photos / Sasha Chaika
story / Austin Maloney
It wouldnât be overly negative to say that Sarah Persephonaâs first attempt to start a band was not a spectacular success. âI had a band before this oneâ, she says. âIt was quite a funny band, I had two friends and we had an all all-girl band that was pretty awful. We didnât even have a drummer and we tried to play grunge, it was so funny. Then, we had an argument and I went on my ownâ. She lost her fellow bandmates in this venture to modeling and academia respectively, but in the end this may have proved to be a blessing in disguise, as things have gone significantly better with her new band, angelic milk.
LADYGUNNÂ meets Angelic Milk in Stockholm, on the balcony/designated smoking area of their label PNKSLM. Theyâre here on their first foreign promo tour, and the last week has seen them run through a number of interviews with the Swedish music press, as well as play their first show outside Russia at Debaser Slussen. Itâs a long way away from Persephonaâs bedroom, where the journey started: âI really wanted to be a musician, so when I lived alone I would sit at home all the time, and thatâs when I started to write music. It was for myself, I didnât expect it to be more than just my little demoâ. She then put a few demos out on social media, and was contacted by future angelic milk partner Valja. Valja had seen and heard a lot as a serial band member in St Petersburg, but Persephonaâs demo stood out: âWhen I first heard her voice, it sounded strange. The same with the songs, they were really strange songsâ. He got in contact (âwe had one plan: we wanted to record Sarahâ), introduced his friends Roma and Ven, and soon they were a band.
It wasnât long before the band started to get a lot of attention, both in Russia and abroad. Soon Stockholm label PNKSLM were in contact, and then they put out their single âIDK Howâ. Persephona regards her labelâs support as the band seem to regard most of their success; as both wonderful and slightly baffling: âItâs really amazing: they found us through the Bandcamp. There was nothing else on the internet about us, and they were interested for some reason. I donât know why, because the recordings were really weirdâ. At another stage in the interview she says âI donât think we really deserve any of it, we should play much better [âŠ] none of us expected it to be like thisâ. Her modesty regarding her bandâs abilities shouldnât put you off however, because Angelic Milk are really, very good.
Their big single âIDK Howâ, is loaded with guitar crunch and shiny melody, as Persephona shows off her take-on-the-world confidence with lines like âI donât know how but I learn fastâ (given a little extra edge by her claim that âItâs about a girl who gave head for the first time in her life. What else could it be about?â). The Pale EP is an excellent showcase of the bandâs abilities, from the dreamy, vaguely Warpaintish âRipped Jeans (slow)â to the mean, feral rock of âTigerâ.
Despite their success abroad, and the fact that theyâre one of the few Russian acts to emerge internationally in recent years, Angelic Milk havenât always been well-received at home. âEverybody hates angelic milk in Russia!â says Persephona at one point, and sheâs only half-joking. The main issues their home audience has is that they donât sound âmore Russianâ, whatever that means, as well as a classic begrudgery. Says Persephona: âWhen Russian people listen to our music they say, âOh, these guys try so hard to sound like theyâre not from here, and thatâs so bad, they should be proud of their country and do something really different [to standard western music]â. I mean, I donât want to sound like anyone else from elsewhere, but neither do I want to sound stereotypically Russianâ. âPeople in Russia donât even think that they could be noticed in other countriesâ, Ven adds. âIf Sarah sang in Russian they would say, âWhat the fuck, thereâs already so much culture in Russia, what does she think sheâs doing trying to get involved in it?ââ.
Luckily, the sense of community in the music scene in St Petersburg means that the band can simply shrug off the comments of those they refer to as âthe hatersâ. A thriving DIY culture has emerged amongst the cityâs young indie musicians, grouped together in a loose collective theyâve christened âSt Brooklynsburgâ. And the bandâs enthusiasm is obvious when they discuss their friends and the scene at home. âIn St Petersburg there are a lot of indie bands, so we make our own partiesâ says Persephona. âWe put on our own shows. We put on a festival about a week ago, where we invited thirteen different bands, all playing lo-fi garage, or surf or something like that. Itâs small, but there is a local sceneâ. Valja thinks that thereâs been a definite shift in Russian indie culture: âMaybe the situation in St Petersburg could blow up, because things have changed. Ten years ago, we didnât have normal amplifiers in Russia. Now we have better equipment, we have the internet, we listen to different kinds of music, from all over the world. Two years ago in St Petersburg we didnât have a lot of guitar bands, but now we have a lot.â
For now at least, angelic milk are still the sceneâs headline act, and theyâre enjoying the international attention. âItâs exciting. Itâs so great that we are playing concerts in Sweden, because there arenât many Russian bands touring other countries. Weâre going to London in autumn, which is amazing. Iâd be happy to go to London just to see someone else play there, and now Iâm playing a show there! Itâs just amazingâ. But Persephonaâs first love is still the thing that got her this far, song-writing: âI love composing songs, and recording them. I really loved the process when I was at home, on my computer, and I was trying to make different sounds. Using GarageBand or something, trying to make something interesting. For me, the process of making a song is the most interestingâ. And as long as angelic milkâs enthusiasm for song-writing lasts, it seems like the music worldâs enthusiasm for them will too.
