A group of earthlings is a new composition. Group "Earthlings": composition of the group, photo

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End of activity: 2010

Although these EARTHLANES became, perhaps, the first professional band in our country that quite legally added the sonorous epithet "rock band" to its name and, as such, successfully represented rock on the pages of the youth press of the first half of the 80s and in the minds of the general public still Soviet youth, their actual belonging to the rock scene has always been problematic. Coming out of amateur performances and consisting of strong musicians, EARTHLY, nevertheless, were built in the image and likeness of the VIA and lived according to the laws of the pop genre. At the same time, they managed to successfully play on the interest of young people in modern music, exploiting the entourage of hard music of the 70s on stage (pyrotechnics, lighting effects, forced sound, the "heroic" image of musicians, etc.), and in the arrangements - the whole set techniques and clichés inherent in the same hard and, in part, art rock, which created the effect of being at a rock show for listeners. The head of the ZEMLYANS, Vladimir Kiselyov, came to Leningrad from Western Ukraine at the turn of the 70s and started out as a substitute drummer in restaurant ensembles, although he always aspired to become a professional; his attempts to find a common language with the leading groups of the amateur rock scene (MIFAMI, MANIA, POST, etc.) were not successful, and in the spring of 1975 Kiselev assembled his own group APRIL, which played covers of Anglo-American hard and blues rock in suburban clubs . APRIL enjoyed a noisy and well-deserved success, however, after many line-up changes, it broke up in the spring of 1978, and Kiselyov found a like-minded person in the person of Andrei Bolshev, the former administrator of the ZEMLYANA group, popular in St. Petersburg, which had long been based in the DK im. Dzerzhinsky, and at that moment temporarily ceased to exist. Having joined forces, they decided to create a new group and legalize with it at some regional philharmonic society. At first, Kiselyov planned to keep the name APRIL for the group, however, Bolshev and the palace administration convinced him to borrow the name from ZEMLYANS - fortunately, they had official permission to perform concerts and many regalia for victories in competitions and festivals. They even negotiated with the backbone of real EARTHLY, but they were skeptical about Kiselyov's abilities as a drummer and rejected the offer. Having tempted the musicians of ORNAMENT, at that time perhaps the most professional-sounding group of Peter, with good instruments and bright prospects, in September 1978 Kiselev brought new ZEMLYANS to the stage, which included four members of ORNAMENT: Nikolai Kudryavtsev, vocals, Pavel Borisov, bass, Yuri Starchenko, keyboards, Alexey Shmargunenko, synthesizer, later sound engineering; they were joined by Igor Romanov (ex-RUSSIANS, APRIL), guitar, Viktor Kudryavtsev (the only one who was noted in the old EARTHLANDS), guitar, vocals, and his wife Veronika Stepanova, vocals. This line-up turned out to be unstable (which soon became the main scourge of the group): even before the end of autumn, Borisov was replaced by the universal Boris Aksyonov, keyboards, bass, guitar, who also started in the ROSSIANS and APRIL, and Starchenko by Konstantin Pleshak (formerly METRONOM and POST). In January, the place of Kolya Kudryavtsev, who returned to ORNAMENT, was taken by Igor Dembovsky from VIA MAGISTRAL and the Arkhangelsk Pomors. Enlisting the support of the famous pop composer Mark Fradkin, a number of whose songs, incl. the first number "Red Horse" recorded by EARTHLANDS on a disc entered their repertoire, Kiselyov finally brought his offspring to the philharmonic track. They failed to gain a foothold in the conservative Lenconcert, but found refuge in the more liberal Philharmonic of Kemerovo, after which they went on a long tour of the cities of Siberia and the Urals. Dembovsky, who was not satisfied with the difference between the actual working conditions and those that were promised to him in advance, left on the eve of the first concert and got a job at the Neva restaurant, and later gathered the FORCAGE and ADULTS groups. At the same time, Yuri Dmitrenko became the new ZEMLYAN keyboard player. Until the end of 1979, Oleg Gusev (ex-APRIL, RUSSIANS, later AUGUST), keyboard bass, and Gennady Barikhnovsky (MYTHS), bass; Sergey Bystrov (ex-LIRA) took the place of Dembovsky. In winter, at the suggestion of Barikhnovsky, guitarist and singer Yuri Ilchenko (ex-MYTHS, TIME MACHINE) appeared, and bass player Alexander Titov (ex-STAY) replaced him in ZEMLYANKY. Igor Romanov, meanwhile, went to the popular KAKADU group. The staff turnover continued: in the middle of 1980, the Kudryavtsevs parted ways with their colleagues and joined the KALEIDOSCOPE group, which worked at dances in the region and for some time was based in the Youth Palace. Victor, however, in 1982 again showed up in the ranks of the EARTHLY, while the place of Veronica remained vacant - female vocals in the group no longer sounded. A year later, Ilchenko was lured to INTEGRAL, but Romanov returned to ZEMLYANS, along with keyboardist and singer Sergey Skachkov, whose recognizable voice became the group's trademark for a long time. True, Kiselyov, invariably prone to manipulating his musicians, pushed Skachkov into the background, putting the more sexy Romanov at the microphone. Another vocalist, Vasily Lazarenko (ex-SINGING GUITAR), generally performed his parts from behind the scenes! By the middle of 1981, Kiselyov completely retrained from drummers to administrators (although he continued to pose with sticks on the TV screen), and the technical drummer Andrey "Dryunya" Kruglov from Pskov appeared in the ZEMLYANS. The group starred in the Soviet-French film "Russian Winter" and performed in the New Year's "Blue Light", which became a sign of recognition by its official Soviet pop elite. In March 1982, Titov and Shmargunenko left for the AUGUST started by Oleg Gusev, and Viktor Kudryavtsev took up the bass. Later that year, singer Mikhail Koshelev (ex-FORWARD), rhythm guitarist Sergei Vasiliev and singing keyboard player Alexander Donskikh (ex-ARS, later ZOO) joined the group, taking Dmitrenko's place. When Kudryavtsev was invited to INDEX-398, which worked from the Lipetsk Philharmonic, either Skachkov or the returned Aksyonov played the bass guitar (after the army, he managed to leave a legacy in JONATHAN LIVINGSTON and the UNION OF ROCK MUSIC LOVEERS). After a period of stability in 1983-1984, the composition of the group again began to change its shape: in May, jazzman Valery Brusilovsky (ex-ARSENAL, KVADRO) took the place of Kruglov, who had left for DILIJANCE; in August Ivan Kovalyov (ex-ARGONAUTS, TELE U) became a bass player. Fedor Stolyarov, the leader of STAGECOACH, guitarist Fyodor Stolyarov made a couple of trips with the EARTHLANDS. At the end of the contract with the Kemerovo Philharmonic (1984), they changed it to the Kaluga one, from January to November 1985 they were registered in the Lenconcert, a month later they put their work books in the Tashkent Circus, and even later ended up in Moscow. All this time they constantly traveled around the country, giving hundreds of concerts in all corners of the country, and did not leave the television screens, which allowed the group to gain immense popularity. At the same time, a significant part of ZEMLYAN's concert programs, as before, consisted of Western hard rock hits, while a purely Soviet song was presented on television. It should be noted here that, unlike the VIA of the older generation, which hopelessly discredited themselves and the genre by performing banal lyrics, state-owned praises to the party establishment and the Komsomol-patriotic theme that had long set the teeth on edge, EARTHLYANS, relying on a wide range of composers and songwriters, created their own a kind of ersatz rock with a new approach to texts that, while retaining the asociality and unaddressedness inherent in the stage, exploited either a heroic-sports theme (stuntmen, racers, hang gliding, karate, boxing, astronauts), or a win-win version of pathetic and pseudo-civilian lyrics ("Forgive , Earth", "Grass near the house", etc.). The conformity of the EARTHLY people made them a textbook example of the so-called. "part-rock", which in 1982-1985 was intensively imposed on the youth by the Komsomol press - the Leningrad "Change" was especially successful in this, opposing ZEMLYANS to the semi-underground groups of the Rock Club - however, no tricks could insure them from the inevitable collapse caused by the absence meaningful creative program and the inability to take into account real changes in the music market. In the summer of 1985, EARTHLYANS took part in the cultural program of the XII World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow, and in the same December they gave their first solo concert at the Luzhniki Sports Palace. The decline of ZEMLYANS began with the departure in October 1985 of their frontman Igor Romanov and drummer Brusilovsky, who immediately formed their SOYUZ. For some time, confusion reigned in the group: Aksyonov played the guitar, a couple of temporary musicians flashed by, incl. guitarists Boris Korgichev (from KAKADU) and Vladimir Ermolin (ZAROK), drummers Alexander Kulakov (also from KAKADU) and Sergey Sokur, but the only one who came to court was Anatoly Lobachev (ex-SINGING GUITAR), keyboards, guitar. Only by the fall of 1986 did the group stabilize its line-up: Kiselyov, Skachkov, Aksyonov, Kovalyov, Vasilyev, Lobachev plus recruits Yuri Babenko, guitar, Yuri Zhuchkov, vocals, and Georgy Tonkelidi (ex-VISIT), drums. At the end of the year, Lobachev left for the pop group MODEL, and the following spring he reunited with Aksyonov in DELTA OPERATOR. A year later, Kovalev, who had collected his PARAPHRASE, was replaced by Alexander Krivtsov (ex-SOYUZ), however, all attempts of EARTHLY people to find a new face and get rid of the burden of their own stereotypes were not successful, and the full legalization of underground rock and the wave of Moscow metal (CRUISE, ARIA) finally pushed aside them to the margins of show business. Nevertheless, the band regularly represented the music of the USSR on the stages of the countries of the socialist camp: they played at the festival "Schlager 87" in Dresden and at the song festival in Sopot (1988), and also opened for rock monsters URIAH HEEP on their first tour of the Soviet Union. In early 1987, Melodiya released the group's first independent album, Earth's Birthday. In 1988, the current ZEMLYANS parted ways with Kiselyov and, with a line-up that had nothing to do with the original version of the group, continued to perform and tour. In 1990, they included Sergei Skachkov, keyboards, vocals, Vyacheslav Makhrensky, guitar, Yuri Levachev, bass, Vladimir Ushakov, drums, and Valery Gorshenichev, vocals (the last two came from SOYUZ). In the same 1990, they changed their name to VOSTOCHNY EXPRESS and traveled around Europe for a couple of years on the wave of fashion for everything post-Soviet, but by 1992 they disappeared from sight. Boris Zosimov, who replaced Kiselyov as director, created the well-known company Biz Enterprise, then the Russian version of MTV, and also led the domestic branch of the PolyGram concern. Kiselev in the late 80s opened his own Music Center, which included a dozen ephemeral groups that regularly changed their appearance and composition (RUSSIAN, PASSENGERS, EVEREST, COMRADES, BLACK AND WHITE, etc. ), although only the RUSSIANS with the song of the same name managed to achieve real success in the music market. He also held his festival "White Nights of St. Petersburg" and tours of Western rock stars, forcing them to perform on stage to the soundtrack, and sometimes passing off obscure artisans as such. In 1994, Sergei Skachkov, who sang most of the popular songs of ZEMLYANS in the 80s, reorganized the group with young musicians to perform his old repertoire, which today evokes only a slight feeling of nostalgia for that strange era. Despite the turbulent biography, the group did not record too much material, most of which, if desired, can be found on the double album "Best Hits (1994), published in Yekaterinburg by NP Records, and later re-released by Zeko on cassettes as "Grass by the House" and "We - people "(1996). In the fall of 1995, Skachkov assembled a more stable line-up in Moscow, which included Gennady Martov (ex-RONDO, Igor Kupriyanov's Group), guitar, Yuri Levachyov, bass, Leonid Khaikin (ex-JOKER), drums. In January 1996, ex-keyboardist of Igor Sarukhanov Mikhail Ivanov joined them, and ZEMLYANS, having presented the updated program "The Second Revolution around the Earth" in Moscow clubs, returned to the tour routes, fortunately, the public again began to show interest in the stage of the last decade. gave a series of concerts at the Moscow Variety Theater, and a year later, in October 1997, at the Rossiya State Central Concert Hall. By this time, both Ivanov and Khaikin left the group, and Vladimir Rozdin (ex-MONOMAKH) became the new drummer. By August 199 8 found a suitable keyboard player Alexander Dronov, who started in the Lviv LABYRINTH, and later noted in ANDREY RUBLEV, VALKYRIE and END ZONE. In the fall of 1999, Anatoly Shenderov (ex-ZOOM, MASTER) took the place of Rozdin. In one form or another, the group continued to exist at the beginning of the twenty-first century, although in the middle of the decade, Kiselyov, having decided to revive his practice of manipulating names and compositions, gathered completely new ZEMLYANS, which provoked litigation between him and Sergei Skachkov, who continued to maintain public attention to once a fashionable brand, created, however, not by him. Interestingly, the original EARTHLANDS, having been forced to change their name first to XX CENTURY, and then to ATLAS, subsequently returned to their own name and still perform at festivals and at nostalgic rock concerts. [i] Andrey Burlaka rock-n-roll.ru

