Ever since I first saw Debauche at the Mid City Bayou Boogaloo I have been amazed at the band’s ability to move a crowd and to generate a feeling of joyous abandon among the audience.
Initially, I thought it was an act, ha-ha a Russian mafia band, that’s a good one! But then I found out their leader, Yegor Romantsov is actually from Russia. Hoping to get some answers and more details about Debauche and their music, we sent over some questions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0imE5-aCgY
You’ve been creating quite a sensation in New Orleans with your band Debauche ever since you started playing locally. What brought you to New Orleans and tell us a little bit about your background?
I was born in the Soviet Union, in what is now known as Ukraine. I lived for eight years in New York and came to NOLA in 2006. I worked in construction for a few years. In 2008, I started to play solo in a coffee shop. A few months later, I got a few musicians to play with me. They were mostly former members of the Zydepunks. Music and people brought me to NOLA. I like the city very much and Debauche would have never happened anywhere else but New Orleans. It works both ways, and it is a sensation that is only made possible by the people in New Orleans.
You lead what is quite possibly the only Russian mafia band in the United States. Are there similar bands in Russia or other countries in the former Soviet Union?
There are not that many bands that do what we do in the United States or even in the former Soviet Union countries. Russians freak out when they hear Debauche, because of the way we arrange and play these songs. We get compared with Gogol Bordello a lot, which I take as a compliment. And yes, we are the only Russian mafia band in the United States.
Your new album Songs from the Underground has been getting a lot of positive press. How does it differ from your first release?
Our new album was recorded, mixed, mastered, and produced at Esplanade Studios by Misha Kachkachishvilli. He is very talented guy and he speaks Russian! Our new album sounds amazing thanks to Misha!
What can you tell us about the songs on the new album?
Most of the songs are songs from the GULAG—traditional songs of criminals (which is a sad sensation itself). (Editor’s note: The term “GULAG” is an acronym for the Soviet bureaucratic institution, Glavnoe Upravlenie ispravitel’no-trudovykh LAGerei that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems from the 1930s until the 1950s). Some of them are more than 100 years old; some of them were written in the Stalin era in the GULAG.
Nobody knows the names of their authors who probably never made out of there alive. But the songs were sung, repeated, and remade. Most of them were never recorded and yet are known by many. It’s like blues here; passed from generation to generation.
Finally, what can audiences expect from the show at Gasa Gasa on Saturday night?
I think Debauche is at the right place—New Orleans—and we are happening at the right time. And there is always a right time for Debauche in NOLA. That will happen at Gasa Gasa on November 22, Carrollton Station on December 6, and the Hi Ho Lounge on New Years Eve.
