Interview of Konstantin Kinchev for the newspaper AiF.

The interview was taken over the Internet and reproduced here in its original form. It should be noted that this version "slightly" differs from that printed in the newspaper.

1) The album "Dance" is light in form (it is somewhat similar to "Jazz"). Does this mean that with age, one tends to be simpler? Tired of playing heavy music?
Kinchev: If we consider that a year after the release of "Solstice" I strongly "passed" and I was suddenly drawn to "simplicity", then, of course, yes ... And if we add to this that most of the songs from the album "Dance" are already more than fifteen years, then a logical conclusion follows - I was a "tired old man" almost from birth ...

2) You have repeatedly admitted that you live in the village from April to November, in general, lately you have been very poetic and idealizing life in the village. But in the new album the word "city" sounds often, but I didn't find any songs about life in the countryside???
Kinchev: I recommend listening to the album more carefully - suddenly something will open up ...

3) You say that you have not been drinking for the second year. And even after a bath, a shot of vodka or a glass of beer - no, no? After what incident did you quit?
Kinchev: If a person says that he doesn't drink, it means that he doesn't drink AT ALL! As Shemyakin said: "For me, a glass of vodka is like a drop of blood for a shark." And as for the "case", there were so many of these "cases" that it is not a sin to stop drinking.

4) You have marching songs in several albums. It seemed to me that the song "Way towards the forest" is also (despite the lyrical text) musical form marching. Are you indifferent to this form? If yes, then why?
Kinchev: It seemed to me that "The Way to the Forest" was made in the style of the good old boogie-woogie. If boogie-woogie in my performance seems like a march to you, then I’m even scared to imagine what a composition that I could call a march will seem to you?! For me, the standard of the march is "The Theme of the Enemy" from Shestakovich's 7th Symphony.

5) In general, the whole album "Dance" is not quite topical. It is timeless both in sound and content (lyrical). Does it become difficult to keep up with the spirit of the times with age? Are you trying to do it or do you not care at all? It still seems to me that any musician (whether a believer or not) is trying to keep up with the times, to catch musical trends, to be, if not fashionable, then at least in demand. But you work for the very audience that just needs a feeling of today.
Kinchev: Amazing! On the one hand, having recorded a global work such as "Sabbath" or "Solstice", I constantly hear accusations of being too "topical" or that rock as "protest music" (a well-known journalistic cliché) has already got everyone! On the other hand, it's worth making a lyrical album, whether it's "Jazz" or "Dance", I run into accusations of "timelessness", although this is rather a compliment. And then, what is "to keep pace with the times"? It seems to me that the movement in time has a different direction for everyone ... And as for the audience of "Alice", I can't help but
notice that throughout the life of the group, and she is almost 20 years old, the age limit does not increase in the direction of "aging", but is only replenished with children, for which I am also constantly reproached (!), like " adult, and you have crazy underage fans!". In connection with all this, I have
the question arises - why am I not satisfied with someone all the time? Probably in my old age, I should write a song about Alice, in order to pass for a harmonious personality that keeps up with the times ???

6) Speaking of fans. Alisa has the most devoted fans. Why do you think they are so dedicated (or so it seems to me)?
Kinchev: Probably my fans don't like to "keep up with the times" either, so they walk with me, confirming the well-known thesis "We are together!", which makes me very happy.

7) Can you remember the craziest fan antics and how you try to fight it?
Kinchev: The most insane act of late was committed by two people - Trout and Ham - they followed us to Khabarovsk, Ussuriysk and Vladivostok, while spending a huge pile of money they themselves earned! I do not in any way fight against the movement called "departure", but on the contrary, I welcome it in every possible way, because I myself love to travel ... And if I were 17-20 years old now, I would go on tour with pleasure ... for the group "ALICE"! But I am deprived of this opportunity, since I am already 42 years old, and I play in this group ...

8) Do you think your relatives and friends (wife, children) experience some inconvenience associated with your fame. If possible - examples, episodes?
Kinchev: They don't experience any "inconveniences", and I provide them with "conveniences".

9) What do you think is happening today with the generation of rock musicians, your peers (I mean Chaif, Aquarium, DDT, Sukachev, Butusov and others like them).
Kinchev: ...Growing old, grumbling, getting fat... What I can't say about myself - the most beautiful rocker of the Fatherland (just kidding), and about Boris Borisovich Grebenshchikov - the most elegant and profound person on our rock scene.