Name: Group "Zemlyane" (Zemlyane) Date of Birth: 1978 Age: 40 years Place of Birth: Moscow, Russia Activity: pop group Family status: None Group "Earthlings": biography

The legendary "Earthlings" is one of the most famous Russian and Soviet vocal and instrumental ensembles. The rock band, which gave music lovers the "golden" hits "Grass at Home", "Stuntmen", "Forgive me, Earth", in the 80s shone on the allied stage as a bright star. The "Earthlings" were equal, they were imitated, they were adored and called idols. The legend of the Soviet stage and today is the best cure for nostalgia for the middle generation, for those who were born and grew up in the USSR, whose youth is fanned with romance.

Over the long history of the rock band, the faces of the musicians, the names and surnames of the performers have repeatedly changed. But for Zemlyane fans, their favorite vocal and instrumental ensemble is strongly associated with the members of the "golden line-up", primarily with guitarist Igor Romanov and frontman Sergei Skachkov.

Sergey Skachkov and the group "Earthlings"

Longtime and devoted fans of the Zemlyane group know that Sergei Skachkov was not in the first line-up. The mustachioed vocalist appeared later, but it was his timbre of voice that determined the "signature" sound of the VIA, turned the "Earthlings" into favorites. Therefore, the devoted fans of the rock band took the appearance of double groups with hostility, although the "new" or "updated" "Earthlings" delight with good songs, they also have fans.

