Eugene Abdukhanov of Jinjer

Tatiana Shmayluk of JINJER

The Belasco Los Angeles. CA

Photo by Jack Lue

Jinjer: Return To

The City Of Angels

Interview by Ken Morton - Photos by Jack Lue

Jinjer from the Ukraine has been touring across America, bringing their own visionary brand of modern metal to our distant shores. On the road in support of their Wallflower endeavor via Napalm Records, one of their headlining stops included The Belasco right in the heart of Downtown LA. Jinjer bassist Eugene Abdukhanov is quite familiar with the City of Angels, having lived here at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Highwire Daze caught up with Eugene to find out more about his own personal L.A. story, Jinjer’s headlining U.S. tour, the music scene in Ukraine, and more!

How has the current Jinjer tour been going here in the States with Suicide Silence and All Hail The Yeti and what have been some of the highlights for you?

Honestly, the tour is above all my expectations. I knew it would be cool because we had a bunch of shows sold out before we even arrived here in the States. It’s one of the greatest tours we have ever had so far. Such great crowds and wonderful rooms to play. Everything is going fantastically good!

One of the shows you played recently was at The Belasco in Downtown Los Angeles. Tell me about that particular show and your impressions of Downtown LA.

I’m quite familiar with Downtown LA, because I lived in LA for some time. There was nothing surprising for me in Downtown LA. But the gig was just overwhelming. In the last question when you asked me about my highlights, this is what I’m afraid of. I’m afraid of giving a spot to one of

these shows, because they are all just awesome! And Los Angeles was one of those definitely. A great gig and the crowd was going mad from the very beginning to the very end of the show. They were all so loud and they were so many of our friends who came to see us, so it was a really great night. A fantastic night – especially for me because I know the city and I know some people there. It was a great show! I’m already missing it.

You said you used to live in Los Angeles. Tell me about that and what you were doing here in LA?

It was last year. We were caught by the pandemic in the middle of the tour in America when everything stopped all of sudden – all shows got cancelled. And I had my wife in Los Angeles, and she was pregnant, and I just went there to be with her. We were still having some hopes that it won’t last long back in March 2020. But it did. And I went there to stay for a couple of months, and I had to stay there for half a year. I was there with my wife and eventually my son was born there. So, I have quite a connection with the place.

So, you actually have a connection with Los Angeles during a pretty extraordinary time – that’s for sure.

Exactly! That was a time when all these crazy things were happening like riots and lockdowns. At the same time Los Angeles wasn’t the worst place to be during that time and see all those things happening. At least now I can say I was right in the middle of everything back in 2020. In 25 years, I’ll be telling these stories to my grandchildren – so it will be a nice story to tell.

Absolutely! You were also in Los Angeles 2019 at The Whisky. What was that experience like playing that iconic nightclub?

It was our second time playing that nightclub. I’m not a big fan of old school rock. Of course, I give crazy respect for bands like The Doors – but I don’t listen to that and that’s why I don’t have much connection to those iconic things. That is why it doesn’t matter to me that much. Of course, it was cool to go on a stage that has been there for 50-60 years, and which hosts in the past those legendary characters – the founders of the whole rock and roll culture. Of course, it’s cool, but not that much for me. So, I really don’t make a big deal.

Wallflowers is the current Jinjer album on Napalm Records. Is there any overall story or concept behind that title and what it means to you?

The concept is introvert – I’m an introvert. This is really what stands behind everything in this album. Every song is actually somehow connected to Tatiana’s personality and issues. And that’s what’s behind the concept. And how it refers to me – I do relate to some of the topics on the record and I actually wrote the lyrics for one of the songs.

Tell me about the lyrics to the song you wrote and the inspiration behind it.

It’s (the song) Colossus. It’s multi-layered lyrics – a few messages hidden. I’ll tell you about one of those but the rest I’ll keep secret. Maybe one day in ten years I’ll give it away, but so far, I’ll keep it private. Basically, the song is about backstabbers. It has always been like that and will keep being like that. We all are surrounded by people, who for different reasons, because of jealousy – because of just being greedy mother fuckers – are ready to stab you in the back as soon as they have the chance. And they do so. We all once in a while suffer from that shit – and all we can do is stand up on our feet and keep on going. Believe in ourselves – change ourselves – but keep on going.

That’s a topic we all can surely relate to and I’m sure we’ll find out more about that from you ten years from now! (Laughter) And on to the next question. Cradle Of Filth recently played out here around the same time you did. Jinjer has toured with Cradle Of Filth in the past. What was that experience like touring with them?

That was fun. That was really exciting. Just touring with such a legendary artist / band like Cradle Of Filth – because when we were all kids, like 13-15 years old, maybe we were not into black metal, but everyone knew who Cradle Of Filth was. And everyone was kind of scared of that. All of that vampire image and everything. And that was heavy at that time – that was extreme. Basically, when I was

a teenager, Cradle Of Filth was probably one of the biggest bands in the metal scene. And then being on tour with these people who you were looking up to is really special. Even though I was never into that music – I was never a fan – I did have a couple of albums – but I was never a fan. But I did have a lot of friends who were super crazy about Cradle Of Filth. And when we announced the tour, they all started texting me. They couldn’t believe it was happening. And yeah, it was special from this point of view. But then when we started to tour and got to know the guys, these people were always ready to party, always ready to have fun – and this is all that we did with them. We were just having fun all the time nonstop.

You are from Kiev in Ukraine. What is the music scene like there and are there very many places to play?

First of all, I’m not from Kiev, I’m from Donetsk and we are now in Kiev with the band. And the music scene in Ukraine, precisely the metal music scene, extreme music scene is very underground. It’s so much underground that – just how much underground the brutal death metal scene is in the US – and then cut it twice. And this is the metal scene in Ukraine – it’s very underground – there’s not many followers – there are not many places to play. In Kiev there are only two or three venues where you can play for 500600 people. There are places bigger than that, but who can pull that many and sell it out? We ourselves, being the biggest (metal) band in Ukraine – we only manage to pull 1,600 people at our show a few years ago – and that was the biggest metal show by a Ukrainian metal band in the whole country throughout Kiev’s history. And that’s how bad everything is. So, no clubs, no fans, no community. There are bands which are very good actually, but there is no industry for them. Europe was rescheduled for a number of times – and we still have those festivals and I finally want to play them. It’s like one of my main priorities for the next year. And then we’ll see. I’m going to have some rest and play here and there. Maybe come to the United States again next year and play one more fantastic tour. Who knows? We’ll see.

And are you currently involved with any other bands outside of Jinjer?

No, I don’t see it possible, and I have no desire for that. Doing something with friends is alright but doing something globally with a different band – I don’t see a point. I can self-express in music in this band better than in any other bands possible.

Do you have any messages for Jinjer fans here in the States who are reading this right now?

I keep saying peace, love, and harmony – and of course I want to thank everybody who has already been at our shows on this tour and everyone who is going to see us – that is going to be fun, guys. Can’t wait for the day to play for you all.

http://jinjer-metal.com/

OUT NOW

*When Hearts Pull Daggers *Self-Titled

You did a single for a band called The Last Judgment called Blind. That band is from Moscow. Tell me about that project and how you became involved with it.

The guys – two brothers / guitarists who are actually the band – we come from the same region they come from. And they have been big Jinjer fans for a long, long time. So, when they just contacted me, I didn’t say no. I had a lot of time – I was in Los Angeles at that time, and I had nothing to do, and I recorded a song for them. Why not? Build a friendship and cooperation.

What do you hope that 2022 brings for you and for Jinjer?

I finally want to play all of those festivals which were announced back in 2019. Because everything in