Reds'Cool
Singing English Songs in Russia is Pointless

24.02.2015

Reds’cool from St. Petersburg is a vivid evidence of the fact that good old hard rock can be played in this country, too. This formation, until recently going under the name Olds’cool, is known to audiences in Moscow and St. Pete through the gigs together with W.A.S.P., Gotthard, Joe Lynn Turner, Alcatrazz, Doro Pesch, Royal Hunt, Kingdom Come, Lordi, and many other prominent bands. However, the musicians now have a new name and a new career in front of them, which will soon see the band opening for UFO on a whole European tour – but not a single show in their homeland. We got Sergey (guitar), Dima (bass), Andrey (drums), Ilya (guitar), Slava (vocals) and their sound engineer Jack to comment on these developments, as well as on other things of interest in the band’s life.

You have recently completed production of your new album. Please tell me about it.

Sergey: The album is called “Red Button” (“Krasnaya Knopka”).
Dima: There are nine songs on the album.
Jack: At the moment we are in the process of negotiations with the company that will, most possibly, publish the album. This would be one of the European companies. When everything is clear with the record label, it will also be clear who will distribute the album, and we will come up with the final version of the tracklist etc. The thing is that we’ve recorded many different tracks and by now we do not know exactly, which of them will be included into the album. It will be decided by the label, not by us. At the moment I can only tell you that a couple of our old songs from our previous albums will be included into this album. They have been re-recorded by the new line-up, and we have come up with far better arrangements. The other songs are new.

What is the difference between the new album and its predecessors?

Jack: Firstly, it’s the fact that we are working with a new lead singer and a new bass player. And even though the stuff is still based upon the same style and spirit as the previous albums, the new one has, for sure, a different sound.
Dima: The new one is less tame.
Jack: Yes, it is wilder, more aggressive and more rock’n’roll.
Dima: And there is not a single cheesy ballad on this album.
Andrey: No, there should be at least one ballad on it, otherwise the listeners will go completely out of their minds.

How do you come up with the material? Does every one of you bring ideas from home, or does it happen in a more spontaneous way?

Jack: It happens both ways, actually. There are some songs that we bring from home – their core of them – and later they are developed further by the whole team together. And there are songs that were created right in the course of rehearsals. Mainly, new songs are composed on some pre-existing basis – you cannot just come up with a song from scratch. As a rule, the guitar players bring some ideas from home, and then everybody gets together to develop them. That is how a song is born.

Who writes the lyrics?

Jack: We have outside authors to do so. And the lyrics for the old songs that will be features on the new album, were written by former band members.

Why did you stop playing gigs in Russia?

Jack: It’s because in Russia not many people turn up to see local bands if they sing in English. For two years straight we tried all means to bring as many people as possible to our shows, but to no avail.

What is the difference between the Western and Russian audience?

Dima: The difference is that people abroad do turn up to see us. (smiles)
Jack: They are more democratic towards those who are playing onstage. The audience does not have this preconception that only the headliner is cool, and that the warm-up band is not, only because it is a warm-up band. In Europe people come to the gig just to listen to good music and to enjoy the show.

Does it mean that the foreign audience is friendly?

Jack: Absolutely. They are very tolerant. No arrogance whatsoever. While in Russia arrogance is just outpouring. We have had a lot of experience with that.
Andrey: Yes, the foreign audience does not have this preconception towards us that the Russian audience normally has.

Please tell me about your upcoming tour with UFO?

Sergey: The tour will start in mid-April and last till mid-May. The first seven gigs will take place in Germany. While on tour with UFO, we will also, most probably, play a couple of our own gigs. That’s because sometimes U.F.O will play the venues where it’s not possible to let the opening act and the headliner play together the same day. Instead, we will arrange two gigs in Hamburg and maybe Bochum. And then we will begin a three-weeks run through Great Britain, also with UFO.
Jack: UFO starts the tour in February and will continue from April till May.
Ilya: They’re playing in support of a new album.
Jack: And we will be supporting our own new album. Abroad you do not have such a distinction, like this is a headliner and this is an opening act. We are announced as equal performers on the UFO website and all posters. Even more so, we are allowed to announce during this tour that we play to promote our new album. Which means that this is a tour which the two bands do to promote their new albums together.

Can you tell us any interesting moments from your touring life?

Dima: Once I dropped an amplifier on my finger.
Ilya: The most interesting moments are when the things that you need go missing.
Jack: Yes, it happened last year during the last gig of our German tour. We went home, and in two days it came out that we had forgotten our amplifiers all the way in Germany.

And were there any funny stories?

Jack: Once we were on tour with Black Star Riders, we were through with our set, and we were sitting in our dressing room, enjoying a wonderful alcoholic beverage. All of a sudden the drummer Jimmy DeGrasso came in, and when I offered him a drink, he said, “No, I don’t drink at all!” And in the end he drank half of the bottle and became funny.
Dima: Yes, he went on to drink maybe ten more liters of beer, I guess. (laughs)
Jack: I myself had once a funny moment in Switzerland. We were playing one club, where they had a laundry. I washed my clothes and dried them in the dryer, and after that my clothes could fit only my six year old son. (massive laughter) I had to throw them away.
Ilya: As for me – in each new town I go sightseeing, making photographs. I walk long distances, far away, so no one could bother me. I love butterflies. (everyone laughs)
Dima: In fact he just drinks himself unconscious and later does not remember a thing.
Ilya: Sometimes I just go away for a meal. Alone. For the good three hours, so that no one bothers me. (laughs)

What country do you remember to be the best and why?

Dima: Austria. Because it is very picturesque.
Ilya: Switzerland.
Andrey: They all lie. It’s Germany.

Why?

