— You have been on stage for 40 years. What helps you live long?
“This may sound arrogant, but we have never adapted to anyone. We wrote music and sang about things we loved and were close to, disregarding the so-called public opinion that always had something wrong and wrong. We are always honest and sincere, first of all towards ourselves, because a lie will always be felt by the listener, which will always lead to creative death.
— Which period of your activity do you find most successful?
— We are not used to dividing our creativity into periods of activity, these are all journalistic templates. Each of these periods is valuable and important for us, including the “dark times” of the 90s.
— Is it possible to be more creative today than in the 80s?
— Of course, there are now much fewer prohibitions and traditions in creativity. But this does not always benefit both the product itself and the culture as a whole. It is unlikely that the lyrics of some modern artists containing profanity and jargon will enrich the spiritual world of the listener.
— Well, if we compare the current music world with the one in the 90s, can we say that there was complete freedom and freedom back then, but now we need to be more sensitive?
— Being a musician, artist and generally a public figure always requires tremendous responsibility and self-control. This understanding only comes with certain experience. “We are responsible for those we have tamed” – this quote is applicable in this case. We are responsible for what we bring to the world, for every word we say, we always remember that “everything that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood.”
— You recently completed the “Guest of the Kingdom of Shadows” tour, which lasted several years. Why so long?
— Initially, the “Guest from the Kingdom of Shadows” program was planned as a one-time event for Moscow. However, we received many messages from fans who wanted to see this show but could not come to Moscow. So “The Guest” became a tour program, and due to its scale and complex logistics, it was simply impossible to cover all the cities they wanted to see in “The Guest” in one sitting. That’s why the tour took so long. During this time, we gave 56 concerts in 47 cities: 50 thousand kilometers on the road, 1,500 hours in assembly and disassembly and more than 150 hours on stage.
— How do you feel after the end of the tour?
“It’s not over for us yet.” (to laugh). There are still several concerts ahead of us, the release and premiere of the musical film “Guest from the Kingdom of Shadows”. Legacy”. The story of our “Flying Dutchman” has now acquired a life of its own, as befits a legend.
— You have a whole army of fans. Is the age composition updated? Or does it grow with you?
— Judge for yourself: families have been going to our concerts for a long time – with their children and even grandchildren.
— What do you think about your songs being too retro for the younger generation?
“We think that our young fans who sing ‘Aryan’ songs with us at concerts will definitely disagree with you.
— Which artists do you currently follow in Russia and abroad?
— Of course, we follow the mainstays of the genre: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne and others. But each of us has our own preferences and tastes that differ from others. If you list everyone, your reader will get bored (to laugh).
— Musicians are often asked to talk about political issues. Do you think this is true?
— “Aria” has always stayed out of politics. Let politicians talk politics, but we have music, we talk about creativity.
— You were among the popular rock musicians who did not leave Russia and did not speak negatively about Russia. What does Russia mean to you right now?
— Russia is our homeland. This explains everything!
— In April this year, Orthodox activists demanded that you be held criminally responsible for insulting their feelings. How did this story end?
“We need to learn this from those who wrote these notices.” We don’t watch this. Apparently people were just promoting themselves.
– Can your feelings be hurt?
“We have long ago developed a strong immunity to all kinds of insults and attacks: the dog barks – the caravan continues on its way.”
— Can we say that the conflict between rock and pop music is now a thing of the past?
— This confrontation was invented by journalists to increase the readability of their materials. There was no such confrontation in real life and cannot be. An example of this is our performances at Evgeniy Margulis’ New Year’s skit parties.