Vladimir Shakhrin: “My father had a heart attack and stroke at the same time”

Biography

Vladimir Shakhrin is a Soviet and Russian rock musician, lead singer of the Chaif ​​group and author of many of the group’s songs.

Front Vladimir Shakhrin

Even at the beginning of the artist’s career, Andrei Matveev, a journalist and a big fan of rock and roll, having heard the songs of “Chaifa”, compared Vladimir Shakhrin with Bob Dylan, a musician who is valued primarily for the high quality of his poetic texts.

Vladimir Shakhrin spoke about his father

With particular trepidation, the vocalist and guitarist “Chaif” spoke about his father, who passed away in 2008. A loved one was literally leaving before Shakhrin’s eyes, but he couldn’t do anything about it.

The man had a heart attack and a stroke at the same time, which changed him forever. As Shahrin recalls, what happened in a short time turned him from his father, who was handsome and courageous, into a decrepit old man with a lost interest in life and a somewhat distorted perception of reality.

“It was a different person, a complete stranger. Then I realized that I was selfish towards him for not visiting him. What was I supposed to do? I came to him, told him something, but he was not interested,” explained Vladimir.

The 60-year-old artist, however, does not want to come up with excuses for himself, since he could have come up with something. Now he understands that he should have come to his father more often, sit next to him and just be silent.

Shahrin also remembers well the last conversation with her father, although it was rather a monologue. Vladimir told his parent that he would definitely get better, but in response he received only a sluggish smile.

Childhood and youth

Vladimir Vladimirovich Shakhrin was born on June 22, 1959 in Sverdlovsk, present-day Yekaterinburg, into a family of teachers at an architectural and construction college. His father taught students computer technology, his mother taught industrial drawing. Vladimir has a sister, Anna.

Vladimir Shakhrin

Both of the musician's grandfathers fought. Fyodor Shakhrin was a driver during the Great Patriotic War and was captured in Belarus. What saved the soldier from subsequent repression was his ability to repair equipment: when a train with liberated soldiers was passing through Poland, repairmen were needed, and the man volunteered to help with captured equipment. Thanks to this, Fedor returned home with normal documents, without mentioning the shameful captivity for a Soviet man. Maternal grandfather Evgeny Sulin is an artilleryman, awarded the Order of the Red Star.

Vladimir began playing the guitar and singing while still at school. His father also contributed to his passion for music; he gave the boy his first tape recorder and cassettes with recordings of foreign rock bands.

Vladimir Shakhrin in childhood

Later, when in the 10th grade, the future Chaifa guitarist Vladimir Begunov transferred to the same school where Shakhrin studied, the schoolchildren organized what later became one of the most popular Russian rock bands. At that time them.

By the end of school, graduates even staged a rock opera, although Vladimir himself admits that it was more likely a musical. The plot was about a poor king who wants to marry his daughter to a rich man and thus get rid of his debts.

Vladimir Shakhrin and Vladimir Begunov

Shakhrin recalled the words from the king’s aria “Whoever pays 1000 pesos, she will love him,” at that time this seemed like a huge amount to Soviet schoolchildren.

Only many years later Vladimir realized that for his daughter the king asked for money that was barely enough for a cup of coffee. However, at the graduation the play was a huge success and the young musicians were even accused of disrupting the official entertainment program with a professional group.

Vladimir Shakhrin in his youth

After graduating from school, Vladimir and the rest of the ensemble members entered the College of Architecture and Construction. It was important for them to stay together, and in this educational institution there was “blat” - both the musician’s mother and his grandfather taught there.

From 1978 to 1980, Vladimir served in the army, in the border troops, where within six months the talented fighter was assigned to the song and dance ensemble of the Far Eastern Border District. After returning from the army and graduating from technical school, Shakhrin until 1988, in parallel with playing music, worked by profession as an assembler at the Sverdlovsk house-building plant.

Key dates

In 1978, Shakhrin and Begunov joined the army and served in border guard units in the Far East.

