Interview: Zhenya Rock

– Where did you live before coming to Austin and what did you do?

Before coming to Austin, I lived in Los Angeles most of the time.

More precisely, we were based there, but most of the time I lived on the bus, since I traveled a lot with tours throughout America.  I was in the Red Elvises group.  Before I left the band in 2004, we recorded 11 albums and 4 movie soundtracks.

And I founded the Flying Balalaika Brothers when I moved to Austin in 2008.

Before coming to America I lived and worked in Moscow in the theater of the “Harlequin” studio at the “Sovremennik” theater, where I wrote music.  The theater was very interesting, under the direction of the Armenian director Sergei Andreyevich Melkonyan.  The theater was not pleasing to the political regime, and therefore we performed little in Moscow itself and toured more in Russia, mainly in the Crimea and the Krasnodar region.  I was not only a musician there, but also a composer.  I wrote music and arrangements for all performances.

Also, in addition to the theater, I had time to tour with the groups “Quiet Hour” and “Zenitsa Oka”.

– What are you doing now?

Now, because of covid, we are forced to work online.  At the moment I give lessons, make arrangements for young musicians and soundtracks for films.

I am also an artist and studied this seriously, so now I paint pictures and illustrations for books.

– How are your relations with the Motherland developing?

Perfectly well.  Before Covid I went there two or three times a year.  I performed in Volgograd, Cherepovets, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Arkhangelsk and throughout the server region.  There is a chain of cozy rock clubs where I give my concerts and bring other musicians.  I’m out of politics.  I enjoy performing for compatriots.  I travel so much and come into contact with different cultures and countries that the concept of being abroad is blurry for me.

– What traditions of your pre-American life do you support?

The language is, of course, first of all, at home we speak Russian, we watch Russian films sometimes.  Of the holidays, we are very fond of Shrovetide.  We spent three years in a row in Austin, trying to unite people with Slavic roots and acquaint Americans with our traditions.  Our last Maslenitsa gathered more than two thousand people and, as it seems to us, gave rise to many ideas.  Musicians from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus were brought to Austin several times.

My wife and I have also held several gypsy festivals here. There are gypsies in my roots and this is reflected in my work.  On April 8, we celebrate the Day of the Gypsies.  Even our wedding with my wife was held in the form of an old gypsy wedding, which was attended by guests from all over America.

– Please tell us about your hobbies

Natasha and I are very fond of the garden, flowers, chickens.  I paint and love to invent unusual mechanisms.  For example, I invented a drawing machine.

I love radio mechanics, I love to improve electronic guitars, so that they make unusual sounds.  These are the interesting things.  I love to sew concert clothes.

– Do you think Austin needs a Russian cultural center?

The center is needed in any city. Russians typically tend to get together a lot and that’s great. And cultural events unite everyone.  For example, the celebration of Maslenitsa.

Everyone needs their native traditions outside the homeland, but everyone has their own approach, you need to take into account different ideas, to hear everyone.  For example, for Shrovetide, I invented the heat of a bird, which we doused with fuel.  I want to support traditions with a creative perception and bring something new to them.  We grew up on the same fairy tales, but the interpretation is different for everyone.  In order to realize all this, of course, we need a center that unites everyone.

– Tell about your family and your parenting experience

It is always difficult to bring up children.  Our older children are already adults, now only our youngest daughter is growing up with us, she is already 13. She is fond of frogs, creatively changes dolls, sews.

There are more good moments for me in parenting, although we sometimes turn into bubbly.  But I am for the child to develop a creative world, to help him open up.  Each child is a whole world, in many respects unlike ours, we only touch our adult worlds a little with the worlds of our children, and it is important that at these points of contact there would be something that would remain in the child’s world, like a beacon to which  he will be able to swim out in his life storms.

– What did you like in your childhood? Did your parents help you to open up creatively?

I loved writing music.  Both my father and my mother did not hinder me.  But my father had different views on music.  He was an accordion player, it was difficult for him to put up with the fact that I am not a classical musician, but love rock and play guitar, which he did not consider a serious instrument.  But still, he was probably the one who had a great influence on me as a musician.  My parents are both very musical people, my mother has a wonderful voice, she still sings, despite her age.  Dad, unfortunately, already died.

 

Contact information:

http://FlyingBalalaikabrothers.com

 

Interviewer: Viktoria Romanova

Editor: Olga Falkowski

Publisher: Russian Cultural Center