On the decade of the group LaScala talked about fashion, pop hits and rock feminism

The group’s vocalist Anya Green and guitarist Pyotr Ezdakov once formulated the main doctrine of the group and even managed to defend it. Initially, they were only guest musicians in a line-up recruited by former IFK member and founder Max Galstjan. Max’s plans included a team with female vocals and melodic songs, at the maximum distance from the harsh alternative sound.

However, already after the first releases, Anya and Peter, as authors, began to add flamenco and latino elements to the arrangements. Such exoticism met with a decisive rebuff from the founder of the team, and as a result, Max left the project.

The circumstances were such that in 2021, Galstyan died from complications from coronavirus. His former colleagues remember his colleague at every concert, on the anniversary tour they play songs written by him, but they build further musical plans based on their own views on what LaScala is.

In a conversation with MK, Anna and Peter discussed musical fashion, pop hits, rock feminism and a family approach to songwriting.

– In honor of the band’s tenth anniversary, the El Dorado compilation was released with all your hits and one new song. And the old songs were re-recorded. We can say that you chose not the easiest way to create a collection of hits…

Anna: It seemed to us that everything is very simple. The tracks are already there. Of course, they were crooked and crookedly recorded many years ago, but now that my vocal level has improved, we have our own studio, a lot of experience and understanding of what music is and how the final product should sound, everything will take a maximum of two weeks. I’ll go to the microphone, re-record – and voila. But it was not there.

We started in June, continued in July, and in August I realized that even half of the songs had not been rewritten. It turned out that it is very difficult to make a new version and not spoil the original. In general, I rewrote some songs three or four times.

Peter: Some kind of conservative property of the brain manifested itself here. It seems to you that what you heard earlier sounds better and more emotional, because it has already become boring. And this happens not only with the listeners, but also with us. As a result, only on the twenty-fifth of January we threw off the final version of the album. We haven’t worked on any of our records for so long. But we’ve never done an hour long album before with sixteen tracks on board…

– When you started, alternative rock had a reputation, if not super trendy, then at least very popular music. And then everyone suddenly decided that nothing but rap exists. How did you manage to get through all this?

Anna: When we started, the alternative had already passed its peak, it was replaced by punk rock. And we, with our songs about love and introspection, were out of fashion. You needed protest and upbeat music, and everyone didn’t give a damn about the Latino or flamenco that you weave into your sound. Even then, we realized that we had become outsiders, because we appeared late and did not enter the “return my 2007” clip, there was no punk rock in our music, and then – hello, rap.

Peter: We didn’t really belong to any wave. And they always did what they themselves wanted, despite the fashion trends. Probably, with the advent of rap, a large number of people’s tastes have changed, but this did not affect us, we grew with our audience.

Anna: In principle, we don’t give a damn what is in fashion now: hip-hop or the alternative will return again. Maybe we’re biting our own elbows because we haven’t played in big halls yet, and our songs haven’t been played on big screens as soundtracks. But we see how the number of people at concerts is growing, and we understand that we are doing everything right. Just a little slower.

– Many of your colleagues still doubt the appropriateness of concerts against the backdrop of everything that is happening. You have decided to perform…

Anna: I often sing about my desire to sound in tune with the audience and regularly refer to the audience in the lyrics. Fans write that I treat them with my songs, and for me, fans are the main medicine. In such difficult times, giving “medicines” and good energy is the best thing you can think of. No matter how selfish it sounds, but if I don’t sing songs about the search for something bright now, then I’ll just die. We have come a long way, and now is the time to strengthen relations with the public, not to leave them with their pain, not to cancel concerts. I don’t blame anyone.

It takes the same level of courage to leave or stay to play gigs. Our choice is to stay. Of course, the repertoire has changed a bit in a not very positive direction. While the soul hurts, it is not a super fiesta that is written, but all this is honest, we do not change ourselves. We have never been a protest or philosophical team. From the first album we sing about sex, passion, joy, emotional experiences.

– And in your songs there are plots and logically constructed sentences. Although now it is generally thought that melodies and lyrics should consist of some kind of hooks in order to hook people. You probably laugh at this fashion? Or do you despise?

Anna: Of course, I laugh, but I remember singing loudly at LJ’s sound checks: “Baby, you love ripped jeans! Ooo!” I like the lack of three-story meaning in pop music, I like it when hooks work, when you can start dancing.

Peter: It’s cool when it’s organic. But many simply embark on pure commerce, when the lyrics are hook on hook, but there is no big sense. I want to repeat these lines, because they get stuck in my head, while they do not carry any thoughts. Maybe hooks are a smart approach. Cool, I want to sing along, but I also want a poetic meaning. It would be nice to have a balance.