In the early 1980s, Shakhrin began composing songs, and in 1985 the group “ChaiF” was born (the group was originally called “Chai-F”), the original lineup of which included Vladimir Shakhrin, Vadim Kukushkin, Oleg Reshetnikov and Vladimir Begunov. The first concert took place on September 29, 1985 at the MZhK cultural center.

In 1985, the group recorded their debut double album, Life in Pink Smoke. At the beginning of next year, ChaiF is recording the album “Saturday Evening in Sverdlovsk.”

In June 1986, “Chaif” performed with great success at the first festival of the Sverdlovsk rock club, and the group was invited to Leningrad. With a performance in Leningrad, widespread recognition began in 2013. In 1987, two new albums were released - “Dermontin” and “Dulya with poppy seeds”, which later became the group’s first official albums.

Since the late 1980s, “Chaif” has become one of the brightest groups of Russian rock.2013 Since 1989, the musicians of “Chaif” have become the initiators of the musical and environmental movement “Pure Water Rock”, participated in all its charity events and concerts.2013

In 1990, the first vinyl disc “Chaifa” with the album “Not a Problem” was released at the Melodiya studio in Leningrad.

In the mid-1990s, the group actively toured, recorded new albums - “Children of the Mountains” (1993), “Let everything be the way you want” (1995), “Orange mood” (1994-1996), and shot several video clips. “Chaif” is a participant in many festivals and group concerts (“Maxidrom”, “Aurora”, “Rock against Terror”); musicians of the group act as organizers of the annual event “The Rooks have Arrived.”2013

In 1996, during military operations in Chechnya and Tajikistan, Shakhrin and Begunov gave eight impromptu concerts right on the front line. 2013

In August 1997, “Chaif” performed several concerts in London: in the Astoria concert hall, an acoustic one - live on Seva Novgorodtsev’s “Crop Rotation” program on the BBC and at the Russian embassy.

“Chaif” began celebrating its fifteenth anniversary long before the date itself, and on February 19, 2000, the group’s performance at the Olimpiysky was sold out. The concert was timed to coincide with the release of the album “Sympathies” - an album of covers of what? to favorite songs of Russian rock bands and individual musicians in the version of the Chaif ​​group.

In the spring of 2000, the group won the Ovation Award in the Rock Band of the Year category. 2013

In 2006, Vladimir Shakhrin’s book “Open Files” was published.

Music

Vladimir himself considers 1976 to be the year Chaifa was founded; it was then that Vladimir Begunov transferred to the class from another school. However, the first official lineup of the group met in the mid-1980s, and then the group got its name: Vadim Kukushkin, who played the punk trumpet, called the word “chai-f” a drink that was obtained by brewing tea in the Soviet “Bordrost” coffee maker.

Vladimir Shakhrin and the Chaif ​​group at the beginning of their creative career

Shakhrin's team first performed under this name on September 29, 1985. This date is considered the official birthday of the Chaif ​​group. Throughout all the years of the team’s existence, Vladimir has held the position of frontman, main vocalist and author of most of the lyrics and music.

In 1985, Chaif ​​presented the first official album, Life in Pink Smoke, although it was preceded by the magnetic album Verkh-Isetsky Pond, recorded a year earlier. The musicians did not distribute it due to the frankly amateur quality of the recording. Since then, the group has released more than three dozen albums, both electric and acoustic (counting compilations and live recordings).

Vladimir Shakhrin and the Chaif ​​group – “Argentina – Jamaica 5:0”

A distinctive feature of Chaifa rock and roll is the emphasis, first of all, on the deep meaningful load of the lyrics. This style is characteristic of most of Russian rock of the 1980s, especially noticeable among people from the Sverdlovsk rock club.

The group’s work contains compositions of different styles and semantic content. Firstly, there are semi-humorous songs like “Argentina – Jamaica 5:0”, “Orange Mood” and “My Apartment”.

Vladimir Shakhrin and the Chaif ​​group

Secondly, songs with social and even political overtones, such as “Dogs from the city outskirts”, “For yourself, for him, for me” and “Where are you, where”. Moreover, the latter is a rare case for “Chaifa”, a heavy composition dedicated to the victims of Stalin’s repressions.

