There are not so many famous rock bands in Russia. The Lumen group from Ufa belongs to this small circle of the “chosen ones”. How did the story of this musical project begin, and what are the guys doing today?
History of creation
The Lumen group first "gathered" in 1996 in order to ... to play in the hallways. In the 90s it was fashionable to gather in the porches, on the benches in the yard, to sing covers for popular songs. So three classmates - Rustem Bulatov, Dan Shakhanov and Garik Mamaev - decided to get together from time to time to re-create the works of “Kino”, “Chizh and K”, “Chayf”, etc.
A year later, the guys had their own premises and a set of simple instruments for rehearsals. By 1999, their composition had expanded, and the guys began to participate in local festivals and concerts.
In 2002, Lumen tried to release its first collection of songs on its own, and it came out of it. Live in Navigator club appears, and musicians from the collective begin recording their debut album. Without waiting for his release to the masses, the band members are trying to promote the song Sid & Nancy on the radio. They take it to Nasha Radio, and the guys go to Moscow because they were invited to the famous festival called Chart Dozen.
The meaning of the name
Why Lumen? The guys probably puzzled for a long time what to call their team. A lot often depends on the name. As a result, the musicians focused on the word Lumen, which is translated from Latin as “light”.
Listening to the project’s music, it’s easy to guess why they chose such a name: their compositions are quite life-affirming, and the music is not devoid of “light” sadness and soulful lyrics.
Lumen Group: songs and albums
“Lumen” became known even before the release of its debut album, showing up at the “Chart Dozen” festival. The guys first performed on the "big" stage and believe that they have completely succeeded.
Finally, in 2003, Lumen released its debut album, Without Preservatives, which included eighteen tracks. Their Moscow colleagues pay attention to the guys: this is how they change the label and begin cooperation with Muzyka-Vdoh. The musicians themselves call their second album “Three Ways” “revolutionary”, but what they had in mind is not entirely clear: it sounds like ordinary
alternative rock. Nevertheless, two songs of the collective again penetrate the radio: “How much”, as well as “C4”.
Now Lumen is becoming the headliner of local Ufa festivals, and soon they will go on a tour of twenty cities of Russia. After the first tour, the musicians immediately released a live album, "One Blood." As a bonus, fans get the opportunity to hear two new songs: Blagoveshchensk and Don't Rush. And on the horizon loomed a new release - "Freedom." Presentation of the program this time was held in a fashionable Moscow club.
In 2007, the album "Really?" Was born, which the musicians again had to publish at their own expense. They explain this by the fact that their songs are not always tailored to the radio format, which does not suit label owners. Moreover, the members of the group try to touch on issues of social problems, and often their records turn into just a series of successive protests.
Album "World"
In 2009, the unchanged composition of the Lumen group presented its fifth studio disc, Mir. The musicians said that for each song they searched for a long time for their unique sound. In this they were helped by a close-knit team of the Marinsound studio. Apparently, the project participants managed to achieve what they wanted, because the album was on the 4th place in the list of “best-selling albums” in the Russian Federation.
The musicians initially planned to work on material in an American studio, but their plans fell through. Therefore, they, with their own sound engineer - Vlad Savvateev - went to Krasnodar to the guys from Marinsound. This time “Lumen” recorded the tracking not separately, but playing all together to reproduce a “live” sound in the album.
As a result, the release turned out to be 14 songs. Critics noted that this time the musicians moved away from social topics and emphasized “abstract” lyrics. It was also noted that the sound of the group remains tough, but, in fact, it has nothing to do with European music, but remains "all the same Russian rock."
Albums "On the part" and "There is no time for love"
The guys still managed to "reach" European standards: the material for the release of "In Parts" was recorded in Russia, but mixed by Rob Hill. At one time, the sound producer worked with such famous teams as Korn, Queen and Fuel.
And again, the Russian alternative project was supported by Our Radio, having begun the rotation of the Lumen songs on the air. In particular, the hits “Sky on Fire”, “I Didn’t Forgive”, “On Parts” became hits. In total, there were 12 songs in the release track list.
Exactly one year later, in 2013, the musicians repeated a similar scheme for the release of their material. They recorded all the tracks for the album “There is no time for love” in Ufa, and mixing and mastering was performed by Rob Hill.
Soon, a concert video album of the group “Always 17 - Always War” went on sale. His release was only possible thanks to the support of fans and was organized with the help of crowdfunding. The video album owes its name to the line from the composition “Far” of the Lumen group. The release included not only well-known songs, but also a couple of new tracks.
Soloist of the Lumen group
The team’s soloist is greatly influenced by the lead singer of the Lumen project, Tam Bulatov.
Rustem Bulatov was born in Bashkiria in 1980. The young man did not study vocal - his "school" was participation in the "Lumen" group.
Rustem Bulatov tried to graduate from the law faculty of one of the Ufa institutes, but dropped out of training shortly before defending his diploma. And then the musician went headlong into the work of the group.
Fans consider Rustem the leader of the project, but Bulatov claims that this is not so. To this day, he lives in Ufa. He has a wife and two children.
Bulatov admits that he writes lyrics for songs that would make a person think about his life, about his feelings, about what is happening in his state. The musician is sure that Russian society "rises" only when each individual begins to work on himself.
The atmosphere in the team
The rock group “Lumen” is a close-knit group: over the 15 years of its existence, its composition has not practically changed.
Colleagues of musicians note that the guys from the group are always peacefully disposed towards their fans, as well as colleagues.
Maybe that's why the project has so many friends. For example, not a dime was invested in the group’s official website - all work was done on a voluntary basis. On the site in the public domain are many songs and videos of the Lumen group. When musicians are asked a question about the material component, they answer that only once they transferred the copyright to the album to the label (“Without Preservatives”), and they are free to dispose of all other material as they please. But with the help of the official website, the band members finally learned that they have fans not only within the Republic of Bashkortostan, but throughout Russia.