| Not So Socialist | |
|---|---|
 Not So Socialist in 2014. From left to right: Maria Atolova, Gavrina Kumilyova, Tanya Kalinina | |
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Origin |
Remontadov, Viktoriyovskaya |
|
Genre |
Post-grunge, alternative rock, pop rock, industrial metal |
|
Years active |
2000—present |
|
Tidzhomov, Personality, Unbelievable, Jeff! | |
|
Associated acts |
TPB |
|
Members |
|
|
Past members |
Yaroslav Anastasiuk |
Not So Socialist is a Margovyan rock band formed in 2000. In the band's early days, the band was a trio made up of then-Tidzhomov Music Records talents Tanya Kalinina, Gavrina Kumilyova and Maria Atolova before rapper Lev Arigov joined the band in 2002 following a stint as a guest star in the three women's TV show Three Girls. Currently, the band tours with former president Pristina Leonova and acclaimed actor Gregoriy Umalin.
History[]
Formation and early years[]
In 1997, Maria Atolova was signed by Tidzhomov Music Records after music producer Denis Tidzhomov discovered her while she was performing for a school play at Sergei Eisenstein Film Academy. Tidzhomov originally intended to develop Atolova as a solo artist, but with the rise in popularity of The Real Deal (also signed to Tidzhomov Records) Tidzhomov decided he wanted to create a female group to complement The Real Deal, and he chose Atolova to lead this project. The first recruit to this new project was Gavrina Kumilyova, whom Atolova recognized from the 1998 season of Svolochy Showdown. Atolova and Kumilyova started recording a few demos in a small local studio in Ciudad del Celebridad; the studio would eventually become the band's permanent recording studio Unbelievable, Jeff! Studios. Tidzhomov then introduced Atolova and Kumilyova to Tanya Kalinina, the winner of the 1999 edition of Svolochy Showdown, and the pair agreed to let Kalinina join the band and become their vocalist. The trio submitted a number of demos to Tidzhomov Records, and the studio gave permission to the band to continue on a full-length album. Some of these demos were included in the label's New Millennium Special, made to commemorate the arrival of the year 2000.
Tanya Kalinina is credited as the person who eventually came up with the band's present name.
The band called themselves Not So Socialist after Kalinina's throwaway comment about being not so much like her father Nikita, a known supporter of the Socialist Party of Margovya. In an interview with Oomph! magazine in 2010, Kalinina said that the plan had never been to call their band Not So Socialist; they were looking for "something short and snappy" to call themselves, and after a brainstorming session eventually turned to the subject of family and parents, Kalinina boasted that once people learn of her political views, they would learn that she was "not as socialist as my father. Somehow, the words turned into "not so socialist" and that was how the band's name came about." It was also Kalinina who suggested using the English translation of the statement instead of Russian or Spanish.
The Debut (2000-2002)[]
The cover of Not So Socialist's first album titled The Debut
- Main article: The Debut (Not So Socialist album)
Not So Socialist started recording their first album, titled The Debut, in September 2000 at what would become Unbelievable, Jeff! Studios in Remontadov. Denis Tidzhomov produced the album. A rock version of Kalinina's winning single for Svolochy Showdown, "My Only Man", was released on 1 May 2001 as the album's first single, and it reached gold status in Margovya on 17 July. The second single released from the album was "Great Balls of Justice", which was used as the theme for the film A Big Ball of Justice: The Adventures of Yakov "Fat Man" Yazenev, of which Kalinina was part of the cast, and debuted at number 10 on the Margovyan single charts. Not So Socialist announced their first tour on the same day of the release of The Debut, 13 July 2001. The album achieved top spot after three weeks on the charts.
Tidzhomov Records marketed extensively the band and their new album, contributing to the popularity of both rising exponentially within Margovya. A third single, "Rivadavia," was released on October 2001 to coincide with the release of the Karageorgiyev: The Movie, of which "Rivadavia" is part of the soundtrack.
The Promiscuous Album (2002-2003)[]
Gavrina Kumilyova handled drum duties for the band before Lev Arigov joined in 2002.
- Main article: The Promiscuous Album
Not So Socialist announced that rapper and actor Lev Arigov had joined the band in December 2001 after the four had gotten together during the filming of Three Girls, in which Arigov was a guest star. Arigov took over drum and percussion duties from Kumilyova, allowing the latter to focus on playing lead guitar. The band also bought the old studio in which they recorded their first album and turned it into their permanent recording base. They named their new company Unbelievable, Jeff! Studios, after the famous utterance of English sports commentator Chris Kamara. They recorded their second album between November and December 2001, and it was mixed at Tidzhomov Studios in April of the next year.
2002 was a big year for Not So Socialist and its members; Three Girls was reaching the peak of its run, and Arigov's second solo album, The Fastest Mouth in the South, was steadily climbing up the charts. The band toured the country from January to March 2002 alongside other Tidzhomov talents in the Great Continental Tour, and Not So Socialist toured Margovya on their own with the Sleeping Positions Tour. "The Lone Warrior," theme tune of the film Iquitos, was released in MP3 format as a teaser for their new album, titled The Promiscuous Album, on the day of the film's release.
March also heralded the shooting of the music video for their upcoming single "Real Risque", recorded at Unbelievable, Jeff! Studios from 7 to 10 March. The video was released on 28 March 2002. The single for "Real Risque" was released on 9 April 2002 in Margovya, featuring an instrumental version of the song, a remix, and the song "To Be E" from the upcoming album.
