In the last 15 years, Leonid “Lenia” Fedorov, now 46, has established himself as one of the leading “indie” rock artists of Russia. Born and raised in St. Petersburg (former Leningrad), the city which in the 80s was to become the center of the national rock culture, Lenia started his musical activity in the late 70s, playing in amateur rock groups. In 1983 he founded a rock band of his own, which was given the name of Auktyon (see also here). From the very beginning Lenia assumed the role of the main composer and musical director of Auktyon; later he also took up leading vocals, thus becoming the band’s leader, responsible for the band’s musical image, who, however, always preferred to remain out of focus of public attention onstage. Auktyon’s breakthrough coincided with the times of “perestroika”, when the rock music in Russia got an unprecedented opportunity to be brought out to big audiences nationwide. In a short while, Auktyon gained the reputation of one of the most interesting Russian rock acts with the most unique and original sound and style. Apart from the band’s other advantages, it owed a great part of its success to Lenia’s extraordinary musical talent. By 1989 in Russia Auktyon was a hit big enough to receive an invitation to France, where they, along with two other Russian top rank acts, Zvuki Mu and Kino, performed as the representatives of the national rock culture in the West, and got a chance of releasing their first ever record in CD format. When the bright prospects of “perestroika” ended up in overall worsening of economic conditions in Russia, bands like Auktyon, who wanted to retain their independent artistic status, were forced to find new ways of remaining afloat. In Auktyon’s case in meant spending more time touring on the club and festival circuit in Europe, giving the total of 200 live performances in France, Germany and other countries. Through the good and hard times, Auktyon, under Lenia’s guidance, never stopped progressing musically, producing excellent albums, which were immediately receiving cult status in Russia, and looking for new ways in expressing their rich musical ideas. In 1992 they began artistic collaboration with a poet, folk singer, and painter Alexei “Khvost” Khvostenko, which resulted in two widely acclaimed studio albums, one live record and a single.
Although never putting Auktyon on hold (the band’s last but one production was a maxi-single “Nebo Napopolam”, released late 1999 in the USA), Lenia in 1997 started a solo career, first as a “one man” unplugged act. In this capacity, he releases his first solo album “Chetyrespolovinoitonny”. Next year he teamed up with the highly reputed ethno-jazz formation “VolkovTrio”; this alliance resulted in a series of shows and a new album “Zimy ne budet”, Lenia’s latest up to date. This record shows him at his best again: a daring artist, an original musician, exploring unwandered worlds, an entertainer who can truly make his listener follow him, share his emotions and think.
In 2007 an Auktyon’s album “Devushki Poyut” was released. It was recorded just in a few days in USA with participation of Marc Ribot (worked with John Zorn, Marianne Faithfull, Tom Waits and more) on guitar, John Medeski on keyboards, Frank London on trumpet, Ned Rothenberg on sax, Vladimir Volkov (Владимир Волков) on contrabass. The title of the album can be translated as “Young Women Sing” or “Girls Sing”. |