Polupanov: I asked this question to Shakhrin. He gave a very interesting answer. Specifically about you, he said that they say Kinchev is in search of himself, this did not make him less talented, it's just that Kostya is now at a crossroads. But about Shevchuk, he did not respond very kindly, they say, I don’t understand what’s wrong with
Yura happens, he suddenly began to teach everyone how to live.
Kinchev: I'm glad for Volodya Shakhrin, who, despite being permanently in an orange mood, does not lose his clarity of thought.

10) Though new album and is named so, but it is naturally not "dance" (the name, by the way, misleads many). Are you interested in dancing? I mean not when you are on stage, but at home for something, maybe for Kirkorov or Pugachev?
Kinchev: Perhaps I don’t keep up with the times, but for some reason it seems to me that they dance to Kirkorov and Pugacheva only in the restaurants near the railway stations of the regional centers (may Alla Borisovna forgive me)!

11) What do you do in your free time...?
Kinchev: I don't really understand what " free time"? Is this the time for which I "can't catch up" in any way? Or something else? The fact is that, in my understanding, the freest and most joyful time is the time of the concert. It is to him (the concert) that I dedicate it ( time).

Interviewed by Vladimir Polupanov

Has your listener changed in a quarter of a century? Does the energy of today's hall differ from the first "alisomans" in vests and pioneer ties?

Casting glances into the hall, I see practically no changes. This is, like 25 years ago, twenty years old. The old ones are drawn to retrospective events ... Then the police put a lot of pressure on the public - now relations are more tolerant. Apparently, with our long existence, we deserve some kind of indulgence (laughs).

In the 80s, at the time of the Leningrad Rock Club, there was a sense of the unity of Russian rock. And then everything fell apart. Why?

It was a feeling of unity, like in a prison. You know, everyone sits and dreams of freedom. When they receive it, someone takes the path of righteousness and ties up with their criminal past, and someone undermines the nearest store and sits down again. While we were in prison, everyone dreamed. And then, the rock club - it was a public phenomenon. We were in sight. And they got freedom - and everyone went his own way.

Are you sorry?

It's a pity that's what. I recently came across the Nostalgia channel, and the Musical Ring program was just spinning there ... Auction, Center, Sounds of Mu, Jungle, TV - I remember all these groups well, I know and I love. Many of them are not close to me, but each was original, individual. And now everything is averaged by the format, bright and talented is not encouraged. Everyone plays the same.

Have you, as the leader of Alice, changed a lot over the years?

In a professional sense, it is difficult for me to evaluate myself. Because I just live for myself and live, I make a lot of mistakes, I find in myself the need to repent of them.

If we talk about critics, then I agree with them: we have become tougher and more musical. In the texts, I have not abandoned the Aesopian language. So it's more interesting to put words into sentences.

AT Soviet years Aesopian language performed a completely different function ...

Meaning veiled ... But then the communist regime collapsed - and thank God. It became possible to express their thoughts without hesitation. And then many realized that they had nothing special to say.

Do you remember how the texts were encrypted so that they could understand their own, but the authorities did not guess? Were there any collective classes in secret writing?

We acted more clumsily. At the time of the rock club, there was a department that “littered” our texts: they put the stamp “permitted for execution” there. To deceive them, it was necessary to come up with a move. For example, we dedicated the song “My Generation” to the struggle of the oppressed people of some republic against imperialism. They put fake epigraphs. If you delve into the archives of the state security department, then they probably survived there.

There is a stereotype that rock always exists in opposition to something. In the US in the 1960s, that "something" was the consumer society and the Vietnam War. In the USSR - the state system. What does Russian rock need to fight today, and is it necessary?

I would like to answer a question with a question. Do you think that rock is protest music or do you have a different attitude to this genre?

I think rock is music.

Thank you! So I think that this is music and an art form. So, part of our culture with you. There is protest, of course. But this is not the main component of my songs.

And what is the main thing?

And Shakespeare's stories: love, hate, life, death, truth and betrayal - everything is as usual.

Here you are about the eternal, and I'm about the changeable. The rock party no longer has a common enemy. For whom it is pop music, for whom it is power. You are imprinting glamor, the ideology of success in your songs. Do you have ideological enemies?