The Promiscuous Album was released on 30 May 2002, sparking another tour of Margovya and a few appearances in neighboring Bolivia and Manaus in Brazil. On 16 June, the second single from the album, "Red Shirt, Golden Cannon," was released, along with a video for the single on 17 June. After a tour throughout Margovya in June, Not So Socialist embarked on their first ever international tour through Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina from July to August 2002.
The controversial Special Edition of The Promiscuous Album
"These Paper Covers," the third single from the album, was released on 8 September alongside a Special Edition of The Promiscuous Album (which featured the controversial cover artwork of the band members naked behind the title letters), featuring alternative artwork and live versions of "Real Risque," "Red Shirt, Golden Cannon," "The Lone Warrior" and "These Paper Covers".
From 2 to 6 January 2003, Not So Socialist traveled to Ciudad del Celebridad to participate in a minor scene for the film Once In a Lifetime Chance. The band is seen in the last scene of the film, singing their song "Cat". "Cat" was released across Margovya as the first single from the Once In a Lifetime Chance soundtrack on 27 May 2003. Not So Socialist released a remix of the song, featuring new rap lyrics from Arigov. The video for the single was edited by Yulian Markovsky and contains part of Not So Socialist's concert in the film and part snippets from the film itself.
2 (2003-2005)[]
The album cover of 2
- Main article: 2 (Not So Socialist album)
Not So Socialist recorded 2 (meaning The Promiscuous Album 2, as Atolova claimed that they had made so much material for the first album that there were some songs that "just deserved to be in an album of their own") at the Unbelievable, Jeff! Studios in Remontadov, Viktoriyovskaya between November and December 2001; it was mixed at the Tidzhomov studios in November and December 2002 after Not So Socialist announced that they were making another album from content that had been previously cut from The Promiscuous Album. The first single from the album was "Pussy", released on 24 February 2003. The video was shot in the Yulianovsky district of Remontadov.
The video for the second single, "Eat Me Up", was filmed in the Gavrilovich Auditorium in Remontadov on 2 and 3 April 2003. The video premiered on 29 April, and the single was released on 15 May.
2 was released on 17 November 2003 and went straight into the top 10 charts throughout South America. According to the Billboard charts, Not So Socialist were at that stage the most popular Margovyan band of all time. Not So Socialist toured Margovya and parts of neighboring Brazil through December 2003 and January 2004. They were part of the annual MNBN New Year's Countdown in Ciudad del Celebridad, and they released the single "Kissing Talking Lips" on 2 January 2004.
In June 2004, Not So Socialist toured South America again. By 29 June, Not So Socialist had played 23 concerts in front of more than 150,000 spectators in thirteen countries. "I Burnt Myself on You", the fourth single from 2, was released on 29 June 2004.
Falling Leaves (2005-2010)[]
The album cover of Falling Leaves
- Main article: Falling Leaves (album)
On 1 May 2005, Not So Socialist revealed the name of their new album as Falling Leaves. The band worked on the album in secret following the release of their third album 2, with the entire process from composition to recording to mixing taking up nearly two years. The first single from the album, "Hold On", was released on 10 June, with its video premiere on 16 June. Falling Leaves was released nationwide on 27 July. Directly following its release, the album continued the success of its predecessor 2, placing on top 10 charts in ever major South American nation.
9 September 2005 marked the release of the second single from Falling Leaves, "All I Want". The video for "All Right" was released on 23 January 2006, and the single was released on 18 February. "Lean On Me", the fourth single from the album, was released on 16 May, and just a few weeks later, Not So Socialist announced that they were taking a hiatus to "take time to recharge and focus on personal projects and ambitions". The band still toured together intermittently until 2007.
At the time of its release, Falling Leaves was the most successful Margovyan album ever in South America, selling a total of 10.1 million units throughout the continent. This has since been surpassed by both Product Misplacement and Prisoners of Presumption, Not So Socialist's latest studio album, which sold 12.4 million and 15.6 million copies respectively.
Product Misplacement (2010-2012)[]
The album cover of Product Misplacement
- Main article: Product Misplacement
Not So Socialist went into hiatus in 2007 to focus on the individual band members' personal projects, but then on 8 August 2009, the band suddenly released an extended play called The Russian Album and announced that they were getting back together and were planning to release a new studio album in 2010. It was confirmed in August 2009 that the new album would have 12 tracks, and mixing of the album, which was taking place in Remontadov, had already been completed. On 1 September 2009, it was confirmed on the band's website that "Things I Hate About You" would be the first single from the album. Tidzhomov Music Records published a promotional video on its website, confirming the album's title as Product Misplacement. Later, the title was officially confirmed in an interview with Maria Atolova by Rock On! magazine.
The band stated that during breaks in their respective schedules, they would get together via calls, text messages and chatrooms and talk about what they were going to do with their next album. Finally, in 2008, opportunity came for the band members to get together and combine their creative processes, and they immediately set about working on their new album at Unbelievable, Jeff! Studios. The entire process took two years. Lev Arigov said in an interview that they "wanted our next albums to tell stories through the songs in them. Our first few albums were just songs thrown together to form a vague common theme. We don't want that for our next projects, so that's why we took a long time before finally doing this. We think what we got in the end was good."
The music video for "Things I Hate About You" was released on 12 October 2009. The video shows Kalinina, lead vocals for the song, singing in front of a white backdrop interspersed with shots of the band playing in front of the same white backdrop. "Chocolate" was confirmed as the second single from the album by Arigov and Kalinina in separate interviews with Radio Margovya. The video to "Chocolate" was released on 23 December 2009 and shows Arigov sadly eating a box of chocolates that he was supposed to give to his girlfriend before he saw her with another man, mixed with clips of the band performing in a parking lot. The single was released in Margovya on 10 January, and in the rest of South America on 19 January. Like the video for "Things I Hate About You", the video for "Chocolate" was directed by Adam Yaneyev, whom the band would end up working with again for Top Gear Margovya.
