For Russia, the Moldovan group Zdob si Zdub (“Beat the drum”) was opened by the famous “opener” Alexander F. Sklyar. In 1995, he threw the team into the waves of the hatching domestic alternative, and she cheerfully "learned to swim." At first...

D

For Russia, the Moldovan group Zdob si Zdub (“Beat the drum”) was opened by the famous “opener” Alexander F. Sklyar. In 1995, he threw the team into the waves of the hatching domestic alternative, and she cheerfully "learned to swim." First, she pecked her ears with a frisky exotic hardcore, and then slowly taught the Moscow fashionable youngsters and young women to prance to the Moldovan folk and near-ethnic gypsy tunes, without understanding the text. And the truth is what words are for when a song flows.

“People of big cities love the exotic,” Roman Yagupov, vocalist of Zdobov, explains his success. Not a Moldovan himself, but a patriot. He grew up in Moldova and absorbed it into himself. That is why in his heart he considers himself a Moldavian “romale”.

In order to share national pride, Yagupov puts on a show, putting all his colorful soul on a variety of concert venues. And it comes off, accompanying itself on the carp scales.

Recently, the group Zdob si Zdub released another album of even more "gypsy". The disc is called "Agroromantika". Roman Yagupov tells about love for gypsies and the village smell of manure.

What do you like about gypsies?

- The gypsies once told me that there were gypsies in my family ... People perceive the gypsies as completely different from what they really are. Yes, they can kick in the face, steal, slaughter someone. Indeed, it happens. I have lived near them since I was born. As a child, gypsies stole my bicycle. I then lived in Straseni, near Chisinau. Frustrated, he was returning from school on foot, he saw a bunch of guys. I said, "Did you see my bike stolen?" One says yes. Then I went with him to my house, dad gave him two rubles, and he took us to Magala, where the guy who stole my bike lived. Imagine - he sold his friend for two rubles. But I returned the bike. In Moldova, such cases are a common story. All images of Kusturica are authentic - we had a lot of this. It's close to us.

- How good you are - the gypsies steal your bike, and you love them so much?

“I treat them differently than others. I come to visit with people I know, I watch how they live. These are people who are absolutely different from others. Not all gypsies are thieves and murderers, there are also noble ones, there are writers, poets. Their very history is interesting: how they left India, how they broke away from their civilization, and how they were scattered around the world. Many people are fond of Buddhism, China, the Celts. That's how I like gypsies.

I like how hot they sing. They are so given to singing, it's so beautiful. Nothing touches me like a gypsy song. I have a bunch of their books, music. Gypsies are my hobby, my thesis.

— What discoveries did you make while getting to know the gypsies?

- I never thought that a woman feeds a gypsy family, and a man can lie quietly on the couch. I did not know that they have their own gypsy tales.

- Tell.

- Well, here is such a fairy tale. It's called "Red Snake".

Once a gypsy boy found a red snake in his bosom. He ran to his mother and said: "Mom, take out a red snake for me." Mom says: “What are you, she will bite me - and I will die. Go ask your dad." Dad also refused, said: "Go to your sister." The sister also says: "No, she will bite me, I will die." Then he ran to his beloved girl. The girl took a handkerchief, wrapped her hand, pulled out a red snake, threw it on the floor, and that snake turned into gold coins. So this is the moral: "Not the mother that gave birth, but the mother that saved."

- Just like toast.

- Almost. But this is banal. There is something even more interesting. There are fairy tales where, for example, there is no ending at all. Bang - and the story ends.

- Now you are so striving for ethnics, folk. Are you afraid of losing those Russian fans who perceive you as a mainstream musician?

- The most important thing is that you should be blown away by your own music. And then, at concerts, I feel that people like it. We are the kind of band that can easily change style - elements of folklore provide a very large field for experimentation. You can make the music heavier, you can make it lighter, but the folklore elements will remain, and it will be interesting. In general, we can make a purely acoustic program and play very rare, interesting exotics in clubs. The main thing is that we have formed our own style. You can call it whatever you want, for example, "fence rock", "village rock", - music with the smell of manure, the village. It's all in the new album.

- And you are not afraid that the constant "tabor" stylization of the Russians may get bored?

- I'm not afraid, because in our music there is always a healthy element of pop. Element of dance, movement. And this is very important - for people, the main thing is to move. They will always dance, shamanize, jump. The main thing is to have a rhythm.

