Mashina Vremeni

History

Andrey Makarevich's musical career can be traced to a school band called The Kids, which was made up of two male guitarists and two female vocalists. The group sang mostly English-language folk songs and performed primarily at talent shows put on in Moscow schools. According to Makarevich, the momentous event in his musical career came when the Soviet group VIA Atlanty (Russian: ВИА «Атланты») visited his school and allowed him to play a couple of songs on their equipment during a break in the performance. On the heels of this experience, Makarevich in 1969 joined with other musically talented students from his school and another school to form Mashiny Vremeni (Russian: Машины времени, lit. 'Time Machines' – in plural form imitating The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, etc.). The most significant founding members included Sergey Kawagoe and Andrey Makarevich. The band's repertoire consisted of eleven songs in English, now lost.

Mashina Vremeni started playing during the first years of the Brezhnev era, but could not get official bookings as a professional band. In 1979 Makarevich signed the band up with Rosconcert, becoming more or less legitimate in the State music system (although they couldn't play in Moscow).

Timeline

1971 – Alexander Kutikov becomes the bass player, introducing more of buoyant rock-n-roll into the band's material

1972 – Line-up losses in the band as several members are drafted into service (which to this day is compulsory in Russia)

1973 – Tensions between Sergey Kawagoe and Alexander Kutikov; the latter leaves the band for a hard rock outfit Visokosnoe Leto (Leap Year Summer)

1974 – Sergey Kawagoe leaves, Alexander Kutikov returns. However, Kawagoe also returns after about six months. The band performs with the following line-up: Andrey Makarevich, Alexander Kutikov, Sergey Kawagoe, and Alexey Romanov (future leader of another prominent Russian band Voskreseniye ("Resurrection" or "Sunday"))

1975 – Romanov and Kutikov suddenly depart. Evgeny Margulis joins on guitar

1978 – First studio record of Mashina Vremeni. Alexander Kutikov, though playing in Visokosnoe Leto, helps his friends as a producer and sound engineer.

1979 – Band in crisis. Sergey Kawagoe and Evgeny Margulis leave the band and start Voskresenie. At this time, Andrey Makarevich writes one of the band's most enduring and popular songs: "Poka gorit svecha" ("As long as the candle burns"), as a statement of his not giving up. After some time of frustration, Alexander Kutikov saves the situation by leaving the Visokosnoe Leto band and bringing Valeriy Efremov (also from Visokosnoe Leto) as drummer and Pyotr Podgorodetsky on the keyboards.

1981 – The song "Povorot" (Russian: Поворот, lit. 'The Turning Point') stays on the top of charts for 18 months. The band composes the soundtrack to the popular movie Dusha, starring Sofia Rotaru watched by more than 57 million cinema-goers in the Soviet Union.

1982 – Repressions begin in earnest with a denouncing article "'Blue Bird' ragout" ("Blue Bird" was a popular song of the band) which describes the band's output as depressive and ideologically unsound. A nationwide wave of protest against the denunciation sends thousands of fan letters to newspaper editors. Pyotr Podgorodetsky leaves; Alexandr Zaitsev replaces him.

Musical style

Mashina Vremeni's sound is eclectic and incorporates multiple different genres. Contributions to song composition have been made by almost every band member, and often reflect each member's particular stylistic preferences. Makarevich is a fan of The Beatles, and many of his songs reflect the Beatles' influence. He is also influenced by blues music and Soviet singer-songwriters, the so-called "bards". Kutikov is a quintessential rocker, he composes guitar-oriented hard rock. Margulis is one of the Russia's best known bluesmen, and his songs are usually blues rock ballads.

The majority of the band's lyrics are written by Makarevich.

Line-up

Current line-up

Andrey Makarevich — lead vocals, guitar (1969–present)

Alexander Kutikov — bass guitar, vocals (1971–1975, 1979–present)

Valeriy Efremov — drums, percussion (1979–present)

Touring musicians

Igor Khomich — guitar (regular on studio and live performances since 2012)

Alexander Lyovochkin — keyboards, backing vocals (regular on studio and live performances since 2017)

Kirill Ipatov — percussion (regular on live performances since 2019)

Former members

Sergey Kawagoe — bass guitar (1969–1971), keyboards (1971–1975), drums (1975–1979) †

Evgeny Margulis — guitar, bass guitar, vocals (1975–1979, 1990–2012)

Pyotr Podgorodetsky — keyboards, vocals (1979–1982, 1990–1999)

Alexander Zaicev — keyboards (1982–1990) †

Sergey Ryzhenko — violin, recorder, acoustic guitar (1982–1983)

Yuri Borzov — drums (1969–1971) †

Maxim Kapitanovsky — drums (1971–1973) †

Yuri Fokin — drums (1973–1975)

Andrei Derzhavin — keyboards, vocals (2000–2017)

Sergey Ostroumov — percussions (regular on studio and live performances, 2004–2019) †

Alexandr Ditkovsky — trumpet, tambourine, backing vocals (regular on studio and live performances, 2004-2025)

Involvement in public debate

During the Russo-Ukrainian War frontman Andrey Makarevich denounced Russian military intervention in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. Other people associated with the band kept a low profile in the matter through 2014, but in 2015 it became known that at least Kutikov was against Russian policy in Ukraine, while Derzhavin and director/manager Vladimir Sapunov sided with President Vladimir Putin's policies.