Today, our guests are members of the band MARU which has an exceptionally original presentation, and sometimes experimental, but high-quality world-class music. All musicians are not new to the music field and great experience allows them to create something original. On October 1, 2018, the band released its second album, ‘Pompidou’, and the Museum of Contemporary Art of MARU, as the band members called it, just confirmed this statement. Those who follow the band, most likely, did not miss the video ‘Bulo’, where our today’s guests - Denis Dudko and Alexander Lyulyakin - managed to highlight some of their tattoos in one of the fragments, where they are shown with bare torsos. We decided to dig deeper and show you more. Look where it’s gotten us.Reflections of Darkness [RoD]: Hello everyone! First of all, thank you very much for finding time in such bad weather to take part in our tattoo project and making this interview possible. Today we will talk more about your tattoos rather than about music, but still I would like to ask a few questions about your band. The members of the MARU project are participants, I will not be afraid of this word, of cult bands, OKEAN ELZY, BOOMBOX. How did your paths crossed? MARU was created as a cover band at first, right?
Denis: Originally a duet with Olya Lukacheva was created. There were two instruments - double bass and voice. At some point, I thought: why do covers, if you can create your own music. And in order to realize this, I decided to invite other musicians and expand the boundaries of musical performance. I’ve known Sasha for ten years already. The other musicians who came to MARU band, I have also known for a long time. It didn’t take a lot of time to decide who to call, we offered the guys and everyone agreed. And now we are trying, trying.
Aleksandr: Initially, we actually wanted to try to record an album. At first, it was not about playing concerts together. But somehow we got to this place. We were stoked. And began to work together.
RoD: Denis said that “we are trying, we are trying.” But you already have two albums, and this is quite solid ground for the band.
Denis: We’ve already started recording the third album. We are always in some kind of search, what is very good. We have a desire, we have ambitions. And always, when there are such components, there is something to strive for, to move. And we continue to do that. And we hope to achieve good results.
RoD: You must succeed! I wish you only success in your work! And, I think, we can smoothly go over to questions about tattoos. When did you get your first tattoo and what was it? Did it take much time to decide what to get?
Aleksandr: I made my first tattoo at the age of 14. I can show it. These are three dots, they mean “Paris” in the Nikolaev jargon - the name of this area in thieves (everyone laughs). The second tattoo I did is more serious. I will not show it, it is almost no longer there. I did it on my hip so that my parents wouldn’t see it. And, accordingly, it was all covered with underwear. In due course I, of course, removed it, because it was horrible. I was 15 years old. And at 17, I made a tattoo that you can’t hide, a serious pattern on the left shoulder. Later I covered it. These are my oldest tattoos. Here is another one, by the way, I covered it. Initially it was a dragon, but everyone asked me, “Is this a worm with grapes?” Although these were not grapes, but clouds. So, I decided to cover this tattoo with the Japanese motive. The essence remains - it is a dragon, only more beautiful.
RoD: Denis, tell us, please, about your first tries.
Denis: I did the first tattoo about eight years ago. This is the name of my daughter Sophia. I was very infected with tattoos, I could not stop. Then the next tattoo appeared, on the back of my neck - the phrase “Live for today”. And I try, in fact, to live like this. But my pride and favourite tattoo is jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. Then I got more and more tattoos. I do not remember in what order. Here is this tattoo, for example, Jim Jarmusch film ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’. This is one of my favourite movies. I watched it many times. And, probably, I will reconsider it many more times. And by meaning, and by mood, I can say that this is my film. Everything that happens there - both music and video - is incredibly beautiful. Just like I like it. And later there were inked different numbers. For example, this tattoo - the number four. This is my number in numerology. We went with the OCEANS on a tour to the States and at the border the custom officer asked me: “What is this? What does it mean? ”I said jokingly: “I will not tell you. It’s a secret’. He took me aside and interrogated me for another half an hour. I explained that this is just my number. Of course, they let me pass, but finally they said that you can never say no to an officer. In the sense that if one does not answer the questions, he simply will not let him into the country. Since then, I answer questions :)
RoD: You are a little ahead of my thoughts. I just wanted to ask about the stories related to your tattoos.
Denis: Well, yes, some of them I have already told. Here is another word “Imagine” on the wrist - the name of the song of John Lennon. And this is the bass clef in the form of Yin-Yang sign. And there are tattoos just for beauty, which I just like visually. I think all these roses are nice. There is no deep meaning here. I just like them.
RoD: Sasha, can you tell us a couple of tattoo stories? Which of them are the most significant for you?
Aleksandr: For example, a tattoo on the chest is the name of my daughter Adelia.
RoD: It’s a beautiful name!
