Mumiy Troll

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What keeps a successful band fresh, hungry, and in search of new musical possibilities over two decades into its career? In the case of Russian indie-rock legends Mumiy Troll, the answer lies in its origins in Cold War-era Vladivostok. With his imagination fired by whatever illicit sounds he could get his hands on, a teenage Ilya Lagutenko formed Mumiy Troll in 1983.

Consequently, Mumiy Troll existed throughout the ‘80s as a semi-clandestine hobby. Starting with the release of their first official album in 1997, Mumiy Troll rapidly became one of Russia’s most popular and influential bands, and have clocked up more than 100 million downloads to date. They were the first to appear on Russian MTV, represented Russia at Eurovision, and have won every native award going including Best Russian Band of the Millennium. Their success continues unabated to this day, with tours selling out as a matter of course and their most recent album, SOS Matrosu, topping the charts.

Clearly, Russia was only the beginning for Ilya Lagutenko. This Vladivostok sailor now has his sights set on the whole world.