Report on the topic:

Viktor Tsoi

North-Zadonsk 2002

Brief biographical note.

Viktor Robertovich Tsoi was born on June 21, 1962 in Leningrad in the family of a physical education teacher Valentina Vasilievna Tsoi and an engineer Robert Maksimovich Tsoi. Victor was the only child in the family. In 1969, he entered the school where his mother worked. In total, during his studies up to the eighth grade, he changed three schools with his mother. From 1974 to 1977 he attended a secondary art school, where the group "CHAMBER No. 6" appeared, led by Maxim Pashkov. In 1977 he graduated from eight classes and entered the art school. V. Serov. In 1978, he was expelled from the school "for poor progress." He goes to work at a factory and studies at an evening school. In 1979 he entered SGPTU-61 as a wood carver. During the summer of 1981, together with Alexei Rybin and Oleg Valinsky, he created the GARIN AND HYPERBOLOIDS group. In the autumn of 1981 - the group "GARIN AND HYPERBOLOIDS" enters the Leningrad rock club. In the spring of 1982, the album "45" was recorded. At the same time, Victor meets his future wife Marianna. At the same time - the first electric concert of the group "KINO" in the Leningrad rock club together with the musicians of "AQUARIUM". He graduated from college with a certificate and went to work in the restoration workshops in the city of Pushkin. In the autumn of 1982 - goes to work in the gardening trust as a woodcarver. In the same year, 1982, the first acoustic concerts in Moscow. In February 1983 - the second electric concert of the group "KINO" in a rock club. In the spring, Alexey Rybin leaves the group. In the summer of 1983, he recorded with Yuri Kasparyan the phonogram "Demo" by Alexei Vishnya, later called "46". In the autumn of 1983, he was examined in a psychiatric hospital No. 2 on Pryazhka and received a "white ticket". In the spring of 1984 - the performance of "KINO" at the second festival of the rock club and receiving the laureate title. In the summer, autumn of 1984, he recorded the album "Head of Kamchatka" in the studio of Andrey Tropillo together with the musicians of "AQUARIUM". The second composition of "KINO" is being formed: Tsoi, Kasparyan, Titov, Guryanov. In February 1985 - to marry Marianne. In the spring of 1985 he received the title of laureate at the third rock club festival. August 5, 1985 - son Sasha was born. Summer, autumn 1985 - work on two albums - "Night" in the Tropillo studio and "This is not love" in Cherry studio. In the spring of 1986 - performance at the fourth festival of the rock - club. Diploma for the best texts. In the summer of 1986 - shooting of the film "The End of Vacation" in Kyiv. The album "Red Wave" is released. Enters work in the boiler room "Kamchatka". Participates in the filming of the film directed by Alexei Uchitel "Rock". Autumn, winter 1986 - participation in the filming of "Assy". In the spring of 1987, the last performance at the rock club festival. Prize "for creative maturity". The album "Blood Type" is being recorded. In the fall of 1987, shooting of the film "The Needle" begins. In 1988, "Blood Type" and Rashid Nugmanov's film "The Needle" were released. The album "A Star named the Sun" is being recorded. The beginning of the "star" tour. In November - participation of "KINO" in the memorial concert of Alexander Bashlachev in Luzhniki. In 1989, a summer trip to the USA, participation in the Golden Duke festival in Odessa. According to surveys of film critics of the Soviet Screen magazine, he was recognized as the best film actor of the year. Extensive tours around the country. The album "Star named Sun" is released. In November - the last concerts of "KINO" in Leningrad. In France, the album "The Last Hero" is released. In the spring of 1990 trip to Japan. In June 1990 - the last concert of "KINO" in Moscow at Luzhniki. Summer tours around the country. Recording the last album, which was released after the death of Tsoi and is called the "Black Album".

On August 15, 1990, Viktor Robertovich Tsoi died early in the morning in a car accident near Riga and was buried in St. Petersburg at the Theological Cemetery.

Group "KINO" and Viktor Tsoi.

There is something inexplicable in the popularity of the Leningrad group "KINO". Indeed, success, fame, mass recognition usually finds this or that performer as a result of a sequence of certain events; they, as a rule, are preceded by bursts of creative activity, intensive work, an increase in public interest and a constant presence in the public eye. In the case of "KINO" it was just the opposite. The year of "KINO" began in the spring of 1988, when the group completely disappeared from the musical horizons: they did not perform, did not even rehearse, and its members were busy implementing their own projects and, as it might seem, only by pure chance carved out a few days at the beginning of the year to to complete the album, which was in a "semi-finished" state, known as "Blood Type". It was he who became the catalyst for the explosion of the long-awaited "movie mania" that swept the country in a matter of months.

And it all started in the fall of 1981, when the trio Garin and the Hyperboloids arose on the wreckage of the Zhek teams "CHAMBER No. 6" and "PILGRIM". A couple of months later, its composition was reduced to a duet, and the name turned to "KINO" -
- at that time, Viktor Tsoi and Alexei Rybin were hiding under him. They joined a rock club, performed with the active participation of the AQUARIUM musicians - on its stage, recorded an album, which, according to the total playing time, was called "45", and disappeared for a whole year. Then they performed again - already five of us and with an "electric" program and ... broke up. And yet in May 1984 "KINO" reappeared. Viktor Tsoi, and with him Yuri Kasparyan (guitar), Alexander Titov (bass) and Georgy Guryanov (drum), "dark horse" entered the stage of the II Leningrad Rock Festival and made a sensation, becoming one of the main discoveries of this review of the creative forces of rock - movements. The title of laureates of the "KINO" festival was confirmed twice more in 1985 and 1987. In the autumn of 1984, A. Titov was replaced by Igor Tikhomirov, a part-time member of the "JUNGLE" and one of the best bass guitarists in the country. Since then, the composition of the group "KINO" - except for the episodic appearances of various guitarists, percussionists and keyboardists, who rarely played with the group for more than one concert, remains unchanged.

The songs of "KINO" amaze with an abundance of fresh melodic solutions, their arrangements are distinguished by restraint and conciseness, and an excellent ensemble game, in which the contribution of each member is equal and irreplaceable, allows us to speak of them as a classic example of a rock band. In the texts of Viktor Tsoi, namely, he is the author of almost the entire repertoire of "KINO", romantically sublime images are mixed with purely realistic, everyday sketches from life, reflecting the inner world of a modern young man. Sharp, almost journalistic, appeals side by side in the songs of "KINO" with good humor, and sometimes with caustic irony, which is generally characteristic of Tsoi's poetic language. In the later works of the group, the “growing up” of its hero is noticeable, a departure from the naive everyday life of the courtyards and gateways to more serious problems, calls for action, deed,
desire for moral perfection.

In recent years, especially after the success of "Blood Type", the creative activity of the group has increased significantly. "KINO" regularly performs in Leningrad, periodically tours. In 1989, the group traveled abroad twice - at charity concerts in Denmark and at France's largest rock festival in Bourges. Their music sounds in the films "ROCK", "ASSA", "CITY", "NEEDLE" - in the last of them, Viktor Tsoi made his debut as a leading actor.

- What do you think is the most important thing in music? What is the secret of her popularity? -
-I think it's relevance. But in general, the songs should be good
- We know your poems - both simple, vital, on topics that concern us all, and more complex, with subtext. What is closer to you?
- I can't imagine myself without it. and without another. The world is many-sided, many-sided and verses.
- I do not know for sure. Probably, the text and music are one, because the thought is one in them. In general, I do not write poetry, only songs.
- What modern pop groups are you interested in more
- The same. as you: "Aquarium", "Zoo". "Alice" By the way. "Alisa" has now resumed work with Kinchev, probably we will see them at a rock festival
- What about Western music?
- For us, the work of independent record companies is most interesting. Most often, music "for sale" reaches us, music for dancing. Ears get used to the standards. And independent firms release records of groups that do not focus on standards in a small circulation. It's closer to us.
- Victor, do you find analogues to your work here or in the West?
- I'm not looking for them. Although we listen to a lot of music, it is part of our job. Perhaps there is some influence, but each of our songs passes through its own prism.
- What do you prefer - live or studio work? And what do you try to use more, acoustic or electric music?
- Concerts and records are inseparable. Now the problem of sound at Kino concerts is very acute." We want to turn concerts into something "hot", so we focus on those who have heard our songs on record and know them
- What are the problems of "Kino"?
- Only organizational. There are no dead ends in music. There are many thoughts and desires to work.
- What do you expect from the audience?
- I want only those among the listeners. who loves my music. It's nice to play for those who understand you.
- In conclusion, the traditional question about creative plans.
- In April we will finish the recording of the new album. Then we will go to Kyiv to participate in the filming of a short feature film. Well, we will prepare for the rock festival here and in Vilnius.

Interview details

Interviewed by:

Alexander Yagolnik

Dating:

May 1990

Material Source:

– Victor, your latest work is called “A Star Called the Sun”. Knowing that, unlike "pop" bands, you put a lot into names, lyrics, I want to ask: is the title of the album a hint at yourself or something indefinite?

“More on the indefinite than on yourself. Although... I don't know.

- And you can personally call yourself a “star”, after all, you collect stadiums, and I would not say that Viktor Tsoi is not popular. Your prediction: how long will you shine in the pop sky?

I don't know, I didn't think about it. I do not think that this is the main thing - universal popularity. Of course, I am very glad that now KINO is gathering such halls, but, in principle, all this was not an end in itself. It was important for us to play the music that we like, and we will play it even if less people like it. I don't predict success. It is not interesting for me. I'm interested in songs.

- Such a question: the image that you created on the screen (the film "Assa", "Needle"), how does it compare with the real Viktor Tsoi?

- I didn’t create anything special, I didn’t try to get into someone else’s shoes. He behaved the way he wanted and how he would behave in such circumstances. And I did it because I was interested. And when quite recently they offered to play the role of Mowgli in some kind of musical - you know, maybe it's witty, but the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthis musical was completely, to put it mildly, not what we would like ...

- In this case, what image in the cinema is close to you, who do you want to play?

– No, the fact of the matter is that I didn’t want to play anything. I want to be myself everywhere - on the movie screen and at the concert, you know? For me, the most important thing is to maintain the self-respect and freedom that I have now. But it is very difficult to keep. You have to fight all the time. And if the question becomes that I have to play music that I don't want to play, but that people will like, it would be dishonest to play it, right?

- Now they say that Soviet rock music is in crisis. Aren't you afraid that soon you, Viktor Tsoi, will be out of work?

- We have had rock music banned for too long, and when it became possible to go to a rock concert, any rock band gathered the audience. And when there was a choice, people, of course, went for something else. This is completely normal. And as for "out of work" - I think it does not threaten us. Even if I'm in prison and I have a six-string guitar, I will not be out of work - because I will continue to do my job. I don't care where to play...

– For a very long time you were, as it were, outside our system. And now you're slowly turning around, or something. What are the pros and cons of all this?

- I don't fit in at all... As for the musical system, we still stand apart, although if before we were an underground group, now we can no longer be called that. On the one hand, I never considered popularity an end in itself, and on the other hand, I never considered that it was necessary to artificially create some kind of obstacles between myself and the public. Therefore, it is very good that we play concerts that anyone can come to.

- If you were given the opportunity to travel back to the past on the most difficult days in the present, where would you prefer to go and why?

– I don’t know, somehow I didn’t think about this topic. And then I am very philosophical about troubles and I think that they just need to wait out - and everything will work out.

- I got the impression that you are a fatalist by nature?

“Maybe I don’t introspect. I am who I am and that's it.

- Your biggest enemy among people, from human vices, is in you yourself?

– I really don’t know... I won’t undertake to judge what is a vice for a person, what is a disadvantage, and what is a virtue. In the end, there is no consensus on this matter. Therefore, I believe that a person is what he is. Good or bad - and who are the judges?

– Let's say that in a few years the excitement around the KINO group will subside, and you will have to earn money to feed your family... Are you sure that you can solve this problem?

“I don't think about the future. I just know when such a question arises, I will somehow solve it. Until then, what do you think about it?

- A few quick questions in the style of the magazine "Bravo": your favorite color is probably black, right?

- Certainly.

- Favourite dish?

- I do not know...

- Favorite flowers?

- Favorite football team?

- No such.

- Favorite sport?

- Well, there are quite a lot of sports related to martial arts.

- Favorite season?

- Favorite western band?

- I don’t know, there isn’t one like that, just to be loved. And the rest are all unloved.

- Victor, and the last question... The cherished dream of the Pink Floyd group is to fly into space. What is the cherished dream of the KINO group?

- (Thinking for a long time, as if anticipating something) I don’t know, probably also into space ...

The personality of a talented person always carries an element of mystery. Many are interested in answers to questions about how Viktor Tsoi treated life, what was his favorite color, etc. Someone periodically ranks him among the prophets, "unknown messengers." Others call him a perestroika singer, a fighter for a just cause, a hero of the 80s generation. Answers to these and other questions can be found in an interview with Viktor Tsoi.

Viktor Tsoi always found time to communicate with journalists. For example, before concerts in Moscow in October 1989, for 4-5 hours, together with his producer Yuri Aizenshpis, he bypassed the major editorial offices of all Moscow newspapers. In each touring city, Tsoi gave at least one interview to a major local newspaper. If Viktor, in the face of a journalist, met a truly sympathetic person, then he always quite frankly answered his questions.

The first director of the Kino group, Yuri Belishkin, recalled: “1989, Volgograd, journalist, Anya Goncharova, in my opinion. The only one who got through to me and clarified all the details before interviewing Vitya. So, she talked for two and a half hours - and with whom, with Tsoi, from whom, according to most journalists, except for “yes - no - I don’t know”, you can’t get a word anymore! She just loved him as a person, empathized and wanted to understand.

Such interviews also include: Sergei Shapran in Minsk, L. Chebanyuk in Arkhangelsk, answers to notes in the DC Communications and 344 schools in Leningrad.

