interview with OPRICH
What´s the name of your band? OPRICH
How was the band formed? The first attempts to compose the songs were made during our school time. Gradually the group grew from this chaotic and not always sensible activity. I think such state of things is typical for many bands.
Can you tell about your band? I believe, we are good enough and sincere – and it is the most important thing .
Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? All of us are from Russia, from the city of Rybinsk. The city is located in the European part of our huge country, at the upper Volga. Our group consists of five persons: Pan (vocal), Yaromir (guitar, back vocals), Kolyado (guitar), Peresvet (bass) and Vladimir (drums). However, outside our alive activity two persons, our ex-bass player Pustosvyat (co-authorship of our music) and Mikhail (traditional instruments, recording and mixing), support us as well.
What were the ambitions of the band when you started? As many other musicians, we were eager to express ourselves in musical and poetic ways. I.e. the desire of creativity was a stimulating cause.
Could you explain your music to someone that has not heard you?If we look from a stylistic point of view, it is metal with a great influence of hardcore, but besides the instruments, which are traditional for hard music, there are also Russian traditional folk instruments. If we look from the ideological point of view, our creative activity is Slavonic Paganism, and we are adherents of the Tradition and patriots of our country and our people.
Where was your first gig? In our hometown Rybinsk.
Where was the latest gig?Strange enough, but in Rybinsk as well. On the 15th of November, we presented our newest disk.
Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics?
I write the lyrics (Yaromir). Music is a result of the collective creativity by the whole group.
Who has the best sense of humor in the band?
In general, we are rather cheerful people, so the humor is the thing that constantly accompanies our creative activity; however it remains outside the songs.
What's good/bad with the band?
We are a solid collective, which knows well, what we want and how to achieve it. It is an undoubted advantage. As for some negative aspects, I would name insufficient cultivating of own abilities.
Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about?
Our style is the North Russian Pagan metal, which we name briefly as Nordcore. Therefore, no wonder that our songs are about the past of our land, about its people. Listening to our sometimes-aggressive songs, you can find it strange that in fact all of them are about love – аbout love of the native land, of Russia.
Do you write your own material or mainly covers?
Mostly – own songs. However, there are some covers in our arsenal - RAZNOTRAVIE, TEMNOZOR, SOL INVICTUS.
Have you made any album? If yes, what are they?
Now there are 5 CD’s and one vinyl in our discography, apart from singles and separate songs in different V/A collections. Among all of it, we have only two full-length albums, and the rest of our discography is split-albums, mini-albums and joint projects.
Do you have any clips on YouTube?
Our last concert video – here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGOQ9ulRP5I
However, we have our own channel on YouTube, where it is possible to see the different videos concerning the group:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Oprichband
How old are you? What got you started in music?
An average age of OPRICH participants is 30 years. When we began, we were, of course, much younger))
At what age did you start playing?
I suppose, we took our instruments for the first time probably in 14 – 15 years. When we created OPRICH, we were already a little bit older than 20 years.
How old were you guys when you first stood on stage?At our first serious concert, we were 18-19 years old. However, it was not OPRICH yet, but many things began namely with that group.
What year was the band started?I have started playing alive since 1994. However, it was other group. As for OPRICH, we count its beginning since 1998. Moreover, the first CD we released in 2005 – so, in a sort of way, it is also a kind of beginning.
Best/worst gig you've played? You never can tell. Now it seems that if the latest concert was not the best one, then it was one of our best concerts – by the way you could watch a short video from this concert. If we talk about the worst concert, probably it was a gig, when the audience was apathetic and inactive. However, any concert is not just a performance itself, but a small adventure as well – including a trip there and back, contacts with friends, and a good practice of scenic work. In this sense, any concert brings pleasure and leaves pleasant memories.
What places will you be playing in the immediate future? So far, we have no concert plans.
Where have you played from then till now?
We played only on the territory of Russia, in its European part. However, even in this case it is also very considerable territory in the way of coverage. The matter is that Russia is a very big country, and travels require a lot of time there.
Which band is the best you’ve seen?If we talk about with whom we played in one concert, it is TEMNOZOR and TAAKE.
What has been the best/most promising gig so far? All concerts are good if from a stage we see the eyes of listeners burning with pleasure.
Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? No tours yet, only single concerts.
How big crowds do you usually play for? As we have not played at big festivals yet, our audience is standard for clubs: from 100 to 500 people.
What are the plans for the rest of the year? We’ll be recording the third full-length album. If we get some offers concerning any concerts, of course, we will go to play – it is always great!
Where do you usually play? Usually we play in clubs or on festivals; however they are not really big.
How do you get psyched up for a gig?We do not need any “substances” or liquids – we are really vigorous and full of energy in any way.
What are your goals with your music? We do not pursue the aim to earn money. Our goals are in the field of creativity –express our thoughts and feelings in the best possible and the most sincere way, compose bright and powerful music, tell people about majestic beauty of the Russian North and about its inhabitants.
Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? In different ways. However, old groups, as a rule, do not let down.
What are your sources of inspiration?First of all, the nature. Also, of course, people, the events happening to us, history of Russia. Though, the inspiration is a thing of such kind, which appears of itself, sometimes in the most unexpected time.
What's the first step when making a new song? At first, the text is written - it is an obligatory rule. The text creates mood, and then music is composed by itself.
How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? Concerning this topic, we adhere to a traditional opinion: if you downloaded the music for acquaintance, then buy a CD, support group.
Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? The most different – from folk to grindcore.
What do you hold most dear?Feeling of our sincerity.
When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? When we on the stage – we have no fear.
Have you been part of any other projects?Oh, yes, we have projects in which we develop some ideas not released in OPRICH.
Have you been in any other bands?Each of us plays besides OPRICH at least in one other group.
What do you work with outside of the band and the music?Two members of OPRICH work at the large plant manufacturing the gas turbine and aviation equipment, other two members are occupied in the transport sphere, and one participant works in the area of real estate and construction.
How important are your fans?We are an underground group, and our fans become not only our adherents, but our friends as well. Of course, they are important for us.
How often do you rehearse? As we live in different cities now, it is impossible to rehearse frequently.
Where do you rehearse? Rehearsals take place in Rybinsk, in an old wooden house with creaking floors and the mood of the 19th century.
What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing?We are motivated by the creative process. Moreover, we do not try to earn our living by means of music. Especially as in Russia it is the extremely difficult to draw income from metal music.
Do you have any webpages?
www.oprich-band.com
www.vk.com/oprichband
www.facebook.com/oprich
www.reverbnation.com/oprich
www.youtube.com/user/Oprichband
https://oprich.bandcamp.com/
Describe your show, visually and musically. We play fast, loud, probably a little bit dirty – but sincere and it is from the bottom of our hearts. Sometimes we play in national costumes, sometimes in t-shirts and jeans. It depends on our mood))
How do you view the music industry of today? I am afraid it is not the best times now. On the one hand, music became too available to the listeners, and this fact depreciated music itself. On the other hand, computer technologies allow literally everyone creating the projects, and because of it the world of music became too oversaturated.
What are the biggest obstacles for a band? I think the lack of time.
How would you describe your sound in one sentence? Our sound is loud and “dense”, as if a volley of invincible Russian artillery.
What is your Pre-show ritual? We always greet public, we always represent ourselves, always tell our listeners what our songs about. In general, we try to talk to people from the stage, and give a companionship hand. It is, of course, not exactly a ritual, but we take such behavior as a rule))
Do you have anything to add? In the 60’s the people believed that music is able to make the world better. Life shows that it did not happen, however it does not mean that it is time to despair and stop attempts.