Product Misplacement was released in Margovya on 1 January 2010, and to the rest of South America on 5 January. At the time of its release, it became the best-selling Margovyan album throughout the continent, selling an estimated 150,000 units on release day alone. The album has now sold 12.4 million units in total.
On 1 April 2010, Not So Socialist released the music video for the third single from Product Misplacement, "Lonely". It follows both the format and narrative of the video for "Chocolate", starting with Arigov getting in the same taxi that he got into at the end of "Chocolate" and singing "Lonely" while clips of the band playing at a bar are mixed in. The single was released on 23 April.
Product Misplacement would end up being the album with the most singles released by Not So Socialist, with nine songs from the album being released as songs before and after the release of the album itself. After "Things I Hate About You", "Chocolate" and "Lonely", Not So Socialist released "When I Knew It Was You", "Something Has Changed", "Hanging Out", "Together Forever", "Price of Beauty", and "Heart to Heart" between 2010 and 2012 as part of the "Product Misplacement narrative".
The Burberrys (2012-2014)[]
- Main article: The Burberrys
Not So Socialist addressed rumors that they were planning to release a greatest hits album by confirming their intention to produce one such album sometime in 2012. Arigov clarified in an interview with Oomph! Magazine that their next album would not be their greatest hits album but rather one made of new and unreleased songs. He confirmed the title of the album as The Burberrys but added that The Burberrys was not going to be the greatest hits album.
The Burberrys was released on 31 June 2012. It contains twelve previously unreleased tracks recorded between 2000 and 2011. "Elmer" was released as a single on 1 June 2012 with another track, the band's cover of 3 Doors Down's "Here Without You". "Party" was the second single released from The Burberrys on 7 November 2012, alongside a rock version of Leonid Kharitonov's "Dark-Eyed Cossack Girl" as the B-side.
The video for "Elmer" was filmed between 3 and 4 February 2012 on location in Ciudad del Celebridad and at the Unbelievable, Jeff! Studios in Remontadov. It premiered on the band's official YouTube channel on 1 June 2012. A full South American tour in support of The Burberrys began on July 2012 and went all the way up to February 2013. It included a continental tour that began on 3 December 2012 in Maracaibo, Venezuela and ended on 26 January 2013 in Punta Arenas, Chile that visited 26 cities throughout South America. The Margovyan boy band TPB supported the band during the Margovyan leg of the tour.
The Burberrys failed to live up to the standards set by its predecessor Product Misplacement, and is widely considered as the weakest album in the Not So Socialist discography, despite selling 1.6 million copies in 2012 and 5 million copies in total. Fans and critics agree that this is because of the "album filler" nature of the songs within.
On 6 October 2012, Not So Socialist announced on their Facebook page that they will be releasing a video collection featuring all music videos entitled Family Memories, plus two unreleased music videos for "Sorry That I Love You" and "One and Only You", which were originally featured on the album Falling Leaves. The video for "Sorry That I Love You" premiered on the band's official YouTube channel; the video for "One and Only You" went up on the band's official website. Both videos were directed by Adam Yaneyev. The first was released on 7 November 2012, and the second followed three days later, at the same time as the official release of the video collection DVD.
Prisoners of Presumption (2014-2016)[]
- Main article: Prisoners of Presumption
After the members of Not So Socialist resigned from the positions appointed to them by President Viktoriya Vegova following their controversial sex video scandals with other appointed officials, the band revealed in their first interview after the scandal that they were nearing the end of the production of a new album. Plans to release the album in 2014 were already in the works, the free time that had been given to them following their resignations had allowed them to speed up the process for the new album. They also confirmed the title as Prisoners of Presumption.
Not So Socialist released an EP titled Futuro Tiempo (Future Time in Spanish) on 5 July 2013, promoting it on their show Top Gear Margovya. The EP contains four tracks, all covers by the members of popular songs at the time: "Gentleman", "Heart Attack", "Come and Get It" and "We Can't Stop".
Not So Socialist announced on their official website that former president Pristina Leonova was joining the band's official touring crew starting in 2014. To promote Leonova's joining the band, Not So Socialist released another EP, titled Collaborators, showcasing the former president's singing talents alongside Not So Socialist music. Two songs from the EP, "Write Your Name" and "Little Miss Snake Eyes", were eventually released as singles as part of the buildup to Prisoners of Presumption.
Arigov confirmed that a reworked version of his cover of "Gentleman" was going to be the first single from the new album. The song would be rewritten to fit the Margovyan mindset instead of just being a straight translation of the original Korean. "Gentleman" was released on 18 April 2014, with the video being released on 24 April. The video features Arigov as a promiscuous playboy who fools around with the female members of the band, who are playing his numerous love interests.
Prisoners of Presumption was released on 30 May 2014 in Margovya and on 3 June to the rest of South America. The album was widely acclaimed and became Not So Socialist's fastest-selling album to date, selling an estimated 190,000 copies on release day. Critics acclaimed the album as "a great return to form... Not So Socialist has found their magic touch once again." The band confirmed that at least three more singles from the album would be released.
"Don't Wanna Fall in Love", the second single from Prisoners of Presumption, was released on 4 July 2014. The video, which was shot at Unbelievable, Jeff! Studios between 30 March and 1 April 2014, depicts Atolova's character as she realizes that she's fallen in love with Arigov's character in the "Gentleman" video and compares the experience to suffering a heart attack.
