Translated material
If the door is Anacondaz. Quarrel between musicians who left and those who remained
Musicians of the Russian group Anaсondaz spoke out against the war in 2022, were included in the informal list of “undesirable” artists, faced the cancellation of their concerts, but remained in Russia. They recently published a photo with colleagues who supported Russian aggression, and in response to reproaches because of this photo, they released a track in which they criticized the artists who left the country.
At the end of January, Anaсondaz musicians published on VKontakte a photograph from Thailand, in which they were depicted with several musicians who adhere to an openly pro-Kremlin position: for example, Oleg Abramov (“Radio Tapok”), who performed at a concert in honor of the 10th anniversary of the annexation of Crimea, and members of the group Wildways, who travel to Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories and give concerts for Russians military.
After the scandal, Anacondaz concerts were canceled in Georgia and they are demanding cancellation in Armenia.
The swear word was replaced with asterisks by the editors. Some posts have been shortened.
The first to condemn the Anacondaz musicians was the lead singer of the Pornofilmy group, Vladimir Kotlyarov , who emigrated to Georgia in 2002, was recognized as a “foreign agent” and fined for “discrediting the army.”
Hello guys and girls! They sent me a new post from the Anacondaz group. It contains a photograph of them in company:
– Cash from Slot, who forced the anti-war Dasha Nuki out of the group, took a new vocalist and went to the occupied Zaporozhye region with a concert for “our boys”
- members of the Wildways group, which went to bombed and occupied Mariupol to visit the “guys on the front line.” I can’t identify them myself, but many of the comments in Anacondaz’s post indicate this. Correct me if this is a mistake. By the way, comments at this point are closed. On VK, the same post was completely deleted. I wonder why?
– the vocalist of Radio Tapok is perhaps the most unprincipled z-artist, and in fact a propagandist. On February 24, 2022, the war found him in the midst of a tour of Ukraine. He hid from shelling in basements, Ukrainians took him in, allowed him to live in a hotel for free, and helped him leave. Everyone, including the Ukrainian military, treated him with great sympathy. He shared all this with subscribers on his Instagram, accompanied by photographs of the numerous destruction he witnessed. As soon as I returned to Russia, I deleted all the posts and deleted the posters for Ukrainian tours, as if they never existed. And he released several albums dedicated to Russia and its wars. He applied for a grant in the amount of 21.6 million rubles to hold a concert in one of the military units to “maintain the high morale of soldiers and officers of the active army, as well as strengthen the spiritual and moral unity of the front and rear.”
He took part in a pro-government rally and concert in honor of the 10th anniversary of the occupation of Crimea and Putin’s “victory” in the elections.
In response to criticism, Anacondaz released the track “I Miss You So Much,” in which they criticized Kotlyarov and, with him, a collective image of those who “left.” On their side was Dmitry Spirin , the former lead singer of the punk band “Cockroaches!”, against whom a criminal case was opened on February 9 under the article “evading the duties of a foreign agent.” Here is his paraphrase of the lyrics to the Anacondaz song:
“You have a white coat with a stain, your struggle is pitiful, you do everything for the sake of likes, but you were a musician. You don’t write new songs because you give interviews to opposition channels, you’re a dumbass. Even though you left the Russian Federation, I’m freer than you, you’re working off the agenda, who are you to judge us (you’re a snake running ahead of the hearse). You want to become a good Russian, you have an IP, from yours streams are also money for suicide bombers, you are gay, your boyfriend is a soy vegan, both sides are being killed in this war, and you notice only one, and you hype on the mountain, you are the devil. You consider yourself an immaculate elite, and we are snaggle-toothed peasants who have tricolors in the corners and we drown potbelly stoves. Your post did not hurt us (there will be no comments from us), although he is whiny. denunciation, you are a fool, a devil, a snitch, an informer, a simplified individual entrepreneur, you have a complex face, you are an alarmist, a morality police, a prosecutor, a dreamer, a p*sser, an asshole, you whine with your head buried in feces, you have a thin mustache, but our fans didn’t return their tickets, and you are a fascist if you think that you don’t need us. a monument to your stupidity. There was a case against us in the Russian Federation, but it was closed. We are bigger punks than you.”
If they had sent me this text in this form, I would have thought that it was just another fucked-up cotton turbo patriot who wrote an offended comment on my next video on VK.
But no, this is a short retelling of the new song "Anacondaz".
It's a shame, motherfucker.
Vova Kotlyarov receives all-round support.
Anacondaz have finally said it all.
Not about the war, but about myself.
This is not an answer to the questions.
This is hysterical.
Anger.
It’s offensive that someone even dared to ask an uncomfortable question.
