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Fred Durst’s Russian buddy makes his English debut with a striking politically themed single.

You can't become one of the most respected indie artists in the modern day Russia without pissing off some people. Or, in Noize MC’s case, a lot of people. He constantly calls the bluff of the official establishment, and his performances and on-air appearances get cancelled way too often. Back in 2010 he was put behind bars for 10 days for “offending the police” after he was banned from ironically asking for the tips at his own gig. And for the last 10 years he continues to be one of the strongest forces of the Russian indie scene, blending rock with hip-hop, beats with riffs and never shying away from baring the unpleasant truth.

Now he’s ready to embark on a whole new journey with the premiere of his first English track “Lenin” that sees Noize MC once again making fun of the inconsistencies of the Russian government’s propaganda in his unique style. Watch the symbol-heavy video above and read our thought-provoking chat with the artist as he gets ready for his US debut.

Hometown/homebase? I live in Moscow now. This is a city where I’ve spent most of my life so far.

Your music is a very intriguing mix of rock and hip-hop. How was this blend conceived originally? 

At the time when I started my career you couldn’t just listen to the music you liked—you had to choose the side. Rappers fought with rockers, it was the real hate between the subcultures. But I never wanted to choose the side in that conflict, that always seemed stupid to me. I’m a guitarist and my instrument is just one more organ of my body—how can I not love the rock music?

I love rock’n’roll for the energy it provides, for its drive and power, for the opportunity to express the wide range of emotions. I admire hip-hop for the possibility to put the whole poem in the song, for its groove and rhythm, for its raw power, passion and sincerity—it’s the best way to tell people what’s on your mind and the best way to make ’em shake their heads. I always liked the bands combining these two types of musical energy in their songs and I just wanted to do something like that myself. So I just took the best of both worlds to express my thoughts and feelings properly.

You’re about to embark on a whole new adventure: your US debut. Why now?

When I start working on a new album I always try to make a record that differs from everything I did before: in terms of the sound, in terms of the topics, in terms of every little detail. Of course, I’ve got my own style and it’s always me, but it would be too boring to use the same formulas every time. I’m always looking for things to change in my art. And now I decided to change the language of my lyrics. Also, you know, our band is big in Russia and it lasted for eight years already—we never quit, we were almost everywhere and saw almost everything there.

I just want to feel what it’s like to be a new artist again, to play gigs at the places I never been before, to make more people understand me. It’s so fresh and intriguing. I feel that now it’s time to do this. That’s the main reason.

Will your US debut mean that you will put your Russian career on hold? Or are you a multi-tasker?

I’m a multi-tasker. I’ve got three projects going on this year. I’m writing my first album in English, a new album in Russian and a hip-hop-opera in Russian, too. It’ll be a modern version of Orpheus & Eurydice: Orpheus is a battle MC, King Hades is a major label boss, etc. It’s gonna be really epic! I’m inspired by the first Soviet rock-opera of the same name (1975) and A Hip-Hop Story (a book by Heru Ptah).

Will your old fans be satisfied with your new releases? How different is your new sound from what the Russian fans are familiar with?

Never thought about satisfying anyone’s expectations. I’m just trying to make the record I’ll be proud of. As for the sound, it seems to be heavier than what we did before. And English words themselves have different rhythmic and tone, so I compose the melodies I would never write if I was to sing in Russian. But it’s still me, of course, it’s gonna be a Noize MC’s album. So, I think it’ll be at least pretty interesting for our old fans.

Tell me about the new single and video. What’s the message there? Why did you pick Lenin as the (anti)hero of this song?

It seems like modern Russia comes to what we had in Soviet times, the history repeats itself: our government sees the Western world not as a possible partner or a rival but just as the real enemy again. Look at the sample of Lenin’s speech in the intro: it’s exactly the same thing Russian people hear everyday from the official media. And it’s kinda funny for everyone who knows modern Russian history (I mean the 20th century), but the official propaganda today easily mixes the Orthodox Christian religion and the Soviet ideology creating a crazy post-modern oxymoron—I don't know what to compare it to… Try imagining Hitler reading Tora. “The New Testament is so old-school—download the update, whatcha waiting for? Enjoy testing it, don’t be so boastful, you can’t create, better wash the floor.” That’s what Pelevin and Sorokin write about.

And the second side of the message is freedom of speech: “His hearing’s so sensitive to all things inimical—think twice before you speak”. During last several years we had more and more people having real troubles with the law just because they express their point of view on some issues. Any opinion can be considered an extremist one if it differs from what you hear on the television. So in fact the video and the song are not about Lenin himself, not about the communist ideology. It’s about how symbols of the past lose their meaning and turn into something they were never supposed to be. It’s about how the political discourse distorts history for its needs.

You’ve supported a lot of rockers: Limp Bizkit, Sum 41, etc. Any cool behind-the-scenes stories you can share? Did you try to outdrink them?

Fred Durst is a friend of mine. He celebrated his birthday in Moscow and I was there. Never saw anyone who could drink so much and still keep on being totally online, you know? He had a promo day, seven or nine hours of unstoppable interviews, and then he was partying like nothing happened, like he was 22 years old. Outdrink him? No, thanks, my organism isn’t strong enough for such an adventure.

You never shied away from bringing up important political and social issues in your lyrics, your interviews and on stage. Will we hear you speaking up about some US-related issues in your new songs?

I have to live in US to speak up about something like this. I have to relate to something personally to be willing to rap about it.  I don’t wanna rhyme about something that I only know about from the news.

your US promotion schedule look like? Where and when will the new fans be able to hear you and see you perform?

At the moment we’re discussing the US tour in September. Hopefully we’ll play Toronto, too. See you guys!

5 fast fun facts about you. Go!

  1. Security guys never liked me. And they still don’t. I don’t know why, it’s something like an animal instinct. Once I stage-dived at my own album presentation and they just didn’t let me go back to the stage ‘til the promoter told them to.
  2. Once I broke my back (stage-diving again) and played all the tour sitting on the office chair and spinning along the stage.
  3. Our first big hit song starts with a line “Suck my dick, First Channel!” and it’s addressed to the biggest television network in the country. Regardless of that, we performed there several times. But a couple of months ago the director of one of the big national radio-station cancelled our on-air live performance explaining her decision with the words “An artist singing “Suck my dick, First Channel!” can’t perform at our station!” Well, but then he can perform at the First Channel! Suck my dick, Auto-Radio!
  4. I can freestyle for five hours with no break.
  5. I have no earlobes.

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