The photo project Musicians of the Nalchik Underground tells about various active units of the urban underground: an old-school academic composer, rock musicians, a DJ, an electronic musician, a folk group, a label, and even online radio.
Original musical phenomena often appear in small towns far from Moscow and St. Petersburg. Isolation, a measured, sometimes too slow life pace and a deep cultural background help to create something unique. Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, has always had every chance to create its own underground — a notable musical phenomenon.
The Jprjej is a group combining ethnographic experience and musical traditionalism with an experimental approach. Their repertoire consists of ritual, historical and epic songs of the Circassians.
Bjami is a project of Bashir Khatsukov, a musician and a member of many Nalchik bands. Online radio combines two polar directions: refined local pop music and experimental music.
Dzhabrail Khaupa is the most unobvious hero of the project. A classic of Circassian academic music and a poet of advanced age does not really fit the definition of ‘underground musician’. But, given the conventionality and illusory nature of the Nalchik musical environment, Dzhabrail can be called an important figure for the local underground.
