Siberian Surf Rock in Alpine and the Man Behind it

© 2018 Red Elvises | Photos by Johannes Andersen

By: Eero Schauman, Skyline Contributor

ALPINE – I was given the opportunity to interview Igor Yuzov, lead singer and only consistent member of the Red Elvises, a Californian Siberian-Surf Rock band from the 90’s.  

Obviously, the man has been doing this a long time, and for a period the band reached major popularity and fame. I asked Yuzov, "What has changed? What’s the difference between music today than it was 30 years ago?” He said not much had changed for the Red Elvises, that they used to sell a lot more CD’s,  but that for them, “It’s always been (about) having fun, but I don’t consider ourselves part of (the) music industry… driving all over the country and having fun. So, nothing really changed for us.”  

When asked about his influences for the unique sound of  “Siberian Surf Rock,” he brought up his upbringing in Southern Ukraine the music there,  and then moving to the United States, and encountering new genres like rockabilly as well as rock and roll, “I couldn’t run away from my Eastern European roots, but I ran to American music,” and I don’t think anyone can blame him, with titles like She Works for KGB and I Want my Honda Back having such a perfect feel to them.  

Near the end of our conversation, I asked him if he had any words for the students of Sul Ross, about how, with his background with Russia and Ukraine before moving to the United States, we should navigate the complicated world of today, with all that’s going on. He said to “chill… a bad peace is better than a good war,” emphasizing that no matter what, we all need to be able to find some calm. We need to find a way to coexist with each other on scales large and small, because when there’s conflict both sides hurt.