федоров

In the last 15 years, Leonid Lenia Fedorov, now 38, has established himself as one of the leading indie rock artists of Russia. Born and raised in St. Petersburg (former Leningrad), the city which in the 80s was to become the center of the national rock culture, Lenia started his musical activity in the late 70s, playing in amateur rock groups. In 1983 he founded a rock band of his own, which was given the name of Auktyon (see also here). From the very beginning Lenia assumed the role of the main composer and musical director of Auktyon; later he also took up leading vocals, thus becoming the bands leader, responsible for the bands musical image, who, however, always preferred to remain out of focus of public attention onstage. Auktyons breakthrough coincided with the times of perestroika, when the rock music in Russia got an unprecedented opportunity to be brought out to big audiences nationwide. In a short while, Auktyon gained the reputation of one of the most interesting Russian rock acts with the most unique and original sound and style. Apart from the bands other advantages, it owed a great part of its success to Lenias extraordinary musical talent. By 1989 in Russia Auktyon was a hit big enough to receive an invitation to France, where they, along with two other Russian top rank acts, Zvuki Mu and Kino, performed as the representatives of the national rock culture in the West, and got a chance of releasing their first ever record in CD format. When the bright prospects of perestroika ended up in overall worsening of economic conditions in Russia, bands like Auktyon, who wanted to retain their independent artistic status, were forced to find new ways of remaining afloat. In Auktyons case in meant spending more time touring on the club and festival circuit in Europe, giving the total of 200 live performances in France, Germany and other countries. Through the good and hard times, Auktyon, under Lenias guidance, never stopped progressing musically, producing excellent albums, which were immediately receiving cult status in Russia, and looking for new ways in expressing their rich musical ideas. In 1992 they began artistic collaboration with a poet, folk singer, and painter Alexei Khvost Khvostenko, which resulted in two widely acclaimed studio albums, one live record and a single.

Although never putting Auktyon on hold (the bands latest production was a maxi-single Nebo Napopolam, released late 1999 in the USA), Lenia in 1997 started a solo career, first as a one man unplugged act. In this capacity, he releases his first solo album Chetyrespolovinoitonny. Next year he teamed up with the highly reputed ethno-jazz formation VolkovTrio; this alliance resulted in a series of shows and a new album Zimy ne budet, Lenias latest up to date. This record shows him at his best again: a daring artist, an original musician, exploring unwandered worlds, an entertainer who can truly make his listener follow him, share his emotions and think. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.