Splean | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Saint Petersburg, Russia |
Genres |
Alternative rock Acoustic rock Indie rock |
Years active | May 27, 1994 – present |
Associated acts | Сеtи, Oedipus Complex, Alexander Vasilyev (solo), Bi-2 |
Members |
Alexander Vasilyev Vadim Sergeyev Dmitry Kunin Nikolay Rostovsky Alexey Mesherekov |
Splean (Russian: Сплин) is a popular Russian rock band. They were formed and released their first album in 1994. Since then, they have remained one of the most popular rock bands in Russia and the former Soviet Union. The band's name is derived from "spleen" (in the sense of "depression"), and the "ea" spelling in English is a pun on the spelling of the Beatles. It was borrowed from a short poem by Sasha Cherny, which the band set to music.
The band was formed when lead singer Alexander Vasilyev and bass guitarist Alexander Morozov decided to create a band, while working in "Buff" theatre as stage workers. Later keyboardist Nikolay Rostovsky and other musicians joined them. They formed a band, and despite the risk of losing their jobs, began recording their first album Dusty Fact("Пыльная быль") in one of the theatre's studios at night. Their growing popularity was proved by Boris Grebenshchikov's and Konstantin Kinchev's support. In 1996 band began to play concerts in Moscow and other cities. In subsequent years Splean recorded several albums and number of radio-hit songs including Sugar Free Orbit ("Орбит без сахара"), New People ("Новые люди"), Backwards Time ("Время назад"), We Were Sitting and Smoking ("Мы сидели и курили") and others.
Despite rumours that the group is on the verge of breaking up in 2004, Splean continues performing throughout Russia and the world. The band frequently experiments and evolves, so that the current version of Splean is quite different from its original version.
In 2004, the band garnered international attention for the inclusion of their song Be My Shadow("Будь моей тенью") in the movie based on Sergey Lukyanenko's bestselling novel Night Watch.