OOR, 
November 25th 2000: 
Russian Dyzack?

'Blues is like a scar'

BREDA - Ten years ago, Yuri Naumov fled to the USA after having been threatened by the KGB. The Russian Blues guitarist was at that time one of the most famous underground pop stars of Russia. His debut album 1000 Days of Blues from 1983 is still a classic. The founders of the recordlabel Baron Samedi Records from Breda were captured by the extraordinary and quick style of Naumov.  On Sunday December 3rd, the guitarist presents his first CD to be released in the West, in the Chasse Theatre in Breda.

Naumov (38) is a man of principles. Twenty years ago, being the third son of a doctor's family in Novosibirsk (Central Siberia), he preferred the illegal and dangerous world of the (at that time in Russia abolished) rock music over a carrier as a doctor. Because of his irresistible urge to make music that was west-oriented, Naumov was expelled from university two semesters before his final medical exams. Naumov, who had been making music since he was six years old, released the album 1000 Days of Blues which was only available in the illegal, underground scene. Gigs took place in apartments and underground cafes. The popularity of the guitarist increased as people spread his name and his music through copies of his album, and under the regime of Breznjev, Tsernjenko and Andropov, Naumov became one of the most famous and popular underground stars of Russia.

For years, he performed throughout the entire country, but not through the official system. When a 'friend' in music, who turned out to work for the KGB, turned him in, Naumov was arrested, threatened and interrogated for hours and hours about his lyrics. As Naumov explains over the phone from New York: "I had to justify every line. For hours. Fortunately, my lyrics are not too explicit, so I managed to talk myself out of there. The KGB agents thought me to be decadent and were of the opinion that I defied the system. I was threatened regularly and had to watch my step."

Status of 'refugee'

When the rules as to leaving Russia became more lenient at the start of the year 1990, shortly before the overthrowal of the communist regime, Yuri seized the opportunity. He was appointed the status of 'refugee' and was allowed to leave for New York. "I had a warm welcome here. All refugees were granted a small apartment, English courses and money to buy foodstuffs. Now, I can take care of myself. The halls that I play are bigger every time. At the start, I played in small cafe's only, but now I am performing throughout the entire country. In San Francisco, Baltimore and Boston even on larger festivals with 5000 people audiences. Many Americans think my music is odd. This is caused by the fact that there are blues-emotions in it without the music sounding like blues. It can be compared to the pain of fear and loneliness. Not the direct pain that is expressed in rock music but more an old, healed wound. A pain that you always carry with you. Blues is like a scar. You cannot possibly play blues when you are twenty years of age. Blues is to be played by people who have been through stuff in life. I do not make the traditional blues like the Americans do. I developed my music myself in Novosibirsk, without really listening to American examples. Unconsciously, I did pick up some things, but the music I write comes from deep inside.'

Nine string guitar

Of course, every artist believes him or herself to be unique, but it is true that it is hard to categorise Yuri Naumov. In his (often instrumental) guitar songs, styles like folk, blues, flamenco jazz and country are to be heard. Naumov integrates all of them into a style that can be compared, to some extent, to the one we know from our own Dyzack on his nine (!) string guitar. Moreover, it is striking that the guitarist's fingers are extremely agile and that Naumov is technically extremely advanced. "I used to play eight hours a day. After a three months guitar course, I taught myself the rest. I never studied many techniques. It is lovely to be improvising all day long: technique, then, will follow by itself."

The Beatles

Naumov knew that he wanted to be a pop artist from the very day he first heard the Beatles and Led Zeppelin play. "Their albums were very hard to obtain in Russia and the prices were extremely high. Yet, everyone who was interested could hear the records from cassettes that had two hundred times-copied-versions on them. The trade in Western music was booming. Everyone of my age was on it. However, it was difficult to start a band since the government refused to accept bands. That is one of the reasons I became a solo-artist. Naumov wanted to come close to the sound of an entire band and therefore had a nine string guitar built. This allowed him to do the drum- and bass-sessions too, like a Robert Johnson. The effect is astonishing, as thought Mischa Verheijden of Baron Samedi Records from Breda too. Verheijden visited Naumov in New York and convinced him to play a few gigs in the Netherlands and to record an album.

(Rob Musters)