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Interview/Feature

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Emaho Magazine, Interview/Feature >>

Auktyon - Of 'On the Go' Music

Russia-

1980s were the days of the effervescent childhood of the jazz movement taking place in the world and there was ‘Auktyon’ dawning upon the stabilized yet lively streets of Russia and its post Soviet generations.

The name came to the band in 1983, when the band was invited to the first rock festival in Leningrad at the Rock Club. They needed a name, and with not much pondering they named it ‘Auction’, which later got a shift to ‘Auktyon’ as their drummer kept giving autographs and misspelling the word and writing it as “Auktyon”. Interestingly they all liked the idea and left the name as “Auktyon”.

This isn’t the only factor that that adds to the uniqueness of the band. Auktyon is probably one of the biggest and most spectacular gifts that the Soviet collapse has given to the music scene in Russia. Some of them met at college, and it is commendable that the core of the band is still the same 30 years later.

Before we proceed exploring these musical giants any further, it should be known that unlike most bands and musicians who spend ages composing their tracks, Auktyon is known for its beautiful ‘On the go’ sort of music that they create in their live performances. Ask them abiut this and they say , “Currently most of the music comes together during live performances; very few things are arranged. The album Girls Sing with Ribot and Medeski was recorded in 4 days; they haven’t heard the music before coming to the studio. There is no typical way of composing. Most of the time Fedorov will have the rhythm and melody ; the arrangements are created once we start playing it. For some songs it takes a few concerts to shape them into their final form”.

Squeaks, choruses, jazz tone, it could be anything under the sun that adds a fun flavour to their funky grooves and beautiful sax tones. Which might be accompanied by some beautiful guitar elements . This is what makes them really popular.

Leaving their day jobs to play in a band and keep the name alive was one significant step.

Their much popular composition- The track called ‘Homba’ delivers an impact on the listener on account of the. They do not believe in genres to be a parameter that defines their sound. “We don’t think in terms of genres when creating music. The energy and the drive of the piece determines how the composition will turn out”, said Auktyon members.

The lyrics get their own dimensions each time they are thrown off to the music, the instruments too, get their own aura as the members keep experimenting with their use and improvisation.

After having sustained through the hardship that Moscow had been in, Auktyon got some incredible fan following in the late 90s. Recalling their US trip, they said “First show in New York was played in 1997. By that time we had spent about 4 years travelling all over Europe and playing to Non-Russian audiences everywhere. The response in Europe was overwhelming, and we could expect the same in the US if we could only break outside of the Russian market. We’ve made the effort over the years in the US to play for Americans, which meant finding different venues and charging less for the tickets than we would for the Russian audiences. But the first trip was certainly memorable, both for us and our audiences”.

Things kept worsening and then stabilizing in the state but the band has always kept the spirits high and has lead the sound echoing in the minds of local and international audiences.

Auktyon is an epitome of all the progressive things that could happen in a community suffering from a socio-economic hardship.. Guitarist, singer, and singular songwriter Leonid Fedorov has a new album that just came out. They are working on some more stuff. More concerts in Russia and Europe; and next year in the US , they are all set to take Auktyon to the next level of musical sustenance .

Written by: Sahil Sharma

 07/28/12 >> go there
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