2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
Unfortunately, there are incomparably fewer really high-quality, noteworthy musical groups on the Russian alternative scene than abroad. It is what it is. However, occasionally interesting bands appear that instantly win the love of fans. One of them will be discussed in this article.
The Moscow team with a laconic logo and a short name "Slot" has a long history. The Slot group, which appeared twelve years ago, is just that rare case of a high-quality Russian alternative that already stood out from the general mass. What makes the band so unique and captivating? Let's try to figure it out.
History
It all started with the fact that the founder of the group - Igor Lobanov, nicknamed "Cash", previously a vocalist and guitarist in a Death metal band, in 2002 met Denis Khromykh (bassist, the first line-up of the "Slot" group). With the help of casting, they found a vocalist and put together the first line-up. The band's first demo was made with Teona Dolnikova on vocals, known for the musicals "Notre Dame de Paris"and "Metro", the owner of a strong voice. Theona is also an actress who has starred in several TV series. In the end, it was precisely the combination of an acting and musical career that prevented Dolnikova from staying with the Slot group: their schedules too often did not coincide. In 2003, the vocalist gives way to Uliana Elina. Until 2006, the Slot rock group existed in this composition, then the third, current vocalist, Daria Stavrovich with the nickname Nookie, joined the team.
At the time of this writing, the band has almost 5.5 million plays on last.fm. The group repeatedly gave interviews to Russian and foreign media, some compositions were in rotation on Dutch and American radio stations. The group's albums are released not only in Russian, they are successfully sold in Japan, the USA and Canada, not to mention Russia. Well, many people know the songs of the Slot group, not even suspecting who performs them. But more on that later.
Per aspera ad astra
The first popularity of the team was brought by participation in the creation of the soundtrack for "Boomer", a Russian blockbuster: two tracks were used for it - "If only it would be funny" and "Clone". And this, as you might guess, is far from their only achievement.
The band literally overwhelmed the list of nominees for the "Chart Dozen" (The Fifth Annual National Rock and Roll Achievement Award) with nine nominations.
In 2005, the RAMP award took place, where the victory in the nomination "Bestvocals" was presented to the group by Uliana Elina. In 2006, the composition "Two Wars" was recognized as the hit of the year on RAMP, and in 2008 the track "They Killed Kenny" won in the same nomination. The composition "One" brought the group victory in an online competition held on the portal realmusic.ru.
The soundtrack of the movie "Shadow Fight-2" contains the song "Dead Stars". The group participated in the creation of the soundtrack for the series "Angels and Demons" (2013). A couple of tracks are used in the movie "Boomer", as mentioned earlier.
Love is just a pelvic metastasis
Unexpected and well-aimed, sometimes harsh, but so truthful - all this is about the texts of the "Slot" group. In 2006-2007, when the musical world was flooded with a wave of compositions of the new fashionable style of "emo" and lyrics about suicide, unhappy love and hopelessness, the Slot group stood out.
Their lyrics, thanks to Cash's (Igor Lobanov's) recitative, are very meaningful and intelligent, and thanks to the bright female vocals, they penetrate the soul. The alternation of a female voice with a male one makes each song seem like a dialogue, and sometimes even a confrontation.
Members of the team reflect and talk (and sometimes scream) about various eternal life phenomena: hell and heaven, angels and demons, truth and lies, war and peace, love and hate, freedom and dependence. In one of the numerous interviews, Nuki, the soloist of the Slot group, says that they are trying to sing less about love, because this kindness is already enough in the musical open spaces. With varying success, but they do it quite well. seriousphilosophy sometimes gives way to light, fun tracks aimed at the general public, such as "They Killed Kenny". Everyone knows who Kenny is from South Park, because the song was a resounding success.
Albums
The discography of the group "Slot" contains six albums, including both compositions of their own composition and covers (on "Aria" and "Naive", for example). Of these six albums, Two Wars, released in 2006, Trinity, released in 2007, 4ever (2009) and F5 (2011) enjoyed the greatest success with the public. It is also impossible not to mention that the product that the team creates is not only tracks and albums. 15 video clips were filmed for the group's songs, one of which (for the song "Mirrors") was named the most expensive video in the history of alternative music. Each clip is individual, has its own chip. If the videos for “Mirrors” tell a detective story with a touch of retro, mysticism and vintage aesthetics that can satisfy the most sophisticated taste of a movie fan, then the video about Kenny is more foolish, simple and energetic, with footage from the live performance of the team. The official site of the group "Slot" contains the entire selection of video clips of the team.
On stage
A separate item worth noting is the behavior of the group at concerts. On them it is absolutely impossible to passively, leaning against the wall, stand and suck beer from a can. It is always an explosion, storm, extravaganza, drive and fire. It's a real, live, hot alternative. Although the participants sometimes forget the wordssongs, interchange verses, improvise, their energy overflows every time and makes you forget about everything except music. They themselves forget themselves, tear their clothes, fearlessly jump into the crowd, fall and rise, sign autographs. By the way, an important factor in achieving the band's popularity (besides cool quality music, of course) is the readiness to communicate with their fans and openness to contact with the audience. All this is quite typical for the Slot group. Each participant is registered in social networks, because they understand that it is very pleasant to sometimes reach the star.
What can they boast of
The band's history is extremely rich in performances. And these are not only concerts in small clubs and bars, these are performances at major festivals (Air, Invasion, Starfucktory, Kubana, Ostrov, Dobrofest, Neighboring World), regular tours in different cities. In 2008, the group performed on Red Square in Moscow. In 2010, "Slot" did not warm up for anyone, but for Fred Durst himself (Limp Bizkit) at the Olympic. Our heroes were lucky to share the stage with Jonathan Davis, the leader of Korn. Jonathan compared "Slot" to an explosive mixture of Evanescence and Linkin Park, his impression of their performance and feedback was the most positive. What else can a Russian rock musician dream of?
Nuki, what planet are you from?
We have already mentioned the name of the soloist of the group "Slot" of the last composition. Daria Stavrovich joined the band in 2006. Outstanding vocal abilities,memorable, slightly alien appearance, creative style, bright emotional performances - all this allowed her to quickly win the love of the public.
Now the vocalist is in the hospital after a recent attack on her by an inadequate fan who stabbed the girl in the throat during an autograph session. At the moment, a video is being collected from fans in support of her and funds for treatment. Nuki seemed to predict the tragic case in one of her songs: “It is not the one who knows how to live on the “five”, but the one who simply does not know how to die that survives.” I would like to believe that what happened will have a positive outcome and will not prevent Daria from continuing to delight fans with her work. Although, some doctors give disappointing forecasts and say: there is a possibility that Daria will not be able to sing anymore.
Instead of a conclusion
Group "Slot" will certainly appeal to lovers of alternative music, both Russian and foreign. The lyrics of their songs are close and understandable to our compatriots. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the work of this interesting rock band and replenish your musical piggy bank.
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