The enemies within me are all concentrated. I fight with the help of the weapons that the Lord gave me - I write songs about what is not good in me and what I would like to deal with. Well, in life I try to match the song. Just don't lie, no matter how pathetic it sounds.

Recently, rockers have again been actively talking about their political beliefs. Is this a return to the public stage?

If we talk about Shevchuk's concerts, then this is a vague position and pure water populism. "Do not shoot!" - to whom is he addressing?

To the people.

That's it. To the people in general. And this people accepts everything with glee. He does not see that this is pure conjuncture.

And fate should not perform the function of public conscience?

Rock musicians must play and sing their songs well. And the business of the state is to listen or not to notice.

Do you have old acquaintances whom you will not shake hands with because of the difference in views?

Perhaps there are none. Everyone is entitled to their own outlook on life. I respect this right, although I may consider the position of a person a delusion that is harmful to my country. And this is a field for discussion, which can turn into a scuffle.

Outgrows?

Depends on how much you drink. Since I am a non-drinker, I do not outgrow.

But is it necessary to convince the erring one?

No, let him make his own mistakes. Who are you to force a person to live in his own image and likeness? You yourself can be wrong. I am not a destroyer in spirit.

Speaking of spirit. You were baptized in 1992. What was the most difficult test for you after that?

People who do not embark on this path do not see the temptations. It seems to them that they live wonderfully and deserve a better fate in another world. And many even consider this life the final phase of existence. But as soon as you embark on this path, you see your imperfection. The further you go, the clearer you see. A huge field for work opens up.

Things like creative block, pride, despondency, depression - they go out of life. All sins are registered, and they all live in you. Remember and fight - that's all, that's enough. And as Elder Seraphim said, acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit, and thousands will be saved around. That is, make yourself better and through yourself - the world around.

In 2006, you, Yuri Shevchuk and Roman Neumoev visited Metropolitan Kirill. Did this meeting give you something?

To be honest, I didn’t understand at all why we went: well, we just met and parted ways. Although then Shevchuk, together with his father Andrei Kuraev, went to Ukraine and traveled to 20 cities. This is a useful action, given the situation there - the pressure of sectarians, attempts to split the Russian Orthodox Church. Another thing is whether it finds some kind of response in the hearts of the listeners.

So far, the response from Ukrainian listeners has been caused by your statement that Crimea will be Russian. Are you getting angry emails?

Yes, not yet.

Your radical views and statements in general are rejected by many. Since the Orthodox and, let's say, patriotic vocabulary appeared in your songs, they simply began to be removed from radio broadcasts.

My ideological position has always been rather rigid. Of course, the liberal public bristled, and a campaign of defamation began: I became a fascist, an obscurantist, an old drug addict who had lost his mind. The Internet was full of these statements in the early 2000s. I knew it would. But I don't care who says what. I know that I'm going my own way. The dogs around are barking, and my car is moving. I am not used to the label “fascist” at all: I was a “fascist” even in 1985, under Soviet rule. I won't make excuses, and I don't want to. Let's leave these statements on the conscience of the liberal public.

I don't like liberals.

What do you think: should Russia always have some kind of “enemy” or should it be tolerant?

You see, the thing is - it's very easy to wave your saber and express indignation when you don't have the slightest responsibility, when your cross is a farce in the kitchen or at gang meetings. I saw how there were 200 people on the "march of dissent" and 500 TV cameras around. My neighbor in the village says: it would be great if St. Petersburg joined Finland! And liberals have a billion such opinions. Every cook knows how to run the state. And she herself can only chat and cook dumplings and cabbage soup. It is very easy to find fault - it is much more difficult to build. And the state has assumed this responsibility. And he understands that we would be glad not to quarrel with anyone, but the geopolitical situation is such that we are threatened. Because we are rich natural resources, we occupy a vast territory, and our population is negligible in comparison with the territory. We are a tasty morsel! Therefore, either we will defend our land and leave to our descendants what our ancestors conquered, or we will gradually turn into an unnecessary Luxembourg. It's easy for Luxembourg to be tolerant!

Do you think that we have obvious enemies?

