Russian indie rockers Pompeya are winning fans across the United States with their hip, chillwave sound and lyrics sung largely in English. They’ve played on both coasts and at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, and turned out albums, including Tropical and Real (available on iTunes).
ShareAmerica recently caught up with the band before they played a gig at the Regent Theater in Los Angeles. On camera, Daniil Brod, Denis Agafonov and Dmitri Vinnokov spoke of their impressions of America — “We discovered that it is not some sort of Mars,” Brod says — and also about themselves and how they carry something of Russia with them even though they don’t try to insert it into the music.
There’s no shortage of rock bands in Russia, but Newsweek magazine reports Pompeya’s indie sound is not the usual stuff. “I couldn’t believe these fresh, groovy sounds came from Russia,” Carlos Aybar, an American music producer, told the magazine. The 10-year-old band from Moscow is an “eye-opener” for him.
Have a look and listen:
For a much different beat, read about Nina Brodskaya, who sings pop standards with émigré Russian musicians in Brooklyn, New York.
