Erie Summer Festival of the Arts

Red Elvises: 'Rock and Roll has been.. too depressing. We want to play fun music'

'We Carry the Spirit of Elvis'

The Red Elvises may carry Elvis' spirit, but they have Grouchos' sense of humor.

They appear at the festival on June 27 and 28.

BY DAVE RICHARDS
STAFF WRITER

They're about as deep as Deep Purple, a band they idolized while growing up in Russia. They're about as serious as In All Seriousness, the Erie comedy troupe And they're very nearly as childish as Barney, the purple dinosaur.

But all that's pretty obvious the minute they hit the stage and sport dyed hair (flaming red and bleached blond). You sense this isn't High Art when they change costumes more often than Cher and trot out an oversized bass that might have saved hundreds had it been aboard the Titanic.

Meet the Red Elvises, one of the world's wackier bands. Like Yakov Smirnoff - who found fame here as a comedian after immigrating from Russia - these guys hit L.A. and dreamed up good Schick. Combining a genuine love of American rock and roll with their own ethnic influences, Red Elvises present a fast-moving, freewheeling show with lots of antics, surf tunes, Chuck Berry, Bruhms, Hungarian Dances, sing-alongs and references to the King.

"Elvis is great, of course," declared Oleg Bernov, the Elvises' bassist. "Elvis is God. Elvis is everything. You can't go wrong with Elvis in this country. Igor (Yuzov) does a very good impersonation of Elvis, even though we don't play Elvis, except for 'Blue Moon,' and then everyone starts to oooh.'

"We're not Elvis impersonators, but we carry the spirit of Elvis. That's how we define ourselves. Rock and roll has been pretty wimpy lately, too depressing, not so much fun. We want to play fun music."

BERNOV, YUZOV (vocals, guitar), and Zhenya KOLYKHANOV (lead guitar, vocals) all grew up in Russia during the time when communism was breaking down. (Drummer Avi SILLS is American.) Suddenly, rock was in the open.

"For a while they didn't play any foreign records, but then it became very accessible," said Bernov. "I remember growing up, I spent a lot of money (on records). I needed my two monthly student salaries to get a Deep Purple album on the black market. We all grew up listening to Deep Purple. And the Rolling Stones, I think, is one of (our) serious influences. And our guitar player (liked) AC/DC."

Kolykhanov Played in bands in Russia, while Bernov studied theatre. They hooked up with Yuzov during an American peace march in the Ukraine in 1988.

"I actually met Igor and a lot of American friends on the peace march," Bernov said. "The KGB was there, making sure everything was all right. They were very pompous. The village would be freshly painted because American peace march was going through. But it was fun. I met a lot of friends. Igor's band was entertaining on the walk. So he went to visit (American) friends in Los Angeles first, than arranged for my theater group to come over."

After a harrowing first night in America ("bus terminal in New York City, the worst possible neighbourhood"), Bernov joined his friend in L.A. Instead of forming a rock band, though, they started Limpopo, a crazed ethnic band.

We started playing Russian folk music because everyone else was playing rock and roll (in the States)," said Bernov. "We had to do something."

Limpopo played around the country, earning good reviews for its mixture of comedy and ethnic tunes. The group not only appeared on "Star Search," but won, which led to a much-aired Kit-Kat commercial (Give Me a Break). But as their English grew stronger, so did their desire to play rock, their real passion.

"People loved our shows (as Limpopo). It was good, a lot of energy in them, but it was harder for us to relate to it, so we decided to start the Red Elvises and write songs in English," said Bernov.

Not just songs, but funny ones. Sample titles: "Surfing in Siberia," "Here I Am In Hollywood" and "Harriet," which goes:

She looked Japanese
But she was from France
She took off her shoes
And we started to dance

Harriet, oh we could be a perfect duet
Harriet, this romance I will never forget
My honey pie
My chocolate cake
My well-done steak

We danced all night long
And she called me 'my dear'
Then she burped real loud
And finished my beer.

Turns out Harriet is a man in drag, of course. The title song of their upcoming album is "I Want to See You Belly Dance." And, Bernov said, they recorded the soundtrack for an upcoming movie, Six String Samurai.

"It's one of those cult movies about a rock and roll hero who can play guitar and also kick ass and can handle the sword real well," said Bernov. It looks like the Mad Max movies. But it's different. He is a rock and roll hero. He is on his way to Las Vegas, a post-apocalyptic world."

In the unlikely event Six String Samurai bombs, red Elvises plan on keeping their day jobs. They may be goofs on stage, but bottom line is, they can play.

"We were making our living playing on the streets every day," said Bernov. "So, if you're bad, you can't survive. You have to be good. If you're bad, no one's going to stop and listen to you."

Red Elvises certainly had the Summer festival crowd dancing a year ago, so look for a repeat.

 "We're the best party band," Bernov said. "When people start jumping and going nuts, it's great. It's all about everyone having a good time."

SHOWCASE, Thursday, June 18, 1998   Erie,PA