The most famous double group turned out to be the group of the same name, where Ruslan Shchukin is the soloist. Shchukin's "Earthlings" perform "classic" hits of the "golden composition", but added new compositions "Mama" and "Candle" to them. The reason for the confusion lies in the conflict between the founders and the imperfection of Russian legislation.

Ruslan Schukin and the group "Earthlings"

The group "Earthlings" appeared in 1969 in Leningrad. Students of the local technical school of radio electronics gathered a musical group. At first they performed cover versions of Western bands, and then they introduced their own compositions into the repertoire.

In 1978, the first "Earthlings" left the center where the rehearsals took place, but the team's administrator Andrei Bolshev remained. He was joined by the organizer of another St. Petersburg group, Vladimir Kiselev, in order to create a new ensemble on the basis of the Zemlyans.

The first composition of the group "Earthlings"

Bolshev and Kiselev called St. Petersburg rock performers Igor Romanov, Boris Aksenov, Yuri Ilchenko, Viktor Kudryavtsev and others. They formed the backbone of the first composition of the "Earthlings" group. The organizers of the group changed the style of the group, "diluting" pop melodies with rock and metal.

In the fall of 1980, a new vocalist Sergei Skachkov appeared in the Zemlyane group. The charismatic soloist determined the characteristic sound of the band's songs for decades.

The turning point came after the start of cooperation between the musicians and the composer Vladimir Miguley. The songs "Red Horse", "Karate" and "Stuntmen" appeared in the repertoire of the guys, which became commercial hits. The compositions of Vyacheslav Dobrynin and Leonid Derbenev added popularity, but Miguli's hit "Grass near the house" ("Earth in the porthole") instantly turned the "Earthlings" group into an all-Union legend.

The records of the rock band were sold by the millions. Only the record company Melodiya produced 15 million pieces, which music lovers instantly swept away from the shelves of music stores.

Fans called the musical group a rock band, but the Earthlings did not play rock in its purest form. "Fatal" was rather the entourage and special effects used at concerts. "Earthlings" in essence were built as a VIA, in accordance with all the laws of the pop genre.

The group's performances captured the imagination of the audience with special effects, pyrotechnics and forced sound, which were not used so often in the early 1980s. Concerts of the group "Earthlings" were built as Western rock shows, which added popularity.

Successful composers willingly collaborated with the "promoted" team: Mark Fradkin, Vyacheslav Dobrynin, Yuri Antonov wrote songs for "Earthlings". The "heroic" theme was widely exploited: stuntmen, pilots, astronauts and athletes became the main characters of the hits. Expression of the artists, spectacular performances, weighted, hard-rock sound favorably distinguished the "Earthlings" from pop bands with a sugary repertoire.

A successful fusion of heavy metal and pop genre, collaboration with star composers and songwriters in the mid-1980s raised the Earthlings group to an unattainable pedestal. But in the late autumn of 1985, the team suffered a significant loss: the favorite of the female audience, Igor Romanov, broke away from the group. The frontman lured drummer Valery Brusilovsky and went with him to pure metal. Later, Romanov became the guitarist of the legendary "Alice" with Konstantin Kinchev at the head.

In the second half of the 80s, Kiselev made changes to the style and program of the group: compositions appeared in the style of a weighted boogie-woogie.

In the fall of 1987, the star team was awarded a prize and a cash award at an international festival in Germany. And in December, the Zemlyane group was the first of the Soviet bands to perform on the stage of the Olimpiysky sports complex along with British rockers Uriah Heep.

In the summer of 1988, the Zemlyane group pleased music lovers with their appearance at the festival in Sopot, and in the fall, Kiselev left the band, establishing a production center in the city on the Neva. The team passed into the management of Boris Zosimov.

Towards the end of the 1980s, "Earthlings" with the light hand of Pierre Cardin received the name "Orient Express". So the Parisian couturier called Russian rockers for their pressure and expressiveness. The group gave several concerts at the Cardin Theatre, having arrived in the fashion capital at the invitation of the trendsetter of the global fashion industry.

The musicians liked the new name so much that the guys performed under it at the rock festival in Cherepovets. Soon the image of the group and the soloist change: Skachkov was replaced by Yuri Zhuchkov. In 1992, the group that survived the peak of popularity in the 80s left the pop Olympus and disintegrated.

After 2 years, Sergei Skachkov returns the group "Earthlings" to loyal fans. In the mid-1990s, the updated line-up went on tour with a program that received the telling name "Second orbit around the Earth."

In the winter of 2006, the Zemlyane group celebrated its anniversary - 30 years since its foundation - in the Kremlin and Ice Palaces and in the Luzhniki Sports Complex. At the end of 2007, disagreements arose between Skachkov and Kiselev, who returned to work with the Earthlings in 2004. Vladimir claimed the rights to the brand and gathered new musicians and vocalists. This is how the twins came about.

The new composition of the group "Earthlings" and Dmitry Medvedev

In November 2009, Russian pop stars performed at a concert organized by Skachkov and timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the hit Grass at Home. At the concert, the "golden" hit "Earthlings" corporation "Roskosmos" assigned the status of the national anthem of cosmonautics. In the spring of 2010, a documentary about this event was released for the professional holiday of pilots and cosmonauts.