The "Eastern reticence" of a rock musician, which has become a myth, comes from modesty, and not from secrecy or isolation. “I answer when they ask me. If they don’t ask me, I don’t answer” - that’s his whole position.

Another thing is the questions of journalists. They, as a rule, did not differ in variety, and only for this reason the musician did not want to repeat himself, which is humanly understandable. Not every one of the “sharks of the Soviet pen” could set Victor up for frankness or simply turned out to be off topic, and therefore had to be content with monosyllabic answers.

At the same time, if he was faced with a professional journalist who knew how to put a question outside the box, then Victor's answers were also unusual and interesting. For example, we can name an interview with French journalists for the films “Rock around the Kremlin” and “Rock in the Soviets”, an interview with Sergei Sholokhov at the Golden Duke film festival, an interview in the programs “Vzglyad”, “Up to sixteen and older”, “Morning Mail” and others

We must also not forget that many of Tsoi's interviews had to be given in an atmosphere of concert noise and touring bustle.

Therefore, Viktor Tsoi's "eastern taciturnity" is a bit exaggerated. On the one hand, the innate temperament of Tsoi himself played a role in the birth of this myth. Victor's mother once recalled that, as a baby, her son preferred peace and quiet to any noise. However, what is oriental about this? You might think that all Russian talkers, and Koreans and Japanese are silent. Of course it isn't. On the other hand, the persistent myth about Tsoi's taciturnity is associated with numerous memories of this by his friends, or rather acquaintances. Everyone else had nothing to do but repeat the words of people with whom Choi, for one reason or another, did not want to be frank.

History has preserved for us unique archival photos and videos, which show how sociable, life-loving a person with a good sense of humor Victor was. The director of the film “Needle” Rashid Nugmanov recalled: “when they say about Victor that he is an unsociable person or that he is rude, repels people, this is not so. Simply, especially lately, he communicated with very few, but with friends he was a wonderful, open person. We could talk with him about anything - about cinema, about music, about life in general. But, probably, the essence of our conversations, as well as any friendly communication, was to find out if we were right: "After all, I'm right that ...".

Viktor Tsoi's interviews allow you to clearly see in his personality what is felt, but slips away in his songs. Victor almost always thought aphoristically, but he could not always formulate an answer to a question in a literary way. With certain reservations, this can be said about songs in which the boundary between the lyrical hero and the author is not always distinguishable. Tsoi's answers in some cases help to more accurately understand a particular song, which, as it were, are deciphered with the help of an interview.

There is another feature common to interviews and songs - irony. Without a special sense of humor, it is impossible to imagine Tsoi's work. "Aluminum cucumbers", "Ten to nine o'clock", "This is not love", "Films", "Baby", hooligan songs like "Passerby", "Mama Anarchy", songs with social overtones like "Boshetunmay", "Follow the yourself”, “Anthill” and some. others just differ in subtle irony. Tsoi's drawings, made in the neo-graffitism genre, are also funny and absurd in their own way.

This feature of Tsoi did not escape the rock critic Alexander Startsev, who, back in 1985, remarked about his interview: “It’s hard to convey - all the irony of Tsoi, when any phrase begins in earnest, and ends with such intonation that it’s not entirely clear, laughs he is somewhere inside, or not. Probably both at the same time."

One way or another, without an interview, the portrait of Viktor Tsoi would be incomplete. Even despite doubts about how Tsoi's answers correspond to what he actually said. In some cases, it is indeed possible to speak of the unscrupulousness of journalists. Victor himself repeatedly complained that they "will change everything so much that you don't recognize yourself."

Certainly, sometimes there are discrepancies in the recording and transcription of the interview, but in general, the coincidences are, in my opinion, at least 80 percent. Today you can not only read most of the famous interviews, but also hear and see them in the recording. The most reliable of them can become a kind of litmus test for all other publications. In the bibliography, I have indicated interviews that have been preserved on audio or video media. All of them can become a good basis for creating the collection “Viktor Tsoi. Interview book.

Bibliography of the interview with Viktor Tsoi

Compiled by Andrey Dahmer

1. Viktor Tsoi comments on the beginning of the performance of the Garin and Hyperboloids group. January 1, 1982, Moscow. The concert was recorded by Alexei Didurov. Released on disc 3 of the MP3 collection "Kino". MOROZ RECORDS. 2000-2006.
2. Viktor Tsoi comments on the song "Refrigerator". Acoustic concert in a rock club, 1982. Released on disc 5 of the MP3 collection "Kino". MOROZ RECORDS. 2000-2006.

3. Answers to questions after a performance at a concert in Moscow, January 3-4, 1983. V. Tsoi, A. Rybin. Published on disc 5 of the MP3 collection "Kino". MOROZ RECORDS. 2000-2006.
4. Brief history of Kino, interview with V. Tsoi and B. Grebenshchikov, November 1983. Leningrad, Rock Club. 11/30/1983 Full text on the Internet: .
5. Interview for the wall newspaper of the Faculty of Journalism of the Sverdlovsk University in December 1983, interviewed by Olga Tarasova. Not published.

6. Viktor Tsoi comments on the song "Trolleybus". Concert by P. Kraev (Guitar Songs), 1984. Published on disc 2 of the MP3 collection "Kino". MOROZ RECORDS. 2000-2006.
7. Viktor Tsoi comments on the song "I'm walking down the street." Mike and Choi. Concert with P. Kraev, December 1984. Released on disc 2 of the MP3 collection "Kino". MOROZ RECORDS, 2000-2006.
8. Why not Kino? Answers to questions after the speech in con. December 1984 in Akademgorodok, Novosibirsk, w. ID, No. 2 and No. 3, March-May 1985. The record has been preserved.

9. Fragment of an interview with V. Tsoi in the film “Rock Around the Kremlin”, Zarafa Films. France, summer 1985. Recording survives.
10. CINEMA: A view from the screen, interviews with V. Tsoi and Y. Kasparyan are conducted by Alek Zander (Alexander Startsev), Roxy, No. 10, September-December 1985. Leningrad. Included with abbreviations in the collection VIKTOR TsOY: Poems, documents, memoirs (L., Novy Helikon. 1991, pp. 176-177). Full text online: Goldenunder.
11. Fragments of an interview with V. Tsoi, interviewed by Joanna Stingray on Prospekt Veteranov, Leningrad, 1985. First shown on Russian television channels, selectively printed in Viktor Tsoi's album. Photo album. redwave. MOROZ RECORDS, 1996. Partially published (video) on disc 2 of the MP3 collection "Kino". MOROZ RECORDS. 2000-2006. The record has been saved.

12. V. Tsoi's interview with the Politekhnik newspaper, Leningrad, April 24, 1986. Included in the collection VIKTOR Tsoi: Poems, Documents, Memoirs (L., Novy Helikon. 1991, p. 196).
13. A short interview after a concert in Tallinn (Kreuksa House of Culture), October 5, 1986, interviewed by N. Meinert, desktop newspaper Pro Rock (press organ of the Tallinn rock club), July-October 1986. Reprinted in the collection This is sweet the word is Kamchatka (Author-comp. V. Mitin, edited by A. Rybin. M., 2005. P. 60-61).
14. From the speech of V. Tsoi in the Leningrad Youth Palace during the concert of gr. "Kino", October 19, 1986. Published on disc 6 of the MP3 collection "Kino". MOROZ RECORDS, 2000-2006.
15. Answers to questions after a performance at an unknown concert in Leningrad, 1986. Published in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-comp. V. Mitin, edited by A. Rybin. M., 2005. P. 135) . Partially published on the 2nd MP3 disc of the Kino collection. MOROZ RECORDS, 2000-2006.
16. Answers to questions after the speech by V. Tsoi and Yu. Kasparyan in Leningrad (DK Communications) in December 1986 at a meeting with the Virauka club. Published in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Ed.-ed. V. Mitin, ed. A. Rybin. M., 2005. P. 129-134). Published on disc 7 of the MP3 collection "Kino". MOROZ RECORDS, 2000-2006.

17. Fragment of an interview with V. Tsoi in the movie "Rock" (dir. A. Teacher), 1987. The recording has been preserved.
18. Interview of V. Tsoi to the newspaper "Arguments and Facts", Moscow, 1987. No. 39. Included in the collection VIKTOR TsOY: Poems, Documents, Memoirs (L., Novy Helikon. 1991, pp. 197-198).
19. Viktor Tsoi comments on the songs “I announce my home”, “We want to dance”, “This is not love”. Acoustic concert in Moscow, 1987. Published on 1 MP3 disc of the Kino collection. MOROZ RECORDS, 2000-2006.
20. Answers to questions during the speech of V. Tsoi and Y. Kasparyan in Dubna, March 1987. Published on disc 2 of the MP3 collection "Kino". MOROZ RECORDS, 2000-2006.
21. Interview of V. Tsoi to Belarusian radio, Lituanika festival in Vilnius, May 23, 1987. Published in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-compiler V. Mitin, edited by A. Rybin. M., 2005. pp. 63-64). The record has been saved.
22. We were deceived with all this... Youth of Estonia, May 9, 1988, Tallinn. Summer 1987.
23. Joanna Stingray's conversation with Viktor Tsoi, a fragment in the film "Sunny Days" (dir. D. Stingray, A. Lipnitsky), 1992. Published on DVD: Viktor Tsoi and the Kino group. Part 2. MOROZ RECORDS, 2004. Text online: Tsoi16.
24. Viktor Tsoi comments on the songs "City", "Sunny Days" and "I'm walking down the street." Viktor Tsoi's first concert in the south, 1987. Released on disc 7 of the MP3 collection "Kino". MOROZ RECORDS, 2000-2006.
25. A day at the "Kino", a conversation between Felix Aksentsev and Viktor Tsoi on the phone in November 1987, Leningrad - Alma-Ata. Published in the magazine "Rodnik" No. 10, 1988. Included in the collection VIKTOR Tsoi: Poems, documents, memories (L., Novy Helikon. 1991, p. 223-224).
26. Interview of V. Tsoi to the bulletin "New Film" ("Jana Film"), Alma-Ata, March 1988. Included in the collection VIKTOR Tsoi: Poems, Documents, Memoirs (L., Novy Helikon. 1991, p. 201-203 ).
27. Viktor Tsoi comments on the song "Watch Yourself". Concert in Alma-Ata, December 1987. Released on disc 7 of the MP3 collection "Kino". MOROZ RECORDS, 2000-2006.

28. Answers to questions during a speech at school number 344 in Leningrad. Published in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Ed.-ed. V. Mitin, ed. A. Rybin. M., 2005. P. 135-138). Published on disc 8 of the MP3 collection "Kino". MOROZ RECORDS, 2000-2006.
29. Fragments of an interview with V. Tsoi for the program “Up to 16 and older ...”, Moscow, autumn 1988. State Television and Radio Fund. BSP no. (75-0250). The record has been saved.
30. Viktor Tsoi comments on the songs of the album "This is not love." Acoustic concert at Belyaev's, 1988. Released on disc 4 of the MP3 collection "Kino". MOROZ RECORDS, 2000-2006.
31. Viktor Tsoi comments on the song "When your girlfriend is sick" and answers questions. Concert in Tallinn, March 6, 1988. Released on the 4th MP3 disc of the Kino collection. MOROZ RECORDS, 2000-2006.
32. We all have some kind of instinct, in a conversation with V. Tsoi took part: A. Astrov, V. Andreev, A. Burlaka, G. Kazakov, April 1988, RIO magazine. No. 19, 1988. Reprinted in the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, September 23, 1990. P.3. In this form, it is included in the collection VICTOR TsOY: Poems, documents, memoirs (L., Novy Helikon. 1991, pp. 181-189). Most likely, in the publication of "MK" two interviews (April 1988 and May 1990) were combined.
33. Viktor Tsoi comments on the song "When your girlfriend is sick." Concert in DK Zheleznodorozhnikov, April 1988. Released on disc 8 of the MP3 collection "Kino". MOROZ RECORDS, 2000-2006.
34. Rare blood type, answers to questions during V. Tsoi's speech at LDM, May 1988, recorded by M. Sadchikov, Kaleidoscope, No. 33, 2000. Reprinted in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-ed. In Mitin, edited by A. Rybin, Moscow, 2005, p.135).
35. I dreamed - love rules the world ... I dreamed - the dream rules the world, an interview with V. Tsoi in Voronezh was recorded by Elena Yanushevskaya, May 1988, Svestnik, No. 16, 1992. Voronezh.
36. We do not say goodbye, Viktor, an interview with Tsoi in the summer of 1988 was prepared by V. Kulikov, Tverskaya Zhizn, 1991.
37. V. Tsoi and N. Razlogova answer the questions of Sergei Sholokhov at the film festival "Golden Duke" September 16, 1988, Odessa. Published on the 3rd MP3 disc of the Kino collection. MOROZ RECORDS, 2000-2006.
38. Tsoi, who walks by himself, questions from the press conference of R. Nugmanov and V. Tsoi at the film festival "Golden Duke" (ship "Fyodor Chaliapin") September 16, 1988, Odessa. Recorded by Alexander Milkus, Krasnoyarsk Komsomolets, August 29, 1989. Published with abbreviations in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-comp. V. Mitin, ed. A. Rybin. M., 2005. P. 86-89). The record has been saved.
39. A fragment of an interview with V. Tsoi from the documentary "Rock Around the Kremlin". N.Minz. France. 1988. Recording survives.
40. New proletarian heroes, interview with V. Tsoi for the magazine 7a Paris, Paris, 1988. Translated from French.
41. Put out the light in the hall... Interview during concerts in November 1988 in Moscow was recorded by V. Mamontova. Soviet circus, 1990. Full text online:
Kinoman
42. V. Tsoi's speech to the audience at the concert-memorial of A. Bashlachev, November 20, 1988, Published on disc 9 of the MP3 collection "Kino". MOROZ RECORDS, 2000-2006.
43. Interview of V. Tsoi to Sergey Chernikov on Novosibirsk radio in December 1988, Novosibirsk. Air - February 1990. The recording has been preserved.
44. Interview of V. Tsoi to A. Kozlov during a speech in the village of Sever, Novosibirsk, December 1988. Published in January 1989. Reprinted in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-comp. V. Mitin, ed. A Rybina, Moscow, 2005, p.35).

