Rock group "December": a story about patience and determination

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The group "December" must be known to all fans of rock music. Today, the guys give a lot of concerts, including charity ones, record albums and help new talents that appear on the horizon of the national stage. But their own path to glory was very long and thorny. From the very beginning of the formation of the group, no one was sure of its longevity. Fortunately, the tremendous effort was not in vain.

How did the band form?

The initiator of the creation of a group that would write and perform music that combines hard rock, punk rock and alternative rock was Mikhail Semenov. He has made countless such attempts since 1993, but… At best, he managed to acquaint the public with his works in clubs, and at worst - in the subway.

Despite the constant activity of the team, the readiness of its members to perform anywhere and even without materialbenefits, as well as its being at a fairly high technical level, it had to wait five long years for its first recording in the studio. The group "December" gave its first concert in February 1999, which marked its birth.

Hard steps to true glory

At the time when the group "December" was just formed, the composition of the musical group was as follows: Mikhail Semenov - writer of lyrics, guitarist and vocalist; Alexey Afanasiev - vocalist and bass guitarist; Igor Yuganov - guitarist; Oleg Bondarenko - drummer.

The first years of the band's life, the musicians worked very hard. Making and putting up posters, recording and distributing audio cassettes - we had to take care of all this ourselves. The albums "December 1999-2000" and "December in Milk" released during this period were distributed by the guys right at their concerts. Some of their songs became the soundtracks for the cartoon "Masyanya".

Entering a new level

At the rock festival in St. Petersburg, the group "December" becomes a laureate twice: in 2000 and 2004. After that, she takes part in many other festivals, at one of which she is awarded the audience award. The December group recorded their first studio album called "Winter's Tale" in 2003. It took her to a completely different level.

Success was obvious when in 2004 the song "Aerobics", owned by the group "Alisa", after processing "December" for a long time held out in the hit parade of "Our Radio". Two years later, in the same hit parade, she stayed for a long timetheir own song "Wounds of the Earth". In 2007, a similar fate befell the musical composition "Gone into the Darkness."

2006, 2007 and 2009 were marked by the release of the group's new albums: “There will be no more silence”, in the recording of which musicians from other bands helped the guys, “Through the Smoke” and “Love. War. Faith . An endless series of successful events in the life of the team led to the fact that millions already dreamed of getting to the December concert.

Line-up change

During the existence of the group, many events have happened, but from 1999 to 2011, the musicians in the December team never changed. The group began to undergo internal changes since 2011, when bassist Alexei Afanasiev left the band. Instead, a member of the St. Petersburg punk band Alexander Kamensky takes up the bass guitar. In this composition, the guys release an album, which includes all their best songs, with the name "December Gold".

During the same year, the group "December" unexpectedly loses its drummer Oleg Bondarenko, who passes away the following year due to heart disease. Stepan Krasavin sits down at the drum kit, already as a member of the December team. The group, whose songs began to quickly conquer the public, did not stop in their achievements because of the shocks experienced. In subsequent years, new compositions were released: "It's OK, Guys", "Fire and Ice", "Guys Don't Cry".

And at the end of 2015, changes took place again in the December group: now Pavel Storozhik from the group took the place of Stepan Krasavin"Theory". By the way, he became the third drummer in the band. There was such a replacement due to the passionate desire of Stepan Krasavin to pay his debt to the Motherland - he went into the army.

Life within the team

The guys from the "December" group admit that it was not always easy for them to come to a common denominator. There were disputes and aggressive proceedings. However, this is no longer the case. Either the new level of professionalism affects, or they worked together, got used to it and became a single organism.

In any case, the atmosphere that reigns now within the team is always friendly and working. The guys rush to the rehearsal even when there is no special need for this. They are always happy just to play together. Sound engineer Leonid Sibirtsev and music producer Evgeny Trofimov, who became part of the team, help in their difficult but rewarding work.

The path to the big stage is especially difficult for rock musicians. The members of the December group were also convinced of this from their own experience. On the steps of their glory, they had to lay the plexus of colossal labor and patience. Their example perfectly illustrates what can be achieved if you have a specific goal, spare no effort to achieve it, and do not expect instant success.