It is absolutely clear to me that America considers us an enemy. We spent 16 years trying to please her. We really wanted to be loved ... No one will love us. Pragmatic rationalism is what guides them in dealing with us. It is more profitable, as our leadership says, to have a weak partner: it is convenient to manipulate them. And when we become stronger, this causes resentment among the overseas partner.

That is, in your opinion, “the bipolar world is preserved,” as Soviet announcers used to say.

We wanted to join NATO at the dawn of our reforms, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. But they didn't take us. And if they did, it is not clear who NATO could resist. And they left the status of potential enemies to us, and not to some kind of international terrorism.

And you seem to have disagreed with Shevchuk in your views on what happened in Ossetia?

My position is as follows: we have protected the Ossetian people, for which, I hope, they will be grateful to us for centuries. We did not leave our friends in trouble. And for this act, apart from gratitude to my country, my state, I have no other feelings. I just, unlike the Ufa rockers - this applies to both Shevchuk and the Lumen group - do not oppose the country to the state. I like my state in its current state. I don't like the economic crisis, but it's a global problem. We'll survive it too.

How do you feel about globalization?

This is the building of Babylon, which was destroyed by the Lord God. We are again stepping on the same rake. I am for the exuberant color of national sovereignties. I want all nationalities to live within the limits that the Lord indicated to them, and not assimilate.

And then what about migrants from the former Soviet republics - should they assimilate in Russia or not?

Keep in mind that I am now thinking like that young lady in the kitchen: this is not my business. But if you look at the problem seriously, there is no escape from the shortage of labor. Therefore, labor migration is inevitable. And if it exists, there is also the movement of peoples back and forth in search of a better life. We have all of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, the Caucasus now working and living. But it is important that they learn the Russian language, become familiar with our culture, and eventually be able to assimilate as soon as they crossed the borders of their territory. And if that doesn't happen, we plant a time bomb. At the end of the century before last, the Albanians began to populate the primordially Serbian territory - and what did it come to?

Settlers and faith should adopt?

We have a multi-confessional country. We have always managed to live peacefully with Muslims, and peace be with them at home. And God forbid, just continue to live peacefully.

But in our country this peaceful coexistence sometimes turns into severe hatred towards the non-believers.

This is due to the fault of the sectarians. True Islam and our cathedral apostolic church always centered. Only sects that broke away from Christianity and Islam are totalitarian, radical, and profess the destruction of the infidels. It has nothing to do with real religion. But charismatic leaders group around themselves people who are narrow-minded and offended - and off they go. To manipulate this public, one must look for an enemy. The enemy is found - the money went. Immediately, public funds from behind the hillock begin to pour funds into these sects. What is it for? Again, so that the enemy country is weak. These are obvious things. And either a scoundrel or a fool can not see this. Who liberals consider themselves to be is their business.

Do you visit America, with enemies?

I went to the USA for a long time - after the bombing of Serbia, I refused to go there both on tour and just like that. I have no complaints about the people, the Americans, no. People are pretty much the same everywhere. There are good ones, there are bad ones. But there is a system of power.

AT contemporary art there are many precedents with anti-religious themes: lawsuits are underway in cases of insulting the feelings of believers. Can the church forbid or censor the self-expression of the creator?

Here's the thing. We are, of course, for freedom. But when someone else's freedom hurts you, you protest, don't you? This is a normal situation. That's when blasphemous public biennials are allowed, or whatever words they use...

...performances...

Yes, performances! And they, these biennials and performances, hurt a lot of people, including me. It even physically hurts me. The wife believes that they, the artists, know about it. But I don't think they know, I doubt they even think about it. They just express themselves, spitting on everything around. If there were an inner, heart censor, every step of a person would be measured with the will of God, and censorship would not be needed at all.

That is, the state or the church should still intervene?

1

The state has serious tasks without it. Prohibitions can only lead to anger. But it is necessary to put in the place of the presumptuous. And for this we have a fairly radical organization, the Union of Orthodox Citizens, who come to exhibitions and break everything there. And they do it right.

Doesn't pop music cause resentment in you?

None at all. If an artist has an audience, he has the right to exist. Another thing is that pop musicians are mostly busy serving parties, birthdays and weddings. But that's the way it's always been. Restaurant artists have returned to the restaurant, to the service industry. I have nothing to do with this genre.