45. V. Tsoi's interview in English to Danish radio, Copenhagen, January 14, 1989. Unpublished.
46. ​​Interview of V. Tsoi to Alma-Ata radio, Alma-Ata, February 1989. First published in the newspaper "Friendly guys", March 25, 1989. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-editor V. Mitin, under A. Rybin (ed.), M., 2005, pp. 65-67). Audio file of the interview fragment: .
47. Interview with V. Tsoi during a tour in Alma-Ata, February 1989. Alma-Ata, Tutti-news, No. 5, March 1991. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-comp. V. Mitin, under A. Rybin (ed.), M., 2005, pp. 67-69).
48. Do not create an idol for yourself, interview during a tour in Alma-Ata, February 1989. Alma-Ata, Lenin shift, June 22, 1991. Included in the collection VICTOR Tsoi: Poems, documents, memories (L., Novy Helikon. 1991, pp. 209-210).
49. Fragments of an interview with V. Tsoi in France in April 1989 from the documentary “Rock in Soviet”, France, 1989. One fragment was published on the 2nd MP3 disc of the “Kino” collection. MOROZ RECORDS, 2000-2006.
50. Viktor Tsoi: “I usually try to believe in the best”, during a tour in Murmansk, April 1989. Interviewed by Tatyana Bavykina, Murmansk, Komsomolets Zapolyarya, May 13, 1989. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Aut.-comp. V. Mitin, edited by A. Rybin, Moscow, 2005, pp. 71-73).
51. I refuse to reincarnate, an interview with Murmansk TV in April 1989. The recording has been partially preserved. Full text online:
Kinoman
52. V. Tsoi's interview with the newspaper "Soviet youth", Riga, May 6, 1989. Included in the collection VIKTOR Tsoi: Poems, documents, memories (L., Novy Helikon. 1991, p. 206-209).
53. Viktor Tsoi: “Don’t touch my soul…”, during a tour in Volgograd, April 1989. Interviewed by A. Goncharova, Volgograd, Young Leninist, May 6, 1989. Included in the collection VICTOR Tsoi: Poems, documents, memoirs (L ., New Helikon, 1991, pp. 203-206). Record saved
54. Creativity is possible without fuss, during a tour in Sverdlovsk, May 1989. O. Matushkin, To change! June 3, 1989. P. 4.
55. Interview of V. Tsoi to Sergei Shapran during a tour in Minsk (May 7, 1989), Minsk, Znamya Yunosti, September 1989. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-comp. V. Mitin, ed. A. Rybina, Moscow, 2005, pp. 73-83). The record has been saved.
56. Without hunting this interview, Krasnodar, Kinoekran Kuban, July 1, 1990. During a tour in Krasnodar, May 1989. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-comp. V. Mitin, edited by A. Rybin. M., 2005. S.126-127).
57. I sing about what excites, Olga Panchishkina talked with V. Tsoi during the tour of gr. "Cinema" in Krasnodar, May 1989, Komsomolets Kuban, June 30, 1989. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-comp. V. Mitin, ed. A. Rybin. M., 2005. P. 83- 86).
58. MOVIE Viktor Tsoi, interview with A. Petrov, Guardian of the Baltic, Kaliningrad, September 24, 1989. During a tour in Kaliningrad, September 16-17, 1989.
59. V. Tsoi: “I live in hope for a better time”, interviewed by Alexander Igudin, Leningrad, Leninskie Iskra, September 30, 1989. P.6. Reprinted with abbreviations in the magazine "Koster", No. 8, August 1991. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-compiler V. Mitin, ed. A. Rybin. M., 2005. P. 92).
60. You had strict parents, a fragment of an interview during a tour in Kharkov, September 20-21, 1989. The recording has been preserved.
61. Interview of V. Tsoi to Ukrainian radio during a tour in Kharkov, September 20-21, 1989. Program "4 M"; Published in the article Choi: "I want to be myself ..." // Paddle, No. 1-2. 1991, Kyiv. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-compiler V. Mitin, ed. A. Rybin. M., 2005. P. 89-91). The record has been saved.
62. Interview of V. Tsoi to Dmitry Shitlin, Alexei Tarnopolsky, Kharkov, Start, No. 1, 1991.
63. Ticket for the evening session, interviewed by Igor Voevodin during a tour in Moscow (October 1989), Moskovskaya Pravda, November 4, 1989. P.3. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-compiler V. Mitin, ed. A. Rybin. M., 2005. P. 94-95).
64. He does not seek fame, interview with Artur Gasparyan during a tour in Moscow (October 1989), Moskovsky Komsomolets, October 26, 1989.
65. Interview of V. Tsoi to Evgeny Stankevich for Moscow radio. During a tour in Moscow, October 1989. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-compiler V. Mitin, ed. A. Rybin. M., 2005. P. 95). The record has been saved.
66. Fragments of V. Tsoi's interview to Moscow TV during the recording of clips in October 1989. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-comp. V. Mitin, edited by A. Rybin. M., 2005. P. 92 -93). The record has been saved.
67. Fragment of an interview with V. Tsoi in the program "Vzglyad". Moscow, 1989. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-compiler V. Mitin, ed. A. Rybin. M., 2005. P. 64-65). The record has been saved.
68. Interview with V. Tsoi to Yuri Nikolaev for the Morning Mail program. Moscow, November 19, 1989. The recording has been preserved.
69. A man from the generation of janitors and watchmen, V. Tsoi was asked questions by Lev Belyaev, Krasnoyarsky Komsomolets, December 9, 1989. During a tour in Krasnoyarsk, December 1-4, 1989. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-comp. V. Mitin, edited by A. Rybin, Moscow, 2005, pp. 95-99).

70. Interview of Viktor Tsoi and Rashid Nugmanov in New York on February 6, 1990, Premier magazine, 1990.
71. Viktor Tsoi: in "Kino" and in life, interview with G. Kaipova during the tour of the "Kino" group in Tashkent, March 9-11, 1990, Tashkentskaya Pravda, May 12, 1990. Full text on the Internet: Kinoman
72. Interviewed by Y. Kazachenko during a tour in Tashkent, Vecherniy Tashkent, March 11, 1990. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-comp. V. Mitin, ed. A. Rybin. M., 2005. pp.103-104).
73. Interview of V. Tsoi to the newspaper "Komsomolets Uzbekistan", Tashkent, March 17, 1990. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-compiler V. Mitin, edited by A. Rybin. M., 2005. P. 105-106).
74. Interviewed by I. Serebryakov during the tour of the Kino group in Zaporozhye, Black Saturday, October 4, 1990.
75. One of the last interviews of Viktor Tsoi, an interview with I. Burlakova during the tour of "Kino" in Kyiv, March-April 1990, Event, March 23, 1991. Also on Ukrainian radio in the program "Gart", "UT" in June 1990. Audio recording. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-compiler V. Mitin, ed. A. Rybin. M., 2005. P. 112-113). The record has been saved.
76. Viktor Tsoi: “Our hearts demand changes!”, Tatyana Denisova and Dmitry Gordon talked with V. Tsoi, Vecherny Kyiv, April 7, 1990. P.1. During the Kino tour in Kyiv, March-April 1990.
77. ... And he said: “Good luck to everyone in the service!”, Interview with Sergeant I. Krol, Arkhangelsk, Sentry of the North, December 26, 1990 - January 1, 1991. During a tour in Kyiv, March-April 1990. Most likely, this interview revision of the previous one (76), although some new questions were added.
78. And those who go to bed, good sleep, talked with V. Tsoi Lyudmila Mykityuk and Lyudmila Chugunova, Youth of Ukraine. 4 April 1990.
79. Fragment of an interview with Alexander Yagolnik for Ukrainian radio. Radio broadcast Blitz. Aired April 18, 1990. During a tour in Kyiv, March-April 1990. The recording has been preserved.
80. Interviewed by Alexander Yagolnik during the Kino tour in Kyiv, March-April 1990.
It was printed in many versions, with a different number of questions, their different sequence and edition:
a) A place to step forward. // Komsomol banner. Kyiv, September 23, 1990 A. Yagolnik. In this form it is included in the collection VICTOR TsOY: Poems, documents, memoirs (L., Novy Helikon. 1991, pp. 257-270).
b) V. Tsoi: "I want to be myself ..." // Paddle, No. 1-2. 1991. Various interviews are combined in this publication.
c) Close the door behind me, I'm leaving! // Magazine "Club". No. 7. 1991. Abridged version.
d) I want to be myself. // Rock Fuzz, No. 7. 1992. Text on the Internet: Kinoman
81. Interview with V. Tsoi to Perm TV, Perm, April 25-28, 1990. Video. The record has been saved.
82. Interviewed by Grigory Volchek during Kino's tour in Perm, March 1990. Perm, Young Guard, April 28, 1990. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-comp. V. Mitin, ed. A Rybina, Moscow, 2005, pp. 108-111).
83. Well, but the body did not finish singing a little, Well, but the body was not given love, Perm, Young Guard, No. 30. August 25, 1990. During the Kino tour in Perm, March 1990. Text on the Internet:
Kinoman
84. Interesting "Cinema" by Viktor Tsoi, interviewed by Y. Lvov. Perm, March 1990.
85. Interview with V. Tsoi to the Evening Ufa newspaper during the Kino tour in Ufa in April 1990.
86. Star from the boiler room, interview with T. Baydakova in the summer of 1990, MS, 45th parallel, August 1991.
87. Interview of V. Tsoi to the magazine "Musical Olympus", Moscow, 1990. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-comp. V. Mitin, edited by A. Rybin. M., 2005. P. 119- 121).
88. Interview of V. Tsoi to the magazine "Soviet Screen", Moscow, No. 2. 1990. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-compiler V. Mitin, ed. A. Rybin. M., 2005. P. 127-128).
89. Interviewed by G. Zinchenko during the Kino tour in Leningrad on May 6-7, 1990, Moskovskaya Pravda, December 5, 1991. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-comp. V. Mitin, ed. A. Rybina, Moscow, 2005, pp. 115-116).
90. V. Tsoi's speech to the audience during a concert in the Sports and Concert Hall, Leningrad, May 1990. Released on disc 10 of the MP3 collection "Kino". MOROZ RECORDS, 2000-2006.
91. Viktor Tsoi: It is very important that they understand me, A. Bushuev spoke, Slava of Sevastopol, May 20, 1990. During the Kino tour in Sevastopol. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Ed.-ed. V. Mitin, ed. A. Rybin. M., 2005. P. 116-118).
92. Interviewed by V. Kulchitsky during the Kino tour in Odessa, May 15, 1990, Vechernyaya Odessa, December 4, 1990. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-comp. V. Mitin, ed. A. Rybina, Moscow, 2005, pp. 118-119).
93. I don't want to be part of… the system, interview with S. Mukhametshina. Odessa, Komsomolskaya Iskra, August 21, 1990. During a tour in Odessa, May 1990.
94. A star named Tsoi, digest interview compiled by Vladimir Chistyakov, Odnoklassnik magazine, No. 2. 1991.
95. Viktor Tsoi: “Life is not serious,” L. Chebanyuk, Severny Komsomolets spoke, June 15, 1991. Included in the collection This sweet word is Kamchatka (Author-comp. V. Mitin, edited by A. Rybin. M., 2005. S.121-126). Arkhangelsk, June 1990.
96. Blitz interview before performing at the Last Concert at Luzhniki, Moskovsky Komsomolets, June 24, 1990.
97. V. Tsoi's speech to the audience at the Last concert at the Luzhniki b / s, June 24, 1990. Published: DVD: Viktor Tsoi and the Kino group. Part 1. MOROZ RECORDS, 2004.

Note

1. The bibliography from the collection "Joseph Brodsky. Book of Interviews" was used as a sample. Comp. professor of Russian literature Valentina Polukhina. M.: Zakharov, 2005. S.757-774.

2. The collection "VIKTOR TsOY: Poems, Documents, Memoirs" (L., Novy Helikon. 1991) was repeatedly reprinted under different names. Compiled by Mariana Tsoi, Alexander Zhitinsky.

3. The collection "This sweet word is Kamchatka" (ed. by V. Mitin, edited by A. Rybin. M., 2005) can be found on the Internet. Specifically: Page Title

4. This bibliography of Viktor Tsoi's interview first published on the official website of Rashid Nugmanov. Reproduction by other sites is prohibited.

I have already said that fans of Viktor Tsoi and researchers of his life and work have provided me with great help in my work. I don't want to call them "fans", because this word most often means a thoughtless and somewhat hysterical person, "turned" on the subject of his blind love.

I do not argue that Tsoi has such fans.

But I'm talking about others who supplied me with materials and documents that I didn't have. Their names are listed in the preface to the book.

Discussing with them various problems related to the organization of this documentary book, we came to the conclusion that it would be good to give the floor to Viktor Tsoi himself, to hear his direct speech after we listened to a lot of third-party testimonies.

Therefore, in Appendix I, I give fragments of a small book published by Andrey Dahmer in a limited edition. He collected and arranged by topic numerous statements by Tsoi from various interviews - from the earliest to the latest. It turned out a curious picture, part of which, with the permission of Andrey, I place here.

In Appendix II, you can get acquainted with a fairly complete chronology of the life and work of Viktor Tsoi and the Kino group. This list of dates and events is also taken from www.yahha.com and is the result of a collective effort.