In the first decade of the 2000s, the Zemlyane group, where Skachkov was still the soloist, pleased fans with three albums. The 2000s were marked by litigation between Skachkov and Kiselev for the ownership of the brand. In 2008, Kiselev won, but the following year, the court annulled the decision of Rospatent, handing over the rights to Skachkov.

In 2013, the Zemlyane group took part in a tour of rock bands supporting Russia and the president's policies. In February, the musicians visited the Crimea, giving charity concerts to residents of three large cities. The referendum on the peninsula was held to the sound of hits from Russian rockers.

In the summer of 2014, the musicians presented the fans with the Half Way album, and in September, the Zemlyane group sang for free in the places where refugees and IDPs from the Ukrainian southeast live.

The musicians have repeatedly collected humanitarian aid for the Donbass, performed in the cities of the unrecognized republics. In addition to musical gifts, the "earthlings" helped collect humanitarian supplies for the residents of Donbass.

In the early autumn of 2014, the Zemlyane group visited the cities of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics with charity performances, giving residents unforgettable moments.

In the spring of 2016, rockers performed in Sevastopol, congratulating the residents of the city on the 2nd anniversary of the reunification of the peninsula with Russia. On Victory Day, the musicians took part in the Immortal Regiment action and gave a concert to the Russian military in Syria.

In September, the Zemlyane group, together with the finalist of the Voice project Anastasia Spiridonova, sang the sports hit Olympics-80. In 2017, the legendary team performed at the anniversary of Gazprom. On December 1, 2017, the Zemlyane group gave a concert in Tatarstan, in the city of Naberezhnye Chelny.

Fans will learn about the news in the life of the team, the history of the group, projects and the tour schedule on the official website of the Zemlyans.

Discography

• 1979 - "Red Horse"
• 1980 - Vladimir Migulya & the group "Earthlings"
• 1981 - "Earthlings 81"
• 1982 - "Karate"
• 1983 - "Stuntmen"
• 1984 - Way Home
• 1984 - "Earthlings": "Grass by the house"
• 1987 - "Joy and Sorrow"
• 1987 - "Earth's Birthday"
• 1988/90 - "Men ..."
• 2000 - "SOS"
• 2002 - "Grand Collection" best
• 2008 - "Cold Soul"
• 2009 - "Earthlings & Supermax / Sergey Skachkov & Kurt Hauenstein"
• 2010 - "Symbols of Love"
• 2013 - "The Best and New"
• 2014 - "Halfway"

• 1981 - Stuntmen
• 1983 - Runway
• 2012 - "Grass by the house"

A photo

Ruslan Shchukin (Vingelevsky) knows what happiness is and shares it with people around him easily and with pleasure. Throughout the interview, a sincere kind smile never leaves his face. I would like to say about such a person: sincere, open and bright.

It is not the first year that Ruslan has been the soloist of the legendary group "Earthlings", which has been known since the time of our parents, and is still loved by the public of all ages. With the advent of a new young charismatic soloist, the band acquired an even more powerful and modern sound, increasing the number of its fans.
Today Ruslan talks about his impressions of working in his favorite band, the importance of music in his life, the will of chance and the need to preserve the best human qualities in any situation.

Ruslan, I would like to clarify what is your last name: Shchukin or Vingelevsky? Both options are found on the Internet.

Vingelevskaya is my mother's surname. The fact is that I am half gypsy, so this is a gypsy surname.

That is, your bright appearance is the result of gypsy blood?

Yes, the appearance is completely from mom.

Your parents were constantly on tour. Looking at their way of life, did you think that you also want it, or vice versa, did you want a different life, calm and measured, not creative?

In fact, I dreamed of a different career: I wanted to be a football player, but it didn’t work out. I am glad that my life settled down in the end just so that I became a musician. I never thought before that I would sing in such a group!

In 2002, you entered the Theater Academy, but quickly realized that it was not for you. Why didn't acting fate attract you?

I have always dreamed of working in the hard rock genre. I was 17 years old, so all this acting activity was not attractive. Sometimes I regret that fate did not work out in this vein. Now I would like to act in films, but not in episodes, but in the lead roles, but without education they won’t take anywhere. And music still remains the most important thing for me, so it's good that everything turned out that way.

In 2003, you entered the Musical College. M.P. Mussorgsky to the pop-jazz department in the vocal class. Why did you choose the jazz department? How did your further creative life develop?

There was no branch of rock. And pop-jazz is the only department with a pop bias. But I have never been fond of jazz music, jazz is too complicated for me. Therefore, even while studying at the jazz department, I did not sing it, it was always rock music at the core. I was lucky with the teacher - Kobina Yana Leonidovna. She taught me a lot, gave me the basics, showed me the manner of performance, presentation. In principle, in my life I have good teachers in this direction. In my second year, I got into the Russian group, where I worked for about a year. And in the third year I was invited to the group "Earthlings". Of course, classmates were a little jealous, looked askance. But the relationship didn't deteriorate. Because the most important thing is to remain human, no matter who you work with.