I only touch the market when I finish an album and sell it to a publisher. The tender starts. Many publishers say that the market is monstrous, terrible, and everything is falling, falling, falling ... Meanwhile, for some reason, queues are lining up to buy our album. And here a simple market mechanism operates: who more money offers, to that we give the album. This is not my task - how to play songs and everything else on the air. The broadcasts appear when the publisher needs to sell the album: he hires a PR agency, makes me give interviews, like you do now. I dutifully fulfill my obligations. And when the album comes out, everyone forgets about my existence. And I'm making music again. Actually, it's always been that way. Even in difficult times, my family and I did not starve - music fed us.

What is the most important thing for you in music?

Energy. I can’t watch concerts on TV: they are all dead, like theatrical performances. Therefore, one must go to the theater and rock concerts. After the final chords, the art of music dissolves into the air, just like the theater, which is why the latter is valuable to me. I don’t like cinema very much ... There are, of course, good films, but only theater can delight me.

Does the feeling of energy go away with age? Or is energy a thing without age?

If I got tired of this business, I assure you, I would stop doing it. I like my job. I read an article about the Rolling Stones here. The author analyzes this phenomenon and comes to the conclusion that rollers are great assholes. If all sorts of cynical speculations are possible about me - why I do music, then Jagger is a rich man, he can do without concerts. But for some reason he plays at his sixty-four years - he likes it! I'm one of those assholes who likes to go on stage. At this moment, time does not exist for me, it dissolves.

Photos: Fedor Savintsev for RR; Alexey Kudenko/Kommersant

On September 18, the twentieth album of the Alisa group, entitled Excess, is released - the first work of the group, the funds for which were raised using the Planet.Ru crowdfunding portal. The campaign began in May this year, shortly after Konstantin Kinchev suffered a heart attack. On this moment fans of "Alisa" collected more than 10 million rubles. Excess included a dozen songs, including those written in the wake of the Ukrainian events. On September 1, an Internet single was released to shareholders, including the songs "Give a drop of fire" and "Rock and Roll is cruel", as well as a cover version of the song " Honestly"Kalinov Most" group. On the eve of the release, Gazeta.Ru spoke with Kinchev.

- In the album "Excess" there is a song "Rock-n-Roll is cruel." You have this word in general often occurs, but always in a different context. How has the perception of this word changed over the years of your career?

- You know, in any song, it seems to me, everything is said. I have never deciphered my songs and now I will not. Such questions always stump - feeling as if I'm on foreign language sing. Listen, it's all there.

Alisa/Facebook.com

- And why did you decide to re-record "Honest Word" of "Kalinov Bridge"?

“I've always liked her. And in general, Dima Revyakin and I are friends. Not even friends, but rather brothers. I just took the opportunity. “Kalinov Bridge” had some kind of anniversary, and Dima offered to perform some song, I chose “Honest Word”, because I had long wanted to sing it. Sang it with Kalinov bridge”, and then there was an offer to participate in a tribute, and we recorded this song ourselves, in our own way. Just like you heard it. I really like how it turned out. Dima also, by the way, liked it. I wanted to do it in such a dance vein, with a straight kick, and The Doors show a little brighter - this is a dedication to Jim Morrison, in fact.

- You won’t talk about this song either, why is it close to you?

- It's about the song and about the feelings about the path that we call the road of rock and roll. Dima tells how he "met" Morrison, and then about how he went his own way. It's all in tune with me, I understand this song and perceive it as my own.

- You sang another song "Kalinov Bridge" - "In the Early Morning" even earlier.

- Yes, I love her too, but so far my hands have not reached. We have now made the song "War" for the tribute to Tolya Krupnov. It seems to me that it is very relevant today. I don't know yet when the tribute will come out, but anyway I'm thinking of using "War" in our new album. It is only necessary to talk with Sasha Yurasov (director of the Black Obelisk. - Gazeta.Ru) on this topic.

- So the work on the next disc is already underway?

“Yes, we have already begun. It is too early to say specifically, but something like that looms.

- Tell us now about the "Excess". How was this record composed?

- The songs were written mainly last winter ... Or the winter before last ... I don’t remember. The record originated from my sense of time. I always say that I am just a relay of time - like all of us to one degree or another.

What does the word "excess" mean to you? Why did it appear in the title of the album?

- Well, you read in explanatory dictionary what it means.

- I already read it.

