We talked with the permanent leader of Tequilajazzz, Yevgeny Fedorov, about Russian rock in the world of yutube and rap, plans for the future and, of course, about the new record Nebylo.

Evgeny Fedorov: To be honest, we were doing this record with pleasure. The idea of ​​the album arose when we rehearsed the houses and sorted the songs, preparing for nostalgic concerts. We played the material, joked, experimented and suddenly imagined that all these compositions could sound exactly the same, in acoustics. I admit that I never liked the Unplugged style and I did not see Tequilajazzz material in this interpretation before. For me in this style there was always something bardic. And we refused Unplugged, having recorded the album, as always, in its own style.

Eugene: Differently loved children, of course (laughs), but everything is very expensive, of course. I will not say that we sat and chose for a long time. All has developed itself. We have experimented a lot with sound, new instruments and brought exactly these songs to their natural development, playing them in an acoustic program.

GQ: Did you find something new for yourself in old songs? As you know, it happens with books. Read a novel, studied to the holes ten years ago, and you find in it suddenly something completely different.

Eugene: Our songs always suggest something like this – the second, the third level of perception. We very skillfully hid the harmonious sound under the alternative, the shell of loud rock. In general, the album “Nebylo” was not work for us, but entertainment. We did not work on this album – we were having fun.

GQ: Let’s go back to 2015 – the year of the Tequilajazzz reunion. Billy Corgan, frontman of Smashing Pumpkins, claimed that he started the reunion of the band after a long break because he wanted to realize all his musical dreams. Why did you agree to return?

Eugene: Firstly, we just missed each other. Second, of course, restore historical justice! We broke up at the peak when we had to take another small step to become the biggest rock band in Russia, literally before knowing how and what to do. Stopping joint activities and going on solo projects, we tried to realize our ideas, but the most difficult is to break through the so-called habit of the audience. People do not believe in solo projects and want an old, familiar composition, it is often very difficult to convey their ideas to the listener.

Eugene: On travels and on the road, I am accumulating experience – emotional, informational and geographic. In general, I really feel the nature, it inspires me, so I always try to escape from the city at the first opportunity.

Eugene: This is exactly the case when there is an opportunity to realize their childhood dreams, go to sea on a real sailboat, even if only for a week.

Evgeni: We do not cover songs as such, we make our songs based on the material offered. Perhaps again, some “Aquarium” will work. I once had an idea, even shared it with Boris Grebenshchikov, wrote him a letter: “Boris, I’m sorry, but I want to create my punk band and sing only your songs in the bastard, punk style.” He said: “Come quickly, I really want to hear it.” (Laughs.)

Eugene: I never miss the past, despite the fact that now I do not like everything. I’m not nostalgic at all. The past is gone, it does not exist in nature, and it can only be remembered as an experience.

Eugene: It’s all perfectly normal. I feel like an adult, by whom all this passes. The caravan goes, so let’s say. I generally adhere to the point of view that it is worth to sit on the shore calmly. Makarevich said that you do not need to cave in under a volatile world. In order for it to bend under us, you need to bend your line, as Alexander Vasiliev sings.

Eugene: I already wrote that if people think that the Tequilajazzz band will always be just like that, then we sit on those thoughts in a corner and giggle quietly, because we know that everything is not right. The new album is just a statement of the very program that we ourselves really like, which we played live, having fun. You can not live your entire life as a Friday night party. I missed the rigidity. The new material is being written, it will be harder. Now, rather, the calm before the storm.