"When You're Ready" is the third single from Prisoners of Presumption and was released on 17 August 2014. The video was uploaded on the band's official YouTube channel and shows Kumilyova's character, after being receptive to Arigov's character's advances in "Gentleman", now proceeds to sing for the playboy to come after her and get her whenever he feels like.
The fourth single from the album was "Our Rules", and it was released on 3 September 2014. The music video premiered on the band's official YouTube channel on 7 September, and shows Kalinina's character singing about how she can't stop thinking about Arigov's character from "Gentleman".
Prisoners of Presumption would end up being the album with the second-most singles releases following Product Misplacement, with four more singles following the first four into the singles charts. The following singles were "My Golden Star", "Margovyan Love", "Always Want You" and "You Never Loved Me"; all were released as part of the "Prisoners of Presumption narrative".
Victoria Concordia Crescit (2016-2019)[]
- Main article: Victoria Concordia Crescit (album)
In November 2014, Tanya Kalinina said that the band was preparing a live DVD and was taking time out of the studio. The band will meet again in 2015 to discuss whether it was time to return to the studio. In a radio interview with The Aggregator, Kalinina confirmed that Not So Socialist will start pre-production of a new album in January 2015 and that production will most likely go on until 2017.
On July 20, 2015, Not So Socialist released a trailer on their official YouTube channel for a project simply titled Parousia. There was speculation that this was the live DVD which Kalinina was referring to in her interview with The Aggregator. An official statement from Tidzhomov Records, released on July 27, confirmed the speculation to be true and added that the coming live DVD will actually be a special collection of all of Not So Socialist's live albums and will feature a documentary about the band. Not So Socialist also announced that they will start touring again in 2016. Not So Socialist announced that they will be starting their tour with 4 shows in the Amanda Viktoriyovskaya Auditorium in Margovya.
Not So Socialist played new cover versions of "Leave Out All the Rest" by Linkin Park and "Brighter" by Paramore in their new shows at the Amanda Viktoriyovskaya Auditorium. Not So Socialist also debuted a new song titled "The Night Is Still Young" at their Amanda Viktoriyovskaya shows.
The Parousia project, whose full title is Parousia: Not So Socialist Live 2000-2016, was released on July 21, 2016. It is a special edition compilation which contains all four of Not So Socialist's live albums along with a separate disc for the band's biopic.
On August 8, 2016, Tidzhomov Music Records' official website was hacked by suspected members of Margovya Anonymous, who leaked an estimated 2 gigabytes of data onto the Internet. One of the leaked files were of conceptual artwork of Not So Socialist's upcoming album, with the title of the album being Victoria Concordia Crescit, which is Latin for "victory comes through harmony". On August 11, Tanya Kalinina and Gavrina Kumilyova posted separate tweets confirming fan speculation that their next album would be titled Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Victoria Concordia Crescit was released in Margovya on June 9, 2017 with the continental release set on June 12. The album sold almost 210,000 units upon its release, beating predecessor Prisoners of Presumption by over 20,000 units. "The Night is Still Young" was the first single from the album and it was released alongside the album. The music video of the single, depicting the band as survivors of a zombie apocalypse, had been uploaded to YouTube on June 6 and had already gained over 10 million views. The release of the album also coincided with the release of the albums of the band's members (e=mc2 for Arigov, From This Day Forward for Atolova, Homecoming for Kalinina, and Queen of Hearts for Kumilyova). The band also announced that Yaroslav Anastasiuk was now an official member of the band after being part of the touring crew for over fifteen years.
Aniversario (2019-2022)[]
- Main article: Aniversario (Not So Socialist album)
In anticipation of their 20th anniversary, on 1 March 2019 Not So Socialist's Facebook and Twitter pages uploaded a poll asking their fans which of their albums was their all-time favorite. As of 1 July 2019, the top choice in the Facebook poll was Falling Leaves with 38%; Product Misplacement and 2 were second and third respectively at 21% and 19%. On 15 June the band confirmed the title of their upcoming album as Aniversario along with its release date, 13 August 2020; the twentieth anniversary of their formation as a band. Gavrina Kumilyova stated in an interview with Oomph! that the band was really excited about this album, noting that it was the first concept album they had created since Prisoners of Presumption. The album will be about the history of Margovya and was inspired by the Swedish power metal band Sabaton, known for their historically-inspired music.
On 29 May Not So Socialist announced that Yaroslav Anastasiuk would be leaving the band at the end of 2019 and resume his place as a touring member. Anastasiuk himself stated that his health and family were the biggest factors in his decision, and that "maybe the band life really just isn't for me" in an interview with Rock On!. Anastastiuk also added that he would only be touring with the band during their Margovyan legs.
Tour drummer Lev Glebov died on 7 July 2019 after suffering an epileptic seizure following a concert in Svolochyville, Opula. Vocalist and guitarist Tanya Kalinina confirmed this on Twitter, writing: "Sad news: Lev Ilyich is no longer with us. Can't say much more than that but we will give a statement once we are ready." Not So Socialist indefinitely postponed the rest of their tour schedule, and the band's social media pages replaced their profile pictures with black-and-white pictures of Glebov with the band to commemorate him. The band's YouTube channel uploaded a tribute video to Glebov on 10 July. The band then announced that they would resume their tour starting 13 July, stating that "This is what Lev Ilyich would have wanted; to be remembered through his music and ours."
