Ayktsyon

“It’s better to experiment with creativity than with your soul”… Interview with Oleg Garkusha [AuktsYion’s front man], 2003

 O.G. I found myself on the stage by accidence, and started writing poetry also by accident – everything was interesting. Life puts certain obstacles and upside down – opens certain doors… In the beginning we tried to play like Strannye Igry, but then.

I. Auktsyon was one of the first bands which started to make performances and happenings, have you ever heard comparisons with Pop Mekhanika of Kuriokhin.

O.G. When I met Seryozha, I confessed to him that when I saw Pop Mekhanika for the first time I had a terrible feeling of taking part in all this. He said: “So why didn’t you jumped on the stage!?” … And all in all there was never such thing as to figure out who is cooler – Akvarium, Alisa or Auktsyon…It is not the shit pops, where guys are fighting to get the first or the last slot in the set-list! We didn’t care when to play, we were happy with everything, even the first – played, and went drinking! Normal brotherhood. 

I. What do you think the notion of ‘govnorok’ [literary – Shit-rock, pejoratively applied to the phenomenon of Russian Rock related to the Leningrad rock club and other Rock clubs of the 1980s].

O.G. The thing is that in the 80-s there were plenty of bands which played standard rock-n-roll/blues rock. And plenty of new young groups are copying that, already secondary music.  It is okay when the best are copied…. Today, listening to the young lads, I make remarks for myself. For example, a band N is playing, I am writing: “DDT”, “Auktsyon”, “Chizh”… Although, very rare, but some really interesting groups do emerge. For example, it looks like the same DDT, but the dude is singing so, that everything is trembling and tearing apart inside of you… For us the example was Strannie Igry, for them – DDT. Nothing terrible. It is clear that our generation for the young rock-musicians – fathers. When we started  - they were not even born. There simply did not exist.

I: When everything was prohibited – your fans were dancing on your concerts, when everything became allowed – they stopped. How come.

O.G. First of all, our music became more complex and the audience became more complex. Second, with us they never danced like crazy and never stuck their U’s in the air, like they do let’s say at Korol’ and Shut, Alisa and DDT…. At our gigs people enjoy what we produce at the energetic level – dancing as such is not really it. Sometimes they ape me – with the movements of their bodies, but this is not a dance. It looks sometimes like I am looking in the mirror (laughing). And this is terribly pleasant….

I: Poetry and business – how can they get together?

O.G. Mal’shik kak mal’chik [A boy like a boy] was written over 12 years, was written and was progressed. I didn’t earn any money on it, but it exists now, and this is warming me… But the first book of poems, it was published quickly, but I can’t really call it a book…

I: Sergei Rogozhin, who was singing in one of the first line-ups of AuktsYon went to pop. The author of the first album covers Sergei Miller nowadays doing some ecological projects in the style of a ‘town fool’, also some kind of pops…The most radical type of pops is politics. Look how does it sound: “A deputy of State Duma Oleg Garkusha”. Aren’t you tempted?

O.G. When it comes to politics, I am a pessimist. Right before our meeting I talked to sociologists about elections. I answered nearly all questions – “will not do”, “will not go”, “I don’t want…”. I am hundred per cent convinced that any person, even the kindest one, the nicest one, , becomes an utter arse once he enters politics. Or at least he becomes different…

I: Of course my question is a provocation. Your image costs more than a deputy status. …Some say – Auktsyon guys do everything unlike the normal people! But what do you do like normal people?

O.G. We have families like normal people do… We earn money and bring them home, we go shopping. We are normal people (laughing). Sometimes it happens that we have to borrow money. … Some people open their mouth when they see me in the trolleybus. Why it is believed that if you are shown on the TV once, you need to cruise in a Merc. I don’t like Mercs, I don’t like cars generally… I like to go on foot. We didn’t forget those times when we lived on a coupon system... Although in fact, the times were really scary. Nowadays, looking back and thinking: “My god! A pack of pasta and that’s it to eat for several days”. Impressive isn’t it? Although my mother in law still has some coupon-bought vodka somewhere…

Igor Linchevskiy at ozon.ru, 2003

Translated by RottenBeat, 2010