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By: Mary Damiano
What were you doing when you were 17? Trying to figure out who you were? Figuring out what to do with your life? Maybe experiencing the first pangs of love, perhaps fighting to keep it secret?
Meet two girls, a fresh 18 and 17 years old, from Russia, who have become famous for their penchant for just being who they are—a couple of girls in love with music and each other.
Lena Katina and Julia Volkova, the two pretty teens who make up the duo t.A.T.u., seem to have the world on a string. According to their press kit, they regularly play to Russian crowds of 50,000. Their first single, which in English translates to All The Things She Said, is an electronica-flavored song about the conflicting feelings of falling in love with another girl. The song reached the number one spot in Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and the Ukraine. The video for the song was named MTV Russia's Video of the Year in 2001.
t.A.T.u. is hitting a nerve with a teen culture desperate for a different voice. But they've hit a few other nerves and raised speculation about the validity of their relationship. They've received death threats. They've endured talk that they are not actually lesbians at all, but rather a manufactured publicity stunt.
Lena dismisses such controversy and refuses to let what other people say affect them. “It doesn't matter,” she says. “We don't care. Everybody has their own opinion. Some hate us; some love us.”
Even if t.A.T.u. were not singing about controversial issues, it's hard to imagine them not being a hit. They're sexy and adorable—a couple of leather and lace Loli-tas—an enticing combination of sugar and spice. They look heavenly, but also like a couple of wild child teens on a mission from hell.
Lena is blessed with a beauty from another era—with her flowing, curly hair, and soft figure, she would look perfectly at home in a Victorian painting. Julia is all gamine good looks—with her spiky hair and huge dark eyes, she is reminiscent of a Russian Winona Ryder.
Lena and Julia have weathered the storm surrounding their rise to stardom well and are flying high on their newfound fame.
She magazine caught up with them as they were on their way to the airport. They had just completed a whirlwind tour of Las Vegas and L.A. Lena is the spokes-teen for the duo at the moment—she speaks English while Julia is still learning. Lena's English is very good, heavy with her Russian accent, but animated with teen enthusiasm.
Although there has been controversy surrounding their music, Lena and Julia both have musical backgrounds. They are both the daughters of musicians and have been classically trained as pianists. They worked together long before they became t.A.T.u.
“We met maybe eight years ago,” Lena says. “We were in a children's band called Neposedi. It was a really very professional and famous band in Moscow. We were there for maybe three years.” According to the t.A.T.u. Russian website, Julia was dismissed for Neposedi for “inappropriate behavior.”
Later, both girls went separately to a large audition, hoping to become part of a new girl band. “There was a really big casting, consisting of 500 girls, and we won,” Lena says. She also says that the producers simply wanted a group, and didn't go looking for a lesbian duo. “They were just looking for teenage girls who sing, with a good voice.”
After they were chosen, they met Dr. Ivan Shapovalov, a 31 year-old psychologist, ad man, and aspiring music video producer, who the girls credit for coming up with the t.A.T.u. concept and finding the songs. On t.A.T.u.'s CD, 200 Km/H in the Wrong Lane, Shapovalov co-wrote several songs and is credited as executive producer.
Lena says that once the people behind the band found out about the girls’ personal relationship, things really took off. “We were working for a long time without all this stuff, without All The Things She Said, and once they started to know about our relationship, they started to show our real life on the screen and to tell the story in the songs.” |
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