Not So Socialist teased a "special project" on their social media by posting a picture of a calendar with 1 January 2020 circled with the caption "Save the date." On that day, the band posted pictures of the set of the 2020 remake of the film Titanium. A month later the band posted a fifteen second teaser clip on their social media accounts showing them performing on the bow of a ship and getting drenched in water. The release of the first official trailer for Titanium allowed the group to confirm that their song about the eponymous ship would be one of the two theme songs of the film, the other Irina Berezovskaya's version of "My Heart Will Go On". The music video for the song, also titled Titanium, was uploaded on YouTube on the same day as the premiere of Titanium the film.
Not So Socialist released the first single from Aniversario, "Margovya", on 1 June 2020, the same day that the accompanying music video was uploaded on their official YouTube channel. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in South America, the band was forced to postpone their Aniversario Tour, supposed to be in support of the eponymous album, with the dates first rescheduled for 2021 and then to 2022. While Margovya was under lockdown due to the pandemic, the band members performed livestreams on their official YouTube channel to promote Aniversario.
Our Good Old Days (2022-present)[]
- Main article: Our Good Old Days
Musical style and influences[]
Not So Socialist is often classified as a rock band, although the group has experimented with other styles such as hard rock and heavy metal. The group's members have also ventured into pop, pop rock, R&B and alternative rock in their individual careers, and these have shown in some of their more recent works as a band.
Critics have been generally unified in their perception of Not So Socialist. The band has been praised for putting their collective success ahead of any individual's fame, a fact which has endeared the group to many fans and supporters. The blend of male and female voices, and the fact that the group constantly rotates lead vocals duties among each other, sometimes as many as four times in a single concert, has also accounted for the band's longevity and popularity. It is said that Not So Socialist's fanbase is larger than the fanbases of the four individual members combined.
The band has cited numerous bands such as Nirvana, Vertical Horizon, Green Day, Linkin Park, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rammstein, 3 Doors Down, Paramore, Evanescence, Alter Bridge, Eisbrecher, Kino, and Sabaton as major influences.
Lyrics[]
Most of Not So Socialist's songs are written in Margovyan Russian, the vernacular in Margovya, although the band has recorded covers of English songs, and they also release Spanish versions of their songs. They have also sung some Russian songs, such as "Dark Eyed Cossack Girl" as sung by Leonid Kharitonov as well as all seven songs of their extended play The Russian Album.
Not So Socialist's two most recent studio albums, Product Misplacement and Prisoners of Presumption, deals with the subject of love, although the two albums tackle it in different ways. Product Misplacement dealt with the subject of failing love, and how the things done to mend the relationship may actually hurt and end it in the long run. Prisoners of Presumption, meanwhile, shows how simulated love from someone could lead to a very real love forming in the other person, which could only lead to hurt and suffering.
Live performances[]
Not So Socialist's live performances do not differ much from the live performances of other bands and singers, although when performing outside their native Margovya, the band has been known to liven up their act a bit to retain the attention of their Spanish-speaking audiences. During their Welcome to the Families Tour, the band dressed up in suits and cocktail dresses, and for their Advertise Wisely Tour, they would wear the shirts of the football teams in the cities they were currently playing.
Sometimes they would have specific acts for some of their songs, such as wearing construction workers' outfits for "Always Love You" to keep with the song's theme of relating love to construction and demolition work.
As part of the buildup to the release of their EP The Russian Album in 2009, Not So Socialist began performing in uniforms inspired by those worn by the Russian Armed Forces. Between 2011 and 2012, the band wore airline pilots' uniforms during their live performances to promote the film Flight 4892, of which the band members are part of the cast.
Band longevity[]
Ever since the band's formation in 2000, there has been only one lineup change for Not So Socialist, and that was the addition of Lev Arigov. Arigov himself attributed it to the members respecting each other's reasons to take a break, either for personal reasons or for other side projects.
Gavrina Kumilyova stated that the band has also stuck together for as long as they have because even though the individual members were all popular singers in their own right, they were perfectly willing to set aside their personal fame in exchange for advancing the band's collective interests.
Controversy[]
Controversy had followed Not So Socialist since the early days of their career, with rumors of internal disputes between the band members being persistent since 2000. Each member had taken their turn of denying the rumors, stating that there was no way that they would sacrifice the integrity of their band for a few seconds of individual fame.
Tensions with The Real Deal[]
Not So Socialist's first major controversy broke out when the band, minus Gavrina Kumilyova, performed as the front act for The Real Deal as part of Tidzhomov Music Productions' Great Continental Tour 2000. Kumilyova and The Real Deal's front man, Andrey Vizinsky, had been contestants in Svolochy Showdown's 1998 season, and both had performed the song "Endless Love" together for the Top 16 round of the show. That performance was noted for being one of the worst renditions of the song ever witnessed, but despite that, it was only Kumilyova who was eliminated from the competition; Vizinsky was declared "safe" and eventually went on to be the runner-up of the season. Because of this, Kumilyova was rumored to have developed a "deep-seated hatred" of Vizinsky, and resulted in her breaking off her relationship with Vizinsky even before it had been "official".
When Kumilyova was absent from the Great Continental Tour, rumors started that it because her band had been made to play "second fiddle" to The Real Deal, to which she refused to answer any questions. Her band mates, Kalinina and Atolova, answered the rumors in vague terms, stating that the decision to become The Real Deal's front act was "a democratic process", and that "if one of [us] wanted to leave the band because of personal decision, then that's okay with us." This incident was rumored to be the inspiration for their song "I Burnt Myself on You", which involves the singer wanting to inflict harm on her partner after feeling she had been betrayed. The music video for the song also depicts Kumilyova setting fire to a man's house and watching while he tries to escape while engulfed in flames. The man's identity is never shown in the video, but Kumilyova has stated that "it might be Andrey [Vizinsky] or it might be someone else". The other band members have refused to comment or identify the man in the video.