Aleksandr: Yes, thank you! And everyone asks me what it is 13, 20. This is 2013. Year of birth of my daughter. The whole chest is dedicated to my family. This is my wife as a cat woman. For some reason I always saw her like that. We photographed her, then we tried on this mask on her. Leo is not my zodiac sign, I am Capricorn, but all the girls in the family are Lions. So I decided to make a lion. Right hand - everyone says it’s me. But this is just a cartoon of a cheerful drummer. I do not think it’s me, but I came up with it. And the tattoo artist Sergei Voichenko embodied this idea ((https://www.instagram.com/serg_tattoo). Well, this is a snare drum, everyone understands this.
Denis: Who understands it?
Aleksandr: Everybody! Well, it is clear that it’s the drum, and the fact that it’s small, of course! (Everyone laughs) It doesn’t matter - it’s just a drum! This is a tape recorder, boom box! It is connected directly to the group, I was already playing in it then. Cassette as an addition. When I was a teenager, I learned music through two things - a boom box and cassettes. Why film is unwound? Because it was common for cassettes, especially the old ones, to be torn. You had to wound this film with pencil. I‘ve never finished it, although I should have done it. Here is the wave / sound track turning into piano. The number 11 is my lucky number. This is my spouse’s birthday, and we also got married on the 11th. In general, 11 pursues me all my life. This car is a Cobra Shelby. I just like this car. This is, by the way, Herbie Hancock. The inscription “True” on my hand, and on the hand of my wife - “Love”. This is probably banal, a tattoo for a couple in love. Pineapple in the form of a lemon is just a funny picture. Well, I love fruits, I like pineapples. He’s just so bursting here. On my feet, Vincent, my dead cat. An unpleasant story happened to him - dogs tore him up. Behind - a skull in the form of a king. And here is 414. If you look in a mirror image, this is THE ERISED album, which was released two years ago. But, unfortunately, the band doesn’t exist anymore. And the name on my body remains.
RoD: Have you already got all the tattoos that you wanted or will you get some new ones in the future?
Aleksandr: I have a lot of ideas, just not enough time for implementation.
Denis: I also really want to do more. I haven’t done a tattoo for two years. But I hope that someday I will ripen and do it. When you start, you want more and more. It’s like excitement, I guess. By the way, more about tattoo stories. This is a tattoo - a phrase from the book ‘Shantaram’ - I really liked it and wrote it literally, “The burden of happiness can only be relieved by the balm of suffering.” When I read it, I immediately realized that I wanted to get a tattoo with such an inscription. I absolutely agree with this thought. I also have Picasso - one of my favourite artists. This is his painting, called ‘Kiss’ (two kissing people). And here is the symbol of LED ZEPPELIN, their label. It’s not completed yet. But in fact, I would not finish it, I even like that this symbol looks blurry.
RoD: Sasha, do you agree with the statement that tattooing is an addiction?
Aleksandr: I think it’s different for everyone. But for me, like for Denis, this is a real addiction. I have some friends who needed 5-10 years to decide to get a tattoo. In the end, they go and do it. They can always be seen on the beach. They usually have one tattoo on their shoulder. Getting inked was unbearably painful for them. And some even fainted. This is where it ends.
Denis: And some of my acquaintances ask why you got a tattoo with the name of the woman I love, what if you break up? And then what I am going to do with it? And I think this way: why remove, it’s a story. Well, you will have the inscription ‘Olya’.
Aleksandr: Or you can cover it with something later. I will return to my tattoo, which I did on my hip specifically so that my parents would not see. When I removed it, the sensations were much more painful than tattooing. Technologies of course are changing, maybe now it is not so painful. But then, 4-5 years ago, it was painful.
RoD: Getting tattooed hurts, how do you cope with the pain during the sessions?
Aleksandr: Beauty requires sacrifice, as they say.
Denis: In fact, there are very painful places. Where the skin is thin, on bones. It was very painful to make a tattoo on the ribs.
Aleksandr: It was painful to do it on the wrist. It was just horrible. I remember I drank a bottle of brandy, but it did not help me.
Denis: And I was anesthetized with a special ointment and it was so cool. Everything was numb and I felt nothing at all.
Aleksandr: I was anesthetized when I have made the chest. I had to use ointment on the clavicle. It hurts when it hits the bones.
Denis: I have the lightest and the most painless tattoo - it’s “Sophia” on neck.
Aleksandr: Although for the tattoo artist neck is the most difficult place. The skin is thin and frowns strongly. You need to stretch it.
Denis: Well, and for me it was the most bearable place.
RoD: As I understand that your tattoos were made by different tattoo artists. And who makes sketches for you?
