Gait, rhythm, legs - all this is bullshit.
In tap dance the main thing is courage!
(E. Evstigneev in the role of Beglov, the film "Winter Evening in Gagra")
If Sergei Shnurov wanted to hit the tap, he would probably become the most-most. At least - noticeable and not like everyone else. The cord in everything is noticeable and not so. With courage he has - everything is in order, more than enough.
Biography and the path to the beginning of a musical career
Sergei Shnurov was born in Leningrad on April 13, 1973. In childhood, he was nicknamed "Shurik." That was the name of the most popular movie hero at that time performed by Alexander Demyanenko - resourceful and direct, unexpectedly bold and honest. “Shurik” Shnurov, unlike his namesake from the movie, did not join the Komsomol. In those years, it was necessary to try for this - the Komsomol was fighting for mass and accepted everyone.
After school, Sergei entered the LISI - Leningrad Civil Engineering Institute. He did not study there for long and wrote a statement about expulsion - out of solidarity with the expelled friend. Together with him, after leaving the institute, he went to the art and restoration vocational school.
In August 1991, a putsch of the State Emergency Committee occurred. The Soviet flag was lowered over the roof of the district executive committee, raising the Russian tricolor instead. Eighteen-year-old Sergei Shnurov felt a revolutionary upsurge and moved to the barricades. He scattered leaflets, tried to be useful to the revolution. However, the revolution ended quickly and almost without feats. At least in Leningrad.
After graduating from college, Sergei received the specialty of restorer of woodwork, and decided to continue to study. The profession of a restorer, however, did not inspire him. Therefore, he went on to study further at the philosophical department of the theological institute of the Leningrad Theological Academy. In the same year, Sergey created his first musical project. The name of the hardcore rap group was given to the group of courageous people: "Alkolepitsa". Later, Shnurov shifted his interest to a band playing electronic music: Van Gogh's Ear.
In 1993, Sergey had a daughter, and it became uncomfortable to study philosophy with theology. Not manly. Shnurov dropped out and went to earn money. He changed many professions: watchman, blacksmith, glazier, designer, promotion director.
Leningrad
In 1997, Sergei gathered once with friends "to play three thieves chords." As a result of the meeting, the Leningrad group appeared. The Leningrad style The cord refused to determine, believing that the purity of the style limits art. We played without limiting ourselves, and we got punk rock mixed with chanson and diluted with Jamaican spiritual rhythms. Soon, the musicians agreed with the independent studio "Shock Records" and began work on recording their first album. It was not possible to complete the contract due to the collapse of the 1998 business crisis. The musicians independently recorded the album on tape cassettes and agreed to sell them in youth clothing stores. Fifty thousand cassettes quickly dispersed, and at the end of 1998 Leningrad first appeared in Moscow. It was a warm-up in front of “Auktsion” in the Palace of Culture. Gorbunova.
The group was noticed in the club environment of two capitals, but happiness did not come. Musical channels denied aggressive compositions saturated with profanity, despite the musical background that was gaining professionalism from song to song. In 2000, the song "Terminator" gets into rotation on "Our Radio" and the group finally begins to quickly gain popularity.
It became crowded in Leningrad
The success of Leningrad happened in those years when Russian euphoria of permissiveness waned. The audience felt that the shock of the Cord was not an end in itself, but a means of remaining sincere. And it attracted.
The cord became crowded in the framework of one project. In 2000, he starred in the small role of the television series "NLS Agency" and wrote music for him. In 2002 he released his solo album "Second Magadan". 2003 - music for the cult film "Boomer". In 2005, Sergei Shnurov appeared as the presenter in the documentary television series Leningrad Front. Unexpectedly for those accustomed to his garage image - with intonations of correctness, reflection and even respect.
In 2007, it became known that Sergei Shnurov was engaged in painting. He called his style in fine art "Brand Realism." With paintings, Cord draws attention to the problem of replacing real life with imitation of fashion.
In the same year, Cord played the role of the old Benevenuto Cellini in the opera of the same name directed by Vasily Barkhatov at the Mariinsky Theater. The director explained his invitation to Shnurov this way: “I thought for a long time who could play this already mature Cellini, and in the end I realized that the only one who nowadays owns world philosophical thought and creates real art, which at the same time is terribly popular with the general public - this is Sergey Vladimirovich Shnurov."
In 2008, Cord created a new musical project - the Ruble group, and a couple of months later announced the dissolution of Leningrad. In the same year, he again appeared as the host in the television series on the wars of the 20th century: "Trench Life".
In 2009, a series of official recognitions of the Cord began. He is named the most famous resident of St. Petersburg in the nomination "Music". He is invited over and over to various projects on television and in the cinema. An exhibition and sale of his paintings is taking place in Moscow, the price of which reaches tens of thousands of euros.
In 2010, Cord reassembled Leningrad. In the revived "band", Cord is inferior to the vocal parts of the invited singers. Critics have noticed that the satire of Leningrad has become more sophisticated. It is unlikely that Schnur himself thought about this and is unlikely to agree to fit himself into the framework of satire. In any framework, it is close to him, and the meaning of his work is life as it is.
Personal life and the wives of Cord
Sergei Shnurov never invites parents to his performances, but they come, of course. Mom once told him that he makes good music, but the words
Mom did not like the words.
With his first wife, Schnur met during his studies at the Theological Academy. The birth of Seraphim’s daughter changed his life and, possibly, radically, but his daughter did not consider him a good father. I was offended that I did not find enough time for her. After school, Seraphim entered the Faculty of Oriental Philosophy at St. Petersburg State University. Cord claims that Chinese philosophy is a dark forest for him, but this did not prevent his father and daughter from establishing relations.
The second wife of the artist was the director of the group "Pep-si" Svetlana Kostitsyna. The spouses had a son, but their marriage did not last long. After a divorce from Svetlana, Cord had an affair with actress Oksana Akinshina. She was still a minor when this story began, which gave rise to an uncountable number of critical speeches against Cord. Oksana and Sergey broke up after five years of marriage.
In 2007, Cord met journalist Matilda Mozgova. In 2010, they got married and registered a marriage at the registry office. Having received the title "Man of the Year" from GQ magazine, Cord posted on social networks a photo with Matilda, attributing: "I received my main prize when I met you." In the spring of 2018, and this marriage broke up, completely unexpectedly for everyone.
Cord has repeatedly spoken about women as the most important thing in life: "A woman today, in fact, is the customer of everything that happens." In the revived Leningrad, female soloists have a very important role to play. They sing about how the world is seen through the eyes of women. Without embellishment and mockery. In the words of Cord, as he understands this world. The soloists of Leningrad become star-famous, but every time the union with Cord breaks up for one reason or another, they return to sinful earth to successes very modest. Perhaps Cord was not lucky to meet an equal in life.