Do you think it was the will of chance, a combination of circumstances and the consequences of hard work?

Will of chance. Chance plays one of the main roles in life. But, I am often asked one question: what is more important - performance or talent? I believe that 10 percent talent and 90 percent work.

How did your passion for music start?

My parents are musicians. Then, often played with the guys, sang. It so happened that God gave the talent to sing.

Do you have favorite songs? Tell us about them, please.

I grew up mainly on foreign music. Favorite bands are Whitesnake, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Queen. Whitesnake is my favorite band. And my favorite songs are “Soldier of Fortune” and “Burn”. The most beautiful song is probably "Soldier of Fortune". She likes it for the sound, for the beauty of her voice. Now there are a lot of new bands, but I'm stuck in that time, in that music. All the brightest was written then. Time, of course, does not stand still. Now very bright songs are being written, periodically I come across interesting melodies.

Who is a singer?

They say that a vocalist and a singer are two different professions. A vocalist is a person who has a certain presentation of music, he knows how to present himself. How to do something. A singer is someone who can hit one note and just kill the listener. For example, Muslim Magomayev is the greatest singer and vocalist, he combines both. Another example is Freddie Mercury. Besides rock musicians, I like Tom Jones, Elton John - more like a creative unit. David Coverdale is both a singer and a vocalist for me. Of ours, you can name Nikolai Noskov, Grigory Leps, Vladimir Trushin - my vocal mentor and ex-soloist of the St. Petersburg group.

In the life of every musician there is a meeting that changes his life, his attitude to life, to art, to himself. Has such a fateful meeting already taken place on your creative path?

I think yes. For example, I ended up in a music school for a reason. After the first course, my vocal teacher Gadzhiyeva Lyudmila Kagirovna flew off to live in Germany, and I was left at a crossroads without a teacher. And as a result, I got to another teacher, to Kobina Yana Leonidovna, to whom I was supposed to initially get on my vocal abilities. Her favorite band is also Whitesnake. She gave me a lot of material to listen to, at every lesson we analyzed how the vocalist sings, what he does. She introduced me to Trushin, who, in turn, introduced me to Kiselev. And I ended up in a group of Earthlings. What a fateful meeting!

You are the youngest member of the legendary group "Earthlings". How was your relationship with the team? How do you feel yourself in the group?

I am not the youngest. There is also a technician, he is younger than me. But if we talk about the composition that enters the stage, then yes. And it's good that I'm young: I have a lot of energy, I still want to run around the stage, shake my mane. (Laughs). I'm 30. The rest are bigger. So, I'm like the son of a regiment!

I would like to say that we have not just a group, but a team - both on stage and in life. We communicate, correspond constantly, I come to Moscow to the guys for work and not only. We go on vacation together. We have a very good relationship. And for me it is very important that we have communication outside of the stage. Trushin explained to me that a kind of chemistry arises in life when people create something whole, something unified. So we create fire with our communication, and then we bring it to the stage. And on stage, this energy emanates from us, which everyone feels. I am very glad that I got into this team. Moreover, all of our musicians are very experienced and talented, with a colossal baggage. Our keyboardist worked with the entire Soviet Union. The drummer also worked in different bands, and the guitarist: they played with Leps, and with Nikolaev, and with Presnyakov. The team consists of very famous musicians, any artist in Russia knows them. Therefore, it is extremely pleasant to work in such conditions and with such people.

Please tell us how the meeting with the producer of the group "Earthlings" V. V. Kiselyov and the audition went.

There was no audition as such. If he auditioned, can you imagine how many talented people would come to audition?! But there was no casting. Volodya Trushin called me and invited me. I knew that the group "Earthlings" was being recreated, that there would be a new line-up. I was offered to sing a few things, one of which was "Grass by the House". I realized that if I sing right now, I have a chance to get into the group. And hit. With Kiselev was the first meeting on NTV for an interview. I was then only 22 years old.

All keys remain the same: we do not make songs lower in key. During all this time, the team has picked up so much that all the material that sounded then, many years ago, still sounds now, but is somewhat more modern. I'm throwing in my bits: some Coverdale, some Gypsy. But this is the indicator of the vocalist. Those songs that sounded then sound the same now, but I add mixes, this is the technique that is indispensable in hard rock. Drums became more rocker. We are in the 21st century. So the band should sound different. New songs are being written, in which I already do something in my own way.

How does your typical day look like?

I have friends, I have a loved one, I have relatives. I really like to walk around St. Petersburg, especially around the city at night. We go to museums. I recently visited the Kunstkamera, which I had not been to before. And I was shocked, I did not like it. (Smiling). We went to the Hermitage. I love visiting and meeting friends. I love karaoke. And then you can’t drag me by the ears! I have an ordinary life. I just happen to be luckier than others. And so - I'm an ordinary person, with my cockroaches. Home, family, work. I often go to the studio. Music is present in my life 24 hours a day. My girlfriend is also from the same world of music. This is the most important thing in a relationship so that a loved one understands, supports and helps.