Special attention should be paid to the famous “crying songs”, which are popular with the public and for many years have remained not only rock and roll, but also courtyard classics - “Nobody Will Hear” (Oh-Yo), “From the War”, “Not with me".

Vladimir Shakhrin and the Chaif ​​group - “No one will hear” (Oh-yo)

And, of course, an important part of Chaifa’s creativity is positive and kind rock and roll, where the musical design, classic for the genre, is adjacent to unpretentious lyrics, sometimes humorous and sometimes romantic. Such examples include “17 Years”, “Night Janitor Blues”, “Yesterday There Was Love”.

Another feature of Chaif ​​is its careful approach to concert programs. Unlike many modern rock bands, the Urals do not engage in “club combing” and perform, albeit not as often as their colleagues, but with larger programs.

Vladimir Shakhrin and the group “Chaif” - “Not with me”

Chaif ​​continues to regularly release new albums. Musicians record discs and songs both solo and in collaboration with other performers. Over the years, the group has not changed its style, not allowing the chernukha characteristic of Russian rock into its work, not wasting time on popular political trends and continuing to delight fans with kind and smart compositions.

Vladimir himself considers rock more of a lifestyle than just music, which he honestly admits in the song: “Rock and roll is me.”

Music career

Shakhrin's musical career began in earnest in 1985. Together with Vadim Kukushkin and Oleg Reshetnikov, he organized the group “Chaif” (this word, a neologism for the musicians, was born when they drank tea brewed through a “Bodrost” coffee maker), and then brought Begunov into the group.

Vladimir Shakhrin worked at the construction site for 8 years. In the same year, the musicians released their first full-length album, “Life in Pink Smoke,” in two parts. Unlike the first, “handicraft” record, which remained on the shelf, these recordings were actively distributed and gained popularity.

Vladimir Shakhrin is one of the founders of the Chaif ​​group. After the first concert on September 29, 1985, the introductions became permanent. In the city, Shakhrin began to be recognized quite quickly, although he never aspired to such a side effect of success. Vladimir Shakhrin and Vyacheslav Butusov (1986, Sverdlovsk) Vladimir became one of the main characters in rock music in the country. He collaborated with famous fellow countrymen, for example, with Vyacheslav Butusov, and also did not refuse away concerts and, together with his bandmates, was a frequent guest at all kinds of concerts and festivals. Chaif ​​group - Don’t rush to bury us Chaif ​​has several songs , which turned into the most quoted: “No one will hear (Oh-yo)” (1992), “Argentina - Jamaica 5:0” (1999), “Don’t push it to the limit” (2001) and others. Ural dumplings and the group “ Chaif" Shakhrin and Begunov are big fans of KVN. They even took part in one of the Ural Dumplings games, appearing on stage initially in wigs and glasses, and only then showing their true faces.

Still from the film “Election Day” The musicians starred together in the film “Election Day” (2007). They played ditties who had to write attractive quatrains in support of one of the candidates. Vladimir Shakhrin in the program “The Main Character” (2009) “Chaif” with Vladimir at the head has not lost its popularity over the years of its existence and continues to regularly delight listeners with new songs.

Personal life

Just as in Vladimir’s musical biography there was room for only one group, so in his personal life all these years there has been one woman - his wife Elena Nikolaevna, before her marriage Shlenchak. Shakhrin met her when he was studying at a technical school. The romance proceeded rapidly, at some point Vladimir, even because of a quarrel with his beloved, wanted to shoot himself with his father’s starting pistol.

Vladimir Shakhrin with his wife

The marriage produced 2 daughters, and now Vladimir Vladimirovich is no longer only a father, but also a grandfather. The eldest daughter Yulia gave the musician a granddaughter Alice and a grandson Maxim. The youngest Daria gave birth to a girl, who was named Victoria.

Shahrin himself, regretting that in his youth he did not have time to pay enough attention to his children, spends a lot of time with his grandchildren, catching up. Numerous photos and videos of Vladimir and his family can be seen on the group’s Instagram. Shakhrin does not have a personal account; the singer treats social networks and the Internet with a degree of irony, as he directly speaks of in the 2020 song “What We Did Last Year.”

Vladimir Shakhrin with his family

Vladimir has an unconventional and memorable appearance, despite the average height for a man of 170 cm. “An uncle with a nose like mine,” Shakhrin sings in the song “Beer.” Perhaps the nose is the reason for the increased interest in the musician’s nationality. Vladimir himself laughs at this and in an interview says that if you put a skullcap on him, they will take him for an Uzbek, if he wears a kippah, he will be mistaken for a Jew, and if he is dressed in a double-breasted suit, he will look like an Italian.

Vladimir Shakhrin on the program “Evening Urgant”

Journalists note that, despite his popularity, Vladimir does not suffer from star fever and is very easy to communicate. Fans of the singer could see this with their own eyes thanks to Shakhrin’s performance in 2017 on the “Evening Urgant” program.

The Maiden Kingdom of Shahrin

The leader of ChaiFa became Alice's grandfather

The leader of ChaiFa became Alice's grandfather

The eldest daughter of the lead singer of the ChaiF group, 50-year-old Vladimir SHAKHRIN, gave birth to a girl. In the spring, the musician’s youngest daughter also gave him a granddaughter. Friends of Vladimir Vladimirovich kindly joke that he has entered the maiden kingdom.

When a few years ago Shakhrin started building a country house near his native Yekaterinburg, he repeated more than once:

— There will be a place for future grandchildren to frolic!

And so it happened. When the mansion was ready, the musician’s youngest daughter Dasha announced that she was getting married and was going to become a mother. The girl's chosen one was Stas Romanov . The young people met at school, when Shakhrina was in the 10th grade, and Romanov was in the 11th grade. True, then the paths of the future spouses diverged. Each of them acquired another lover.

When Stas and Dasha met a few years later, they decided to break off previous ties and after some time started a family. Vladimir Vladimirovich and his wife Elena Nikolaevna married their daughter with a light heart, because their son-in-law, like Shakhrin, is related to music - he is a popular DJ in Yekaterinburg. Last March, the couple had a daughter, who was named Vika.

Quick wedding

And a couple of months after the baby was born, a joyful event happened again in the Shakhrin family. The rocker's eldest daughter, Yulia, got ready to marry Yegor Maybrodsky, . They decided not to put off the celebration, because Yulia was already carrying a child under her heart. The wedding was held in the style of the 60s. The fact is that then the film “Hipsters” was released, in which they sang the hit of the “chaifs” - “Let everything be the way you want.” Shahrin happily danced boogie-woogie and rock and roll at his daughter’s wedding, impressing the new generation with his skills. Many friends and colleagues of the bride from the Yekaterinburg club “KGB” (“Club of Guitarists and Drummers”), where Yulia works as an art director, gathered to congratulate the newlyweds. During a break between dances, the leader of ChaiFa called on his daughter and newly-minted son-in-law to give him a grandson, although he noted that he would be extremely happy to have another girl.

The baby, who was named Alisa, was recently born in one of the Yekaterinburg maternity hospitals. The star grandfather immediately gave her a stroller and a crib. And a few days later, a holiday was organized at the Shakhrins’ country mansion, for which all members of the large family gathered. However, unfortunately, the musician will not be able to enjoy communication with his granddaughters for a long time. Soon he will go on a big tour dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the ChaiF group.

Vladimir Shakhrin now

Today Chaif ​​is one of the most popular Russian rock bands. Musicians regularly give concerts in cities in Russia and abroad. In addition, the group delights fans not only with new songs, but also with videos for them. In 2020, Chaif ​​will present a video for the song “All the Bond Girls.”

Vladimir Shakhrin and the Chaif ​​group in 2020

Vladimir himself prefers to spend his free time with his family. In Yekaterinburg, the musician has his own house, in the construction of which, thanks to his construction education, he was directly involved.

The leader of the Chaif ​​group, Vladimir Shakhrin, invited gays to Ledovy

Vladimir Shakhrin, who came on tour, is sure that the situation with gays in St. Petersburg is slightly exaggerated. But the leader of the Chaif ​​group, who has never changed his native Yekaterinburg to Moscow or St. Petersburg over the years of his musical career, probably has no idea how things really are in the Cultural Capital.

Meanwhile, a real war broke out in St. Petersburg between gays and straights. The cultural capital is divided into two camps, where both are talking about infringement of rights. Real massacres are unfolding on the central streets. The cultural capital of Russia has already been nicknamed “a den of homophobes.” Some Hollywood stars are even boycotting Russia, canceling their trips to the country, thus demonstrating their attitude to the current situation. Others, on the contrary, come to St. Petersburg with the intention of supporting the LGBT community, dedicating their show programs to their support. But overseas divas, Madonna and Lady Ga-Ga, are too far from Russia, gay activists are sure, to influence the situation in any way.

Vladimir Shakhrin, who was in good spirits as always, assured that it was possible to do without war. The rock musician suggested that sexual minorities simply rent the Ice Palace for “corporate” events:

“Take the ice palace, rent it and go there, normally, have fun with music, as you like. And no one will be a stranger and all this will be appropriate. I even admit that it will be a lot of fun,” Shakhrin advised, smiling.

However, the musician admitted that he once witnessed a gay pride parade: “I saw a gay pride parade in Paris in my life, I didn’t like it. Aesthetically, it was unpleasant; I don’t understand why I should go out into the street with all this. But on the other hand, if tomorrow they come and destroy some gay club, I will be the first to come out and say that this is a disgrace, and those who did this need to be found and punished by law,” the musician admitted.

“In my life, there are many people I know who are gay,” said Shakhrin, “I haven’t seen anyone oppress them, they are all successful people, many popular, honored artists, they have TV shows, they have good businesses. To be honest, I always wait for them to have their say. It seems to me that the situation is distorted and far-fetched.”

It should be noted that Vladimir Shakhrin is an exemplary family man. He has been married to one woman all his life. He and his wife Elena raised two beautiful daughters, and their grandchildren are growing up. The idol of thousands, Shahrin encourages people to smile more, be kinder and never be rude, because this, according to the musician, is the secret of peace, friendship and love.

Evgenia Buzaeva, Ilya Butakov, Vladimir Khrykin, Piter.tv

Origin[ | ]

• Paternal grandfather - Fyodor Nikolaevich Shakhrin - a war veteran. He served as a driver, was captured in Belarus in 1942, and was freed by the Americans in 1945. When the train was traveling back to the USSR through Poland, he volunteered to repair captured German equipment. And in 1947 he returned home with normal military documents, and the rest of his fellow travelers ended up in camps in Siberia.[1] After the war, he worked as an ambulance driver driving a 1954 Moskvich-401. Subsequently, the grandfather bought it for himself, and later the car went to first his son, and then his grandson.[2] Father - Vladimir Fedorovich Shakhrin (1935-2008)[3] - worked as a computer technology teacher at an architectural and construction college, went on hikes with his students, and went as a counselor to children's camps.[2][4]

Discography[ | ]

ChaiF[ | ]

• 1984 - Verkh-Isetsky Pond (not distributed)
• 1985 - Life in pink smoke (2 parts)
• 1986 - Saturday evening in Sverdlovsk
• 1987 - Dermontin
• 1987 - Dulya with poppy seeds
• 1988 - Best city in Europe
• 1989 - No problem
• 1990 - Let's go back
• 1991 - Fourth Chair
• 1993 - Children of the mountains
• 1994 - Orange mood
• 1995 - Let everything be the way you want
• 1996 - Orange mood - II (2 parts)
• 1996 - The Real World
• 1997 — Acoustic versions
• 1999 - Shekogali
• 2000 - Chaif ​​- 15 years. It's only begining! (2 parts)
• 2000 - Sympathies
• 2001 - Time does not wait
• 2002 - Orange mood - IV
• 2003 —
• 2004 - Emerald hits
• 2006 - On my own
• 2008 - Orange mood - V
• 2009 — Own/Alien
• 2009 - 25 years of aging
• 2013 - Cinema, wine and dominoes
• 2017 — String Theory