Egor Letov

A famous Russian punk artist
1964-09-10 | 2008-02-19

Egor was a lad when he picked up a guitar and began singing.
He sang so loudly and desperately that he was heard by people.

He lived in the Soviet Union and was a voice that sang of it,
often with sarcasm. He was not afraid to mock the regime and
events in his lyrics, to spread his songs across the country
unofficially, to name the bands he was in with the most
scandalous names the Soviets could only imagine. (e.g.
"Communism", "Adolf Hitler", and "Egor and Fucked-ups")

We can firmly say that the project of his life was his band
Grazhdanskaya Oborona (lit. Civil Defense). Their songs were
recorded in the apartments of the members; they set up their
own label, GrOb Records, and recorded hundreds of songs which
were spread across the country through unofficial circulation.

――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

I personally love Egor for the way he enjoys what he sings and how he expresses himself.
He is truly a gifted person who intentionally limited the quality of his own work in order
to remain an underground artist.

If he was not the one who set the mood of the entire Siberian punk genre, then he was
the one who helped make it popular across the whole country and slightly beyond it.