The Promiscuous Album Special Edition[]
Not So Socialist flirted with controversy once again following the release of the special edition of their then-latest album, The Promiscuous Album, in 2002. The special edition's cover featured the band members standing naked behind the letters of the album title. Critics believed that this was a publicity stunt based on the title of the album, and that the "suggestiveness of the poses and sheer nakedness of three young ladies and a young man would lead the youth of Margovya astray and into the dark path of youthful promiscuity". The band was silent in the early stages of the controversy, but Tanya Kalinina finally spoke up in the band's defense in 2010. She claimed that the band wasn't actually naked during the photoshoot, and that the underwear that they were wearing during the shoot was edited out in post-production. She also said that the album cover wasn't their idea, and that the studio who was responsible for mixing the special edition had come up with the cover idea entirely without their input.
Despite Kalinina's statements, the rest of the band has still maintained their silence on the issue, and have refused to answer questions relating to the issue.
"Eat Me Up" music video[]
On April 29, 2003, Not So Socialist released the music video for their upcoming single "Eat Me Up". The video depicts a cross-dressed Lev eating a box of sweets and then touching himself, Tanya writhing in extreme pain while wearing tattered clothes, Gavrina violently wrestling with her doppelganger, and Maria dancing ballet while in a hallucinatory state. Lev, now in a black leather outfit, is also depicted being fellated by an angel, and then the female band members fight in a mud pit. At the end of the video, Lev, now cross-dressed once again, leads the girls out of the Gavrilovich Auditorium on leashes, with the girls behaving like dogs.
The video, directed by Adam Yaneyev, drew much controversy with its content and the portrayal of the girls as animals which had to be leashed lest they get out of control. Yaneyev was accused of being sexist and dehumanizing women. Not So Socialist were also blamed for the controversy because they "didn't object to being used as objects". Arigov's cross-dressing was also addressed by cultural and social critics, leading to claims that the video was promoting homophobia and so-called "transphobia" or, alternatively, it was actually promoting being a homosexual or a cross-dresser. Yaneyev refused to comment to the criticism, instead preferring to let his work speak for itself and "letting the haters hate".
The music video for "Eat Me Up" was judged to be too disturbing to children and therefore was never broadcast before 11 PM for many years.
"Kissing Talking Lips" music video[]
On 28 December 2003, Not So Socialist released the music video of their song "Kissing Talking Lips". The video shows three women (portrayed by Atolova, Kalinina, and Kumilyova), called Harpies within the video, whose sole purpose is ripping the hearts out of people unlucky enough to wander into their lair, the abandoned Fort Zobel in Duyao. These Harpies then offer the hearts to their Master (played by Arigov), a man who can control the three Harpies by using only hand gestures. The Harpies' lair is then visited by three ghost hunters, Klaudia Glaser, Irina Rasapinskaya, a then-unknown Dmitriya Shevchova and Vasily Borisov portraying the paranormal investigators trying to uncover the mystery of the attacks of the Harpies and their master. The ghost hunters and their elderly guide kill the Harpies and the Master at the cost of their own lives, but at the end of the video, it is revealed that the Harpies and their master had transferred their respective consciousness into the bodies of the ghost hunters and the guide, turning them into the new Harpies and Master.
The video for "Kissing Talking Lips", which Lev Arigov claimed was inspired by a nightmare that he had, is unanimously considered one of the most disturbing videos ever made by Not So Socialist and Adam Yaneyev. The video features copious amounts of blood, gore, dismemberment, and numerous disturbing images and scenes such as the Master releasing his Harpies on a bunch of construction workers and security guards inspecting the abandoned fort, and even a scene in which the Master tortures his Harpies by playing musical instruments for failing to give him their quota of fresh hearts.
Like the video for "Eat Me Up", the music video for "Kissing Talking Lips" was deemed too disturbing for children to watch and was therefore not allowed for broadcast until the hours of 6 PM to 4:59 AM.
"Little Miss Snake Eyes" music video[]
Not So Socialist was once again the target of controversy when they released the music video for their song "Little Miss Snake Eyes". The video portrays Lev Arigov as an escapee from jail who seeks revenge on the woman, played by Pristina Leonova, who brought him there in the first place. Arigov eventually corners Leonova in a deserted alley, and Arigov punches and beats Leonova before burying Leonova alive. The video caused considerable outrage within the Margovyan feminist community, especially within the feminist organization Paloma, who accused the video's director, Adam Yaneyev, and Arigov of promoting violence against women. Both Arigov and Yaneyev refused to comment on Paloma's allegations, although in an interview with Oomph!, Arigov said that Paloma wasn't too disturbed about the music video for the band's previous single, "Write Your Name", in which Leonova plays a woman who snitches on her gangster husband, played by Arigov, to get him to jail while she steals his money. "It's a very interesting double standard," Arigov told Oomph!.
- "A woman can do whatever she wants to her man, but once a man so much as lays a finger badly on a girl, every prissy woman in the country gets her panties in a wad and demands that the man apologize while prostrating before the statue of Paloma Vergara. True equality ain't gonna happen while we've got people like this around."