Aleksandr: Almost all my sketches I find on the Internet as an idea. But then I can modify it. That is, I tell the tattoo artist what I want.
Denis: I can also use the Internet for this, when I find some cool picture. And then I try to adapt it to a specific place. Something else was made by the artist himself.
RoD: Do you regret getting tattooed sometimes?
Denis: Honestly, I never regret anything. That is, perhaps, I regret something, but not about the tattoos.
Aleksandr: I don’t regret getting my tattoos either. I didn’t regret even the tattoo that I removed, because it was my first experience. I have been a tattoo fan since childhood. My father opened Rock music to me. He himself was practically covered in tattoos. I looked at the musicians and for me rock stars were always associated with tattoos. Therefore, I’ve liked it since childhood. We have one friend tattoo artist, Sergei Voichenko, an incredibly talented artist. He has his own signature style and he almost fully did one my hand. And so, when I wanted to make a tattoo “11” (and I love the subject of “American basketball”), I thought of doing it in this style, in the form of a number, as they do on shirts. But Seryoga was persuading me for half a day that it would be not good to read and not so beautiful. And then I said: “Okay, do as you suggest.” And he just drew it. I do not regret it, but it turned out that he still did it his own way. Therefore, there are such principled tattoo artists. And Sergey is still opposed to tattooing hands and head, although I offered him. Therefore, the wrist I have was made by great tattoo artist, former bass player of O.Torvald - Nikita Vasilyev (https://www.instagram.com/nvtattoos), he also made me a skull with a crown on the calf.
This wrist was made by Petr Petkov (https://www.instagram.com/petkovtattoo) by the way, he is also a musician, my colleague, from a well-known festival group ROLLIX. Dima Ignatov is the singer, they play cool rock music. Cat was made by Lecha Drozd (https://www.instagram.com/drozzdd). Denis knows him too. He is an artist himself, he creates wonderful paintings. And in general, he is cool. He also made me a tattoo on my fingers and on my legs. And now he went to Denmark, trying to work in the tattoo parlour. In general, I remember all my tattoo artists, each with their own signature style and their own individuality. And all of them are somehow connected with music, well, except for Sergei Voichenko.
RoD: Nowadays tattoos are a new trend; many people do not care about the meaning, they just want to have something inked on the skin, to be in trend. Those people often just go to a tattoo parlour and ask which drafts they have. Tattoo artists are not artists any more, they produce consumer goods. Not all of them, of course. How do you feel about this situation?
Denis: I would not want to do something standard to myself. For example, the dragon. Or spiralling pattern with no meaning.
Aleksandr: I also do not have any meaningless tattoos. I made a dragon at 17. But it was a worm in grapes at first. I believe that you should not ink something trendy, because you perpetuate something on your body that happened in your life. Your body is a platform for the realization of ideas.
RoD: I would like to talk about the social aspect of tattoos, too. Previously, many people believed that if you have a tattoo, you will be never be successful and will not find a “good” job. Have this state of mind and people’s perceptions changed or are these prejudices still alive?
Denis: In Japan, for example, they will not let you into a bath or sauna now if you have tattoos on your body.
Aleksandr: Although, all this Japanese tattooing started from yakuza. Tattoos originally had mafia there. We had the same situation in the USSR, frankly speaking. Previously, tattoos were associated with prisoners. I once worked on steamboats, in the cruise company. And then I thought that if I made a tattoo around my neck, then they would not offer me a contract. I do not know about now, but I see bartenders have many tattoos, in the capitals, and in the provinces too, even on their faces. And this is a trend, as you say. It is encouraged. Time is changing. The most important thing is that we moved away from the USSR with these stereotyped opinions. Because I remember that I hid my first tattoos not because I was small, but because it was perceived as inadequate. Although parents are still looking at me like this “well, when will you calm down?”
RoD: Which advice would you give to people who are going to get their first tattoo? How to choose a tattoo artist? Colour or black and white? Any practical advice?
Aleksandr: You need to look at the works of the master. And as Denis says the right thing that if you want a tattoo in a certain style, then each artist has his own style.
Denis: Someone makes the face beautiful, and someone - something more specific. Girls often choose their artist who makes fine lines. It is necessary to understand what exactly you want, and go from there. Everyone has their own signature style.
Links:
Web page: https://maru.fanlink.to/POMPIDOU
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MARU.MUSIC.UA/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maru.music.ua/
Project by Daria Tessa and Daniela Vorndran, Interview by Daria Tessa, Iryna Kalenska, Ira Titova
Photographer: Kateryna Lashchykova, 3 Last Pictures by Aleksandr Lyulyakin (https://www.instagram.com/sasha_boomerised/)
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