It is often said about rock musicians that you live according to the principle of Sex - Drugs - Rock and Roll. What is your life like?

Oh no, it's not about me! (Laughs). I have forbidden things: these are drugs that I have never used and do not want to try. Alcohol... To be honest, it is present, but I cannot say that I am an alcoholic. No. I can drink a glass of wine in good company at the table, relax a little. We have a taboo in the group. There is no alcohol in the rider and no one drinks before the concert at all. After the concert, if someone wants to drink, we have a rule: work at the concert, lock yourself in the room so that no one can see you, and drink. Sex? Fine. I'm very good at this! (Breaks into a smile, laughs). This is present in any music!

What do you feel when you go on stage?

Adrenalin. When I see the audience, this is an inexplicable feeling. When people come who want to see you, they are waiting for you, you can feel it. This is especially noticeable not in the central cities, not in Moscow and St. Petersburg, because these cities are spoiled, something is constantly happening here, world stars come, but in small towns. It is very interesting to watch how they are waiting for you, meeting you. And when you give away emotions, invest your soul, then the audience returns them to you. Thus, there is an interaction. And this is the most important thing for an artist. 90 percent of an artist's success is communication with the public.

This is some nonsense! I do not think so. There is always something to strive for. All I can do in life is sing. And I do it. If people rate me so highly, it's certainly very nice. There are a lot of talented people in our country. But not everyone is lucky, not everyone can go on the big stage.

Fame and public recognition came to you early: concerts, interviews, filming. Has this created any difficulties? Is it hard to be a star and part of such a significant and popular group in Russia that our parents still listened to?

Nothing has changed in life. I'm not Nikolai Baskov! I work in a well-known team, in "Earthlings". They are known, not me, not Ruslan Shchukin. We do not have a leader, we are all full members of the group.

For me, the most important thing is to remain human in any situation. And the concept of stardom is generally spoiled in our country. Stars on the sky. There are famous people. But I don’t have such a thing in my life to be recognized somewhere. Popularity is a very dangerous moment. You can fly. A lot of my colleagues go crazy against this background. Yes, I was lucky in life, I got into a well-known team. And the most important task now is to be no worse than your comrades, no worse than the people who worked in this group before us. It is important that people do not leave the concerts disappointed.

Music awakens various feelings in a person. What are yours?

Feelings are awakened mainly when writing songs, when something works out. It is an incomparable feeling when you create something. Wings grow behind your back!

Ruslan, you write songs for "Earthlings". How are new themes born? What inspires?

Inspires everything in life. It's raining outside the window - I sit in the background. The sun outside the window - a major ballad is born. A song can come up at any time. It happens that you go to bed, music comes in a dream, you jump up, looking for paper and a pencil.

Is music the only way for you to express yourself, or do you have other talents that are not yet presented to the public?

Music for me is the meaning of life. If I couldn't sing, I don't even know what I would do. This is my job, my bread, my life. I sing everywhere!

What is your next goal? What is the most important thing in life for you?

To achieve a lot in music and at the same time remain human. A dream: a lot of things. But the main thing is that relatives live and be healthy. And the most important thing is to preserve human qualities: kindness, honesty, the ability to laugh at yourself.

Who helps to move forward and supports in difficult situations?

Beloved supports, does not let go crazy. Parents, relatives, friends. I am generally a positive person. Even if I am very sad, I still try to joke, humor. I want more positivity from people. Want to be happy.

Specially milking MuseCube http://musecube.org/?p=204277
The interview used a photo from the public domain

« Earthlings"- a Soviet and Russian musical group, one of the most notable groups of the VIA period in Soviet music.

Story

The first part of the ensemble

The group "Earthlings" was created by students of the Leningrad Radio Polytechnic in 1969.

1980s - 1990

In September 1978, within the walls of the rehearsal point of the Palace of Culture named after. Dzerzhinsky (abandoned by "Zemlyany" for creative reasons), the operator-administrator of "Zemlyan" Andrei Bolshev, who remained under the leadership of the Palace of Culture, takes Vladimir Kiselev (drummer and organizer of the "April" group) as his companion with the idea of ​​​​collecting other musicians under the promoted name "Zemlyane", which also helps the leadership of the Palace of Culture, which at that time lost its key team. At first, no one takes the new ensemble seriously, they are considered "small Earthlings" and a new version of "April". Kiselev and Bolshev randomly change the styles of the new "Earthlings" - from Soviet pop to part-rock, Igor Romanov and Boris Aksyonov can be noted from the kaleidoscope of musicians of that time.