- So wonderful! So we understand what we are talking about! (Laughs.) An album about what is happening outside and inside of me - like all other albums. It's all pretty banal.

- You wrote the previous albums or, in any case, mixed them in Germany, and in the case of Excess, only mastering was done there. Why did you decide to do it yourself this time?

- Because they grew up and decided to try it themselves, went on such an experiment. It seems to me that Dima Parfyonov (keyboardist of Alisa. - Gazeta.Ru) did an excellent job with this task and grew a lot as a sound engineer. He was involved in both recording and mixing.

- The last song is called "Emelya". This character has already appeared in your poem recorded on the Sabbath album. One director and I once said that Emelya is the archetype of the Russian dream: you have to lie on the stove and be a good man and then everything will fall into place. What does this character mean to you?

“That’s exactly what it means, you’re all right.

- In the time that has passed since the release of the album "Circus", you have written and published two songs - "So it is necessary" and a composition whose name we cannot write according to the law on obscene language. The first one was posted on the site for free listening, but it was not included in the album, and the second one was decided to be recorded. What is the reason for this choice?

- It seems to me that “So it is necessary” is a more momentary thing. The second one is more relevant.

— It was written in hot pursuit of the Ukrainian events. How has your perception of her changed? Has it become more relevant to all of us?

- Well, yes, that's right. Time runs the emphasis is changing. I didn't sing "we [were deceived] again", but it was on my tongue, of course. I have sung like this at concerts several times. But on the album he left it as it was in the original text, although it is understood that this applies to all of us.

- You had almost no obscenities in your songs before. Why this particular word?

- It is the most capacious. Mat is good and needed when there is no other way to say it, and not in order to litter in speech. Mat in this sense is a very useful thing.

- And how do you feel about the law on obscene language?

- Yes, this is nonsense. They receive some impressive salaries there and are engaged in “lawmaking”, the result of which are such initiatives.

- Are you afraid of fines? We are not allowed to swear in public.

- Well, listen, we have a Channel One presenter. I think he feels great (laughs).

- It seems that Leningrad pays some small fines for each concert, this is the end of the matter.

- Here you go. And I don't swear from the stage. We have a respected audience happily picking up the chorus, saving me from having to throw out the words from the song (laughs).

- Now tell us about cooperation with Planeta.Ru. How did this idea come about?

- I liked the result that Grebenshchikov achieved a couple of years ago. I looked at Planet's experience in this area and decided to give it a try.

- Why didn't they close the account after the declared 4 million were collected?

“Because it’s not enough, really. Everyone just doesn't have a good idea of ​​how it works. Our ensemble writes the album at its own expense, we are trying to compensate for these funds, and this is two years of work for 12 people. Previously, the publisher did this, now we decided to do it directly. Subtract from this what the Planet itself takes, and the money that will go to print the discs.

- Now you have collected 10 million, is that enough?

- Yes, I would like to collect even more, what a sin to conceal. “Inspiration is not for sale, but you can sell a manuscript” – this is how the great ones used to say, and I adhere to this principle.

Did you end up enjoying this experience?

- Well, yes, and the guys there, on the Planet, are good. Now it remains to wait for them to cope with their duties. Now the collection will end, and they will have to deal with mailing, promptly provide the respected public with everything that it should receive. In addition, the printing of discs will only begin when we close the collection to print the names of all shareholders in the booklet. But I think we'll manage.

- Will you go on tour with Excess?

- Yes, you know, I'm now after a heart attack - we haven't played concerts since April. In November, for the first time, we will take the stage again, and for now I plan to limit myself to the Moscow and St. Petersburg presentations of Excess. Maybe I'll play again on my birthday in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In other words, we are not engaged in concert activity now, and it was the only source of income. So the collection on the "Planet" is also needed in order to provide oneself with a livelihood. I am not ready to travel around the country now, I need to see what will happen at the presentations in Moscow and St. Petersburg. I don’t know yet if I will suffocate on stage.

- God bless you.

- Thanks. I try, I do it slowly, I recover. But what the result will be is not up to me.

- Let's finally return to the "Excess". It's a rather harsh word, you say it reflects the times. Can you describe how you feel about it? Someone says that the 90s are returning, others - that the new 17th year is ahead ...

I'm quoting myself here. In the song "My Generation" I allowed myself such impudence, which I subscribe to today: "I can foresee, but I cannot predict." I don't know what will happen, but I have some predictions.

