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The Red Elvises on the cover of Maximum Ink in April 2001

The Red Elvises


by David A. Kulczyk
April 2001

Imagine growing up in the old Soviet Union and playing Rock and Roll music? But you have a bigger dream, to play Rock and Roll in the country where it all started, The United States of America.

That’s what the Red Elvises did and have been making America a better place to live. The “now” Venice Beach, California based band have been taking their Eastern Europe style of Rock and Roll to everywhere and anywhere they can plug in their amplifiers.  “We speak the language that people understand,” said Oleg, the former balalaika player.

Oleg Bernov, Igor Yuzoz and Zhenya Kolykhanov have throughout their Red Elvises career, played bass, guitar, and lead guitar respectively, but now because of the loss of their longtime American drummer Avi Sills, the Red Elvises all take turns playing bass, drums and guitar.  “Now it’s a 3 piece band,” said Oleg.  “Our American drummer is gone, spontaneously combusted like in Spinal Tap.”

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1348 Views • Permalink • Red Elvises Website • Red Elvises MySpace • Red Elvises Wiki
Krzysztof Barcik

Krzysztof Barcik

An interview with guitarist Krzysztof Barcik
by Tina Hall
January 2011

Krzysztof Barcik has long been recognized as one of the finest Polish guitarists/composers. While being well versed and educated in the rich tradition of European and American music, Mr.Barcik is a sensitive artist with a professional approach to the realities of today’s music. Krzysztof Barcik, graduated from the University of Miami-Florida and the Academy of Music Katowice-Poland with Special Honors and a Master Degree. He has released 12 original albums to date, 9 of them exclusively for Paris Music Library. He was also commissioned to record solo guitar soundtracks for a major Hollywood and European studios and to perform lead guitar for various European stars recordings resulting in credits on more than 60 albums, many with global distribution. He has several rock fusion hits there. Barcik has created music for TV in the commercial and film markets and has appeared with many of the top performers in jazz and pop music.

Maximum Ink: What was it like growing up in Poland? What is your favorite memory from that time?
Krzysztof Barcik: I spent my childhood in a small village near Cracow. It was the time during “deep communist era” in Poland. My father gave me my first guitar, drums and accordion
lessons. He is a musician and retired music teacher as well. I still keep in my memory beautiful sunny summer days and strong winter time from these days.

MI: Were you always interested in music? Who were your influences?
KB: As I remember, music was all the time around me. As a 7-8 year old boy I used to play drums with fathers band when they rehearsed. It was lots of fun for me. Later on I started to play guitar and accordion but guitar was always my favorite instrument. I remember the day, when father bought for me my first electric guitar. It was one of the most important days of my life. When I went to music school I used to listen lot of jazz music but not only that. Fusion, pop, jazz rock,rock and classical music was always around me as well. Influences? Oh, yes, lots of great musicians to name: Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Weather Report, John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones and more. This is just “my roots”. I just feel and hear their influences in some of my music projects.

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961 Views • Permalink • Krzysztof Barcik Website
Stratospheerius

Stratospheerius

An interview with electric violinist Joe Deninzon
by Tina Hall
September 2010

The band Stratospheerius features Joe Deninzon (vocals, violin, mandolin), Jamie Bishop (bass), Aurelien Budynek (guitars), and Lucianna Padmore (drums). The sound is hard to classify in a genre.It combines modern and classic music in a way that is hard to find. The new album Headspace showcases the style nicely.

Maximum Ink: Who are some of your earliest influences and why?
Joe Deninzon: My influences have a very wide range. In classical music it would be Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Mahler. In jazz, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. In rock, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Hendrix, Kiss, Frank Zappa, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Yes, The Police, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, the Beatles, to name a few. I like musicians who take chances and blaze new trails. I also love performers with a great stage presence who take their audience on a transcendental journey, which is what I strive to do. I also am fascinated by music that can connect with as many people as possible on a primal level, but can also be analyzed on a deeper level. Music that is seemingly simple yet has many layers of complexity underneath. That is something I’ve been trying to create for years, and I feel I’m getting closer.

MI: What was it like to move from Russia to Cleveland as a child? Do you ever miss Russia?
JD: I don’t have vivid enough memories of Russia to miss it. I grew up in the midwest around American culture. I was only four years old when we
emigrated. I do remember that it wa very tough at first going to school in the US not knowing the language, and it took me a few years to adjust. Russia is a beautiful country and I particularly love my birthplace of St. Petersburg, but i don’t think I would want to live there.

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