Instead of conversation - insults.
Instead of a position - a verbal mess.
Instead of “yes / no / we decided so” - a stream of bile, below-the-belt jokes and cheap bravado.
The main thing this track is missing is substance.
Not a word about collaboration with z-musicians.
Not a word about travel.
Not a word about “new territories”.
Not a word about the war.
But there is a lot about “informers”, “likes”, “white coats” and the favorite mantra: “I’m just a person, I’m above this.”
No guys. It's not "higher". This is past.
If you have nothing substantive to say, say so.
If you choose comfort and silence, this is also a choice.
If you choose comfort and silence, this is also a choice.
But there is no need to pass off aggressive silence as courage, or rudeness as punk.
Punk is when they hit the authorities, and not those who call a spade a spade.
And here is a classic case:
They answered not the question, but the very fact that the question was asked.
And yes, this is no longer about Kotlyarov.
And not even about a specific conflict.
This is about how easy it is at the moment of verification to turn out to be not “complex”, not “weighted”, but simply empty.
Music can be left in the playlist.
There are no people.
Anacondaz's diss is not even a disappointment. it's a feeling of dirt. when they try to smear a person with a living, clear anti-war position simply because he is not silent.
I want to support Vladimir Kotlyarov. for clarity. for directness. for the rare luxury today of not hiding behind formulations and not playing at convenient neutrality. when there is so much caution and fear around calling a spade a spade, he chooses to speak directly. and that is why they hit him. it always works like that.
after everything that happened, the letter Z in the name Anacondaz looks frighteningly organic, suddenly becoming a surprisingly accurate stylistic decision. We understand everything, guys.
… If we omit the names, it seems that in four years the space of public culture has become such that it has become almost impossible not to “get dirty”, especially if your work is at least somewhat social. the very nature of publicity already imposes certain expectations. many artists left so as not to have to struggle with finding the right words and self-censorship. the remaining anti-war activists, it turns out, are forced to comply with the demands of both the environment (self-censorship) and their audience (wink in the right way).
You don’t have to be a very smart person to understand that this position is unsustainable, and you need to either leave, or curtail your public activities, or go to “new territories” and give concerts to your “friends.” in four years of the big war, the situation has changed like this, and you just need to stop pretending that it’s not like that, and stop relying on your acrobatic talent.
personal in context: since February 2022 I haven’t been able to listen to anything except anacondas, oxymiron, zhadan and dogs, and Eurovision (sorry). Now I can’t listen to anacondas because of their white coats, oxymiron - because of their bastard behavior in the scandal with the seduction of girls, I can’t go to Zhadan’s concerts, because at them I will cry and burn with shame. and I would prefer savings for a mortgage to Eurovision tickets. fucking ghouls, among other things, took away music from me as an outlet, and the situation with anacondas personally hurts me a lot.
Anacondaz also had defenders, or at least people calling for serious listening to the other side.
Polarization is reaching unimaginable proportions. A group with a clear position is almost accused of supporting the army. For one photo, even with bastards.
There are many people who have stopped communicating with friends who support the war. It's their choice. But why do you demand that everyone make the same choice as you!? Or do you imagine that a meeting in the dressing room of old artist friends begins with a zag and an exchange of “Glory to Russia!”!?
Polarization reaches unimaginable proportions
Anacondaz’s position is absolutely clear to me. And the position (precisely the position) of Volodya Kotlyarov, who showed this position many years ago. But the public discussion initiated by him, with the message “why are they coming to us here and speaking,” looks as disgusting as possible.
Listen to their work without being an ass and then your opinion about them will not change from one photo with fuckers.
This whole story only increased the desire to support the guys. I bought a ticket to a concert in Amsterdam, although I could have done it without it.
Remember the words of stubborn Willie Stark: “You must make good out of evil, because there is nothing else to make it out of”?
Yes, yes. This is me again about the cancellation of Anacondas in punk style.
Because I can’t remain silent, because again we are faced with the inability to hear each other. And because again, it’s a whore’s canceling, which is by its nature whore’s, and when punks do the canceling, my virtual mohawk simply falls into shreds.
To some extent, I am writing this for Dima Spirin, and for the boys from Anacondaz too. The songs of the Cockroaches helped me not to freak out after my first arrest in 2010, and the songs of the Anacondas help now, when it seems the whole world has gone crazy (Lord, make me a turtle).
So there you go. I am sure that some of those reading this post have a mother or father who is a little weak and a little nuts. Or not a little at all. And someone, of course, has the same willpower as Dima Spirin to abandon their parents and friends, but I admit, this would be a little difficult.
