Banned from the Motherland: Svetlanas
The Svetlanas have been called "The Most Dangerous Band in the World" but when I met with the singer, Olga, and the bassist, Steve, I got the impression that they were sweethearts. I first heard their music a week before, when I interviewed the Barb Wire Dolls. The Svetlanas were setting up and a giant Putin face with Kiss makeup was demanding my attention. I was blown away and knew I had to get some time with them.... So then this happened:
How did you get the name Svetlanas?
Olga (Singer): Svetlanas
is a common female name in Russia, it's more like Lucy here in the States but
it's also a brand for tubes or valves or whatever you call it.
Steve (Bassist): During
the Second World War these tubes were part of the radar system of a soviet
fighter and their quality control center was based in the US. How ironic is it?
O: oh yes, Svetlanas is
also a name for... escorts? Ha! You cannot imagine how boring it is to look for
you band name on Google and get THAT Svetlanas website on the top.
How would you describe your sound?
O: Good question,
because I don’t know. In the start, we thought we played punk, but people told
us we play hardcore. So when we called ourselves a hardcore band, they told us
that we are trash-core. In our last review, a girl wrote that we play desert
punk. We have two bass players and we play fast... It’s fun and that's all!
Most bands only have one bass player, why do you have two?
O: We didn’t choose! Two
years ago we did a European tour with the Dwarves and we met Nick Oliveri. Nick
is the bass player for the Dwarves. We played some songs with Blag and Nick on
stage during the tour. After the tour, Nick asked Diste if he can play with us.
We told him yes and after this he officially became part of the lineup. Nick is
always super busy, he plays in FIVE bands including Svetlanas of course.
What is your favorite film?
O: I don’t know the
title in English. It’s a Rob Zombie movie.
House of 1,000 Corpses?
O: YES! I like horror
movies.
S: I love Sergio Leone's
movies, and some other 70's spaghetti westerns.
O: We like cartoons too.
[Olga shows me her phone case which bears an ‘Archer’ sticker]
O: Archer... Rick and
Morty. We have some Svetlanas fans that come to the show with Rick and Morty shirts.
I love Rick.
Because there’s a lot of film references, I was wondering, who
comes up with the merch?
O: Diste does most of
the band's graphics. Every design always comes from some of us and from our
passions.
I’m wearing your underwear right now.
O: WE WANT A PICTURE!
How did you get the residency at The Whisky?
O: Isis, from Barb Wire
Dolls, wrote me on Facebook. Because we already know each other. We played
together twice. Once in Italy, and once in Arizona. In Tempe. She brought me
when we came here in the States. We came here in April. We stayed with Nick at
his house and we worked on new material for the new album. So she asked me ‘Do
you guys want to play with us at the Whisky?’ ‘YES! Sure!’ They asked us for
one gig, if they would support us for one gig. After they asked us if they will
support us for all day Monday and all day Saturday in another location, but a
lot of things had changed. This is the tour.
Could you talk more about the new album?
O: Yes, our new album is
coming out this June. The title is This
is Moscow not LA, and we recorded it last January, here in LA at Josh
Homme's Pink Duck Studios with Nick.
S: We have some guests
in the new album, one of them is Marc Diamond.
O: Marc is the guitar
player for the Dwarves. We also have a new label, Rad Girlfriend Records. They
are from Ohio, and I’m so excited: This
is Moscow Not LA will be our first full-length released in 12" vinyl
LP.
Anymore shows after the Whisky?
O: We will play Arizona,
and we will have another show in Vegas. Next week we will start our European
and UK Tour.
Do you have any hobbies?
S: Music.
O: I read a lot of
books.
Do you have a favorite? What are you reading right now?
O: I’m reading Helter
Skelter right now, but I read everything. I read Musician Biographies, Fiction.
I love Philip K. Dick. He’s one of my favorite writers.
Do you have any favorite places to play?
O: Texas. I love Texas. They are fucking crazy. I
love them! I don’t know if I would live in Texas. I can’t survive, but they are
crazy in a good way. I love them. Our shows in Texas are incredible. In Europe,
England is very good as well…. But Huston, Texas probably is my favorite city.
S: Corpus Christi is one
of my favorite cities. They have a lot of crazy Mexican guys. Just crazy. They
know how stay in the pit! In Europe Germany and Poland too.
O: I love Mexican people
Will you ever play in Mexico?
O: I wish. Maybe next
year. I hope so.
Do you have any jobs outside of the music?
O: This is our job. It’s
impossible to have a touring band if you have a regular a job. It’s difficult.
It’s a choice.
Do you have any stories? Tour stories?
[Steve laughing]
O: We played Warped Tour
2015. We started the tour in six people. Four are Svetlanas, one driver from
Italy, and one merch guy. We started in six and finished with just the four of
us. We left the driver in the desert, and the other guy in Vegas.
How did you just leave the driver in the desert?
O: Because the driver
never drove. WTF. So we did the tour by ourselves. Can you imagine the Warped Tour,
the distance? You got it.
S: He started with a panic attack. His doctor said
‘You can’t drive’
O: So I wanted to speak
to the doctor. ‘Can he drive or can’t drive? What happened?’ and he’s not sure
if he can drive. Okay, what the fuck? Why’d you choose to be a driver? So we
did the tour by ourselves.
S: When we played the
Warped Tour, we started in the early morning till 8pm usually. And after in the
night, sometimes we had to drive in the night to reach the other location and
we started with another day in the early morning. We lost the driver after the first
show, and we had to drive ourselves.
Sounds like you didn’t get much sleep.
S: Yeah, we were happy
when there was a day off.
O: Because we can do
shower ahaha. In the SUMMER! IN TEXAS AND CALIFORNIA! FUUUUUUUUCK! Warped Tour is
a very important festival and it is incredible but you have too many things to
do. And if you have no crew, you're not allowed to sleep! Hahaha
S: The Warped Tour is
amazing and it was an amazing experience.
Are you really “The Most Dangerous Band”?
O: Someone told us.
Who told you?
O: First time on Dying
Scene. We probably are. They wrote this after we were banned from Russia.
How were you banned?
O: Two years ago after
our album "Naked Horse Rider" and after I set on fire the Putin's
picture.
O: No one can be a fan
of a dictator. BTW now you guys in America have a big problem too.
We do. And our president seems to be close with that guy. Are
you gonna make some Trump underwear?
O: why not?
S: We also have some
kind of "big brother" in Italy too.
O: You know what is
incredible? We did our last tour in the States, five months ago… I met some guy
that told me they will vote for Trump cos he can’t steal money cos he’s already
rich. When I listened to this I said ‘Fuck, are you serious?! Do you use your
brain? Do you have a brain?!’...
Final Thoughts?
O: If you don’t like Svetlanas,
go fuck yourself.
Recommended
Listening: Go
Fuck You Self, People
Suck (fun fact, this was shot the day of
the interview)
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