Vladimir Kiselev leaves the role of a drummer and moves to administrative work. In 1979, Romanov and Kiselev brought musician Sergei Skachkov as a keyboardist and one of the vocalists of VIA (ex-"Kakadu", and before that he played in the group "April" created by him, the group of the same name Kiselev, although they were not previously familiar), he was dubbed Igor Dembovsky and Viktor Kudryavtsev. From that moment on, the peculiar timbre of Skachkov's voice forever determines the band's now familiar "Zemlyanov" vocal sound.

Kiselev introduces the group to the composer Vladimir Miguley, which gives birth to a number of the most successful commercial super-hits in all respects, breaking all imaginable and unimaginable popularity records of that time. The team records when such songs as "Red Horse", "Birds", "Ocean", some of which, subsequently, become all-Union hits. In 1981, these were the songs of Vyacheslav Dobrynin and Leonid Derbenev "Forgive me, earth", as well as the song cycle "Stuntmen". However, the "calling card" of the group was the song "Grass near the house". The total circulation of the group's records, released only by the Melodiya company, amounted to about 15 million copies.

The ensemble collaborated with composers Mark Fradkin, Vladimir Miguley, Yuri Antonov, Vadim Gamalia, Vyacheslav Dobrynin. The theme of the texts of "Earthlings" concerned adventure romance, "male" professions - pilots, stuntmen, astronauts. Compared to many contemporaries, the "Earthlings" were distinguished by heavier music, energetic presentation of material, and more expressive behavior on stage. In fact, the "Earthlings" performed rock without calling themselves a rock band.

The group "Zemlyane" went down in history as the first professional band in our country to add the sonorous epithet "rock band" to its name and, as such, successfully introduced rock to the consciousness of wide sections of Soviet youth. Compared to their contemporaries, the "Earthlings" were distinguished by heavier music, energetic presentation of material and expressive behavior on stage.

The starting point for the group was 1978 - two musicians Andrei Bolshov and Vladimir Kiselev decide to assemble a new ensemble. Later, Vladimir Kiselev leaves the role of a drummer and moves to the administrative activities of the group.

The collaboration of the group with the composer Vladimir Miguley gives birth to a number of the most successful commercial super-hits in all respects, breaking all imaginable and unimaginable popularity records of that time. The team records such songs as "Red Horse", "Birds", "Ocean", some of which, subsequently, become all-Union hits.

In 1981, these were the songs of Vyacheslav Dobrynin and Leonid Derbenev "Forgive me, the earth", as well as the song cycle "Stuntmen". However, the song "Grass near the House" became the "calling card" of the group. The total circulation of the group's records, released only by the Melodiya company, amounted to about 15 million copies.

At concerts, Zemlyans always had one of the best lighting and sound equipment in the country. The musicians sought the impossible from Soviet censorship: they created such arrangements of their hits that they were not inferior in quality to the music played by Western bands of those years: Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Aerosmith and even the Rolling Stones.

"Earthlings" are laureates of three international competitions: in Sopot, Dresden and Yalta. In 1987, the "Earthlings" were the first of the domestic groups to perform together with the foreign rock band Uriah Heep. In 1989, the super-successful Russian group Zemlyane was invited for a series of performances at his theater in Paris by the great couturier Pierre Cardin. Performances at the Pierre Cardin Theatre, according to the idea of ​​the great master, were organized jointly with the participation of Russian ballet stars.

In the following years, the group performs with a concert program not only from time-tested hits, but also new songs.

In 2006, the Earthlings celebrated their 30th anniversary. At the anniversary concert, well-known foreign rock musicians from Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, Nazareth, Black Sabbath, Animals, Kingdom Come and others appeared on the same stage with the legendary ensemble.

Boundless perfectionism forced the musicians to perform more and more complex music - both melodically and rhythmically. Changes in musicians have always been caused by increased demands on themselves, on their group. It is natural that today's "Earthlings" have already completely changed the original composition, and only the head of the group Vladimir Kiselev remains permanent. Thanks to this, a group with an eventful history has managed to carry the true rock and roll spirit through all times and eras, regardless of any vagaries of fleeting fashion.

In 2012, "Earthlings" presented a new album. The presentation concert took place in the Hard Rock Cafe, bringing together rock lovers, fans of the band's creativity and just connoisseurs of good music under its roof. The new "young" format of the group makes it possible to hear the good old songs in a modern sound, as well as completely new compositions.

Musicians of past compositions

Igor Romanov - guitar (1977-1985)
Boris Dolgikh - keyboards (2004-2009)
Sergey Vasiliev - guitar (1982-2007)
Yuri Babenko - bass guitar (1985-1992)
Yuri Zhuchkov - vocals (1987-1989)
Pavel Borisov - bass (after leaving, in 1998-2011 he played in the DDT group)
Yuri Starchenko - keyboards
Nikolai Kudryavtsev - vocals
Boris Aksyonov - bass, keyboards (1978-1979); bass, guitar, keyboards (1983-1987)
Vladimir Kiselyov - drums (1977-1988)
Sergey Skachkov - keys, backing vocals (1983-2006)
Andrey Khramov - vocals, guitar (2006-2007)