Biography
Scandal, sincerity, shockingness, joy and the Leningrad group - all these are links in one chain. Sergei Shnurov provided work for a long time for lawyers who were handling lawsuits in batches about the use of profanity in songs. Fans are tearing apart these poems for quotes. Yuri Shevchuk's prediction about the band's imminent decline did not come true - stadiums of many thousands gather for concerts. Clips of “Leningraders” are discussed even within the walls of government institutions.
Maria Olkhova, 30 years old
Born: Nizhny Novgorod.
How many years have you been in the group: 2 years.
Education: College of Music, specialty - pop-jazz vocals; GITIS, specialty - theater and film actress.
Casting: My vocal teacher encouraged me to try my hand and participate in the selection. The meeting took place in the Moscow region, where Leningrad performed at a corporate event. I was very worried, because Shnurov is a rebel and generally a difficult fruit. As soon as she climbed onto the stage and took the microphone to perform “On Louboutins,” the pipes began to scream behind her. I thought at that moment that this was a tricky test of strength. But in life Seryozha turned out to be an ironic and easy-going person.
Incidents: At first I was stressed during rehearsals. It was unusually loud, sometimes I couldn’t even hear my own voice. Once I was so confused that I sang frankly dirty. Then Seryozha said with a smile: “Masha, you’re like Arshavin! Sometimes you hit the bull’s eye, sometimes it misses, it’s a nightmare!” There was another story during a private concert. We prepared for a long time and waited for the start. I went to the toilet, came back, and everyone was already on stage! Now I know that in such situations the main thing is not to attract attention and calmly join the artists. And then, of course, I panicked.
Personal life: I recently broke up with my boyfriend.
History and composition
There is no clarity on the date of formation of “Leningrad” - either January 9 or January 13, 1997. The first number is the day when Shnurov and Igor Vdovin decided to create a new project, the second is the day of the first concert. It turns out that in 4 days the friends managed to play with keyboardist Andrei Antonenko, drummer Alexander Popov, drummer Alexei Kalinin and saxophonist Roman Fokin. Ilya Ivashov and Oleg Sokolov played trumpets.
Sergei Shnurov
Shnur himself doesn’t remember the members’ names; he says the group is a folk group and grew on its own. In 1998, Vdovin left, and Sergei and Popov tried to replace him. As a result, the leading role of the vocalist remained with Sergei. Over the 20 years of life on stage, at least two dozen people passed through the Leningrad school. There were also such colorful personalities as Stas Baretsky. At one time, the group tried to repeat the experience of “Tender May”, touring simultaneously in several cities with different lineups.
The first promoter was the main “auctionist” Leonid Fedorov. Fame came quickly: who else would dare to swear on stage, look like Robinson Crusoe and not be embarrassed by being drunk? The “Leningraders” were barred from entering the capital; the group’s creativity horrified Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who did not see anything bright and positive in it.
Vocalist Yulia Kogan
Despite the success, some musicians were tired of this style of existence, and conflicts began within the team. Leningrad switched mostly to studio work.
In 2002, a new page opened in the group’s biography. The renewed Shnurov released songs that formed the basis of his solo album and the eighth studio album of Leningrad - “For Millions”. A new lineup began to appear on the stage; some of the “old guys” went to the “Spitfire” team, which helped record albums and accompanied them at concerts.
Vocalist Alisa Vox
Soon, women appeared as participants in Leningrad, first as backing vocalists. The first full-fledged soloist was Yulia Kogan. According to Shnurov, the team parted ways with her due to creative differences. Alisa Vox took over, the girl performed the songs “Bag”, “I’m Crying and Crying”. The highlight of the soloist’s participation in the group was the unforgettable “Exhibit” (“Louboutins”). This time, the frontman explained the singer’s departure by saying that Alice “caught a star.”
In March 2017, Florida Chanturia and Vasilisa Starshova came. Starshova was no longer at the anniversary concert in honor of the 20th anniversary of Leningrad, but she managed to star in the video “Sobchak Glasses.” It is no secret that the group also acquired a favorite actress - Yulia Topolnitskaya. The girl appears in the video for the songs “Exhibit”, “Tits”, “Kolshchik”.
