Billy’s Band: “Kupchino, the Capital of the World”

Yesterday a new album appeared in the mail, this time from St Petersburg outfit Billy’s Band.  One of the phrases they often use to promote themselves is “Funeral Dixieland with an Eternally Happy Ending”;  that slogan shows well the extremes embodied by the ensemble, both in theme and style.  Even the title of this album plays along:  Kupchino is a less-than-elegant district in southern Petersburg.

It’s not the capital of anything.

This new CD, released in limited numbers, operates as a collection of hits (”greatest” or otherwise), all embodying the swings and roundabouts of a “funeral dixieland”:  “Death, love, grim romance, and black humor.  All played on a double bass, together with the noise and melodies you’ve come to expect from the band.”  Imagine Tom Waits, Tim Burton, and more bourbon than good behavior can handle.

The band, in fact, began its existence as a form of clowning around approximately six or seven years ago.  They became a more serious enterprise under the leadership of their frontman, Billy Novik, who’s currently 33 years old and  – perhaps not surprisingly -  a son of Kupchino.

Working his way upwards from school and college competitions to semi-serious attempts at a musical career, he nonetheless was well aware of the financial pitfalls on stage.  Poverty always looked possible.  Thus he fell back on plans for a more reliable source of income.  He began training to become a pediatrician and, showing great tenacity, in fact graduated from St Petersburg’s Medical Academy.

The year 1999 changed everything when Novik was offered the chance to manage a local nightclub.  Here he discovered the work of Tom Waits – hence the possible, if not inevitable – parallel above.  Novik began to sing Waits’ songs himself and imitate the trademark delivery.  Thus began the earliest forms of Billy’s Band.

Initial performances would consist of Waits’ covers, country numbers, and the occasional Anglo folk song.  Oh, and surf guitars.  That strange final ingredient came thanks to a growing appreciation of Quentin Tarantino’s movies.

Sadly, however, just as a confident style started to coalesce, the club was closed down.  Located in a basement, the building’s residents above lodged complaints about the noise, whilst suggesting to the police and press that the clientele were actually members of a sect.

After the club’s demise, the band – perhaps due to a sudden lack of electricity – strengthened their trademark acoustic sound with the hiring of an accordionist.

Catching the eye of some German tourists on one occasion in 2001, they were unexpectedly invited on a whirlwind tour of that country, taking them both to Berlin and Munich.  Here they played not only in club venues, but also busked on the streets.  As part of this growing need for open-air theatricality, Novik switched to a double-bass, the instrument for which he is today famous.

With that, all today’s elements were in place.

That same heavy instrument came, in fact, thanks to the generosity of jazz virtuoso Vladimir Volkov;  Novik dates the start of the “real” Billy’s Band and an official history from this moment onwards.  Blessed by a present from the most serious of jazz traditions, the first thing Novik did was to start clowning around.

The reason that Novilk considers this period so crucial is that it also marks the introduction of the band’s constant recourse to role-playing and costume changes – their dovetailing of music and cabaret theater.

It wasn’t long before they were charming crowds of 25,000+ people at the city’s Kirov football stadium.  On the heels of this interest, a debut album appeared in 2002, much to the delight of most national TV stations.  Public attention came swiftly – and was enhanced further still by a somewhat scandalous piece of TV scheduling in 2004.  Straight after the President’s New Year’s Eve speech, Billy’s Band provided the first (and very disrespectful) music to adorn the airwaves.

They continue to this day to develop the two major elements seen in their early work:  the adoration for Tom Waits’ growling delivery and (one might argue, taken again from their American idol) the fascination with shambolic street theater, all organ grinders and monkeying around.

Hence the generally accepted opinion that this is a band you need to to see live.  Knowing in advance that they’re very much suited to spontaneous, cabaret shows, the band frequents precisely the kind of venues that were shut down in the late 1920s – as a death knoll sounded over club life and private business.

This was the time – once again – after Lenin’s death for serious politics to return.  A time for (re)centralized planning and a little more respect from the world of music.  Which is precisely how and why the members of Billy’s Band bother presidents even today on New Year’s Eve.

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