The music videos of "Write Your Name" and "Little Miss Snake Eyes" is the inspiration for the Paramedics episode "Running Man", which premiered on March 2014, starring Arigov as an incarcerated gangster who escapes his prisoner transport to seek revenge on the woman, played by Leonova who informed on him to the authorities.
Sex videos scandal[]
The next big controversy to engulf Not So Socialist was in 2013 when, while presenting Top Gear Margovya, Kalinina "inadvertently" showed footage of fellow band members Gavrina Kumilyova and Lev Arigov engaged in "sexual relations" as opposed to premiering the trailer of the film Vegetables on a Wedding. After the video went viral on social media, Kumilyova tweeted that she would release "all of the other videos we've all done", implying that she has much more scandalous videos of others. A week after her threat, Kumilyova released a video of Kalinina and Arigov also engaged in sex, and after the end of the TGM episode, Kumilyova posted various other sex videos involving her, Kalinina, Arigov, Maria Atolova, and even members of Arigov's comedy troupe, Hafimwahlid Talnaev and Orental Gibitov.
Mere hours after the scandal began, all parties involved who were holding a position in government resigned, leaving President Viktoriya Vegova's cabinet lacking in certain vital positions such as Health, Education and even House Speaker. But while the scandal was primarily political in nature, it also affected them as a band, but in an unexpectedly positive way. The time that they had spent as public service officials had apparently taken time away from them that could have been better used for the making of their studio albums. The break that they got following their resignations helped them to speed up the process of creating their next album, which turned out to be Prisoners of Presumption.
"Pussy" alternative music video[]
On April 1, 2016, the band posted a new, alternative music video for their 2003 song "Pussy" from the album 2. The video shows clips of the band members' infamous sex videos with each other and Hafimwahlid Talnaev and Orental Gibitov mixed with the song's original music video. The next day, the band admitted that the video was just an April Fools' Day prank on themselves, but by this time, the alternative video had garnered over 5 million views on YouTube, prompting the band to reshoot the alternative video with more gratuitous pornographic scenes. This new and official alternative music video was uploaded to YouTube on April 15, 2016, and quickly garnered 8 million views within 48 hours. As of September 2016, the alternative video has over 36 million views. The original alternative music video for "Pussy" has since been taken down for violating YouTube's content rules and regulations, but a new version with the gratuitous visuals blurred out was uploaded three days after the takedown with an age restriction. The music video with uncensored gratuitous sex scenes was uploaded on Pornhub and other pornographic websites after the takedown.
Both versions of the alternative video for "Pussy" became controversial, mostly because they depicted actual scenes of sexual intercourse between the band members. The "official" alternative video, the one released on April 15, was just as controversial as the first alternative video, if only because the pornographic scenes depicted in the video were much more gratuitous, and obviously so, which director Adam Yaneyev claims is the whole point. "The song is about sex, so obviously the video has to be about sex as well," he said in an interview with The Aggregator. "Making a music video without sex for a song about sex is like playing basketball and forgetting the ball."
Band members[]
- Current members
- Maria Atolova — vocals, backing vocals, bass guitar, keyboard (2000-present)
- Tanya Kalinina — vocals, backing vocals, rhythm guitar, piano (2000-present)
- Gavrina Kumilyova — vocals, backing vocals, lead guitar (2000-present)
- Lev Arigov — rap vocals, backing vocals, drums, percussion (2002-present)
- Touring members
- Yaroslav Anastasiuk — synthesizer, keyboards (2002-2017, 2019-present, band member 2017-2019)
- Maksim Andreyev — backing guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals (2009-present)
- Pristina Leonova — vocals, guitar (2009, 2013-present)
- Gregoriy Umalin — vocals, rhythm guitar (2015-present)
- Former members
- Lev Glebov — drums, percussion (touring member, 2009-2019)
Discography[]
Studio albums[]
- The Debut (2001)
- The Promiscuous Album (2002)
- 2 (2003)
- Falling Leaves (2005)
- Product Misplacement (2010)
- The Burberrys (2012)
- Prisoners of Presumption (2014)
- Victoria Concordia Crescit (2017)
- Aniversario (2020)
- Our Good Old Days (2022)
Live albums[]
- Promiscuous Socialists: Not So Socialist Live 2000-2004 (2005)
- No H8, No H8, No H8: Not So Socialist Live 2005-2010 (2010)
- We Are Running Out of Titles: Product Misplacement Live 2010-2014 (2014)
- You're Under Arrest!: Prisoners of Presumption Live 2014-2015 (2015)
- Parousia: Not So Socialist Live 2000-2016 (2016)
Extended plays[]
- The Russian Album (2009)
- Primer (2011)
- Futuro Tiempo (2013)
- Collaborators (2014)
Singles[]
| Year | Title | Chart Performance (Peak position) | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MG | BR | PE | AR | BO | CL | UR | EC | CO | VZ | PG | GY | |||
| 2001 | "My Only Man" | 5 | 10 | 24 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 19 | - | 30 | 55 | 71 | - | Not So Socialist |
| "Great Balls of Justice" | 1 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 18 | 38 | - | 79 | - | 98 | - | - | ||