Actress Yulia Topolnitskaya
After parting with Vasilisa, Shnurov decided to take in quantity. Florida was joined by Victoria Kuzmina, Maria Olkhova and Anna Zotova. Moreover, Vika has already proven herself on stage: she is one of the stars of the “Voice” project, she sang in the Sugarmamas duet, formed as part of the show.
The male part of the team consists of 16 people. In addition to traditional guitars, keyboards and drums, participants play double bass and harmonica, trombone and alto saxophone, “scratch” and beat the tambourine.
Florida Chanturia, 29 years old
How many years in the group: 3.5 years.
Education: St. Petersburg Institute of Culture, specialty - pop-jazz vocals.
Casting: One call changed my life. When I picked up the phone, a sweet voice said that we had found a video from your vocal exam and were ready to invite you to an audition. Who would refuse this? Actually, it was there that I met Sergei Vladimirovich.
Incidents: We often laugh, but, of course, we don’t write down specific cases. The impression that is imprinted in my memory is from Dubai. We flew there in my first year in the team; I was green and inexperienced. Right during the concert I was enchanting. fell. I was wearing a long dress with a slit, I got caught on some wire and landed very beautifully on my fifth point in the middle of the stage. The bruise continued to bloom, alternately purple and green, for a long time.
Music
The musicians released their first album “Bullet” on cassettes in a limited edition. When it came to the official one, it turned out that the songs on the disc were mixed up - “Bells” instead of “Katyukha”. At first, the music of “Leningrad” was influenced by the work of chansonnier Arkady Severny. However, from the second disc, “Mate Without Electricity,” the group acquired its own style.
Group "Leningrad"
Since the 2000s, program directors of television channels and radio stations have changed their attitude towards the group, songs and videos are included in rotation. “Leningraders” perform not only in clubs, they are happy to be seen at all kinds of festivals, and Garik Sukachev, “Lyapis Trubetskoy”, Sergei Galanin join the ranks of fans.
In 2002, the album “Pirates of the 21st Century” released two hits that became the calling card of the St. Petersburg team - “Up in the Air” and “WWW”. At this time, a concert took place, called the last by the group leader. The program of the performance spoke for itself: “Without you, p***”, “Sp***y”, “Fag***s”.
Song "WWW" by the group "Leningrad"
The volume of profanity began to decrease from the albums “Bread” and “Indian Summer”. In addition, the girl began to solo, and even the most loyal fans would not have liked the abuse from her lips. In the summer of 2004, the song “Gelendzhik” resounded along the Black Sea coast of Russia, and in 2008 Shnurov once again announced the breakup of the group.
The “Sweet Dream” video marked the official revival of “Leningrad”. The male version performed by Vsevolod Antonov was called “Bitter Dream”. From that moment on, the “Leningraders” were called not a group, but a group.
Song "Gelendzhik" by the group "Leningrad"
In 2011, two albums were released at once - “Henna” and “Eternal Flame”. The song “Loves Our People” hit the charts. In 2012, it was the turn of the hit “Fish of My Dreams.” The reason for writing the song was an Internet meme in which fisherman Viktor Goncharenko shouts “Ide!”
“Leningrad”, along with Yolka, Basta, indie pop group OQJAV and Therr Maitz, was nominated for the MTV EMA 2021. The prestigious statuette was awarded to the team of Anton Belyaev. As compensation, Shnurov was awarded the Golden Gramophone for “Exhibit.”
Song "Exhibit" (Louboutins) by the group "Leningrad"
According to Sergei, the song “Exhibit” received praise from Ryan Reynolds, the Hollywood star who played the main role in the action movie “Deadpool.” In the second part of the superhero film, dubbed for Russian audiences, in the final part the composition “Fuss in the Mud” was performed by “Leningrad”. In addition, as Rossiyskaya Gazeta wrote, Telegram is also mentioned in the film, as if to spite Roskomnadzor, which tried to block the messenger.