As for the “gypsy”, now we have decided that we are changing our image dramatically and are starting to write music in the style of good hardcore again. I will no longer wear a skirt, and the gypsy camp frenzy will gradually go into the sky. Bregovic has already released all his albums, Kusturica has arrived again - something new needs to be started. Let's raise the electronics.

- Still, you do not disdain to adapt to the masses? Do you calculate what the listener likes and do exactly that?

“Only a genius can afford not to conform. And then: what's wrong with doing something interesting for people, something that they like?

- But at the same time, you should like music?

- Certainly. I realize myself in music. For me, this is a way to move forward. When I make music, I allow myself to be a child in some way - to disconnect from life, from problems, from the fact that I am 28 years old. I like to fool around - there is some kind of schizophrenia in me. But I can't fool around insincerely. A couple of times it was that I didn’t like to make fun - I didn’t do it. I just stood there, stared up at the ceiling, and sang.

- In what language do you like to sing more - in Russian or in Moldovan?

- It's better in Moldovan. If you sing in Russian, then the music should be played differently - there should be a different syllable, an even rhythm, but we don’t play like that. And then, with us, the word does not carry a great semantic load: Zdob si Zdub is more music of mood, dance, rhythm than words.

— So there is nothing highly intellectual in your texts?

— And what about Chekhov's intellectual texts?

- They are soulful.

We also have spiritual lyrics. But there is no social pressure. And then - we have a lot of jokes. Our texts are difficult to compare with something.

- And because of the semantic simplicity in Moldova, you are not considered pop music?

Some think, some don't. Now a lot of people are unhappy with the fact that we started playing things like "We saw the night", it's pretty pop. It creates the mood of the wedding, many do not like it. But for me, for example, I'm on a high.

Where do you get so much energy to give it away later? How do you recharge yourself?

I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't have sex. Sometimes I walk alone in nature. I sit and accumulate energy in order to give it away at a concert, and then again sit and accumulate. If you play music in the way that all the trendy musicians who play in clubs, go on tour, and at the same time allow yourself to drink and so on, do not stand much. What happens to people like Butusov, Chistyakov - they simply go crazy. Then they all hit religion. From one extreme - alcohol, marijuana, night fumes, to the other - religion and purity. And I try to maintain a balance - take care of myself. If I allow myself to break away, I will die in a year. That's when we can afford to take a vacation, then I'll come off for all the years of show business.

- Does it happen that you jump, try, but the audience does not perceive you?

- Yes, when concerts are held in clubs like "Zeppellin". It’s good that we have even dance music - they chew to the beat. Somehow, falling asleep Slavik Petkun was sitting at the table. At that time, he was just suggesting that we play in the women's colony. And we woke him up with jokes like: "Slavik, we will play with you in the zone." This immediately sobered up those who were chewing in the hall and reminded them that taxes must be paid.

- You are in the group, in general, a showman, such a battery. Not tired? Is there anything else you don't want to do?

- I would now rest a couple of years with pleasure. I would not suffer if I left music, I would find something to do. I think that, apart from music, there are many interesting aspects of life. No, of course, I would play concerts, but not in such a volume - much less frequently and with better quality. Would rewrite our best songs...

— You often give concerts in Romania. Is the audience there different from Moscow?

- We are well received everywhere, everywhere they get rid of. Romania has a lot of folklore, it's very popular, there's a lot of folk on TV. And then Moldovan is the same as colloquial Romanian, only more slang. Therefore, our texts are understood there. For them, it's funny - it's banter.

- What do you like about music?

- Of the Russians, I really like Mamonov. He has such natural lyrics, and he himself seems very natural to me, I really like Gradsky - an excellent voice. I like the desired Inna - she sings very beautifully, she has interesting music. Sukachev likes it. Now I name those who are close to me and whom I can listen to at any moment.

But in general, now I was drawn to the classics - not to a fashionable wrapper, but to the very essence. I also listen to jazz, art rock, the Beatles.

Maybe you're getting old?

We age as we are born. Old age is wisdom. In fact, in terms of acquaintance with music, everything developed in the opposite order for me. I started to get involved in music from the alternative, then gradually came to the classics. Then, probably, the reverse process will begin.