Russian Rocker Plays With God

Jan. 24, 2002 -- -- When Boris Grebenshikov says his band Akvarium bridges the gap between pop music and religion he smiles and his eyes twinkle behind his rose-tinted glasses.

There is a lightness in Grebenshikov's tone, a playfulness in his voice that makes what could be just more unbearable pompousness from yet another deluded pop star seem like, well, common sense.

"There's a gap now between religion that's become an annoying nuisance that nobody cares about, not even people in the church, and popular music that in the 20th century has taken the place of religion," he says. "It can't explain to people what they can practically do, and religion could.

"There's no one like Buddha or Mohammed or Jesus Christ in popular music, for better or worse," he continues after a sip of tea. "Aquarium [Akvarium] exists for the sole purpose of bridging the gap. Not that we're so great. We're bad. We are not ideal. We're total f----ups, but our heart is in the right place."

Grebenshikov is no holier-than-thou God-rocker, as his colloquial English makes clear. And there's no sanctimoniousness in his brand of Buddhism.

"The meaning of religion has been lost," he says. "What Jesus had that nobody else had around him was he knew how to have fun. I mean experiencing God. Ecstasy is good, but experiencing God is so much better."

He lights another cigarette, and adds, "I'm not highly spiritual. I'm highly pragmatic. If someone knows how to have fun, I want to know, too."

For more than two dozen years, Grebenshikov, 47, has been one of the biggest names in Russian music. He is often compared to such rock stars as Bob Dylan, John Lennon or Van Morrison for his songwriting, and to Jerry Garcia for the kind of reverence so many of his fans have for him, and for his apparent integrity and disinterest in commercial concerns.

Recording as an unofficial musician throughout most of the 1980s, his songs were consistently on top of popularity charts published in Leningrad newspapers based on write-in votes from readers. When under glasnost, the Soviet government finally acknowledged that one of the most listened-to singers in the country actually existed, his leap to fame was meteoric.