Discography
- Bullet (1999)
- Checkmate without electricity (1999)
- Summer Residents (2000)
- Made in ass (2001)
- Bullet+ (2001)
- Pirates of the 21st Century (2002)
- Point (2002)
- For millions (2003)
- Babarobot (2004)
- Huinya (2005)
- Bread (2005)
- Indian Summer (2006)
- Aurora (2007)
- Henna (2011)
- Eternal Flame (2011)
- Fish (2012)
- Evening Leningrad (2012)
- The beach is ours (2014)
- Minced meat (2014)
Leningrad group now
In August 2017, “Leningrad” pleased us with a new video – “Ch.P.H.” The three letters were deciphered quite in the style of the group - “Pure St. Petersburg Shit.” To the surprise of fans, the genre of the song is rap, and the action is presented in the form of a battle with performer Alexander Stepanov, known in the rap community as ST. The result was a kind of response to the sensational “battle” between Oksimiron and Gnoyny.
Sergey Shnurov (Leningrad group) in 2021
The number of views of the video on the group’s Youtube channel exceeded a million in just a few hours. Among the actors in the video are Sergei Shnurov's fellow countrymen - football player Alexander Kerzhakov and journalist Alexander Nevzorov.
October was marked by "The Candidate". The song was written by Shnurov, and performed by bandmate Adolfych, aka Puzo, and in the world - drummer and bass guitarist Alexander Popov. The only thing that fans didn’t like in the video was the scene with the killing of the cat, although the video was preceded by the phrase that “not a single animal was harmed.” Fron commented on his personal Instagram account that even if these shots offended anyone, then faith in humanity remains.
Song "Ch.P.H." group "Leningrad"
Already in November of the same year, the group presented their next creation - a video for the song “Voyage”. The filming of the video was again entrusted to Ilya Naishuller, who received the UK Music Video Awards for “Kolshchik”. According to tradition, “Leningrad” collected everything that is not welcome on television - tobacco smoking, scenes of violence, flavored with profanity.
In 2021, Sergei gave himself and his fans a birthday present - he released an album with the laconic title “Everything.” And he explained why:
“This word is very Russian, multifaceted, if you like, comprehensive and insignificant at the same time. And the masters of short reviews, with which the Internet is teeming, will definitely write “g***”.
The album includes 8 compositions that were previously performed at concerts, but received studio treatment for the first time. In the video for the song “Role”, popularly nicknamed “Not Alena”, in addition to staged shots, clips from Internet videos depicting drunk women are used. The album will not be released on discs or records - it is available only through Yandex.Music, iTunes and the official channel on Youtube.
Song "Zhu-zhu" by the group "Leningrad"
An animated video for the track “Zhu-zhu” soon appeared on this channel, in which Glucose took part. In it, the performers ridiculed their fellow citizens who were always dissatisfied with something. Shnurov and Ionova became the prototypes of the main characters, the cat was copied from Sergei’s pet, and the credits included a Chinese folk song performed by students from the Middle Kingdom.
Actress Yulia Alexandrova from the comedy “Bitter!” and the star of “Kitchen”, comedian Sergei Burunov starred in a video for the song “Not Paris”. In the video, Yulia is a kind of superheroine, and Sergei is her husband, completely immersed in video games. Thus, “Leningrad” seemed to praise women who succeed in everything in life, since the premiere took place on the occasion of March 8th.
Song “Not Paris” by the group “Leningrad”
In June 2018, the group had its first sold-out concert in Barnaul. Listeners danced to their favorite hits - “Louboutins”, “Drink in St. Petersburg”, “Patriotka”. The full tour schedule is published on the official website.
Anya Zolotova, 30 years old
How many years in the group: 2 years and 2 months.
Education: Linguistic University, specialty - teacher of English; private lessons at the Gershwin School of Jazz.
Casting: Before the invitation to Leningrad, I performed solo. At some joint event, I was noticed and invited to join the group. Yes, yes, I'm lucky!
Incidents: It’s no secret that there is always competition in the women’s team: who has a more beautiful dress, who can sing higher notes. That's why I often cry in the corner. I'm worried that it's suddenly worse than the others. It’s not for nothing that I perform the song “I cry and cry.” But seriously, we have a good mentor. He repeatedly made stylistic changes to my performance style. I used to sing jazz in English, so I had to try hard to master folk Russian.
Personal life: I have a boyfriend.
