really schizoid, rule-free stuff. We rarely play tracks from our records, but who knows, maybe at some point we'll start doing that too. At our last show, we played with Volcano!, the American band (their drummer is amazing!). We'd just come off a long break, and I think we're still in a kind of run-in phase.

I hear you have a new record in the works…

All our music comes out of our conversations. We grab some red wine, sit down and talk for hours like middle-class monkeys; we build new concepts, then flip them around and, in the end, forget about them completely. So by the time we actually start recording something new, everything has changed considerably and we end up in a kind of no man's land. The only thing we agree on is that our third studio album won't be about sex and science. We're sick of that. We'll probably sing about drugs instead. Yeah, that could be groundbreaking – drugs and fast cars full of cash!

What can you tell me about the current Russian music scene? Rock from your country is pretty much unknown here. Any records you'd recommend to us?

Russia is famous for having one of the most godawful mainstream scenes in the world (nobody's interested in spiritually elevated poetry or "serious" romanticism, although obviously there are a few artists who are one of a kind and well known abroad), but things are a bit better on the independent side. Every year there are more bands, more genres, more technical skill. Still, the environment is pretty harsh, and making art for art's sake is as painful as ever. As for our own tastes, I'd mention I Am Above On The Left, Kruzr Ken, uSSSy, Wogulow Taroutz Vermo, Motherfathers, Lebenswelt and Bosch’s With You (right while this interview was taking place, Tikhon told me about the death – from heart problems – of Dima T. Pilot, guitarist and founder of the latter band…; ed.). I don't think it's a coincidence that they're all more or less connected to R.A.I.G. I also like the work of Gultskra Artikler, Monopolka and a few post-hardcore outfits whose names escape me right now… Also worth digging up: Звуки Му, HOM, Fedorov / Volkov, Гражданская Оборона, Гражданская Оборона, Стук Бамбука В XI Часов, Собаки Табака… And, not to plug myself, but I'd also recommend the records by the band I played in for years: Jazzlobster. It's a straight-up rock band, with no "artistic" pretensions.

Name your 5 favourite books, records and films…

Books:

Alexei Tolstoy “Aelita”, 1923

Boris Vian “Heartsnatcher”, 1953

Jan Weiss “The House of Thousand Floors”, 1929  

Thomas Pynchon “Gravity’s Rainbow”, 1973

Julio Cortazar “Hopscotch”, 1963

Records:

Fugazi “Red Medicine”, 1995

Disco Inferno “D.I. Go Pop”, 1994

FSOL “Dead Cities”, 1996

Pink Floyd “A Nice Pair”, 1973

Coil “Moon’s Milk (In Four Phases)”, 2002

Films:

Dušan Makavejev “Sweet Movie”, 1974

Federico Fellini “Giulietta degli spiriti”, 1965

Takashi Miike “Ichi The Killer”, 2001

Peter Greenaway “The Pillow Book”, 1996

Russ Meyer “Up!”, 1976

Do you have political interests? How do you assess the current Russian political situation?

WJW operate within the realm of internal immigration, the deep, surrealistic dimension of creative protest. We have no political interests. The Russian government is pure, fucking mafia at war with the people. They have no ideology, only an unlimited desire for wealth and power. Do I sound like a Russian Tom Morello (guitarist of Rage Against The Machine, ed.)? Either way, I don’t believe in social rebels. We all love dirty money.

How do you see the future of the world?

We're waiting for the aliens: they'll arrive soon. As we know, thanks to the glorious Mayan calendar, the year 2012 will mark the long-awaited transformation and redemption of humanity. Some say a huge asteroid will destroy the planet, but we're thinking, rather, of the total defragmentation of public consciousness. The Saviors of Space will finally make us happy, harmless, blissfully asexual like the Teletubbies. I'd love to witness the end of this wicked, sinful existence in some fitting place – maybe at the bottom of the sea.

What will you do tonight?

Good question! Tonight, I'll buy new trousers, sneakers, a new mouse, and then I'll go to the park, where my compatriots will celebrate the May holidays. There are, in fact, the first real rays of sunshine after a long, gloomy winter. No more snow, it's truly incredible! Then I'll draw some girls and, finally, before going to sleep, I'll pray beneath the huge portrait of Bono.

To wrap up, add whatever you like to this interview. The floor is yours!

Hell, I want to thank you for the interesting questions and for spending time on this virtual conversation. I hope we'll have the chance, one day, to sip some good Italian wine and eat black pasta, discussing Marinetti and Gianni Rodari, while octopuses wave to albatrosses and motorcycles (carrying hot-blooded, ill-fated young ladies) speed all around! Let me also take a moment to underline the importance of Danila and her “sound vision”. What I mean is: it's her production and mixing work that makes our material so vibrant! I think she's more interesting than Steve Albini, sturdier than Brian Eno, and she doesn't shoot cougars like Phil Spector…

(08/05/2009)

Ride the wave of great music

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Francesco Nunziata, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition