Introducing Beard Haus, another of my favourite groups. Beard Haus are Marina Ukolova and Nick Misharin from Yekaterinburg, who’ve been producing and performing great music since 2013, with their most recent release in 2020.
Information about Beard Haus is sparse, typical of underground groups who often lack the means to hire a publicist or manager, a theme they touch on in this interview. Such is life in the underground, which often relies on unpaid enthusiasts like myself to get the word out.
If I lived in Russia I’d be happy to promote some of these artists, maybe even create a label to bring them together under one roof. As best I can tell, nothing in Russia exists along the lines of 4AD, Factory or Mute, to name some of the better known underground labels, if that’s not a contradiction in terms. Efforts are being made I’m sure, but the Russian underground scene appears to be only marginally organized, and with a much smaller following than is typical in the West. Viewed from the outside this could be a false impression, but some of the artists have said this themselves, so I’ll take them at their word.
Fortunately Beard Haus have produced a substantial amount of quality recordings over the years, so while we may not have the opportunity to see them live, we still have plenty of great tunes to listen to, with hopefully more to come. I especially love Marina’s shouty-pouty vocal style, and Nick’s vocals add an interesting contrast not usually found in electronic duos. Beard Haus have a YouTube channel of course, and more information on the group, including a discography, lyrics and appearances can be found here, here and here.
While researching Beard Haus I discovered they’d performed at Ural Music Night a few years ago, which led me to investigate that venue. What I found was surprising, which I suppose shouldn’t have been, given that Yekaterinburg is Russia’s 4th largest city and a major cultural centre. Apparently the city supports a robust arts community and hosts an annual music festival of considerable size. Something worth taking in if you’re planning to visit Russia in the summer (that was a joke).
I’ve never been to Yekaterinburg, but I do have a friend who grew up there during the Soviet era, when it was called Sverdlovsk. Sergui was your go-to guy for western music at his high school in the late 70’s. His uncle, a diplomat, often travelled to West Germany and would bring back records in his diplomatic pouch which Sergui would record to cassette and sell to his schoolmates. That’s how the kids at his school got to listen to Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. Now that’s true underground!