Music

"Kino" was conceived as a semi-acoustic group"

A very important point is my acquaintance with Borey. I was then seventeen years old. I had three songs written, in general, I was just starting. And we met in a restaurant, at some kind of birthday party. I sang "My friends" there. We met but didn't see each other for a long time. Then there was a concert of "Aquarium" at the university, on the way back in the train I sang a few more songs. Then again some kind of birthday, and then the conversation - kind words from Boris, promises to help us. I then already got along with Lesha Rybin. The first concert in a rock club, in 1981, we played in the following composition: me and Fish, drums - the soundtrack of an electric drum set sounded, Misha Vasiliev (from Aquarium) played bass, and Dyusha (Andrey Romanov, also " Aquarium") - keyboards. The concert went off without a hitch, and both we and the audience liked it.

Then the film was made. We recorded it in principle quickly, but there were long pauses between the days of recording. It was not completed, it came out without overdubs, bare bones, such a “bardic version”. I only had time to add bass to three songs, and then I did it myself. Of course, we would have finished it, but some kind of crap with the studio came out, and we released the film. I was ashamed to listen to it, but already now, in hindsight, I understand that Boris was right, the film did its job. To my surprise, it sold very quickly and well. Invitations to concerts from different parts of the country followed, we began to travel to Moscow, we were there a lot and often, in Leningrad it was more difficult with performances, we often played in apartments. As a rule, an acoustic version was played. "Kino", by the way, was conceived as a semi-acoustic group, at first there were three of us, then the third went into the army.

In general, the role of BG in the filming of "Kino" is priceless?

Exactly. "Cinema" was born in conversations, in long friendly conversations. Later, after this first film, I tried to write on my own, but I realized that I alone could not raise this whole thing. BG produced the record, helped with the first concert, and we quite often perform with him in the same program, we are the department, then Aquarium.

Leningrad, December 1983

I started playing around the end of 1981. Or in the middle of 1981. I wrote those fifteen or sixteen songs that were on the first album. In 1982 we recorded them.

... The group as such, in general, is a very long story, how the group appeared, it already exists now, and when it appeared, I even find it difficult to say, because the first recording was made in 1982. And I was helped to do it mainly by the musicians from the Aquarium group ... Then I had to perform all the time with musicians whom I just invited to play, I didn’t have my own musicians. In 1984, already in the year, around the winter, we began to write the second album ... And then more or less the line-up began to take shape, that is, we began to write it together, then the bass player Sasha Titov appeared, a very good bass player, I love him very much , he is now playing in the Aquarium group and in parallel in the Kino group. Previously, he played in the bands "Zemlyane", "August" ... Maybe it's fun, but he actually plays very well. Then a drummer appeared, a very good drummer, I consider him one of the best drummers in Leningrad, because he is not so much technical as a musician, but he understands what is modern and what is fashionable. He is a very stylish person and plays, so to speak, the last violin.

As such, the group appeared in principle after the recording, in the spring. We immediately began to prepare for the festival that we had. Festival of Leningrad amateur rock groups. We prepared, played at the festival very successfully, became laureates.

Novosibirsk, December 1984

In 1982, the Kino group was formed. At first the group was acoustic, we played together with a friend on guitars, and a third person tapped us on drums. Then for a long time I was looking for some kind of electric composition, then I found it, then the Kino group appeared. Then everyone became artists and film actors, composers.

Leningrad, February 1988

Why is the group called "Kino"?

For some reason, everyone asks this question. I'll explain now. A young band that has just got together and still has no idea what it will do, comes up with, say, the name "Hooligans", and then it turns out that the music turns out to be quite decent and the name does not match. Accordingly, the name should be taken as vague, abstract, well, and somehow memorable. And when we took this name, I proceeded from the fact that the word “cinema” is very often used in the language, hangs on cinemas and can be interpreted ... it cannot even be interpreted in any way.

Moscow, autumn 1988

"BEING A MUSICIAN IS A GREAT HAPPINESS FOR ME"

What I want? I just want to play our music. The music we make. I want people to listen to this music, at least a few people, at least those who can come to concerts, listen to recordings ... There are problems, but everyone has problems. Being a musician and playing what you want is a great happiness for me. And that's why I'm interested in life. I don't really think about problems.

I never wanted and never tried to become a professional musician, because it involves more problems for me than just, for example, working somewhere and playing with the guys the music that I want. All musicians, one way or another, become dependent on some organizations, and they can no longer do what they want. They have to work just for money.

Leningrad, 1985

Rather, I just did what I like, and I was philosophical about some obstacles that I had to overcome. Because I knew for sure that I was not doing anything bad. By and large, all these conflicts with rock did not affect me. They don't care about me. He cares about the attitude of people - in the mass. And I wouldn't agree to trade places with... who better to remember? In general, with any representative of the popular stage.

Tallinn, summer 1987

Now practically we can play almost anything we want, and music has always been the main thing for us. True, it did not provide a means of material existence, so we all still worked somewhere, I, for example, in a stoker. This occupation is quite common among amateur musicians, giving a little money, but a lot of free time.

And rock music for me, as well as for a huge mass of young people, is a completely natural and organic form of self-expression. There is nothing opportunistic, custom-made in it. Only you, your conscience - your main critic and censor. And this position does not need to be advertised on every corner. It just needs to be realized, embodied in a song. As time has shown, it was not an accidental fad of fashion that appeared, but a social phenomenon - modern music. And, it seems to me, with rather blurred genre boundaries. For example, I often perform as a singer-songwriter. In general, for me there is just a song. You can sing it alone with a guitar, you can sing it in a group, you can - accompanied by an orchestra of three hundred people. It does not matter…

Alma-Ata, autumn-winter 1987

Personally, I try to do pop music, not rock ... Yes, I do pop music. Music should cover everything: it should, when necessary, make you laugh, when necessary, amuse, and when necessary, make you think. Music should not only call for going to smash the Winter Palace. She must be listened to.

Leningrad, 1988–1990

For a real musician, the circumstances of his outer life are almost of no importance. In order to do something, he needs a tool and nothing more. The only thing he needs is to do something and not wait. I know a lot of people who say: if only we had equipment... Our group has no equipment at all, no, except for instruments. However, we continue to do something, and they sit and wait until they have the equipment.

There may come a time when I feel that I can only repeat or work, play concerts, become a professional musician. When that moment comes, I will stop doing it. I do not think that this is a betrayal, on the contrary, an honest departure from the stage.

There are people who need different levels of comfort. One absolutely needs to live in a good apartment, have a car, a dacha, and so on ... The other does not. And one is ready to compromise for this, and the other is not ready. The material level affects everyone in its own way. When I started doing rock music, the last thing I thought about was money. Then it was clear that, apart from troubles (and the most serious ones), you would not get anything for it. And as for money, it's just ridiculous ... However, for most of our musical career in Leningrad (six years) we did this for free, enduring a lot of inconvenience both in private life and in public. There were a lot of problems because of this. We were much poorer than we could have been, working some jobs. And all the time they faced persecution, they were people with a completely ruined reputation.

Volgograd, April 1989

"ROCK IS A PART OF RUSSIAN CULTURE"

I want people in the West to understand that this is not something passing. This is a part of Russian culture that you can't throw away anywhere. The main difference lies in the fact that everything that drives us is just an inner craving for creativity, which, perhaps, even many stars in the West who simply fulfill contracts do not have.

I'm very interested in understanding the approach of musicians in the West. I've heard that for a lot of them it's just a job, they're just playing for the money, and if you give them more money, they'll move to another band. I don't represent it here. None of us would go to another group if there were better conditions.

Leningrad, 1985

Only the form came from the West: electric guitars, drums, amplifying equipment. But the borrowing of a form does not mean at all that this music is a wholly borrowed phenomenon. I believe that it is now a truly living musical form, and moreover, this is music that remains a social phenomenon, this is mass folk art.

In principle, rock music in social terms is a rather strong thing, among the musicians there are people who are trusted, and they can do a lot. If we were more often given the opportunity to speak in newspapers, on television, to express our point of view on various issues, then maybe my music and lyrics would be different. And since, say, I do not have such an opportunity, I try to express everything in songs.

Moscow, 1987

Socio-political themes of the songs? This is what always annoyed me. Maybe it's necessary, but I really don't like it. I do not like that the groups are somehow exchanged. It's very similar to... There is a novel and an article in a newspaper... And now, it seems to me that recently a lot of groups, especially in Leningrad, for some reason are engaged in journalism, and not writing songs.

Leningrad, 1988–1990

There is a lot of imitativeness in our rock music. Too much. And I think that as soon as this music is composed in Russia, then at least some elements of Russian folklore should be present in it.

Tver, summer 1988

We just have a lot of bad rock bands in the country. Lots of. Because, in principle, the form is very simple. It is very easy to master the form. A person who plays the guitar for a year or two can gather four or five of the same guys, and, in principle, they will get something formally similar to rock music. And they start playing somewhere, performing. And there are many such groups.

Now, of course, the situation is difficult. There are really very few groups that can gather a large hall. But I don't see any signs of it dying off somehow. It's just that at some time rock was, so to speak, a fashionable topic and forbidden. And any group, if it says "rock band", you remember, came, and if it was some other English one, then there would definitely be a full house. Not anymore. Now even good groups come to us - English, American. They don't collect the hall from us, because rock has become normal. It's, well, music. And here the choice is already not because of fashion, but if you like it. People go for who they like.

Minsk, May 1989

We have all changed, and not always for the better. Now we get good money for concerts, we have the opportunity to record in the West, we have good instruments and the largest halls ... Life goes on. We gain a lot. But in this movement, you always have to leave something, sacrifice something ... True, we have sacrificed too much.

Tashkent, March 1990

Something else is not clear to me: why in 1990 our bands are trying to be like the punks of the 75th year, or even worse - they start playing hard. Why do they choose their analogues and prototypes? This is what I really don't understand.

Leningrad, 1988–1990

"I AM NOT A SUPPORTER OF ANY STYLES"

There are many good bands in Leningrad, but Kino deals with the problems of style, fashion, the problems of the younger generation, the problems of teenagers. We are also all artists, philosophers, sociologists and closely follow fashion ... We make music that we like, no matter what (ironically).

Leningrad, summer 1985

I don't know what "style" and "change in style" are at all. It's just that we've always played music the way we like it, and we'll play the music we like. I don't know, maybe she will change, maybe not.

Good music should be energetic, and I don’t want to use the word “honest”, but it always feels like this is made by a person, because he does it and doesn’t want to and can’t do it anymore, but this is made by a person, because he believes that so you need, it will be better to buy.

Alma-Ata, February 1989

Kino has developed its own style, which I think is great. We have been looking for a musical form that the audience likes for a long time, and as soon as we feel that we are tired, we will immediately change the record ...

Kyiv, March 1990

"WE DO THE ARRANGEMENT OF SONGS TOGETHER"

I must say that I do not consider myself a guitarist at all. I play the guitar rather mediocrely and perform mainly rhythmic functions in the band. In principle, I can play some kind of accompaniment, but it doesn’t go beyond that. What I do is that I write songs and arrange them. I work with the guys, all the guys play better than me.

In principle, I roughly imagine what other tools will do. Then I meet with the guys, play, sing, and with them we finally finalize. That is, the Kino group takes part in the arrangements.

Novosibirsk, December 1984

We all have some kind of flair in the band - when I come and show a new song, we start thinking about it - what bass should play, what guitar and so on. And when, for example, Yurik proposes such and such a game, as a rule, several voices are heard - “this is cool”, “this is crap”, “we won’t play this” ... We just try to make sure that we all like it. But it doesn't always work out.

Recently, such a trend has appeared in the press - "Viktor Tsoi and the Kino group." Why Tsoi and the Kino group? Unclear. I really don't like this trend, and I wish it didn't happen. We do everything together, and there is no need to separate ...

Leningrad, 1988–1990

"ALWAYS WANT TO REGISTER"

Album "Blood Type"? He's probably better than everyone else. In any case, more relevant. But it also has a lot of errors. Maybe we would like to remake it, but then we thought about it and decided that if we constantly remake the same songs, then ...

Leningrad, 1988–1990

This is a tape album "Night", which we recorded (by the way, I don't really like it) and which was released for some reason by the Melodiya company. I don't know how. Nothing agreed with me, neither the content of the text on the cover, nor the photographs, nor the design ... I saw it with my friends. There were rumors that Melodiya seemed to be releasing, but I treated it as a rumor, but when I saw it, there was nothing left but to admit an unpleasant fact that had come to pass ... It's unpleasant, because I myself wanted to be able to subscribe to any the thing that I made. And here this thing, which had already passed through other heads, was deformed accordingly ... To be honest, it was a shame that they didn’t even ask me whether I wanted to release the Night album or not. Now I was offered to make a record, but I refused, because a tape album is one thing, and a record is another. A good record must be well recorded. I had telephone conversations with someone from Melodiya a few years ago. They offered me to release some record. It was about releasing from some ready-made tape albums. To which I said no, I don't want to, and in turn suggested: give us some studio time and we'll record a record. On this our negotiations stopped, and then this album was released on a record.

Novosibirsk, December 1988

One album, of course, would not have introduced the Kino group, and most of all it looks like what we are now - of course, this is the Blood Type album. And of the old albums, I like the first album the most (“45.” - Note comp.), because ... Well, I don’t know why, but I like it. Another thing is that I kind of grew out of it a little already.

Murmansk, April 1989

They suggested, for example, to sing a couple of things in English. I tried it. Did not like. It is possible, however, that someday this will happen ...

Kyiv, March 1990

"TV CAN GIVE THE MOST COMPLETE VIEW"

Television is very important. And it is a pity that it is lame. Television is the most important thing. Because the material in the newspaper is the material in the newspaper. Radio - too, but the quality is mediocre. And television is both an audio and a visual impact. Television can give the most complete picture ... I tried to deal with television a few years ago - we recorded the song "Films". Later they shot the song "War". They look like twin brothers. We watched these videos, and then I decided not to deal with television at all ... There is a pirated recording of "Aluminum Cucumbers" with acoustics, from some kind of concert. I think it's even black and white. Another song "In our eyes" is waiting. Well, now they are telling me: “We have reorganized, now only professionals work for us, everything is fine with us, we will make such and such a video - just ...” We just recorded two songs in Moscow, but, apparently, it will be that the same as before. And so I won't do business with them.

