Corpus Christi Caller-Times, August 15, 1997

By Paige Ross

Red Alert! The Elvises are coming!

In the land of the cheesy surf rock, side-burns, rockabilly and balalaikas, Oleg Bernov lugs around an enormous, triangular instrument, almost as tall as he is.

"It’s part of the boat that I came on," the Russian musician cracks. It’s what people surf on in Siberia."
Actually he bought it in Moscow before he drifted west to play rock’n’roll on the Venice Beach boardwalk in California with fellow Red Elvises guitarist Igor Yuzov. The Red Elvises perform Thursday night at the Executive Surf Club.
Until A couple of years ago Bernov and Yuzov were members of Limpopo, a sort of gutbucket folk’n’roll band that tours the United States and Canada and has released a couple of albums of distinctly off-the-wall Russian folk music. Remember their Kit-Kat "Gimme a Break" TV commercial? Well, their break came when they won Ed MacMahon’s Star Search in ’93.
Then, about a year ago Bernov and Yuzov split off because they wanted to do more rock. So they formed the Red Elvises, timing up with balalailka performer Zhenia Kolykhanov and Austin drummer Avi Sills, the band’s only U.S. born member.

Bernov, who is from Vologda, northeast of Moscow, said he didn’t get Elvis at first. "In Russia we saw Elvis in the ‘70s when he was fat." Bernov says. "He was like any Russian variety artist. I couldn’t get what was the deal about that fat guy. "Then I saw videotapes of him when he was younger and he had great energy - a great performer."
Bernov says his band kicks it onstage in the name of showing people a good time. They cover "Rock n’Roll Music" by Chuck Berry with slightly exaggerated Russian accents. They do a surf version of Braham’s "Hungarian Dance No.5" with balalaika, guitar and whistling chorus. They rock out on a Russian gypsy tune and tear into other numbers with deep, gruff Russian folk-style vocals. They blast their way through a tongue-in-cheek anthem to Siberia.

Not to be confused with Elvis impersonators, the Red Elvises only do one actual Presley song, "Blue Moon," but Bernov says it goes over quite well with woman in their audiences. Seems like he gets Elvis now.