Again, rejoicing at the news that the monsters of Russian rock will soon come to us, I remembered the interview with Kinchev. which I wrote. but never published it anywhere. Such an exclusive, though somewhat old - I throw it into the magazine here.

“By the mid-1980s, the main star of the Leningrad Rock Club was Alisa with a new vocalist, Kostya Kinchev. Other bands refused to perform in front of them: who wants to step onto the stage and be pelted with empty bottles?
Fedor Chistyakov, former leader of the group "Zero" in an interview with Ilya StogOFF for the book "Sinners"

Twenty years have passed. The country has changed, rock and roll itself has changed, and Kostya Kinchev has changed. But "Alisa" is alive, and as long as one of the legends of Russian rock exists, we can say that "rock and roll is alive!" So now it is no longer Kostya who thinks so, but Konstantin Evgenievich Kinchev.

- Which city, in your opinion, has the most loyal audience?
- Oddly enough, in St. Petersburg!

The anthem to rock 'n' roll, which you recently created with a lot of rock musicians, contains these lines: “I don't remember exactly, but someone said that rock 'n' roll is it. In complexes, arrogance is born ... No more than that. In whose garden is a pebble anyway?
- Well, if there is no surname there, then I left it a secret, and if I wanted to open it, I would put my surname there.

If you really don’t want to reveal the secret to whom this opus was dedicated, then tell us about the process of creating the song ... Still, almost all the rockers of the country are in one composition ...
- The process went very well ... I am grateful to all those who responded to my proposal to perform this song. The only precedent was during the work on the song. Yuri Yulianovich (Shevchuk - author's note) signed up, but then he called back and said that he did not want to participate after all. He is a man of complex nature, so he was capricious ...

- And no one “fought” for the lines? Or was the distribution carried out by your "iron fist"?
- By my hand, yes. I'm the author.

- Do you support Shevchuk's movement against the dominance of pop music?
- No, I don't. This is a waste of time and effort.

- How do your songs appear? What is involved in writing them?
- Only with my spiritual impulse. All songs that are born are associated with him. In general, it somehow happened that the songs appear ... on their own. Sometimes, when you start writing, you don’t even really understand what you are writing about. It's kind of a rhythmic beat. You catch impulses and immerse yourself in them… What is it? Impulses cannot be touched, it is just like the wind. Everyone knows that he is, but no one has seen him.

The question of understanding the meaning of songs by authors and listeners ... Viktor Tsoi, they say, sang the song "Change!" about school changes, but people understood in a completely different way ...
- Listen, I knew Viktor Robertovich well ... He was a very ironic person, and all these tales are just excuses for journalists. He sang about something completely different.

Konstantin, you are a rocker… Therefore, I will not ask for forgiveness for the question… advise your favorite hangover remedy!
- I don’t drink anymore, probably for nine years, and even beer ... Therefore, I already forgot what a hangover is.

- But it was!
- Well, it used to be. Probably the cabbage pickle helped a lot.

Are you only into music, or are you also interested in business? Where do you invest your earnings?
- Only music and nothing more. I have never been in business and never will. It takes an enormous amount of energy and time. And my time is strictly limited, and I don’t have much of it left at all. It makes no sense to scatter.

A few years ago, in an interview, you admitted that you cut your own hair and do not bother with your image at all. Has the situation changed somehow?
- Well ... I don't seem to have a haircut now! That's how it all remained, from time to time I take scissors and shorten my hair.

- Konstantin, what do you think, what feature should a young growing group have?
- I do not know. I do not pull on a young and growing group.

And if you remember the first performance of the Alisa group? What was your zest that made people listen to you and become a fan ...
- I don't know what the highlight is. I just went on stage and people were happy. It started with dancing back in the city of Krasnogorsk. When we started playing, the respected audience simply stopped fighting and for some reason started dancing.

- "Alice" is not just one of the legends of Russian rock, milestones in its formation, you are now the idol of youth. How do you explain the fact that the younger generation is as big a fan of your songs as their parents?
- First of all, I am infinitely grateful to the "younger generation" for the credit of trust given to me. Apparently, there is something in me and in my songs that warms the hearts of young people.

