CLUE RECORDS / PITCHING TO A LABEL

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

WITH MARIANA SEMKINA

INTRODUCTION

Hi to all readers, my name is Marjana Semkina and I write songs about pain and death and drowning, what is basically expected of every Russian. I write these for my band Iamthemorning and also my solo project under the name of Mariana Semkina - spelled differently so it looks more familiar.

I moved from Russia to England last year in Tier 4 lockdown (worst timing but bureaucracy forced me to) with the help of Arts Council England and since then I've been living by the sea writing songs about drowning, death and pain because that stuff can't just be left behind when you leave. I released two EPs since, one with my band last December and a solo one, titled Disillusioned, that was just out in October. Here's something about my home town Saint Petersburg which I miss dearly (especially the ability or Russian people to heat and insulate their homes!?

BANDS & ARTISTS

Russia has such a versatile music scene and it's such a shame it's so hard for Russian artists to get any attention outside of the country - I’ve been there so I know what a struggle it is, it's not enough to just be good, you also have to be lucky... and know English pretty well, which isn't always the case with musicians.

Off the top of my head some of my favourites are

Aquarium, Fleur, Ongkara,

Echoes and Signals (I even wrote a song with them for one of their albums), Aesthesys, Theodor Bastard,

Walking Across Jupiter,

Closeyoureyes. And of course all of the classical composers of the past which our country is so proud of.

STUDIO AND RECORDING

It's been quite a few years since I’ve recorded in Russia, but we have always recorded strings/orchestra in St Petersburg's Lendok. Originally it was established in 1932 as a film studio and it's still operating as one with an added bonus of wonderful sound recording facilities (a lot of movie soundtracks are recorded there), a concert venue and some rehearsal spaces. I love the atmosphere, it's located in the historical part of town next to Mariinsky Theatre and people around are always very friendly and interesting - same as the staff that work at the studios!

VENUES & HANG-OUTS

St Petersburg is truly the "drinking capital" of Russia. The variety of bars and clubs is truly remarkable and they all have their special character. There are a few main "bar streets", Rubinshteyna,

Zhukovskogo and Nekrasova

and there the party never stops. One of my most favourite hidden places that even locals don't know about is a little underground "speakeasy"-type of a bar called Cabinet. It has a dress code and if you show up dressed inappropriately you'll be given a black cloak to blend into the atmosphere of the place better. A tarot deck serves as a cocktail menu and all tables are actually poker tables with a separate bartender serving at each one and they are always very happy to engage in an intellectual conversation. It's not an easy place to find because it's deliberately hidden but it's definitely worth the effort.

Among my other favourites are "Gypsies & Jews",

Bekitzer, Brunch Garage,

Dead Poets. Wonderful places to see are also New Holland and Golitsyn Loft - those are little creative clusters filled with bars, cafés and various little shops run by local creatives.

LGBTQ+ SCENE & COMMUNITIES

Sadly, this is where Russia becomes a bleak place. It's simply dangerous to be a queer person there and most of LGBTQ+ community members leave the second they see a chance to relocate to a more friendly and supportive place. If they don't, they have to keep quiet and lay low and hope that no one will target them. Last time I posted a photo from UK Pride to my instagram feed I started getting death threats so... not a fun place to be.

RECORD LABELS & PROMOTERS

Several promoters whose gigs I keep visiting when I'm in Russia are Infinity Concerts,

Delta Mekong and Booking

Machine. If not for these three concert agencies I don't think Russia would ever get a chance to see a lot of heavy bands and medium-sized artists - and it's very often that these people work for the sake of their love towards music and they lose money on the gigs they organise because sometimes it's just hard to make people attend shows. But they keep doing it anyway and I hope they'll never stop - their work brings something very special to the lives of all heavy gig attendees in Moscow and St Petersburg.

HISTORICAL FACTS

Well, this… I can go on about forever. St Petersburg is a very special place with a very special (albeit grim) history and I'd never find enough time to tell you about all of the remarkable things that happened there. I really shouldn't attempt to briefly tell you about the Siege of Leningrad but I guess if you speak about historical events this is the first one that comes to mind and it's an unimaginable horror, which leaves a mark on anyone who ever really lived in the city.

Leningrad was a very significant city during the revolution and also imperial times, it produced a big part of Soviet industrial output and was an important military port so it was specifically targeted by Nazis in WW2. The siege lasted for 872 days and according to different sources the loss of lives could be somewhere between 650k and 1.2 million. Only 3% of those deaths were due to bombing and military action, the rest of 97% died of hunger and illness. The city was completely cut out from the rest of the world and all sources of provision so people that couldn't evacuate had to starve (some even eating their pets... which also led to terrible consequences because no cats = a lot of rats and we all know that can't be good). There were rations of food given out to people that totalled in about 300 calories a day per person and mostly consisted of bread which half of the time was cooked with