Those "for whom .." are well acquainted with the work of the group "Chizh & Co", popular at the end of the last century, and now it has slowed down a bit. However, not everyone knows that Chizh is the founder of the gang, Sergey Chigrakov, and only a few are known for his biography. It is worth correcting this glaring mistake.
early years
The future star, hope and legend of Russian rock was born in the city of the chemical industry - Dzerzhinsk, Gorky region. The family was completely ordinary - that Dad, that Mom specifically had to do with the chemical industry. Brother Volodya was already growing up in the family, several years older than little Sergei.
Seryozha showed creative inclinations since childhood. Perhaps the atmosphere of music, which the boy was surrounded from a very young age, affected: the elder brother Volodya was very fond of music, played the guitar, performed with his own team. Probably, the genes began to play in Sergei.
Being still very tiny, a five-year-old boy, Serezha began to go to a music school, to study the accordion class. During the six years he devoted to the musician, Volodya's elder brother has already managed to join the army and return from it. And having returned and having seen that the younger brother is actively and, most importantly, willingly engaged in music, Vladimir decided to teach him how to play the guitar.
First performance experience
It took about three years for Sergey to grow up more or less professionally mastered the instrument. By the age of fourteen, Chigrakov Jr. was already confidently holding an instrument. Since that time, Volodya began to take Sergei to play with him in the group. Sergey Chigrakov periodically played along with his brother on the guitar, and also replaced the missing musicians if necessary.
It was during this period that Sergey was firmly stuck to him and the nickname "Chizh" remained with him for the rest of his life. It is interesting that Chigrakov Jr. also inherited it from his older brother: at first, his teammates called him Volodya, but when Sergey appeared in the group, the nickname smoothly migrated to him.
Music has tied us
In addition to the music school, completed as a teenager, Sergei Chigrakov studied at the music school. As a child, he firmly decided to connect his life with music, and therefore it was logical to enter just such an educational institution. Interestingly, at first, Sergei was expelled from the music school of his native city. He did not behave in an appropriate manner, skipped - in general, kicked the bastard, as they say. However, he was able to subsequently take up the mind, recover in school and even finish it with excellent grades.
Around the same time (maybe a little earlier) Chizh first started singing. His first work turned out to be the song of Alexander Gradsky. This happened at one of the band’s performances, which made it clear that Seryozha had not only good ear for music, but also a voice.
Leningrad
For the first time in his life, Chigrakov Jr. appeared in the northern capital in the eighty-second year of the last century. He came to enter here at the Institute of Culture. And he entered, choosing the department of orchestral conducting.
During his life in Leningrad (that, the "first" life) Sergey Chigrakov (pictured), in addition to studying at the Leningrad Institute of Culture, managed to join the army for two years, return, go to work according to distribution to work in Cultural Enlightenment, work as a drummer in a jazz studio at the conservatory. And also write some new songs.
After all the above events, Sergey Chigrakov suddenly decided that Peter was a little not for him. And he returned home to his native Dzerzhinsk.
At home
At home, the future leader of “Chizh” cleaned his boots and went straight to the very school - to work as a music and singing teacher. At the same time, the novice artist earned money by performing at various events with a gypsy ensemble, and very soon he made a name for himself in the local musical environment.
At that time in Dzerzhinsk the GPA group ("Extended Day Group") was popular. Sergei managed to work at school for about six months, when the GPA invited him to become a member of their team. Chigrakov accepted the proposal without hesitation. However, he did not stay long in the team: an accident or a joker fate brought him to a punk band with exactly the same name. However, that band was from Kharkov. They lured Sergei to themselves. In the eighty-ninth year Chigrakov as a participant in the GPA from Ukraine moved to Kharkov. It was there, as part of this group, that the songs of Sergei Chigrakov began to be sounded from the stage for the first time. The start was given.
Leningrad: part two
Sergey spent several years in Kharkov, working with the GPA team. However, by that time they were already called “Different People” - they changed their band name shortly after joining Sergey's group. However, in the ninety-third year, Chigrakov seriously thought about two things: about moving to St. Petersburg and about creating his own musical team. Both that, and another has been realized by the summer of ninety-fourth year. Thus, the date of birth of the legendary collective can be considered June ninety-fourth. By this time, Sergey Chigrakov was already familiar with the whole Petersburg musical party, including the legendary BG. Things started ...
Would I sing a song
One of the most famous and favorite songs - the song "About Love" - was released on the album of the same name by Sergei Chigrakov and his comrades in the ninety-fifth year. But even before it, the debut album Live (recordings from the concert) and the first studio disc called "Crossroads" were released. After the ninety-fifth year, Chizh and Company appeared four more studio albums and three live albums, the most recent of which was released in the ninety-ninth year.
Since then, for almost twenty years, the group has not released new discs, although it records new tracks, shoots clips and tours extensively. In addition, solo work is very common in the team - both Chizh and his musicians release their own songs or songs in company with a variety of artists. Chizh is doing the same now.
A little more about love
In the biography of Sergei Chigrakov, personal life deserves special mention. On the personal front, the musician is no less stormy.
He is married for the third time. The first wife, Marina, appeared in her student days at the music school of Dzerzhinsk. The young couple had a son, Misha, and everything was fine, but after three years Sergey fell in love with Marina's classmate Olga, who was his fan. With Olga, who gave him a daughter, Dasha, Chigrakov lived for fifteen years.
And then - not for nothing it was said above that the personal life of Sergei Chigrakov is very stormy - the story repeated. The musician fell in love with his fan Valentine, twenty years younger than him. In this marriage, the son of Kolya was born.
Interesting facts about Chizh
Even in the army, Sergei Chigrakov composed music and lyrics.
- Boris Grebenshchikov helped Sergei record his first solo album in the ninety-third year.
- The patronymic of the musician is Nikolaevich.
- The song "About Love" was written by Oleg Tarasov. Later, she was already performed by Chizh in the film “Poor Sasha” (directed by Tigran Keosayan).
- Sergei calls himself a nonsense.
- He believes that the best city is St. Petersburg, and the best listeners are in it.
- Sergey is a multi-instrumentalist. He can play thirty musical instruments at once, among which, in addition to guitar, drums, piano and accordion - balalaika, domra, harmonica and so on.
- He is a rare connoisseur of jokes.
- The musician, in addition to "legitimate" children, has an illegitimate son named Vlad. According to rumors, he was born in 1984 and is also a musician.
- Aquarius on the zodiac sign, like his current wife Valentine.
- With his older brother Volodya, the difference is nine years.
- The song of Alexander Gradsky, which Sergei chose for his debut performance as a singer, was called "Blue Forest".
- He served in the army in the Latvian port town of Ventspils.
- He is a rather laconic, but not withdrawn person.
- He believes that artists and music in general should be out of politics.
- He loves small towns like Dzerzhinsk and especially - to perform in them.
- At school until the fifth grade was an excellent student.
This is the biography of Sergei Chigrakov, frontman of the group "Chizh and Co".