Almost Banned In Russia: Being Emo
Almost Banned In Russia: Being Emo
How one person follows a misunderstood genre that was nearly outlawed by the government.
Jun 2, 2015 · 5 min read
By Tom Mullen
In 2008, the Russian government tried to pass legislation making “being emo” illegal. The country was concerned about the glorification of suicide and anti-social behavior. From a larger concept of moral upbringing, one focus of the legislation was on the emo culture. In part the legislation, reported on at the time by NME Magazine, was to “heavily regulate emo websites and ban emo and goth dress style in schools and government buildings.” It ended up not being implemented in the country but the fact that it was up for vote struck a chord with me.
NME.com (July 23rd, 2008)
Since being exposed to the simple fact that a genre of music could be banned at the drop of a scared and misinformed politician’s hand, I’d been intrigued. How could you even squash a genre of music? In a nice twist of fate through Washed Up Emo, I met Andy Tarakanov from Russia, a huge fan of emo. I had to ask him what it was like being a fan of the genre in Russia.
This is an edited portion of our conversations over e-mail.
How did you find out about emo?
I found out about emo in 2004–2005 on TV. It was alternative music channel A1, I saw some videos of My Chemical Romance, The Used, etc. (commercial/mall emo), and this music was interesting and new for me. Then in Russia thousands of bands appeared that tried to play emocore, screamo, metalcore and crabcore.
In 2006, I went to my first emocore/metalcore festival. The metalcore band Such A Beautiful Day from Saint Petersburg was cool. I thought it was cool at the time, despite the music being not that good.
Such A Beautiful Day
In 2009, I listened to Internet radio, and I heard 2 songs, which changed my life: Sunny Day Real Estate “In Circles” and Mineral “If I Could”.
“I fell in love with emo.”
I downloaded all the Mineral and Sunny Day Real Estate albums and I tried to find information about another bands. I found a Ukrainian forum about midwest emo, downloaded tons of 90s emo (American Football, The Promise Ring, Texas is the Reason, The Get Up Kids, etc.). Then I found out about new bands like Football, etc., Empire!Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate), Dowsing, etc. I adore such music and listen to it every day.
Silent Hysteria
What is like in Russia for those that love emo? Are you connecting online mostly or can you get together for local shows/bands?
I don’t have any friends who like midwest emo. Most of my friends never even heard about midwest emo. The emo community is small but we are connecting online in Vkontakte through a 90's emo community which boasts 5900+ people all over Russia, but it’s too small.
Now I live in Saint Petersburg and I don’t know any local bands. There are only a few emo bands in Russia now, from various small cities. Many bands don’t have the money to travel and plays shows, let alone have money for recording. Unfortunately, the non-mainstream music community is dead. Pop, rap and prison music are most popular in Russia now, not rock music. I don’t think that will change for a long time.
fOptimus Prime
The mall emo era finished in Russia between 2008–2010.
“Emo kids with pink clothes and strange hairstyles transformed to hipsters.“
In 2006–2007 some of those in politics tried to prohibit emo after kids committed suicide. Newspapers wrote shit like “emo is the sect.” For most Russian people “emo” is associated with suicides, screamo, tears, pink clothes and hairstyles but they don’t know about old school/midwest emo. That is why i never say “ like midwest emo.”
This is very sad… Even so I try to find out new emo bands online and will travel to other countries to see them.
Did any of your friends or yourself feel threatened by the legislation/politics in 2008?
No, no one felt threatened by legislation or politics in 2008. We just saw delusional articles in newspapers and the Internet. But sometimes emo kids (as well as punks, goth, etc.) were beaten by skinheads and rowdies (especially in small cities).
“This shit often happens in Russia. But now Russia is becoming a totalitarian country, and I’m afraid, politicians will intervene in our lives and prohibit many things.”
Optimus Prime
Is it hard and/or expensive to order merchandise in Russia?
It’s not so hard, but it’s expensive. For example, the American Football vinyl costs $22 plus $19 shipping (without tracking, it takes about 4–5 weeks), or $30 USPS First Class (it takes 3 weeks), or $57 USPS Priority (it takes 2 weeks). I use the cheapest shipping. Mineral’s merch shop doesn’t ship to Russia, so I have to use mail forwarding services (like shipito.com), with that I have to pay for shipping within US plus shipping outside US.
“Many young people don’t have a credit card and or any international shopping experience.”
So I created a small shop in vkontakte (vk.com/midwest_living) for merch reselling.
Awaara
What are some of the most popular late 90s bands in Russia? What band would make you the happiest if they toured Russia?
I think the most popular late 90s bands in Russia are American Football, Mineral and Sunny Day Real Estate. Many people like Penfold, The Get Up Kids, Promise Ring, etc. It seems to me modern bands are more popular than 90s emo. People like Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate), Football, etc., Dowsing, Tiny Moving Parts. But I don’t like modern bands so much, 90s sound is better for me, although E!E!(IWALE) is one of my favorite bands.
“I will be happy if American Football or Mineral could come to Russia.”
Although Chris Simpson (Mineral) said to me, that unfortunately they will not. If Sunny Day Real Estate would play here one day, I’d be happy too.
Any Russian bands you would like to share?
Marschak, Fioletoviy Pes, (Фиолетовый пес, it’s “purple dog” in English), Optimus Prime (good screamo band, disbanded now), lovelettertypewriter (it’s Russian band, but I know American band with the same name) and Awaara are good Russian bands.
Marschak
What is the future of emo in Russia?
I think more people will find out about modern emo bands from foreign blogs, YouTube, Bandcamp, etc. But I don’t think emo will be popular in Russia. I hope tour managers will pay attention to Russia, and we will see cool shows of emo bands. Thank you.