SPILL FEATURE: ON THIS DAY AND AGE, DOING WHAT YOU WANT TO DO IS A LITTLE BIT OF A VICTORY – VICTOR UZHAKOV OPENED UP ABOUT PLOHO’S LATEST RECORD ПОЧВА

ON THIS DAY AND AGE, DOING WHAT YOU WANT TO DO IS A LITTLE BIT OF A VICTORY

VICTOR UZHAKOV OPENED UP ABOUT PLOHO’S LATEST RECORD ПОЧВА

After releasing nine albums and several EPs, the Siberian postpunk trio Ploho is back with Почва (meaning “soil” in English) this August. It is a record that explores feelings, changes, and the DIY concept as a recurrent tool to make art.

Considering the major events happening these past few years, it is expected from artists enduring these contexts to produce or come up with creative pieces that express their feelings towards specific situations. For Victor Uzhakov, Ploho’s lead singer, something similar happened when writing Почва. Being born Russian and once having family from Ukraine, for him, the modern world destroyed what used to be his past. He admitted that rethinking it took up most of his time: “It’s hard to be distracted by other events in the world when something like this is happening to you. But I don’t want you to think this album is about war. This album is about how one feels in my situation, how I try to grasp the balance of good and evil in the reality around me and find the Почва (soil) under my feet.”

If we revisit old recordings from the band, they view the Soviet Union as an indirect topic in some songs as a way of expressing feelings. However, this time around, the album left this matter aside for two main reasons. Firstly, the trio lost interest in it a long time ago. Secondly, the concept of here and now turned more significant to the band because of the current context. “What is happening today is much scarier and brighter than the Soviet Union and everything that is connected with it,” declared the frontman.

Undoubtedly, the writing process was certainly special. The changes in the bandmembers’ lives were inevitable, and the composition and embodiment of the band was modified. Now that they all live in different countries, the mood of the album was affected, driving it to be less instrumental and somehow empty. The kind of emptiness that gives time to think about what to do with it.  According to Uzhakov, “it is a reflection of my life in the last couple of years.”

Now, in terms of music production and taking into account the regular range of genres that they based their music on, he mostly tried to play what he really liked, and from time to time, he incorporated pieces of different genres that he listened to into their songs. “Art is a series of influences,” he commented. That is the reason behind the songs having more electronic arrangements, breakbeats, or samples of free jazz saxophones.

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Going deeper into the topic, when talking about sources of inspiration, groups such as Kino, or even the legendary venue Leningrad Rock Club will no doubt come to mind. Nonetheless, for the band, Kino stopped being a source of inspiration a long time ago. “I have always loved and will always love this band, but I have listened to these songs so many times that I don’t know if I will ever be able to find something new in it for me.” As for the Leningrad Rock Club, there were many talented bands who played there, among which some “new old names” can be recognized.

In terms of sound, it is well known that the sounds of post-punk and new wave are distinctive traits in the band’s compositions. However, it was asked of the frontman which song better showed the marked essence or core of this record. Though it was impossible to single out a song that captured the essence of the album, every track was part of the overall concept. “The songs are very different, just like human emotions at the moment of sudden changes. He [the narrator of the album] is hurt, sad, and at the same time filled with hopes [of a new] dawn, good things happen to him. You know?” explained Uzhakov.

Visually speaking, the first single that had a music video was “Г​е​ш​т​а​л​ь​т” which speaks of DIY essence as a main statement. The anti-capitalist concept was reinforced by using this technique and prevailed through it all. According to Uzhakov, “Capitalism is eating away at modern society, and lately I’ve been feeling it more than ever.” At first, he had the idea of creating something with his own hands, leaving aside expensive cameras, directors, actors, and so on. By the end of the video, the main idea revolves around the thought of nature or anything at all destroying humanity every moment from now on.

The development of this music video was not a new addition to the band’s creative processes. Although they spent some money on their first record, lately they’ve been trying to bring as much autonomy to their music as possible. Uzhakov recalled doing this by recording on a legendary but inexpensive studio and releasing a live album version recorded on a cassette player at a band rehearsal. “It sounds completely without studio gloss, primal energy. I love that record.”

Finally, the main artwork that gives a personality to the record is shaped by a shady vase full of roses about to wither, combined with some elements that highlight the dark aura prevailing in this focal image. The album cover was painted by the artist Polina Senokosova, one of Uzhakov’s friends, and aimed to express in one picture the principal motifs of modern Russian mentality.

Uzhakov’s final thoughts on this record comprise of his happiness on the conception of it and his thankfulness to all the band’s fans for sticking with them all these years. The main purpose of the album was to keep it simple and dirty. And that is what they ultimately did. The fact that more and more people are getting involved in their music gives Uzhakov strength and faith to keep going with Ploho’s music. “[In] this day and age, doing what you want to do is a little bit of a victory,” he concluded.

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