THEODOR BASTARD have been polishing up their impressive record collection. Over the past year, they've reissued two of their most-acclaimed albums, starting with 'Vetvi', followed by 'Oikoumene', which arrived earlier this month and included three unreleased songs and a re-imagined tracklist.
But you really need to see them live. While they're often recognized for the mystic melodies of vocalist Yana Veva or Fedor Svolotch, who started Theodor Bastard 20 years ago, the seven-piece band are known around the globe for weaving Nordic strings, primeval flutes, dark wave, trip-hop, tree roots and even human bone into an otherworldly performance of Karelian neofolk.
This summer, Theodor Bastard are celebrating the reissues of 'Vetvi' and 'Oikoumene' with two special outdoor concerts. They'll start by visiting Menshikov's Garden in their native St. Petersberg on July 20, before gracing the VK Summer Stage in Moscow on July 27. Both shows will feature new choreography and songs that the band has never performed live, including "Mama Terra".
07/20 St. Petersburg @ Menshikov Garden [TICKETS]
07/27 Moscow @ Summer Stage [TICKETS]
Order 'Vetvi' HERE
Order 'Oikoumene' 10th Anniversary Reissue HERE
THEODOR BASTARD’s music is set out to take listeners to unexplored and other worlds. From the cold and twilight realms of the marshy swamps of taiga and mossy tundra, to unexplored places where the earthly plane and the spiritual world are separated only by a thin ghostly veil. For over twenty years THEODOR BASTARD have been known for their amazingly serious attitude to the world beyond that very frontier.
THEODOR BASTARD is one of Russia’s most unusual bands representing the electronic Karelian neofolk genre. Also elements of dark wave and trip hop are present in the band’s music. The message doesn’t carry out everyday problems and is mainly focused on mythology and shamanism. The hallmarks of the band are the unique and bewitching lead vocals of multi-talent Yana Veva and the impeccable sound producing skills of Fedor Svolotch, founder of the band who created the band 20 years ago.
From album to album, THEODOR BASTARD carefully and masterly combine many different exotic and traditional instruments. The special northern atmosphere of their albums is created with Nordic nyckelharpa and jouhikko, primeval flutes created from tree roots and shamanic percussion.
“We live in the north of Russia in Karelia, which has a difficult fate” states band leader Fedor Svolotch. He continues: “This is a harsh northern region with unpredictable nature, with spruce and pine forests. Bears are found here. Moose and hare come straight to my house. In Karelia there are beautiful cliffs and clear lakes with fresh water. These are our personal places of power, the places where stones and winds are talking to us. Singing for us a songs of the northern harsh nature”.
THEODOR BASTARD consists of 6 musicians, turning their performances into a dark magic act that sends the audience back to Northern musical traditions, to the Karelian and the Russian folk. The musicians use a lot of electronic devices and ethnic instruments, but also use their own hand-made instruments from stones, human bone and the roots of Karelian birch.
Line up
Fedor Svolotch: dulcimer, samplers, vocal
Yana Veva: vocal, bawu, ocarina
Kusas: percussion, winds
Alexey Kalinovsky: keyboards
Sergey Smirnov: drums
Ekaterina Dolmatova: back vocal
Slava Salikov: cello, morin khuur
Links:
https://theodorbastard.com/
https://theodorbastard.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2PQ9UX4kWDE3mf2fYGRzqF
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/theodor-bastard/204585292
https://www.youtube.com/theodorbastard
https://www.instagram.com/theodor_bastard/?hl=en