Leningrad, 1988–1990

"THE ONLY OPPORTUNITY TO BRING THE SONG TO THE PUBLIC"

It is impossible to get a complete picture of a group only from its records. And since we do not have the opportunity to shoot videos, we can show ourselves only at concerts and this is very important.

The concert is the only opportunity to bring the song to the public, to put it in some kind of the most understandable context. For me, the concepts of just writing a song and performing it at a concert are inseparable. It's like writing a song right at the concert.

We also like to deal with costumes, some style problems. The rest of the bands are trying to look, maybe not even though themselves, like their western rock heroes, for example, dress the same way. We went through this and now we are trying to make some kind of our own style in clothes, our own style of behavior, our own style of movement, our own style of show.

Leningrad, 1985

I see no reason to refuse to invite any clubs. As for the acoustics, I think that it is not quite suitable here, as well as the equipment for the band's performance. And then I like to play more with a whole group, and not with such a line-up.

As for the Yubileiny, I am not a supporter, in principle, of mass culture, therefore, I am sure that many random people will come to such a large hall who just come ... I think that many people come to the Aquarium simply because newspapers - the Aquarium group, rumors are circulating. Whether they really like it, I'm not sure. Or maybe they have been influenced by their acquaintances who listen to Aquarium. I want it to be a little, but for everyone to understand.

Leningrad, December 1986

I, in turn, would like to say a few words in my defense against the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper. I want to say that Moscow is the only city, I have recently been to several cities where, it turns out, dancing is a crime, where, it turns out, if the girls want to give the group flowers, then they are simply beaten for this (laughs).

I would not like to make any scandals, but if there are journalists in the hall, then maybe we need to somehow change the situation. After our concerts, finally, they thought to remove the stalls. Although we had such an agreement. They (the organizers of the concerts at Luzhniki in the autumn of 1988 - Note, comp.) invited me to their meeting: "Viktor, what should we do, how should we be, we broke all the chairs." I say the only way to save the chairs is to remove them so people can dance. They said okay, but if you can, please tell the public that there are no murders, etc. I said the same: okay. But when we came to our second concert, instead of removing the chairs, there were even more of them, and of course they were broken again, and of course, I considered myself free from any obligations, etc.

Do you love touring?

Murmansk, April 1989

What is a reasonable percentage of commerce and art?

What percentage, you need to earn a living and earn more. I try to play as few gigs as possible and travel as little as possible and spend more time working, or in the studio, or rehearsing, or whatever, or writing songs. Therefore, we do not go more than once a month ... No, if we go, once a month, that's enough for us, we go, we play five concerts, somewhere there ...

Moscow, October 1989

Over the past month, I don’t remember what the touring city is. Forces are not enough to discern each individuality. Especially if it is not entertaining, but educational in nature and is associated with some kind of mental expense.

Arkhangelsk, June 1990

The popularity of our rock in the West? Yes, I already knew that no one needed him there. They just don't know him. They look with some surprise, because from the USSR: “Oh, you also have groups?! Do you still play guitars?

Did the press write that Kino was not accepted there?

Actually, there was no one to accept. We went to record a record. And they spoke only to journalists - they never got to the people.

Murmansk, April 1989

After this program (“Up to 16 and older.” - Notes) I just thought that I could be misunderstood. And so it happened, because many later told me: you are such a hero, you refuse, everyone who travels is bad, but you yourself ... But the fact is that I meant that now in the West there is a very strong fashion for Russia: Soviet symbols and everything Soviet. But the attitude to all this is very frivolous, as to nesting dolls: they say, look; Russians play guitars almost the same way as we do. And a lot of bands, using the opportunity, simply rushed headlong abroad, consciously going to the fact that they would be accepted there on the worst conditions, both financial and concert. I least of all wanted to look like such a “matryoshka”. This is roughly what I meant. In my opinion, it's better not to travel at all than to travel like this, when a group travels to any country for free, plays for daily allowances ... The point here is not so much about money, but about the prestige of the country. Their goal, as it becomes clear, is not to play music and not in order to achieve some kind of understanding, but still to be abroad. Tourist destination. Therefore, if you really want to go abroad, then it’s better to go as a tourist. As for us, we nevertheless made an attempt to do otherwise. First, we first released a record in France. Secondly, it was not just an event like "Concert from Russia", but a very famous rock music festival in Europe. So I decided to go and see if communication could be established. I can’t say that it was very successful, because they expected some kind of Russian exoticism from us, but they saw actual rock music. More attention was given to the Auktyon group, because it just gave the Russian exoticism that was required, from hammers and sickles to the circus. I don’t want to organize a circus, I want people to hear music and forget where I come from, from the USSR or from Canada ...

Before that, we also traveled to Denmark. And only because there were concerts for the Armenian Foundation. They needed some Russian group for these concerts, they chose the Kino group. It was already difficult to refuse here, although, most likely, I would have refused under other conditions.

Volgograd, April 1989

Poetry, painting, cinema

"I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE WORDS AND MELODIES COME FROM"

Creativity… is now a physical need for me, like sleeping, for example. I can just look out the window, sometimes a book, a movie serves as an impetus ... You take the guitar in your hands, play it, just sort through the chords, and suddenly you find some kind of riff, words appear. A thing can change completely in the process of working on it, I mean both the rhythmic pattern and the text. It happens that phrases, words that were first in one song, then end up in another, maybe even serve as an excuse to write a new one.

Leningrad, 1985

I don't write only at night. Because it's a different process. Another thing is that I write about some night activities, but it is not necessary that I get the most impressions at night, which are then processed and become songs. As for the night and the rain, it really all somehow excites me, let's say.

Volgograd, April 1989

In order for a melody to appear, one may not have a musical education.

Minsk, May 1989

"MY SOUL - IN MY SONGS"

Almost everyone can forgive us for honesty: for example, not enough professional acting, and even not enough professional poetry. There are many examples of this. But when honesty disappears, they no longer forgive anything ... You can consider yourself honest as much as you like. The main thing is whether others think you are honest. A person who deliberately writes music in order to live in abundance, but sings that he is a fighter for an idea, is simply not believed.

I have my own position. I write songs and it's a necessary process for me. I write about what is happening around me. I don't think that with the help of material goods you can somehow lull a really talented person. Of course, it will be more difficult for him, just as it is more difficult to understand each other, for example, an unsettled person and someone who has been living in complete comfort for quite some time, and the latter is unlikely to be able to write truthfully about the problems of the former.

I write songs not because I have to, but because I personally care about problems. That's just when "needed" turns out to be dishonest. And if I don’t care about some problem, if I didn’t feel something that would hurt me, I can’t write a song.

I believe that words play a huge role. It often happens that the lyrics dominate the music. And this, in principle, is the only way for amateur bands to somehow survive, because with the current level of development of reproducing, sound recording technology, we cannot compete with Western musicians who have the opportunity to record in special studios, to make much better quality music ... And if we also had weak texts, then no one would simply listen to us.

Moscow, 1987

Do the "I" in the songs coincide with your own "I"?

Sometimes completely, sometimes partially, sometimes not at all. Each time in its own way.

Leningrad - Alma-Ata, November 1987

- "The world of Tsoi is a brotherhood of singles, united by the lack of a way out"?

This is a brotherhood of loners, but not united by the lack of a way out. There is a real way out ... Well, you can talk about this for a long time.

Of course, some changes are visible, but they do not affect creativity in any way. How can they be reflected? I'm not a singer of social protest, I don't write songs "on the topic of the day."

When it comes to songs, I'm just a supporter of the word "I". As for the word "we", I don't really like it myself. How to say, not that I don't like it very much. I myself sing songs of this kind, but in principle this way can sometimes lead to much more terrible things than the word "I". Someone said a wonderful phrase that the word “we” in history has always covered the very last bastards ... The word “I” is in a sense more honest. When a person answers for himself: “I think so” ... But this is also not always true, because I heard a lot of songs with the word “we”, and I like them ...

Volgograd, April 1989

If I wrote songs and at the same time put some special responsibility into them, thought about it, it would be bad. I don't like people who think they are prophets and think they can teach others how to live. I sing about my problems, hobbies and I'm not going to teach anyone how to live. If someone likes the songs, then, of course, I'm glad.

and yet - do not take our songs as the ultimate truth. These are just songs written to the lyrics of one person who can be wrong.

Krasnodar, May 1989

My soul is in my songs.

Leningrad, October 1989

"ROOTS, DEFINITELY SOMETHING"

We tried our best to avoid imitations, of course. Another thing is that when you listen to a lot of music, it inevitably affects you somehow. Therefore, maybe in some songs there is an influence of reggae, some songs, something else.

Minsk, May 1989

All the people with whom I was one way or another friends in my life had some kind of influence on me, just as maybe I on them.

Kharkov, September 1989

"THE SONGS ARE SO MANY MISSED"

At the same time, there are different texts, in terms of the listeners' attitude towards them and in terms of my approach to them. For example, the question: what does the word "Kamchatka" mean to me? Nothing concrete, I have never been there, it only emphasizes a certain absurdity of the text, its fantasticness. "Kamchatka" and "Aluminum Cucumbers" are purely phonetics and, perhaps, some key points that are not interconnected and have the task of evoking associative links. You can call it real fantasy. One can to some extent compare this approach with Ionesco's theater of the absurd. Only we do not have a gloomy resolution of the elements of reality, but a more cheerful one. But there are other things with a very specific situation, for example, "Blazon", "Beatnik", in some ways - "Trolleybus". Or - "There is time, but no money" - anyone can understand this situation.

Leningrad, 1988–1990

Art School. V. Serov? They kicked me out, but in many ways it was also my fault, because I can’t say that I had a special academic record, since at that time I became interested in music. Since this was already completely uninteresting for me, it was completely natural - if they had not kicked me out, I would have left myself.

Volgograd, April 1989

What did you want to be as a child?

Artist.

What do you do in your free time?

As a failed artist, I draw for the soul.

Krasnoyarsk, December 1989

Of course, this is a great idea - the Kino group is performing in the hall, and my paintings are in the lobby, and especially the work of our drummer Georgy Guryanov, a well-known avant-garde artist well known outside our country, but much less so in the Union. But for such a serious tour, for an attempt to reveal oneself in the most versatile way as a creative person, unfortunately, there is almost never enough time, I would say the depth of the organization of the tour. Our managers, unfortunately, consider it their main task to extract maximum profit. They do not take into account the creative side of the tour. And in vain. During my performances in America, American managers immediately arranged an exhibition of my work. This, as they explained, added to my "long-term popularity" significantly.

In our country, unfortunately, managers have not yet learned to think long-term, they live mainly by momentary calculation. Brings Tsoi more profit as a musician - we will squeeze everything we can out of this. And let the artist Tsoi be better known in America or in France - after all, our exhibition halls generate income many times less than concert halls. By saying all this, I mean not only myself, but also managers, not of a local scale, but of the highest rank.

Tashkent, March 1990

Which artist do you appreciate the most?

Georgy Guryanov.

Perm, April 1990

"END OF VACATION", "YA-XHA!", "ROCK", "ASSA"

Cinema? Invited. First, to Kyiv for the musical film "The End of Vacation". Our whole group took part in it.

He played a major role there and wrote five songs, then Rashid appeared, and there was a work about Leningrad rock - the film "Yah-ha!". He also starred in Solovyov's "Assa" and in the film by Alexei Uchitel "Seven Notes for Reflection" ("Rock." - Note comp.), also about rock music.

Alma-Ata, autumn-winter 1987

- "Rock" - he is a little sentimental, slobbery; Grebenshchikov with kids, and so on… “Assa” was also created by a person not of our generation. I like The Needle more... A brazen movie.

Murmansk, April 1989

I don’t really understand why the song “Change!” this picture needs (“Assa.” - Notes. Comp.). Because the song there looks, in my opinion, such a false tooth. I, in the end, could not imagine what the end result would be. The director alone is responsible for all this. I'm just glad that I managed to look as separate from everything else in this film.

"NEEDLE"

In fact, The Needle was made in such a way that we, on the contrary, tried to treat all the Superman things with some irony and a little laugh about it.

Alma-Ata, February 1989

Actually, I did not create anything, I just tried to be natural ... And yet I allowed myself some experiments. Well, sometimes it's interesting to portray, say, a boor. I would never have acted like this in my life. But still, this is not far from the real character, the film was made without any costumes and hairstyles. As I walked down the street, I entered the frame. The film was shot by my friend Rashid Nugmanov. He called me and offered me the job. We had, of course, the original literary script, and then Rashid wrote the director's script, with significant changes. In the end, almost nothing remained of the original.

Volgograd, April 1989

The character turned out to be generally, it seems to me, pretty, although in some places it shines with the lack of good manners ... I did not like the movie, which is seriously similar to life. Enough of what we see around us, we want to see something else on the screen, and I hope it will be clear to the audience that we did this film not without irony ... It seems that Buñuel said at the time; cinema exists to entertain oneself and entertain one's friends. Friends were satisfied, and I was satisfied ... We worked in the studio for two weeks on the music for this film, made a soundtrack for thirty minutes, and it is a pity that it entered the picture only in small fragments among radio and television programs with classical and pop music. By agreeing to be the composer of the picture, I assumed that it would be a film using only rock music.

Krasnodar, May 1989

It was hard and very tiring. You know, moving back and forth across the country… Although it was rather interesting, because I was placed in the optimal conditions in which a film actor can work (if, of course, this work is called film acting). Director Rashid Nugmanov is my friend, we have similar views, so we did whatever we wanted, and I never had to step on my own throat. We are friends, so if I didn’t like something at all, Rashid refused it ... Of course, Nugmanov had his own opinion, and I had my own, which is inevitable. We argued a lot with him, and he had much more rights. But it did not bother me, so we are going to write the script and shoot again ... The script, which the previous director refused, fell into our hands two weeks before the start of the filming period. We read it and set it aside. They filmed the same story, but the texts were already invented by themselves on the sites.

