Armen Grigoryan is one of the founders of Russian rock. His band "Crematorium" is over 30 years old, and she continues to release albums and tour Russia. Armen modestly calls himself not a soloist of the group, but just a musician.
“Which of me is the lead singer? I really don’t know how to sing,” he admits in an interview. And Armen Grigoryan does not consider himself a poet. It simply translates real stories into poetry. And the characters in his songs are mostly real. Those with whom he was personally acquainted, and whose stories, one way or another, struck him. Whose stories I want to retell. Perhaps his songs are incredibly true and deserve the love of many people. Even more than thirty years after its founding, the Crematorium group still collects large halls. Their music is really impressive. Most of the compositions involve alt and violin.
And, of course, the author and composer of most of the songs played by the collective is Grigoryan Armen.
Biography
The author and composer was born in Moscow in a family of scientists. From childhood, Armen was fond of music, and he gathered his first musical group at school, at the age of 14. The list of his childhood hobbies also included football. Armen three times won the championship of the Leningrad region in the "Leather Ball" tournament .
Grigoryan Armen recalls that he learned to play football with the famous Soviet football players - Nikita Simonyan, Gabriel Kachalin, Konstantin Beskov. Football was then a "noble sport", and the coaches not only taught young football players to play football, but also introduced them to music. For example, Nikita Simonyan had a huge collection of a wide variety of music.
In 1977, he entered the Moscow Aviation Institute at the Faculty of Radio Electronics and continued to study music there. He created the hard rock band Atmospheric Pressure.
In 1983, as a result of a creative union with musician Viktor Tregubov, a group "Crematorium" appeared. The young team gained popularity thanks to apartment owners.
By 1990, the group had already recorded 3 albums, shot a video for their hit “Garbage Wind” and began its touring activities. With concerts, the group traveled not only to cities of the USSR, but also abroad - to the USA, Germany, Israel.
Now the collective has already recorded 16 albums.
In 2006, while continuing to work in the Crematorium group, Armen Grigoryan created another musical group - The Third Angel. The collective, as Armen admits, plays more modern music than the Crematorium.
Armen Grigoryan is also fond of painting. And in the early 2000s, the Central House of Artists, in Moscow, even hosted an exhibition of his works, which was a complete surprise for the musician's friends.
Real stories
Many of the characters in the songs of the Crematorium group have real prototypes. With some, the songwriter continues to intersect from time to time in real life. According to Armen, for example, Khabibullin is his former classmate. Now he is alive, healthy and happy. He also crossed with the ugly Elsa about fifteen years ago for the last time, in one of Moscow restaurants. And the heroine of the song "Little Girl", which parents left to their own devices, unfortunately, still lives in difficult, inhuman conditions.
About Russian rock
Now the line between rock music and pop is gradually erased. There is a kind of "deck of cards" - musical groups that have existed for many years and constitute the backbone of Russian rock. Unfortunately, says Grigoryan Armen, Russian rock is no longer so radical and is increasingly subject to the laws of show business. He relies on musicians who begin their journey through the Internet - Peter Nalich, Igor Rasteryaev ... On the Internet, everything is much more honest. And if on television now those people who are gaining popularity thanks to money and “useful contacts” are in priority, there is quite a place on the Internet for talented performers who can support modern rock culture and even take it to a new level, says Armen Grigoryan. The photo below is a valuable shot. It depicts one of the founders of Russian rock. Armen Grigoryan and Boris Grebenshchikov.
Respect for the profession
According to Armen Grigoryan, for a rocker, respect for the profession is to sing and play live. Even if a musician does not sing very well and plays live, performing for a soundtrack for him is a humiliation. True, there was a case in the 80s when musicians of the Crematorium group performed in Moscow under the soundtrack. Then they were invited to speak by Alexei Glyzin. The musicians really liked him, and, thinking, they nevertheless sang “Khabibullin” under a tape recorder and two speakers.
Personal life
The musician was married three times. He has four children. Daughter Xenia followed in the footsteps of her father - she sings well, is interested in music. Now Armen Grigoryan lives in a civil marriage with Natalia Sera.