Anna: Unfortunately, I can’t write simple songs. I am often advised to rejuvenate the audience, to do something for the girls who want “oh, oh, oh!” But I am the way I am, because I am a philologist and I can’t write in any other way. If I could, I would have written my “oh, oh, oh!” and made an album of hits out of it. Of course, I will try – suddenly I wake up one day and some repeating vowel will dawn on me. I will definitely tell you about it.

– The soloist of a rock group is in many ways a feminist position. It’s in your texts. Is it a reflection of your outlook on life, or is it just an image that suits your music better?

Anna: I cannot understand where the image ends and where ordinary life begins. The only difference between me at home and on stage is the presence of make-up. The songs are my life, and there are no fictions in them, well, maybe I peep something from my girlfriends.

Peter: A small clarification: Anya loves fiction in real life. So if something improves in the texts against the background of ordinary life, then this is also the real Anya.

Anna: If we return to feminism, then my texts do not have the task of showing that I am a mistress, and a man is henpecked. In general, the LaScala group was recognized thanks to the song “In the Ocean of People”. There’s a very feminist refrain: “I’m not a dog, mind you, I won’t be chained for love and food.” The most annoying thing is that this song was written by Max Galstyan, at that time a forty-year-old man. So I didn’t start, but I continued because I saw how the girls responded at concerts. But usually there is only one song in the album, where I am a lady, and at least three, where I sing that it hurts me, I was hurt … With my lyrics, I show the versatility of female nature, but this is not feminism at all.

— You remembered Max Galstyan. According to the official version, he left the project due to different views on how the group should develop. Now can we say that the basis of LaScala is still the one proposed by Max, or have you changed everything?

Peter: The basis that Max proposed was actually quite chaotic. We are now celebrating the fifth anniversary of LaScala. Everything that was before was like the demo of the band that is now. Max came up with everything, began to recruit musicians. Both Anya and I are invited members, before us the group already had a drummer, keyboardist, bassist and Max himself. Of course, Max had a certain vision, but no one really knew how to develop it further. After recording the first album and the first concerts, we began to understand that we need to move on, decide what our uniqueness is and why all this is at all.

Anna: On the first album there was a song Muleta inspired by Spain. The only one in this style, despite the fact that I am a fan of Spanish-speaking culture. But journalists suddenly began to write about us as a group that plays Latin rock, although we had a lot of other material. And I offered to continue this direction, since we were called that. Still, Latino is a joy, besides, I don’t know any other bands here that play an alternative with such an exotic flavor. But Max didn’t like it, he’s a hardcore alternative, the founder of IFK, he wanted to play something cool. At the same time, there was a girl-drummer in the group, and I am not at all a motherfucking young lady. Of course, I sometimes like to read something rapper, but it rather conflicts with who I really am.

Peter: In general, we brought more and more Latino, and when we got the song Repeat, and then “Revenge”, Max said that he had never heard anything more terrible in his life and did not want to sign under these tracks. As a result, we fled, but soon “Revenge” will become our main hit, and Repeat will turn into the best “closing” of the concert.

– The specifics of your “artistic council” is that it is a family one, and this is not always a plus. How are songs born: in agreement or conflict?

Peter: Sometimes everything goes smoothly. Here is the song “Next”, which is the only new track on the compilation, we wrote quite easily.

Anna: We never quarrel over everyday life in the form of garbage, repairs, moving … But when it comes to keys, tempo, passions boil.

Peter: God forbid to express doubt in the line that Anya wrote …

Anya: God forbid I ask to make the guitar a little quieter … Everyone has their own arguments: “too much text” or “too much guitar”. And then, word for word, it began. But in the family field, everything is in order. Probably, we can quarrel so much in the studio that we already forget how you can make a fuss over dirty dishes. By the way, we got out with the dishes: Petya began to order ready-made food in the package.

“There’s been a longstanding observation that members of alternative bands tend to lead outrageously healthy lifestyles. Are you in this company?

Peter: Otherwise, it is difficult to survive on tours.

Anna: On our first tour, we honestly tried to be rockers. In general, we hung out, we drank, but our livers were tired. It was simply unbearable when you drive from Krasnodar in a minivan for a day, you feel bad, but you need to work in Moscow.

I then taught children English and Spanish, and Petya worked as a sound engineer in karaoke. At some point, we decided to try something different. What if you don’t drink on tour? Well, or a little. What if you go to the hall? Two or three times a week, but regularly. What if we count calories? And at some point we looked at ourselves in the mirror and saw that we have cubes. In addition, we have become more resilient. It’s cool when the next day after the concert there is no headache …

Peter: In general, the gym, more or less healthy food, vitamins, eight hours of sleep. As a result, we began to feel much better, to do more. So sleep, it’s good.