Moscow, 1990.

"IDEAS REGARDING CINEMATOGRAPHY"

I have been playing and singing for a long time and I know approximately the reaction of the audience to this or that song, but it is very tempting to try myself in a completely different capacity and try to achieve what you want. In recent years, it turns out that I am constantly busy shooting, one picture ends and another immediately begins.

Will cinema dominate creativity?

I don't think. Because the opponent of reincarnation. The main thing is to remain yourself, and this is impossible for a professional actor. It's hard to predict ahead though. It seems to me that cinema and music, complementing each other, can coexist in my life.

Alma-Ata, autumn-winter 1987

I have my own ideas about cinema, and the director, as a rule, has his own. After these films, I was offered to act a lot, but there I had to act like a professional actor, wear some kind of costume, pronounce lines that rely on the script ... I'm not interested.

Volgograd, April 1989

Philosophy of life

"I AM NOT A HERO"

Heroes make Leningrad rock, jesters make Moscow rock.

New York, February 1990

No person can always be strong. I think that any of those present here and generally living on Earth at some moments is capable of weakness and is capable of strong deeds. I don't think I'm any different from everyone else.

Considering yourself a leader is again being obsessed with educating the masses. That is, if you take the liberty of saying: “Everyone is behind me! Went!" - then this is already wrong ... It would not be me if I led someone somewhere. I think that it is very stupid and perhaps even criminal to be obsessed with the idea of ​​educating the masses. I do not expect anyone to re-educate, set on the right path, and so on. I'm just glad that at the moment I have quite a lot of like-minded people, that is, if people like my songs, then they find something in common and close to them. That's all.

Kyiv, March 1990

It is often written that Choi is a shaman. This is nonsense. I just sing.

Perm, April 1990

Do you have a need to believe in something mythical, like God?

No, probably not. But I can’t call myself a “militant atheist” either. So somehow...

How do you feel about God?

How I relate to God. This is not an idol and not an indiscriminate healer. This is God, and it is inappropriate to apply our ordinary emotions to him.

Arkhangelsk, June 1990

"I DON'T THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE"

I never forecast more than one day. I always do only what I like. I don't know what I will do in the future. But what I will do, I will like. This is the main criterion for me in life.

Odessa, September 1988

I don't think about the future of Kino and the future in general, because life is full of accidents...

Leningrad, May 1990

I think that in the summer we will record a new album, and in the fall we will start shooting a new film, and in the winter, I think you will all see it.

"I AM NOT LOOKING FOR POPULARITY"

Viktor Tsoi is facing "star disease"?

I don't know where such a conclusion could come from. It's not for me to judge. I take it very cool. I don't like being recognized on the street, stopped. Demonstration is alien to me. “Look who’s coming”… I rather want to do this, of course, I’m pleased that people like music, that people come to concerts, that the hall is always full, etc. But I perfectly understand how much it is a matter of getting on time. In a sense, I got into it, if I like it, but in the same way I might not have got into it, the songs would not have become worse from this, the music too, but it would have been ... It's not even luck, some flair maybe ... It is hard to say. In any case, we always do what we like first of all.

Moscow, summer-autumn 1988

We treat popularity with humor. This is a random thing. I generally try never to assume anything.

Alma-Ata, February 1989

I didn't go anywhere. I did what I like. And he was, so to speak, quite pleased with it. So it wasn't hard. And I never tried to succeed there at any cost, etc. It just happened that way. And I'm certainly very happy that a lot of people like the songs. It's all for me the situation is kind of internal. Exactly the same as it was five years ago, and three.

Afraid if popularity starts to fade?

I never aspired to popularity, so I'm not afraid... I don't think about popularity at all... I didn't aspire to it. Therefore, I never think about what is the secret, how, where, what is the secret of success, how to achieve it there, etc.

Was there a desire and premonition of glory in childhood, youth?

I think every teenager dreams of somehow asserting himself. Therefore, of course, maybe there was a desire ... When there is a desire, there is something ... If then it comes, then it seems that I had a presentiment from birth. And if it doesn’t come, then it seems that there was no such premonition (with irony).

What does an artist have to give up?

From the pleasure of walking the streets. From the pleasure of living in the same city for more than a month. Rest near Riga? I'm afraid it's a secret, because already last year some companies visited me there. If I tell you where, I'm afraid it will be very difficult to live there this year.

Minsk, May 1989

Does the number of people in the hall matter?

Highly. Very important. That is, I’m terribly afraid, it’s just that I have such a fear, I’m terribly afraid of empty seats in the hall, because it means that, I don’t know ... I would probably be very upset. Therefore, when I am offered some concerts, I always try to have fewer of them, I ask many times how it is, people buy tickets, go to concerts or not.

How would you react if a marble commemorative plaque is attached to your stoker: “Tsoi lived and worked here”?

Hope this doesn't happen. If it happens, then calmly, just as I relate to fame. This is all (wealth, love, fame, etc. - note comp.) things incidental and not important to me. First of all, I'm talking about the material side of the issue. I don't make music for that, so I don't think I've reached my goal in life. About what I aspire to, in a nutshell can not be said.

Krasnoyarsk, December 1989

We will never be out of work ... For me, this is not the main thing at all, but even if I find myself, for example, in prison and I have a six-string guitar there, I will no longer be out of work ... Because I will do my own thing. And some external factors: a stadium, a basement, an apartment, anything else - where it doesn’t play a special role for us ... Of course, I wanted to be popular so that large halls would gather, but I never considered this the most important, the most important. Because popularity is a thing that depends on so many factors, on the factor of social topicality, for example, I could just as well not get into the stream, but this would not change anything, the songs would remain the same.

Of course, I would like most of all not to sully, say, my good name. So that no one has a reason to reproach me for something, everything else is not important to me.

Kyiv, March 1990

"I'M LOOKING FOR UNDERSTANDING"

If I want (and I want) to reach a professional level, if I want (and I want) to achieve an equal dialogue with the audience, I need to expand the field of my activity. I am not a supporter of those who claim that people do not understand us. So, you need to do something else - to understand. Therefore, I need poetry, and music, and painting, and cinema in order to make it easier to find a common language with people. I feel that now I can't always reach an understanding with someone, especially with people of the older generation. It is difficult for me in this situation, because they think differently. Naturally, people cannot think alike, but they must understand each other. That's why they are people.

Tallinn, summer 1987

The most important thing is that people would like to reach some kind of mutual understanding, so that these huge mixed nationalities, religions, social systems would finally understand each other, if possible ... And then everything would fall into place, and there would be no more desires would not be.

Kyiv, March 1990

"INTERNAL FREEDOM"

I try to be at peace with myself all the time. In any case, I don't see myself being taught anything. I prefer to find out everything myself. Learn from your own observations. Never trust anyone's word. I just feel free, ultimately free. I don't depend on anything at all.

Leningrad, 1987

It is more important for me to maintain some self-respect and some inner freedom that I have now, but it is very difficult to maintain it, I have to fight all sorts of temptations all the time. And I fight them… If the question is put in such a way that I will have to play music that I don’t want to play, but that people like, then it would be dishonest to play it, for me it would be a temptation.

Kyiv, March 1990

"LIVE AS YOU LIFE"

If we talk about philosophy or outlook on life, then Mike is very close to me when he says: "Live as you live." In other words, the same thing is said in the Tao Te Ching, where the principle of "non-action" is stated, but this does not mean a call to lie on your back and spit at the ceiling.

Leningrad, December 1985

Everything in my life is important to me, everything that I already ... all the mistakes. All. This is what I am now. If it wasn't for that, I would probably be different.

Moscow, autumn 1988

Have you changed in any way?

Well, people are always changing.

I don't think a person could ever be truly satisfied with life. But, on the one hand, I have always been pleased with her. And when I worked in the boiler room and threw coal into the stove, I was very pleased with life. And now, in principle, too.

Minsk, May 1989

I am very philosophical about some kind of trouble. I think that you just need to wait, and then everything will work out.

Kharkov, September 1989

In general, I don’t take anything seriously in this life and I don’t take it seriously. To be honest, I don’t take life itself seriously, because I would have to be distracted by too many unnecessary things, to do a lot of all sorts of nonsense.

Our life is generally such that if you notice everything around you, pay attention to everything, then you will constantly experience a feeling of awkwardness and inconvenience.

Are you afraid of death?

The questions that worry me the least… It's easier to be afraid of life.

Arkhangelsk, June 1990

"I AM INTERESTED IN PERSON"

I have a Cause, He began to think. - And there are people who help me, whether they like it or not, and people who interfere with me, whether they like it or not. And I am grateful to them and, in principle, I do this work for them, but it also brings satisfaction and pleasure to me.

Leningrad, February 1987

To love all mankind as a whole? No. I can't love people I don't know.

Meanness, betrayal - this does not need to be forgiven. People who have these traits are developed - I would not want them to like the Kino group ...

Moscow, November 1988

I don't want to take on anyone to judge. If a person does what I would not do, anyway, I can’t say that he is wrong, a traitor ... Each person creates his own biography.

Volgograd, April 1989

I will not undertake to judge what is a vice for a person, what is a disadvantage, and what is a virtue. In the end, there is no consensus on this matter. Therefore, I believe that a person is what he is. Good or bad - and who are the judges?

Kyiv, March 1990

What quality is valuable in people?

Individuality.

Odessa, May 1990

ABOUT PARENTS

Now my parents think that I'm minding my own business, but maybe they didn't always think so. Now, when it is more or less clear that this is somehow worth doing, when I received some recognition, then they already think so.

Minsk, May 1989

I believe that the personality is formed by itself, and parents can give an education, anything ... The personality is formed under the influence of the environment. But one and the same environment affects some people in one way, others in another way.

Kharkov, September 1989

ABOUT WOMEN

Cute traits in people? Sense of humor. Especially in girls.

Moscow, November 1988

I love fun parties. There are noisy, but boring, and there are quiet, but interesting. I am an adherent of the latter - both girls and parties.

Krasnoyarsk, December 1989

ABOUT FRIENDS

Yura Kasparyan, for example, is the guitarist of the Kino group ... He is very cheerful, loves parties, girls and entertainment very much. Igor Tikhomirov, from the Kino group, as well as from the Jungle group, is also very cheerful, but very hardworking. Hardworking and always very obliging. Gustav... Yes, I forgot to say that everyone is crazy... Gustav, this is the main madman, but he is a trendsetter and avant-garde ideologue. We are with him all the time in some kind of conflict, because he believes that all this is already a little out of fashion. He is very fashionable. Well, he is also crazy, he loves to sit at home, draw some pictures, listen to music, have parties and have fun. I also love entertainment...

Leningrad, February 1988

It is very difficult to find people who would be like-minded people, friends and at least a little bit of musicians. There are many musicians, but everyone has their own ideas, and for me, of course, it is more important that people be my friends.

Moscow, autumn 1988

About A. Rybin, BG, K. Kinchev, A. Bashlachev and others.

The fact is that for me the relationships within the group have always been very important, even more important than the musical capabilities of this or that person. With Alexei (Rybin. - Note comp.), in the last period of our cooperation, relations became more and more complicated, and this interfered with work. Perhaps the fact that all the songs on "45" were mine played a role, the album immediately became popular, and Alexey is a person, I would say, with a heightened sense of leadership. I would not interfere with him if he wanted to perform his things at concerts, we had an agreement that he would play along with me, and I would play with him. But the whole trouble is that for the entire time of our joint activity, he did not write a single song - “The Beasts” and several others were written earlier. He also constantly said that he sings better than me, arranges better, plays the guitar better. With the latter, however, I quite agree. As for the arrangements, on “45” it’s mostly my arrangements, because when I write a song, I imagine how it should sound. As for singing, it has long been a tradition in rock music that the author himself performs his works. From this point of view, I didn’t really like that Lesha performed my things at the concerts that he organized for himself, without informing me about it. In addition, perhaps his ideas about topics, sound were somewhat different from what Kino was doing, and he said that he would organize his own group, which, in his opinion, would be cooler. Well, as far as I know, he says the same thing now...

Leningrad, 1985

Where is Fish now?

I do not know. Haven't seen it in a long time, maybe a few years. “Fish” is the nickname of the guitarist ... the first guitarist of the Kino group, with whom we parted for ideological reasons.

Dubna, March 1987

I am friendly to Aquarium, we are friends. But I look with some apprehension at what they are doing now ... The path they are on is very dangerous. These big concerts and entry into professional musicians. I only hope that they will have the strength not to lose their own face… We are not going to [take this path] ourselves… As I have already said, the situation we are in, in our opinion, is the best possible.

Dubna, March 1987

Lately I don’t like the songs of the Aquarium group, the new ones, I think that they are worse than the old ones, but nevertheless I treat them very well, friendly.

Leningrad, February 1988

Boris Borisovich is my godfather, a man of high culture and morality.

Perm, April 1990

I understand ... Everyone had some such stage in life. I passed it a long time ago, and thank God.

Alma-Ata, February 1989

Some girls fall in love with actors, rock stars. I don’t know these girls, so I don’t know how to treat them either. I can’t say that I am very pleased, although, probably, such letters are not indifferent to any man. As for the phenomenon as a whole, it seems to me that there is nothing wrong with that. In youth, it is important to have some kind of romantic ideal.

Krasnoyarsk, December 1989

There are many of my paternal compatriots in Tashkent. Frankly, I was very pleased to sing for them, to see how warmly they relate to my work.

Tashkent, March 1990

Be that as it may, I do not consider that in the hall in front of me there is a raging crowd, a herd. All these are individuals, and I treat each of them with respect.

Kyiv, March 1990

If I'm afraid of anything, it's that they don't get hit in the eye with sparklers. It would be very, you know, unpleasant. In general, I love people. If you have to dislike, then this is a rare exception.

