How did you all come together and decide to form The BlueStocking? Also, what was your thought process behind the quintet's name?

Hellen (drums): Once upon a time Kira and I were in a bar…and I said, “the band we’re in right now is not working, let’s try something on our own.”

Kira (song author, lead singer, keyboard): Yes! Hellen and I played in “Muzika Gnil’” (“rotten music”), but that Russian punk. I began writing songs in English and on the piano, they didn’t fit into the aesthetic of MG, so we decided to do our own thing. And it worked!

We’ve had a few changes in the band over the years, some people came, some people left. And here we are! And the name…I remembered the term “bluestocking” and was curious to find out more. As I was reading, I saw the english translation of it and thought that it was really cool.

Ilya (guitar, he also recorded and mixed the album): I only recently found out what it means.

Hellen: It also worked because in the beginning, there were three of us - Ara, our bass player and myself were engineers, Kira was a sort of music teacher - three girls in science!

Kat (bass and back vocals): And, of course, Amanda Palmer was a huge influence.

Ilya: I was recording the band before I started playing with them.

Kira: I remember we had a particularly difficult recording session with our guitarist, who already announced that he was leaving but wanted to finish the recording. That evening I half-jokingly texted Ilya saying “D’you wanna play guitar?” and he suddenly agreed!

Ilya: It was super strange and super awesome. I was actually thinking about joining even before that. In a way, it was love at first sound. I thought - “Holy shit, this is Russian Mr Bungle!”. And then I found out that you didn’t even know about Mr Bungle, which is crazy! That’s actually amazing - you weren’t copying or paying homage, it was literally parallel realities. That’s what I call awesomeness.

Kira: Ilya actually recorded our very first professional recording session at DTH Studios.

Egor (sax): I got into the band in the most banal way - I came to a gig and the music blew my mind. I immediately wanted to do something with it, like make a video (Egor is a film director). It all started with discussions about potential scripts. Then one day I was watching a live transmission of your rehearsal, got out my sax and just started playing. A month later I played my first gig with the band.

The rest is history.

And how I got to that gig, well…Kat was my director in a theatre show and she invited me.

Congratulations on the completion and release of your debut album "Algedonic"; tell us about your creative process for the album's eight songs and how long it took to complete it.

Ilya: Long as fuck.

Kira: The thing is, we started recording it and then had to re-record nearly everything because of transformations within the band. Also our technical skills and the technical possibilities of the studio have improved since the first recording. So we pretty much recorded the album twice.

Ilya: Two years.

Kira: A bit less, a year and a half. We started on April 15th 2018, and we got the final versions of the songs on November 28th 2019.

Ilya: The first recording was a year long - and then we re-recorded it in 6 months.

Kira: The songs themselves are quite old material - some of them are 10 years old, even bit more.

Were there songs that you recorded that did not end up on the final album track list? If so, why did the songs not make it?

Kira: The answer is simple - no! We started recording with a clear plan of these 8 songs. We even had the order ready. So we just went in and recorded them!

Ilya: Smooth.

Describe the Moscow rock music scene in 2020 for us; are there a lot of radio stations that support local talent and are there a lot of venues to perform at?

Ilya: Cruel question. There are basically no venues. There’s one radio station, Maximum, that has a weekly one-hour late-night show for new music. That’s it.

Kat: There was an internet radio station that supported emerging artists, we played a gig there 2017.

Kira: But it closed down.

Kat: The Moscow rock scene is a heartbreaking topic. Especially in 2020.

Kira: Masks’n’gloves.

Kat: We have massive venues for those who are already successful and tiny venues which are perfect for first gigs. There is no middle ground. Only Powerhouse.

Ilya: But their sound system works best with jazz and electronic music. We (DTH Studios that Ilya co-founded) had a proper rock club, Model T. It lasted a year and a half because it’s incredibly hard to have a small/medium business in Russia.

Kat: 16 Tonns? (a legendary pub/concert venue)

Ilya: Yeah, actually. But it’s a bit of an elite rock club, not quite for us. Yet.

If you had to pick one song from your musical catalog for a stranger to listen to that best describes who The BlueStocking are as a band, which one would you recommend?

Kat: Depends on the stranger!

Kira: It’s hard to choose a song like that, because our music is very diverse, we don’t really have one all-representing song.

Ilya: Definitely “OCD” or “Bulletinawallet”. Yeah, our songs are very different, but I think these can really hook someone. But damn, so many good songs…You know what, people should listen to the whole album.

Hellen: I usually choose “Never Ready” or “Bullet”. “Never Ready” is a personal preference, I love it. And Bullet…is just a really cool song.

Egor: I keep trying not to say “Look At My Face”, but I can’t help it.

Hellen: Oh yeah!

Ilya: It’s my favourite too.

Egor: Every single time I listen to it, the finale always gets me.

Kira: Yeah, every time I hear the finale I get goosebumps.

Egor: I mean, it’s an epic canvas. You know, there are films that run for 1.20, and 3 hour films. And they are just different stories, different experiences, different depths of immersion. And you come back to the surface after it, and you’re a slightly different person. This is “Look At My Face” - not just a song, but a giant story that gives you a pretty crazy ride on the waves of its dramaturgy. And in the finale it smacks you on the head with a sack.

Kat: From wolves to hysteric laughter.

Egor: And I think that this emotional rollercoaster represents us pretty accurately.

Hellen: I just thought that you really should listen to the album in its entirety, the songs are so different. And what I really like is that it doesn’t have any cabaret songs because we’re actually not a dark cabaret band.

Kat: Yes, The BlueStocking definitely has elements of the genre, but we’re not a dark cabaret band. We’re post-dark cabaret! My goodness! We’re pretty much post-everything. As I said, depends on the stranger. When I send the album to someone, I always write “If you’re in the mood for a tender fairytale, that’s “Well”. If you want a stylish blues experience, that’s “Never Ready”. Want something heavy? “Look At My Face”. You wanna move, want something energizing? “Rhyme” & “Bullet”. It’s a mosaic, there’s something for everyone, you know?

With "Algedonic" now released, what are you most proud of with your debut album?

Hellen: That it actually came out.

Kira: I’m proud of the patience and stamina of the people that made it happen. Because a titanic amount of work and effort was put into it. Despite the fact that for me personally the process was very enjoyable and I loved it, it was pretty difficult and sometimes overwhelming for everyone. I’m proud of myself and the people who went through this grinder with me and came out with this very satisfying result.

Ilya: The professionalism and musical vision of the people on this record is incredible. I’m in awe of everyone’s music skills.

Egor: I’m most proud of the sound. And how the recording didn’t take anything away from it, but only enriched it. It helped bring out everything that was in Kira, in the songs, in all of us, and put it on the record without losing or distorting anything, the richness of thoughts and feelings that was in the songs from the very beginning.

Kat: I’m very proud of how wholesome it is. The cover art, the track list, the songs themselves - it is a complete and accurate blueprint of a certain BlueStocking era. We did justice to our earlier songs, laid the foundation and now, with a clear conscience, we can move forward and experiment!

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