| "Rivadavia" | 1 | 2 | 20 | 18 | 13 | 27 | - | 74 | 77 | - | - | - | ||
| 2002 | "The Lone Warrior" | 2 | 10 | 24 | 32 | 19 | 29 | - | - | - | - | 100 | 100 | The Promiscuous Album |
| "Real Risque" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 76 | 44 | 35 | 77 | 88 | 65 | ||
| "Red Shirt, Golden Cannon" | 13 | 12 | 19 | 21 | 24 | 24 | - | 78 | 77 | 79 | 80 | 91 | ||
| "These Paper Covers" | 1 | 6 | 27 | 14 | 26 | 10 | 89 | 100 | 54 | - | 97 | 70 | ||
| 2003 | "Cat" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 74 | 37 | 39 | 20 | 50 | 41 | |
| "Pussy" | 10 | 25 | 31 | - | 11 | 28 | - | - | 20 | 60 | - | - | 2 | |
| "Eat Me Up" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2004 | "Kissing Talking Lips" | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 34 | 46 | 52 | 74 | 81 | 19 | |
| "I Burnt Myself on You" | 1 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 49 | 14 | 12 | 56 | 6 | 17 | ||
| 2005 | "Hold On" | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 15 | 14 | 3 | Falling Leaves |
| "All I Want" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 10 | ||
| 2006 | "All Right" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 2 | |
| "Lean on Me" | 2 | 12 | 13 | 21 | 37 | 16 | - | 74 | 75 | 99 | 100 | - | ||
| "Sorry That I Love You" | 1 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 10 | 5 | - | 86 | 72 | - | 54 | 49 | ||
| "One and Only You" | 10 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 18 | - | 21 | - | 15 | 5 | 14 | ||
| 2007 | "I'm So Sorry" | 14 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 27 | 15 | - | 56 | 14 | 3 | 19 | 78 | |
| 2009 | "Things I Hate About You" | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 29 | 68 | 27 | 43 | 41 | 1 | Product Misplacement |
| "Chocolate" | 2 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 32 | 37 | 38 | 29 | 11 | 14 | ||
| 2010 | "Lonely" | 18 | 57 | 46 | 45 | 35 | 24 | - | - | 49 | 70 | 70 | 21 | |
| "When I Knew It Was You" | 1 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 23 | 9 | 87 | 100 | 54 | - | 73 | 66 | ||
| "Something Has Changed" | 5 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 13 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| "Hanging Out" | 1 | 7 | 12 | 23 | 25 | 30 | - | - | - | - | - | 89 | ||
| 2011 | "Together Forever" | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 14 | - | - | - | - | 90 | - | |
| "Price of Beauty" | 1 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 18 | 70 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| "Heart to Heart" (Cover of the song by Kenny Loggins) | 1 | 18 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 24 | - | - | - | 88 | 99 | - | ||
| 2012 | "Elmer" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 10 | The Burberrys |
| "Here Without You" (Cover of the song by 3 Doors Down) | 1 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 59 | 45 | - | - | 80 | 68 | ||
| "Party" | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 26 | - | - | 17 | 78 | 49 | - | ||
| "Dark-Eyed Cossack Girl" (Cover of the song by Leonid Kharitonov) | 1 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 47 | 56 | 75 | 75 | 84 | 90 | - | ||
| 2013 | "Gentleman" (Cover of the song by Psy) | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 29 | 39 | - | 71 | 78 | 64 | 59 | 50 | Futuro Tiempo |
| "Heart Attack" (Cover of the song by Demi Lovato) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 34 | 35 | 26 | 60 | 40 | 51 | ||
| "Come & Get It" (Cover of the song by Selena Gomez) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 29 | 14 | 8 | 36 | 37 | ||
| "We Can't Stop" (Cover of the song by Miley Cyrus) | 7 | 6 | 12 | 14 | 9 | 30 | 86 | 87 | 68 | 61 | 40 | 42 | ||
| "Write Your Name" | 6 | 12 | 13 | 26 | 24 | 10 | 92 | 44 | 55 | 66 | 73 | 74 | Collaborators | |
| 2014 | "Little Miss Snake Eyes" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 23 | 65 | 53 | 22 | 33 | 40 | |
| "Engel" (Cover of the song by Rammstein) | 1 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 4 | 24 | 74 | 55 | 68 | - | 100 | ||
| "Gentleman" | 1 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 100 | 99 | - | - | 77 | 42 | Prisoners of Presumption | |
| "Don't Wanna Fall in Love" | 3 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 37 | 75 | 72 | 46 | 49 | - | 44 | 60 | ||
| "When You're Ready" | 1 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 51 | 45 | 70 | 99 | - | 86 | ||
| "Our Rules" | 1 | 24 | 10 | 19 | 34 | 16 | 68 | 36 | 57 | 77 | 99 | 12 | ||
| 2015 | "My Golden Star" | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 3 | - | 100 | 3 | 99 | 46 | 52 | |
| "Margovyan Love" | 5 | 50 | 45 | 63 | 24 | 27 | - | - | - | 100 | 100 | - | ||
| "Always Want You" | 3 | 5 | 14 | 24 | 36 | 70 | - | - | - | - | - | 100 | ||
| "You Never Loved Me" | 3 | 5 | 14 | 24 | 36 | 70 | - | - | - | - | - | 100 | ||
| 2017 | "The Night Is Still Young" | 5 | 10 | 24 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 19 | - | 30 | 55 | 71 | - | Victoria Concordia Crescit |
Tours[]
- Fat Man of Justice Tour (2001)
- Great Continental Tour 2002 (January – March 2002)
- Sleeping Positions Tour (2002)
- The Promiscuous Tour (2002–2005)
- It's Autumn Time! Tour (2005–2007; 2010)
- Advertise Wisely Tour (2010–2012)
- Welcome to the Families Tour (2012–2014)
- Crystal Ball, Crystal Palace Tour (2014–2017)
- We Stand Together Tour (2017–Present)
Awards[]
- Margovyan Music Festival Awards
- 2005: Best Band
- 2005: Best Album for Falling Leaves