Shortparis is all about searching for new terrain. New sounds, new feelings, new corners of the world – these experimental artists know no limits on their hunt for discovery.
Speaking from near the Neva River in Saint Petersburg – a snowless, dark-filled “grey winter kingdom” in northwestern Russia – the gaping distance between Naarm and Shortparis is no small stretch.
“15 thousand kilometres northwest,” Nikolay Komiagin says, to be exact. “Sounds like a title of an adventure novel, but that’s merely the distance between us right now.”
Shortparis
- Friday, January 31 – Max Watt’s, Melbourne, tickets here
- Sunday, February 2 – Oxford Arts Factory, Sydney, tickets here
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Come Friday, January 31, and that distance will be covered. Shortparis are soon embarking on their maiden voyage to Aussie shores, taking over Max Watt’s in Naarm, followed up by a show at the Oxford Art Factory in Eora on Sunday, February 2. While their dose of Southern Hemisphere sunshine will have to wait until the end of this month, for now, the band are content with “hunting for rays of light and warmth” up north.
Consisting of Danila Kholodkov (drums, percussion, bass, vocals), Nikolai Komyagin (vocals, keyboard), Alexander Ionin (bass, guitar, bayan) and Pavel Lesnikov (drums, sampling), Shortparis are no strangers to the stage.
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Formed in 2012, the group has a solid collection of studio albums, EPs and jaw-dropping performances under their belts. They’ve supported the likes of The Kooks and alt-J, toured internationally and played festivals across the world.
When it comes to their trip to Australia, though, Shortparis are riding solo. What you see is what you get, and what you see is nothing short of explosive.
Known for provocative performances that push the boundaries of the sonic spectrum through unthinkable experimentation, these guys are the kind of band that you need to see live to believe. Chaotic, loud, wild and emotional, Shortparis shows are a rollercoaster.
“To me, Australia seems like a different world, something unearthly, and visiting it verges on magic,” Pavel says about the opportunity to bring Shortparis Down Under. “The opportunity to explore the world is certainly a great joy that amazingly results from our work,” Nikolay adds. “I am overwhelmed by the thought that you guys have different constellations down there.”
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This kind of emotion that each member of Shortparis speaks with in passing conversation is the same kind that can be heard woven into all their songs, although not how you might expect.
Borrowing elements from punk, electronica and even folk, what culminates in the soundscapes they produce transcends generic classification. As Pavel quite eloquently puts it, “the language of emotion is universal”.
The case Pavel makes is bolstered by the fact that Shortparis sing in French, English and their native language, Russian, delivering a cascading waterfall of ideas and messages through their songs that may not be understood linguistically by all foreign audiences, but they’re sure as hell understood emotionally.
“We’ve never been a logocentric band,” Nikolay says. “I suppose we could play even in front of a pack of dogs, and empathy would help us get across the core meanings of our songs. So go ahead and bring your pets to the show if you feel like it!” (Maybe check in with the venue with that one first.)
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Wild shows make for wild shenanigans, on stage and off, and Shortparis are no strangers to letting the chaos of live performance get the better of them at times.
“Our shows are indeed an absolute wild ride that we never tire of taking,” Danila says. “The craziest thing that still happens sometimes is when something goes wrong on stage (technically or emotionally), and I feel like our painstakingly-built house of cards begins to crumble, whereas the audience seems to feel the complete opposite, like the whole thing was part of the plan.”
“I was once so pissed off with our sound engineer that I threw my drumsticks at him, for which I still feel ashamed,” Pavel adds.
“Luckily, I missed.” For Nikolay, he can’t forget – or maybe can’t properly remember – the time he briefly lost consciousness on stage at the hands of his bandmate. “[Danila dealt] a massive blow right to my temple with his bass guitar,” he says. “It’s an elegant testament to the level of our team play.”
While bumps are being ironed out and the band are soaring to a roaring prominence on the world stage, for Nikolay, in many ways they’re still the young kids that got together in 2012. “The most prominent cornerstone is our amateurishness,” he says. “We trip over it so often that we’ve got our toes all sore.”
In other ways, though, Pavel acknowledges that they’re pretty far from the band they were when they formed 13 years ago now. “Our sound grew more mature and approachable, with much of the weird naivety gone,” he says. “That said, I’m not sure we could influence that in any way and get back to naivety. I guess it’s a natural growth cycle.”
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Travelling all the way to Australia to perform may be the stuff of dreams, but when it comes to the band’s rider, it’s a constant reminder that keeps them grounded in their roots before every show.
“We grew up and evolved amid anti-bourgeois ideas. We idolized artists who shunned overindulgence and modelled our own behaviour on them. This seemed to be the norm. That’s why we were hugely surprised when we found ourselves in the dressing room of our favourite band and saw a table piled high with exotic fruit, deli meats and expensive booze, ” Nikolay says.
“Since then we decided to limit our rider to an icon, towels and drinking water,” he continues. The icon in reference is one of Nickolas the Wonderworker (a prominent orthodox saint).
“Nevertheless, each festival sees us enviously peek into other artists’ tents full of tempting food. I even lifted peaches and chocolates from them on a couple of occasions, telling myself that this qualifies as a reallocation of public benefit.”
Shortparis’ Naarm show is ramping up to be one of the ages. No doubt the first of many for this electrifying band that is taking the world by storm, Shortparis’ Aussie debut on January 31 isn’t one to miss out on.
Shortparis’ Australian tour is presented by Polemika. You can get tickets to see Shortparis on Friday, January 31 at Max Watt’s here and Sunday, February 2 at the Oxford Arts Factory here.