- How do you feel about the actual problem of piracy in our time?
- Yes, as well as to the fight against pop music. It is useless, in my opinion, to do absolutely anything about it. Anyway, this question is not for me, but for the publisher. I finish work on the album at the moment when signing the contract, I transfer the rights to it to the publisher, but how he will already be promoting it on the market is not my concern. I'm currently working on new songs, maybe the next album. Why should I be interested in the fate of what has already been done?
My philosophy is simple: songs written, songs given. Who wants, he listens. Who does not want, he throws it into the basket. That's all.

- Is rock 'n' roll alive? In your opinion today?
- Subjectively, yes. And objectively, I do not presume to judge. Subjectively... I can transfer this understanding to the Alisa group. "Alice" is alive, so rock and roll is alive!

- Is there a question that you have never been asked, a question that you would not be able to answer?
- There is no such question, everyone has already asked me ... I am ready for any question, and it seems to me that for all questions I am already long life replied.

Kinchev, Butusov, Grebenshchikov… Because they are legends, they have nothing to do with our world, even being at arm's length during an interview or a press conference. Kinchev is much closer to me when I’m a hundred meters from the stage, and therefore from him, I sing along: “We are moving along the strings of fate ...”, than when, being at a distance of the same hand, I ask a question about the history of the creation of this song ...

- I have an opinion that "Alisa" has the most loyal fans. Why do you think?

Probably, my fans don't like to "step with the times" either, so they walk with me, confirming the well-known thesis "We are together!", which makes me very happy.

Can you remember the craziest fan antics and how you deal with them?

The craziest act of late was committed by two people with the nicknames Trout and Ham: they followed us to Khabarovsk, Ussuriysk and Vladivostok, spending a huge pile of money, they also earned! I do not in any way fight against the movement called "departure", but, on the contrary, I welcome it in every possible way, because I myself love to travel. And if I were now 17–20 years old, I would love to go on tour with the Alisa group! But I am deprived of this opportunity, since I am already 42 years old and I play in this group.

- What do you think is happening today with the generation of rock musicians, your peers (I mean Shakhrin, Grebenshchikov, Shevchuk, Sukachev, Butusov and others like them)?

They grow old, grumble, get fat… What I can’t say about myself - the most beautiful rocker of the fatherland (just kidding), and about Boris Borisovich Grebenshchikov - the most elegant and profound person on our rock scene.

I get blamed all the time

- It seemed to me that your new album is not topical. It is timeless both in sound and content (lyrics). It seems to me that any musician (whether he is a believer or not) is trying to keep up with the times, to catch musical trends, to be, if not fashionable, then at least in demand. Moreover, you work for the very audience that just needs a feeling of today.

An amazing thing (!), on the one hand, having recorded a global work like "Sabbath" or "Solstice", I constantly hear reproaches of excessive "topicality" or that rock as "protest music" (a well-known journalistic cliché) has already got everyone! On the other hand, it's worth making a lyrical album, whether it's "Jazz" or "Dance", I run into accusations of "timelessness", although this is more of a compliment. And then, what does it mean to “keep up with the times”? It seems to me that the movement in time for everyone has a different direction ... As for the audience of "Alisa", I cannot help but notice that throughout the life of the group, and she is almost 20 years old, the age limit does not increase in the direction of "aging" , but only replenished with children, for which I am also constantly reproached (!), like “an adult, and you have crazy underage fans!”. In connection with all this, I have a question: why am I not satisfied with someone all the time? Perhaps, in my old age, I should write a song about Alice in order to pass for a harmonious personality, keeping up with the times?

Best of the day

- And how do you feel about the popular opinion: they say, if a person is religious and devout, it is difficult for him to write a popular song?

I am very wary of the "conventional opinion". It seems to me that it is still better to base your attitude to this or that question on your own. And the topic of "hits" is of little interest to me at all. The last thing I want to do is be “doomed to succeed” and “hungry for recognition.”

- Although the new album is called so, it is, of course, non-dance. And yet, how do you feel about good dance music?

Again, maybe I'm not keeping up with the times, but it seems to me that "good dance music" has already experienced its boom in 1997-1998, fashion is fleeting and changeable. Therefore, everything returns to normal, and those who sincerely and sincerely want to drink, eat, dance, go to the railway station restaurants, where they stick out with the help of karaoke, accompanied by cheerful “Hands up” and ageless “Ivanushki”.