Arkhangelsk, June 1990

ABOUT THE MOTHERLAND

The attitude towards the army is very ambivalent. On the one hand, I think it is necessary for men to be able to defend their homeland, their families. On the other hand, in the army they sometimes do unnecessary things. Therefore, if we are talking about the army in the sense of what it really should do, then I am in favor with both hands.

Kaliningrad, September 1989

I was born and raised in Leningrad, and I have no connections with Korea. According to my passport, I am Russian. My father was also born here and does not speak Korean. Although, I probably still have some genetic connections, which, perhaps, manifested itself in my interest in Eastern culture.

Moscow, 1990

Krasnodar, May 1989

Which of the directors of world cinema is the most interesting, close? - I like Buñuel the most.

Moscow, 1990

Some believe that Solovyov betrayed himself by working on these films (“Assa.” - Note comp.), He began to work for the needs of mass tastes. I don’t know about the latter, but he didn’t change himself. I watched only one of his "pre-ass" work. About the dove ... The same artist, with his own style. One completes the other. It's just weird for some people. Solovyov did not cheat on himself, but on those who were accustomed only to the pictures that he shot before.

Arkhangelsk, June 1990

ABOUT MUSICAL TASTES

Tallinn, summer 1987

I really don’t see anything wrong with this (in the popularity of “Tender May” or “Mirage.” - note. sot.). It would be very boring if, for example, in the cinema there were only some serious author's films, and there were no detectives, comedies, etc. There is some popular entertainment genre, and why not? .. It's just different, it's just different things.

Murmansk, April 1989

I have never loved anyone alone. I liked some of the songs of some bands.

Minsk, May 1989

I don't like to just listen to music - I live in it. And if we talk about those creative personalities that are close and interesting to me, then there are not many of them - Nautilus Pompilius, Alice, DDT and Aquarium. This is a classic of the genre.

Leningrad, September 1989

Lots of favorite writers. Composer - Imre Kalman, poet - Shinkarev, artist - Kotelnikov.

Leningrad, December 1986

We believe Vertinsky. As a person who is pure in soul. And in himself, in his poems, songs, one can feel sincere faith, without a hint of a “commercial” character.

Tallinn, summer 1987

Some fool will spill oil on the rails, and some goat will slip, fall under a tram, and cut off his head ... Plans for tomorrow are the lot of either very limited people who think that they are able to change this life, or distressed, destitute who suspect that today is bad because it is today. Maybe I'm overly categorical.

Arkhangelsk, June 1990

P.S.

I am generally silent, I try not to speak when it is possible not to speak. That is, I prefer ... I generally like that. I just didn't save or create any image. I'm just like this and hello.

Talkative critics and journalists... These people, probably, really need to speak out. Most likely, these are somewhere very offended, or maybe humiliated people ... I have a normal attitude, I am a person who is not sociable, so I can be silent and listen. Or pretend to listen. Or not to react at all… In general, I treat journalists normally and even respect them. And I would respect it even more if they did not publish information misinforming the people, the dissemination of which is not included in my plans.

Every person, if he is not a pervert, does not like questions about his personal life. When I don't have the opportunity to sing, I'll make money by telling stories about myself and my loved ones.

Arkhangelsk, June 1990

The first three songs of Viktor Tsoi can be considered “My friends”, “Vasya loves disco, disco and sausages” (not preserved in the recording), as well as an unknown song, where there was “a phrase about metal structures ... like - all punks, everyone is against it” (Memoirs Andrey Panov, p. 79)

Memoirs of Boris Grebenshchikov about “long friendly conversations”: “When they were still with Rybin, in general, in the very initial period, I somehow got carried away, and I began to explain to Vitka why he seemed to be in charge now. I told him then that there was an "Aquarium", which more or less became something, and nevertheless said the thing that needed to be said. And now we will work with this thing. But the development of mankind does not stop there, and something is required further. We have found ours, now we are working on it and are leaving this race. There remains a vacuum. Who will fill this vacuum? And I told him: “Here you will fill it in, because you write what is necessary and how it is necessary. Therefore, you are in charge in Russia. And since Russia occupies a special place in the world, it means that you are responsible for all this in the world.” Then for a student of a woodworking vocational school, perhaps, it sounded a little paradoxical, but, in my opinion, inside he was ready for this royal mission of his, only his consciousness was not yet very ready. It was then that the path of the tiger that he followed was being developed.

Unfinished recording of the album "The Last Hero" (working title) at the Maly Drama Theater in January 1983. Of the planned twelve songs, only five were recorded (“The Last Hero”, “Spring”, “The One Who Leaves”, “Summer”, “Subject”), they were first published in 1992 on the disc “Unknown Songs of Viktor Tsoi”.

The songs not included in the album, fortunately, were preserved in a unique recording of the New Year's concert of the Garin and Hyperboloids group (1981-1982), created by Tsoi together with A. Rybin in the middle. 1981. "Kino" the group began to be called from February-March 1982.

According to the version, which at one time was voiced by Alexei Didurov, the name appeared after the New Year's tour of the Garin and Hyperboloids group in Moscow. Someone, looking at the frolicking Rybin and Tsoi, said: “Well, you guys are just a movie!” The word was immediately picked up, and after that it was assigned to the group. In his story "Cinema from the very beginning" Alexey Rybin also describes the painful search for the cherished word. According to him, the final decision in favor of Kino was made after they saw a bright red sign at one of the Leningrad cinemas.

Wed: “And when the time comes to get up, we sit, we wait” (“A Sad Song”).

Wed: “By the way, Vitya earned more money than me with music ... He always had money. Sometimes he drew posters on a large sheet of paper and sold them, five rubles a poster, you could buy three bottles of dry and a couple more bottles of beer. And he gave a lot. And when they began to perform at apartment houses, I once asked: how much do you earn? Yes, fifteen rubles, he answers. And I earned three rubles a day!” (“Valentina Tsoi: People made my son a hero!”, Komsomolskaya Pravda, 08/15/2005, No. 31, Elena Livsi). Another thing is that these fifteen rubles could not be compared with the fees that Tsoi received in the second half of the 80s. In 1985-1987, the fees for an apartment or a concert ranged from sixty to one hundred rubles. Five gigs a month was considered the norm. The average monthly salary was about 200 rubles. For three months (October 1987 - January 1988) of filming in The Needle, Tsoi, as a composer and performer of the main role, earned 2,500 rubles.
According to Yuri Aizenshpis, a ticket to a stadium concert cost 4 rubles. “From each joint concert, I received about 20% of the profit, from the remaining funds, Tsoi took 40% for himself, and 20% remained for each of the other three musicians of the group. That is, I received more than an ordinary musician, but less than a leader ... The only area of ​​\u200b\u200bfinancial investment where Victor and I were equal partners was printing and other souvenir products - invested in half and the profit was also divided in half. For 7-8 thousand people coming to the concert, up to 3 thousand posters and T-shirts were sold!!!” After Tsoi's death in August 1990, there were 5,000 rubles on his savings account. The average monthly salary in 1990 was 300 rubles, the average pension was 100 rubles.

In the songs of Viktor Tsoi, you can find a large number of reminiscences from Russian proverbs and sayings.

One song in English "Blood type" ("Blood type") is known and published.

In total, the Kino group recorded about fifteen video clips. Three video clips were filmed by French television people ("Go away", "Trolleybus", "Anarchy"), two - by Joanna Stingray, ten - by Soviet television. Together with clips from the films "End of Vacation", "Yah-ha!", "Assa" and "Needle", a serious collection is obtained for the second half of the 80s of the XX century.

Viktor Tsoi has always followed fashion in music and plasticity on stage. At one of the first electric concerts, in February 1983, "Tsoi walked five times across the stage with the duck step of Chuck Berry, as if he had not seen anything else" (p. 207). At the II LRF (1984) "Kino" performed in a role that later became classic: Tsoi with a guitar, the whole group is in black, the drummer is distinguished by playing while standing and clothes (white shirt, hat, shorts). At III LRF (1985) Tsoi "changed his manner of stage behavior and famously dances throughout the concert, although he gets a little tired by the end, but still makes a strong impression." Other memories are no less valuable: “No matter how incendiary the words are, Tsoi impassively, almost melancholy broadcasts them to the hall ... He moves around the stage with a gloomy, difficult grace, as if overcoming the resistance of the environment: so the fish would swim in jelly” (M. Timasheva ), “Tsoi is very confident in sports on stage, he has a system of movements - he is a karateka himself, his system of movements is chosen from there. And at this time, since he is doing such gymnastics on stage, he still needs to sing ... ”(S. Kuryokhin). Videos and photographs of "graceful" performances have survived: FMRL, June 1986; club "Metelitsa", 12/6/1986; Rock Club, 12/25/1986; LDM, 10/13/1987; DK MELZ, March-April 1988 and many others. etc. from the middle of 1988 (the beginning of the stellar tour), Tsoi returns to a static performance at concerts.

The Kino group performed in three compositions. The first is Tsoi with a guitar. The second (main) - drums, bass guitar, solo guitar, guitar. At different times, a second solo or bass guitar, a second drummer or keyboardist could join. The third line-up is Choi (acoustics) + Kasparyan (lead guitar). Victor means the last composition.

“Tsoi told me recently with pride: “We have now charged eighty-seven concerts!” - “Well,” I say, “do you want to earn all the money?” - "And what? As long as you can earn money, you have to earn money!” (K. Kinchev, p. 352).

Record "The Last Hero". France, 1989.

Tsoi seriously worked on the lyrics of his songs. 06 drafts and memoirs say this: “Vitka continued to check his songs, showing them to Mike and not only to him - Mike constantly had guests, and they took a lively part in the discussion of new works, or rather, not in the discussion, but in Vitka’s conviction that the song he just sang is definitely worth including in the program, that it is good, that it is very good, that it is very, very good ...
“But the text is stupid,” Vitka said. I knew that he was prevaricating - he spent a lot of time writing texts, as I said, and, of course, did not consider them stupid. He was simply afraid to look illiterate, to look like most long-haired rock club singers with their highly poetic revelations about love and peace. He was convinced that the text was good, then the bagpipes began with music. When, finally, Mike said that Vitka was simply crazy, that he had never met anyone with such suspiciousness, Tsoi gave up, smiled and agreed that, perhaps, after a side job, after editing, someday the song would be included in the number intended for performance for the viewer” (A. Rybin, p. 136).

Konstantin Kinchev had a certain influence: “It seems to me that I also somehow influenced him. Even in his manner on stage lately, I often recognized myself. And in the songs sometimes looked through. In general, he treated me with great interest, and I, accordingly, to him.

“The first album was called “45”… there was another song called, in my opinion, “I am asphalt”. By the way, the group then got some head of the road service, who helped them a lot. I don’t remember who he was, but he said that this song was about him, because he associated himself with asphalt” (A. Tropillo, p. 173).

Wed: “All last week Choi disappeared with his “eighth-grader”, as he called one young lady whom he met at the school ... Choi spent a lot of time with her and returned home enlightened and inspired by everyone to envy and surprise.
“I never would have thought that I was capable of such a romantic relationship,” he said.
On one of these evenings, after returning from another romantic walk, in just twenty minutes he composed his famous song "Eighth Grader", or rather, he did not compose, but rhymed everything that really happened to him - from "eat candy" to “triyak in geography” (p. 142). The writer A. Didurov claimed that Tsoi dedicated the "Eighth Grader" to him, and the plot of the song was suggested by his novel in verse about the "naked eighth grader".

Viktor Tsoi mastered the art of collage. His works, made in the spirit of Sots Art, impress with their skill: “Reflections of an Ordinary Fan”, “Yuri Gagarin”, etc. Tsoi’s musical vocation has always been associated with painting: starting with rock club concerts, when one could see his paintings in the foyer and paintings of his friends, and ending with lyrics that feel the artist's eye.

Georgy Guryanov (b. 1961), graduated from Leningrad State Art School No. 1, studied for a semester at the school. V. A. Serov (Tsoi studied in the same institutions a year later). In 1982 he joined the New Artists group and took part in international exhibitions of new Soviet art. From 1984 to 1990 - drummer in the Kino group. In the 90s he developed the design and symbolism of the posters of the first raves. Since 1993 he has been a professor at the Department of Painting and Photography at the New Academy of Fine Arts. Today it is the most expensive of the New Artists.

Director S. Lysenko claims that Tsoi never saw his work fully assembled. According to the memoirs of M. Tsoi and A. Lipnitsky, Victor's reaction to the film was negative: “At the end of the filming of The End of Vacation, Victor quarreled with the director and was generally very dissatisfied with the filming of this film. When he left, he said: “I will do everything so that this film is not seen” (From the answers of M. Tsoi. Minsk, March 7–8, 1992). In fact, "The End of Vacation" consists of four professionally filmed clips.

Most likely, Tsoi was not even baptized. To this question, his mother replied: “I think not. My parents and I are baptized. Mother was very religious, she always went to church on Easter. Together with dad, they wanted to baptize Vitya. But then I was very against it. He looks like a Korean. They told me: “We will baptize Vitya, but you won’t even know.” But I don't think they were baptized. They would talk. Mom was still alive when Vitya was already twenty years old ”(telephone conversation Moscow - St. Petersburg, recorded at the end of 2006). Viktor Tsoi was definitely not baptized at a conscious age. According to the memoirs of his wife Maryana Tsoi: “Viktor was not baptized and never went to church, but I think that he had his own God in his soul. He had nothing against the baptism of Sasha, he only said: “Well, look” ”(Minsk, 1991). Natalya Razlogova, with whom Tsoi spent the last three years of his life, including the last days and hours, also denied rumors about Tsoi's baptism before his death.

Compare: “Viktor Tsoi was surprisingly on time. True, many already argue that, they say, this is a conjuncture. I am absolutely convinced that the last thing Victor thought about was the resonance that his songs would cause. This is the magic of the artist - to feel time not with the mind, but with the soul ”(ROK magazine, Leningrad Rock Club, 1987).

