Tonight, a Tuesday, as on at least two other nights, I am listening to them playing at Ñónduk Bar on Mykhaylivska Vul. The rock songs they play are mostly those with which I am very familiar. That's because they are oldies. Just like me. Much of the music is of the 50s, 60's and 70s. Many of the songs are older than the average age of the group by a factor of two. Virtually all the songs are in my native American English.
Included in the repertoire are "Rock Around the Clock", "Blue Suede Shoes," "The Twist," "Tutti Frutti," "Johnny B. Goode," "A Hard Day's Night," "Yesterday" and many more such that I remember from, let's just say, when I was much, much younger. So from the originator Bill Haley, to Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis (or maybe Carl Perkins), Chubby Checker to the Beatles with, I think, a little Jimi Hendrix plus quite a few other artists of similar vintage included, my memories are more than attended to. They are satiated (as in the rare sense).
Anastasia or Asa as she's called in Ukraine, or Stace as she was nicknamed in the U.S. (while a high school student), and I interviewed the group minus Artur the drummer one afternoon at Sunduk. I was curious.
I had several questions I wanted answered. Namely, (1) Why do they and so many other bands sing so many of the old American and English rock songs? (2) Why do so many groups sing in English, and how do they do it so well when English is not their native tongue? And, (3) Generally, what's life like in Kyiv as young rock musicians competing with so many other groups?
Answers to the questions later. First about the band. It is relatively new, just a few months and less than a year. Alexander, known as Chika from childhood, is the oldest at just past 30. He is the leader and plays bass guitar. Susanna, about 10 years younger, is the lead singer, plays acoustic guitar, and is married to Chika. Dimitri, who plays lead guitar, is in his early 20s. Artur, the absent drummer, and from what I've seen, not too much a talker, is 20. Chika has been in Kyiv about seven years and is from the Yaroslavsky Region of Russia. Susanna and Dimitri have known each other for some three or so years. Both are from Kyiv. Artur, "picked up on the streets" according to Susanna, came to Kyiv from Mariupol last year at 19 years of age.
From talking with the group (Susanna and Dimitri speak English), the one thing they have in common is that they are all serious musicians. Dimitri - after four and a half years of medical school, good marks and near a diploma - decided that composing music was more important to him than further pursuing a medical career. Susanna has had her interest in music from an early age. She also writes lyrics and composes. In addition to "Avenue," Chika plays in three other bands. His primary objective in coming to Kyiv was to succeed as a professional musician. One of his bands is "RM4". Another band that one or more of them play in frequently is "Islands."
As one might expect, musicians being so numerous in Kyiv, few make a lot of money. The pay scales are almost embarrassingly low. Nevertheless, Kyiv seems the place to be. "Avenue" plays regularly one night a week at Sunduk. They also have a couple of other places where they stage regular or semi-regular gigs. They supplement their incomes by performing for private parties and filling in with other bands.
We asked them about other jobs they had to supplement their incomes. They don't. Their music work is time consuming and they are so dedicated in the pursuit of their art that they don't attempt other employment. They do pretty much work to help each other though and generally share revenues from performances equally. When not performing or practicing, they explained, they are attending concerts where others are performing. They say they get little rest from their music. But they work to gain experience, to learn, to improve and to advance their own careers. They are now working together, but each has his own individual ambitions. Dimitri, for one, desires to pursue his own compositions and eventually to form a band of his own.
They do have other interests. They were enthusiastic supporters during the Orange Revolution. When questioned about Greenjolly as the representative for Eurovision, they thought it was good in spite of my mentioning a few other artists that seemed deserving too. Susanna expressed an interest in traveling and mentioned a hitchhiking trip that seemed pretty adventuresome for so young and petite a lady. She has studied Italian long enough to be fluent.
To the questions above as to why they sing so many popular songs, even the oldies, and why a lot of other rock bands did too, the answer was simple: "That's what the audiences seem to want." Also, the owners of the venues expect it. I take it that they like singing in English too.
This does not mean they do not compose in Russian, however. Interestingly for me was an explanation of the English versus the Russian or Ukrainian. They said that when they sing in their native tongue, they don't have to pay attention to the words, they only hear the music. When singing in English, they not only understood the music, they enjoyed sounding the words. In concentrating on the sound they hear in English, they thus explain the fact that there is little or no accent.
In composing lyrics in English, Susanna and Dimitri explained, they are not only writing the music, they are also creating the sound. Thus they are at one: writing both for the effect of sound and meaning.
This group is very enjoyable. Particularly, for someone of my vintage, listening is a pleasure. They seem to enjoy each other too. After hearing them for several sets on multiple occasions, I find they begin to start slowly, even tentatively. Susanna is a small, bit of a woman. Her voice starts out small, but shortly confidence and/or an innate talent and desire to perform and please, or something, finds her really belting the songs out...a very big voice and great sound. Both Dimitri and Chika do some solos which are really good, and they back up Susanna for some pretty great "listening to-dancing to" music.
Susanna sings one song of her own composition called (if I have it right) "You Never Take Me to Your Bed." The words are thoughtful, even soulful, the music good. One day I hope each of them is able to play more of their own music. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the oldies.
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