Andrey: Because they have the best food there. And they have plenty of it. In fact, Germany is number one in our rating.
Dima: I liked being in Scotland, too. And Austria is beautiful, as if in an advertisement.
Andrey: Yes, the only thing that was missing there was a purple cow with a writing “Milka” on its side. (laughs) Yes, their meadows are so beautiful.
Slava: Yes, all in all, that would be Austria. For the record, please. (laughs)
Ilya: And I liked “Z7” club in Pratteln, Switzerland. It’s a vintage venue – every well-known band has to play there.
Dima (looking at Ilya): Was that the venue where AC/DC played?
Illya: That was the one, where we broke a beer bottle inside your backpack.
Dima: There you have the funniest moment! (everyone laughs)
Ilya: And after it happened I hanged the wet clothes on a fence to let them dry. Later on a girl came in from the club personnel and asked, “Should I wash your clothes for you?” and I told her “Yes, sure”. And then I returned to the change room after the gig and I saw my clothes clean, dry and in a nice staple. So, I took ’em…
Dima: …and went on with the funny events.
Ilya: I went on to have a meal.
Slava: There was a moment, when I spilled the rest of my coffee right outside, in the street. And my coffee mug slipped out of my hand, only the handle remained. (laughs)
Ilya: So, this club, “Z7” is the place for everyone, who does big tours across Europe. Starting from Gotthard, Sodom, The Distractions, The 69 Eyes…
Dima: And ending with us. (smiles)

Slava, you have become the frontman more or less recently. Please, tell us about yourself.

Slava: I was born in Pyatigorsk. I graduated cum laude from a jazz vocals school, that I had attended for five years. After that I managed to sing in a couple of bands playing covers in different clubs and bars. Once I received an invitation from a band to come to St. Petersburg. I came down there, I liked the band, and the guys liked me. Then I came to settle down in St. Petersburg. This is just to make a long story short.

Do you like St. Petersburg? Is it all right for you?

Slava: It is wet here. But, yes, I do like it. (smiles)

Dima, now you have to tell us a couple of words about yourself. You are also new to the band.

Dima: I joined the band a couple of months before Slava.

Did you know each other?

Dima: No, I did not know anyone. So it came that I had moved to St. Petersburg a month before I joined the band. You would ask, why did I move from Moscow to St. Petersburg… Well, in Moscow I played with a lot of bands, including GaiNA (ex–Kruiz). But at the end of the day, I was just bored and I wanted to make a brand new start. By the way, I still participate in the GaiNA project.

What were the major drawbacks, the things that did not suit you?

Dima: I participated in five different bands, but they did not progress in any way. It all was dull and boring.

Were those cover bands?

Dima: No, I have never played in cover bands.
Jack: You do not know a single song, that’s why. (laughs)

Jack, how did you find Dima and Slava?

Jack: Through the Internet.
Andrey: He was strolling by the Moskowsky Railway Terminal and saw a couple of youngsters, begging for a dime… (massive laughter)
Jack: When it became clear that we needed a bass player, I began to search different Internet sources and finally found Dima. I contacted him, invited him to visit us, he came down, we played a jam session together. OK, he suited us. The stylish jeans are in place. The belly is not popping out. We invited him to join us. It was the same way with Slava. But it was much harder to find a singer. We searched not only St. Petersburg and its environments, but also the different parts of the country. We had candidates from different cities. But our co-operation was not suitable either for them, or for us.

Did it take long to find the new band members?

Jack: Around three months. It was a day-in day-out search on the Internet. And later, in the studio, we auditioned three candidates.

What were the selection criteria? What were you focusing on?

Jack: Firstly, we judged the candidates by the way they sing. If they have a real rock-and-roll appeal. We judged by their charisma, energy. English skills…

Was their appearance important as well?

Jack: Sure. We had one candidate from a far away Northern town. He sings really cool, but his appearance resembles of Kolya Baskov (a cheesy Russian pop star – ed.) too much. Of course your appearance is important, but not that much. The main factor is your voice. The appearance can be modified in different ways, but as for the voice, if it does not suit us, if it is weak and lacks energy or appeal – it will not fit in, no matter how great you look.

Jack, you were once a singer yourself for the bands Great Sorrow and Face-X. Do you have any urge to appear on stage now?

Jack: No. If I wish to find myself onstage, I will make it. This is not a problem.

Have you guys ever had moments when you felt like quitting all this music stuff?

Ilya: Yes, and more than once.
Dima: I quit everything and came all the way down to St. Petersburg. (laughs)

Yes, but when you came down here, your plans were to go on with your music, weren’t they?

Dima: No, I just came down here and took a job in a call-center. And when my fellow employees got to know that I am a musician, they always asked me, what I was doing there? I always answered that I did not know it myself. And when I passed the Reds’cool audition, the guys told me that everything is OK, I called my office and told them that I quit and won’t come back at all. (massive laughter)

Was this twist totally unexpected for you yourself?

Dima: Well, I was looking for a band, but, honestly, I was disappointed by St. Petersburg music scene. I had expected St. Petersburg to be a creative city, where there would be no problem to find a suitable band. But in the end it turned out that the situation here was much worse than even in Moscow. It is a pure luck that I have found such a good company.

What would you recommend to beginning Russian rock bands, who sing in English?

Jack: First of all they must clearly understand why they are doing it. If they are doing it for their own fun, than everything is OK, do what you please. But if they want to reach fame and fortune, I would not recommend them to sing in English in this country. It is pointless.

Are you satisfied with your current situation?

Dima: It turns out that our situation is much better than the situation of many bands here in Russia. We are the lucky ones. But, of course, we should not feel too much satisfied, otherwise we will just stop developing.

Reds'cool on the Internet: http://www.redscool.net

Interview by Lena Reutskaya
English translation by Denis Makeyev
January 23, 2015
(с) HeadBanger.ru