Wed: “It has always been a mystery to me why this or that star takes off on the crest of success. Although Vitya told me that all this is nonsense and it is very easy to calculate everything and understand the situation at the moment. That in the whole culture there are certain holes that need to be plugged, worked on and made a star. You just need to feel, find this place and that's it. “Now I know all this,” he told me then” (M. Pashkov, “VIKTOR TsOY: Poems, Documents, Memoirs”, p. 47). “We all went to the dacha together, where we continued to drink, and he told me there that he had calculated everything: now they disappeared for a while, quieted down, and then he would release a film and go completely crazy. Everything will be cool. This was before the "Needle". And, in general, he calculated correctly” (K. Kinchev, “VIKTOR TsOY: Poems, Documents, Memoirs”, p. 142).

On the fortieth anniversary of Tsoi, June 22, 2002, a memorial plaque was opened in the courtyard of the boiler house. The grand opening was held by the Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg.

“Especially he did not like to talk with people much older than him, at the age of his parents. At this point, he immediately tensed up and fell silent. Apparently, he needed to know in advance that the person understood him and that he could speak with him in his own language. If he felt that this language would still have to be found, it was difficult for him” (Maxim Pashkov, “VIKTOR TSOI: Poems, Documents, Memoirs”, pp. 43–44). In the fate of Viktor Tsoi, people who were several years older than him played a big role: Boris Grebenshchikov (9 years old), Mikhail "Mike" Naumenko (7 years old), Maryana Tsoi (3 years old), Rashid Nugmanov (8 years old) and others.

Wed: "... it helps to work when you sit and know that a lot of people are waiting for new songs, you want to somehow justify your hopes."

“Once, back in 1986, we sat all night long at Marianne's house on Veterans Avenue and chatted. Marianne lit the candles, and we talked about this and that for several hours. It was already about four o'clock in the morning, somehow the conversation turned to Grebenshchikov, and Viktor said the following phrase: "Now, if Boris were to die now, he would become a legend." This phrase can be understood in any way. I looked at Victor - he had tears in his eyes. He said it very sympathetically. Did he already have a premonition then? Don't know. Again, I'm not a mystical person. But there was some magic moment in it. In Victor's mouth, this phrase was absolutely natural, there was no irony in it. He was simply the personification of romanticism, he lived in it, he was in his blood” (R. Nugmanov, “VIKTOR TsOY: Poems, Documents, Memoirs”, p. 167).

Victor was reproached for "very skillfully using people", "knowing how to make the necessary acquaintances, and was very cold and prudent in relationships" (Mike Naumenko, "VIKTOR CHOI: Poems, Documents, Memoirs", p. 129) . This quote from Tsoi's story partly explains his relationship with people.

“Once on Begovaya Arkasha, Vysotsky from somewhere got a rare photograph of Tsoi and Rybin at a concert and handed it to Viktor. He took a knife, poked it all over this photo and threw a gift on the sofa. I asked him: "What is it?" Victor just grimaced. I didn't ask him again” (R. Nugmanov, www.yahha.com March 19, 2006, 10:30 am).

Viktor Tsoi took part in two concerts in memory of Bashlachev. But their paths crossed during their lives. One of the first meetings took place at the festival of the Leningrad Rock Club in 1984. For a while, both worked in the famous stoker. Common thoughts for rock musicians can be found in their interviews, there are roll calls in the songs. Bashlachev: “Love is a director with a surprised face, making a film with a sad ending. But we still wanted to look at the screen.” Tsoi: “A fairy tale with an unhappy ending is on the window screen. Strange tale." This is hardly a direct quotation, rather a coincidence or subconscious borrowing. “For all the differences between its prominent representatives, the tusovka still remains quite narrow, and there are countless mutual influences in it ...” (R. Nugmanov, www.yahha.com).

One of the idols of Tsoi's youth is the English rock musician Mark Bolan (1947–1977). Rashid Nugmanov: “... I have always involuntarily associated the Choi + Fish period with Tyrannosaurus Rex of the Bolan + Tuk period. Not musically, but conceptually: 1. In both cases acoustics; 2. Limited "underground" audience (post-hippie - Bolan, post-punk - Tsoi); 3. In both cases, one poet-composer (an unequal duet); 4. In both cases, the break and the departure of the leader into electricity, with the creation of a classic rock band; 5. In both cases, the leader reaches superstar status; 6. In both cases, the leader dies in a car accident (Tsoi at twenty-eight, Bolan at twenty-nine). It can also be added for curiosity that the names of the groups have been simplified, in both cases to four letters. And the songs of both rarely went beyond the three-four-minute format. Of course, the essential difference is that Victor left at the zenith of fame, becoming a national hero, and Bolan - at the end of his life” (www.yahha.com). In one review, the group's style is called "charming primitivism": "Kino is somewhat reminiscent of the mature T. REX - both in rhythmic monotony, and in the laconicism of instrumental parts, and in a catchy, haunting melody. Tsoi's music has a bewitching magnetism, it draws in, takes away ”(Old Rocker,“ Layout-1984 ”,“ Roxy ” No. 8, January 1985). It is known that Tsoi once envied Bolan: “What a wonderful rock and roll death! A musician must die young."

The surname Choi is one of the most common Korean surnames. She has twenty-three bonds. Victor's family is from the city of Wonju (hence the bon-go is "Wonju"), which is located in Gangwon Province in southern Korea. The meaning of the surname “Tsoi” was explained by Ten San Din (Yuri Danilovich Ten): “If translated literally, “Tsoi” is height. This is what the character for "Tsoi" looks like in Hanmun (an ancient language based on Chinese grammar). It depicts a house near a mountain with three peaks and a man. In Korea, the owner of the house is a noble, high-born person. Tsoi's great-grandfather, according to some reports, was a smuggler in the Far East. Grandfather (Tsoy Son Dyun - Maxim Maksimovich) studied at the Faculty of Philology of the Korean Pedagogical Institute in Kzyl-Orda (Kazakhstan) as a teacher of the Russian language. Father (Tsoi Robert Maksimovich) graduated from a technical university with a degree in engineering.

In the fall of 1983, Viktor Tsoi was examined in a psychiatric hospital, thus slacking off from the army. From 1980 to 1985 there were active hostilities in Afghanistan. Not everyone believed in the international duty of a Soviet citizen; many shied away from serving in the armed forces. In February 1989, the Soviet Union withdrew its troops from Afghanistan. Perhaps it is with this fact that Tsoi changed his views on military service.

Viktor Tsoi was born in the maternity hospital of the Moscow region (Victory Park, Kuznetsovskaya street, 25) of Leningrad. Victor's mother recalls: “On June 19, they brought me to the maternity hospital. Tormented all over, I can’t sleep, they didn’t give accelerating drugs. In the morning, between four and five o'clock, she gave birth. Until five in the morning. Vitya was entangled in the umbilical cord (it can suffocate the child), after giving birth there was something, he was weakened: for two days they were not allowed to feed. And he was born an ordinary healthy child: weight - 3.5 kg, height - 51 cm ”(from a telephone conversation, recorded at the end of 2006). Tsoi's height in adulthood is 183 cm.

At school, Tsoi was teased as a Japanese.

In official documents, Tsoi wrote in the column "nationality": "Russian". This is not a forced formality. He was raised and raised by a Russian woman, he received his education in a Soviet school, which was largely based on the traditions of Russian classics. The social circle also remained predominantly Russian-speaking. The songs show the influence of Russian folklore. Marianna Tsoi recalls: “But he is not a Korean, but a half-breed; his father is a purebred Korean, and his mother is Russian without admixture. Vita’s mother’s parents, Leningraders, came from central Russia” (“Victor Tsoi Empire”, weekly “Saturday” No. 25, Sergey Shapran). about the appearance of Tsoi, Maryana said even more specifically: “He was very similar in features to his mother, despite the outward east. He has such a typical Russian face, only the hair color and eyes, of course, are oriental” (international Korean magazine “Kore Saram”, “Born at the junction of constellations. V. Tsoi”, issue four, 1992, p. 25).

Vyacheslav Dinovich Tsoi - founder of the International Academy of Martial Arts, head of the Martial Arts Center. In 1995, he was shot dead in the entrance of his house. He was buried at the Theological Cemetery in St. Petersburg, not far from the grave of Viktor Tsoi.

James Dean (1931–1955) – American stage and film actor. Films: "Woe No. 1" (1951), "Rebel Without an Ideal" (1955), "Giant" (1956). Young Americans saw in D. Dean's heroes a reflection of their own ideas, disagreement with the world of their fathers and with the norms of outdated morality. The film East of Paradise (1954) made Dean a hero of his generation, despite rumors of his homosexual life. Dean died while driving his Porsche 550 in a head-on collision with an oncoming vehicle. His death gave rise to a hero cult. Teenagers dreamed of sitting behind the wheel of his broken car, writing letters to him as if they were a living person. The magazine that published the actor's interview "from the next world" was sold out with a fantastic circulation (500,000 copies). Dean's death mask was displayed at Princeton University next to Beethoven's death mask. According to the memoirs of Rashid Nugmanov, “Victor began to call Dean his favorite actor before he saw him on the screen. He, of course, heard of him as an icon of rebellious youth, saw photographs, knew that he died young (at 24, driving). Even before the filming of The Needle, I constantly cited James Dean as an example to Victor when I explained my style of working with non-professional actors, saying that the person himself is important to me, and not the actor in him - the person as he is. Dean played no one, but himself, and that's what I expect from Victor. In this our views completely coincided, and Victor was imbued with my comparison of him with James Dean. So he became his favorite actor. In absentia” (www.yahha.com).

Luis Buñuel Portoles (1900–1983) – Spanish surrealist film director At the International Film Festival in Venice (1969) Buñuel was awarded the title of "master of cinema". For creativity in the aggregate, he also received awards from international film festivals in San Sebastian (1977), Moscow (1979), and Venice (1982). Films: Andalusian Dog (1929, together with S. Dali), Simon the Hermit (1965), Beauty of the Day (1966), Milky Way (1969), Modest Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) and others

"Alien White and Pockmarked" (1986) - a film by S. Solovyov. Cast: A. Bashirov, V. Steklov, L. Filatov (voicing), A. Bitov, S. Bodrov Sr.

David Bowie (David Robert Jones, b. 1947) is an English rock musician, theater and film actor (seventy films). He became popular in the 70s as one of the founders of glam rock. Other representatives of this style (Slade, T-Rex) in the late 70s were also among the favorite groups of Viktor Tsoi.

Roxy Music (1970–1982) - English group, founders of the so-called. "commercial" art-rock, from the very beginning they relied on the availability and danceability (B. Ferry) of their melodies. Line-up: Brian Ferry (vocals, keyboards), Brian Eno (keyboards), Roger Bani (guitar), Graham Simpson (bass), Dexter Lloyd (drums), Andy McKay (winds).

Ultra-vox is an English band formed in 1975. The musicians began to play in the style of art rock, but in the end the group's style was fixed within the framework of electronic pump rock. Original line-up: John Fox (real name - Dennis Lay, vocals). Billy Curry (keyboards, violin), Chris Cross (bass), Stevie Shire (guitar), Warren Cann (drums).

Kid Creole & The Coconuts are an American pop group. Organized in the 80s by singer Kid Creole (August Darnell, b. 1951, Haiti). The group performed dynamic Latin American pop music.

"Human League" is an English group. Formed in 1978. Distinguished by unusual stage performances of concerts, the leader of English synthesizer music in the first half of the 80s of the XX century. Musical style - electro-pop. Line-up: Ian Craig Marsh (synthesizer), Martin Ware (synthesizer), Phil Oakey (vocals) and Eddie Newton. The neo-romantic image of "Kino" and, in particular, Viktor Tsoi in 1984-1985 was largely borrowed from this group, which is clearly seen, for example, in the clip "Keep Feeling Fascination" (1983).

Yazoo is an English band. Formed in 1982 by former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke. Representatives of the "new wave". Line-up: Vince Clarke (synths, synth bass, percussion), Elison Monet (vocals). In 1983, the duo broke up, and Clark became one of the founders of Erasure.

The attitude towards individuals, who with reservations can be called bards, was positive. In the same interview, Tsoi recalled Klyachkin, appreciated Vysotsky, “respected Rosenbaum” (Yuri Belishkin, “VIKTOR TSOI: Poems, Documents, Memories”, p. 277), in Kamchatka, together with Bashlachev, sang Okudzhava’s song “Wait , locomotive.

As a rule, Tsoi always named the names of BG, Mike, Kinchev, and others. The mention of "DDT" is an exception to the rule. “There was no particular love for DDT and Shevchuk, but, nevertheless, he said that the group was interesting and it would tell about itself ... I didn’t try to transfer personal moments to creative ones” (Yuri Belishkin, “VIKTOR TSOI: Poems, documents, memories”, p. 277). According to A. Sokolkov, there was a conflict between them. At the party, Shevchuk began to accuse Tsoi of majorism. As in the case of A. Panov, Tsoi did not remain in debt.

Imre Kalman (1882–1953) – Hungarian composer Master of the "new Hungarian operetta": "Queen of Czardas", "Silva", "Mr. X". Introduced Hungarian musical folklore into the operetta. On the album “Head of Kamchatka”, Viktor Tsoi performed the aria of Mister X (the aria is known by Georg Ots).

Vladimir Shinkarev (b. 1954) is a St. Petersburg artist, writer and poet. Theorist of the Mitki movement. Works: "Mitki", "Maxim and Fedor", "Papuans from Honduras", the fairy tale "Hedgehog".

Oleg Kotelnikov (b. 1958) is a famous St. Petersburg artist. He studied at the art school at the woodworking faculty. Together with Tsoi, he was a member of the New Artists group (1982–1990), worked in the Kamchatka boiler house. Together with Yevgeny Yufit, he filmed Mzhalalafilm. In 1985 - the artist of the film "Assa" (dir. S. Solovyov). Collaborated with groups: "AU", "Pop-mechanics", "Kino", etc.

Alexander Vertinsky (1889–1957) – poet, singer, prose writer, stage and film artist, composer