Some people can do this, some can't. But we all know that this issue has split families and broken long-term friendships. But sometimes this is also quite common, when a person with anti-war sentiments simply resigns himself to the fact that “well, that’s how my father is, what can I do, he’s brainwashed by TV, but dad!” Or as one lyrical hero Dudu said: “What should I do with twenty years of friendship!?” This decision is a personal decision for everyone, often bringing pain. But imposing your decision on such an extremely delicate and personal issue on others is disgusting.
I'm talking about first-level contacts, so to speak. When conditional “immediate good” comes into contact with conditional “immediate evil”. I write “conditional” because my words equally apply to Russian cotton patriots, for whom evil is me, as well as Spirin, Kotlyarov and Dima Kuznetsov from Elysium, who, by the way, turned out to be the only and last real punk who told everyone to go to hell.
With such “first-level” contacts, everyone decides according to the situation what to do next, based both on the degree of cannibalism in their views and on the cruelty committed by their friend or relative. In some cases, it really is not possible to save the relationship. ...
... If Anacondaz is subject to cancellation for taking a photo with the dude from Radio Slippers, then who should be canceled for taking a photo with Anacondaz themselves?
And this is an important question, because viral cancellation tactics are leading to an ever-increasing split in society and making the prospects for peace increasingly dim. ...
... I am convinced that real peace will not be in the form of killing all enemies and followed by lustration of all survivors, but peace in the form of ending the war and re-establishing relations. Okay, not with Putin - it’s impossible, but can my father’s family try it?
And the hatred fueled in people only allows politicians to delay the onset of peace longer and longer, sucking the maximum dividends out of the war for themselves personally. ...
Hatred only fuels the war and helps politicians continue it. Allows us to say: “and really look, the people as one support the war party, demand to continue until victory, until the last Russian/Ukrainian, (underline as appropriate), so what? That’s right, we continue to fight.”
If the conditional “we” want peace, then these we must look in the other party not for what divides us, but for what at least in some way unites each other and reconciles.
Don’t look for photos of Anacondas with bad people, but on the contrary, with good people, remember how cool and healthy it used to be, don’t say: “your guitarist is a fucking idiot, send him the fuck off,” but find those words that will change this “guitarist” in order to say together to this already fucked-up political party: stop the massacre, right here and right now.
The war will end when the demand for its end is joined not by the liberals expelled from the country or the tortured Ukrainians, but by Putin’s cotton wool, starting with the cannibal military officers, who are also sick of it all and in whom, you will be surprised, enlightenment gradually begins in the brain and they also begin to guess about something.
You will tell me that this is impossible. That the madness is too strong. And it seems that this also exists, but not in such a large volume as propaganda on both sides portrays.
There are a lot of people who are in the middle
There are many people who are in the middle, who want nothing more than to stop touching them and not interfere with their lives. These are potential allies. You don’t need to poison them, “thanks” to Volodya Kotlyarov, but drag them to your side. And yes, you need to talk to them, you need to be friends, otherwise they will be friends with the cotton wool, making the war party only stronger and more united. You cannot interrupt the dialogue with them. And you must understand that friendship with a “vatnik” affects not only the “liberal”, but also the “vatnik” too. And most likely it has an even stronger effect, because the “liberal”’s arguments are more convincing and more humane. ...
Yesterday's Anacondaz diss needed some thought...
Everyone knows the backstory.
So.
I was initially on the side of the group, and was, perhaps, the first person to communicate with them the day after this ill-fated photo shoot in Phuket, meeting them at Ngurah Rai airport in Bali.
We talked for three days. I tried to objectively evaluate everything that happened, talking with each musician.
No, these guys are not Z. There is no cotton in their heads, in my opinion. And I must say that I react sensitively to Z-cotton.
What can I say...
These photographs turned out to be quite a story. Shit happens, as they say. However, the consequences came back immediately.
The worst thing is that, under the influence of a well-known post by one musician, an avalanche of hate and demands to cancel the European tour began on the networks.
Without understanding it objectively, many are already distorting the name of the group, labeling them “sellouts”, almost zaputinists, many are sure that the group’s trips to Donbass and Crimea, joint performances with Shaman and other husks will now follow. What wild nonsense! ...
I love Anakondaz, I listened to the “Marry Me” album to death. And “this will pass” I also listened to my ears.
But suddenly, following the “Russian opposition,” dirty fights began among the musicians. Fucking time, truly.
ps. the photo with shit is shit, the humor of the Anakondaz guitarist is completely stupid, the situation from all sides is somehow hopeless. ...
If the door is Anacondaz. Quarrel between musicians who left and those who remained