From Russia with Love, and in Love! (SHE Magazine)

Time of publication: 13.01.2003

Two sexy teens are shaking up things with their music and their out relationship. Meet Julia and Lena from t.A.T.U. and find out what all the fuss is about.

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 speculations 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 opinions. Some hate us; some love us."

"...We want to show that they shouldn't be afraid of their feelings and they should be free..."

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 Lolitas--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 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 professional and famous band in Moscow. We were there for maybe three years." According to t.A.T.u. Russian website, Julia was dismissed from 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 wonk," 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 tell the story in the songs."

When it became clear that t.A.T.u.'s sexuality would be packaged along with their sex appeal, although Julia had no fears, Lena was a bit nervous and feared for their personal safety. "Actually, I was afraid for a little bit," she says. "Not in a serious way, but I was worried what people would think about it. Then I said to myself, 'I don't give a shit.'"

Their acceptance of themselves did not carry over into their families. "At first, there were some problems," Lena says. "On the second single, Not Gonna Get Us, we're singing that we just want to run away from parents, all over the world, from all the people, to be alone and stay together. It was a serious and very big problem with our parents. Now it's okay, totally okay, because they are our parents and they love us and they want us to be happy. If we are happy, they are happy also."

There have been reports in Russia that some young fans are not allowed to attend t.A.T.U's concerts. "I think that most children are already resolved to decide for themselves what they want to do and where they want to go and what music they want to listen to and [to forbid them] is not really very good," Lena says.

But, Lena and Julia hope that through their music, they can help other parents of gay children bridge the gap to acceptance, "The most important problem is not understanding between children and parents," Lena says. "Parents should try to understand and the same from the children's side--children should try to understand parents--because if nobody will try, it will be bigger problem."

Lena and Julia are also proud to be in a position where making their relationship public could help other gay teens.

"Lots of [gay] teenagers are always afraid of their feelings," says Lena. "We want to show that they shouldn't be afraid of their feelings and they should be free and have fun and they should love. It doesn't matter who they love, we just want to show that we can say freedom is all that matters. They should be free."

The girls are pragmatic about what kind of influence they may have over their fans. "Everybody has their own mind," says Lena. "If they want to follow us, they can do it. If they don't want to, they won't do it."

Although the songs on 200 Km/H in the Wrong Lane were all written by other people, the writers seem to have a knack for capturing teen angst, while Lena and Julia have a knack for portraying it, making their songs easy to relate to.

"We are singing about what we are feeling," Lena says. "I think that all the teenagers have the same problems with love, with parents, with freedom with school, and so, we're just singing about ourselves, but lots of people could find themselves in our songs."

Although Lena and Julia see themselves more as singers and musicians, they've not ruled out expanding their role on their records. "All the songs are stories of our life, but we're not writing our songs, we're just singing," Lena says. "We have really good writers and composers who can write better than we can. We like to sing. But, maybe in the future we'll write something by ourselves."

The girls are working on a new CD, but Lena is keeping coyly quiet about it. "I'm not going to say anything about it but it will be another CD, and it will be even better than the first one."

In their spare time, Lena and Julia like to roller skate. They get homesick a lot when they're on the road and Lena admits that sometimes, the traveling and the promotion for t.A.T.u. puts a strain on the girl's personal relationship. "Sometimes we feel that we have to rest from each other because we start to quarrel a little bit," she says. "In that time, we just need to rest from each other, and that's a very usual thing."

Otherwise, she believes that they thrive on being together and that their relationship has helped t.A.T.u. "We've known each other for a long time and we know everything about each other and so it makes our work easier," she says. "We can understand each other in a ver good way."

Although the questions about their relationship and the controversy surrounding t.A.T.u. can get tiresome, Lena and Julia have found a way to rise above the negative comments.

"Actually, we don't care about this because everyone has a their own opinion about our music, about our relationship and about the stuff in connection with t.A.T.u., so we don't care," Lena says. "We just want people to understand and love our music."

Thanks to ta-tu.net

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