A Russian affair
Dharam Pal

TWO teenagers Julia and Lena from Russia, who have formed a music group known as t.A.T.u, are Universal’s current music sensation. The band’s scandalous single "Ya Soshla S Uma" (All The Things She Said), which has become immensely popular in Eastern Europe, dwells on the story of a love affair between two girls. Its evocative video was named MTV Russia’s Video of the Year. t.A.T.u’s 2001 debut album on Universal Music Russia, 200 km\ h in the Wrong Lane, sold more than 10,00,000 copies. At any stage performance of these singers, you have more than 50,000 fans thronging the stadium.

Now the beautiful teenagers are ready to conquer the USA. But don’t expect these close friends to tone down their bold and fearless approach towards life. "Our songs are not silly," says Lena. " t.A.T.u depicts sincere and honest feelings about ourselves and others. We don’t shape ourselves for the audience. In Moscow, life is not polite. If we don’t like something, we say we don’t like it.

A strong point of the band is its pop electronica. That’s what enticed esteemed producer Trevor Horn to work with t.A.T.u on the English version of 200km/h in the Wrong Lane to be released via Interscope Records.

In the end, however, the two singers claim that t.A.T.u is unlike any other group in the East or the West. "Russians are not dark but we are not light either," says Julia Volkova. "We have a different view, maybe deeper, because life is more difficult in Moscow."

Julia and Lena have known each other for several years. They were together in some other music group before they came together for t.A.T.u two years ago. Both have also studied music formally for eight years. But that’s where their commonality ends.

Julia is the only child of middle-class parents; Lena, the youngest of three siblings, is the daughter of a well-known musician\ lyricist. "We like each other very much but Lena is totally different from me," says Julia, who has also acted in small films. "She doesn’t like to party; I like to party. She’s more quiet and reads a lot. I don’t like reading."

"t.A.T.u is about saying what you feel, not what others expect you to say," says Lena. " Be in love. Be yourself. We are."