«Singled Out: Mumiy Troll`s Polar Bear» — AntiMusic

Singled Out: Mumiy Troll`s Polar Bear

Welcome to Singled Out! where we ask artists to tell us the inside story of their latest single. Today Mumiy Troll frontman Ilya tells us about the title track from their new «Polar Bear» EP. Mumiy Troll are one of the biggest band in Eastern Europe and they are catching on in a big way in the U.S. with this English language EP. We now turn it over to Ilya for the story:

Some time ago, a couple of friends asked me if I could donate a song that did not sound like a Mumiy Troll song for their use in a lo-fi movie they were making. I had the chorus for the song in mind already, which I thought would be quite infectious –«mereshitza oh polar bear» — but we needed a verse too. I decided to make it about a not so faithful girlfriend and their sobbing boyfriend. We asked a blonde receptionist in the studio to sing the verse so that the story would make sense. At some point the song was heard by another Friend, Romane Korovine, who had been trying hard to establish himself as an artist in NYC and needed a break. He asked if he could shoot the video for the song. I suggested that we make the theme for the video a little teddy bear party, like a theater made of dolls. He liked the idea – he went to one of the Baltic States to get the teddy bears because he needed a really big one for the video and he thought they might be cheaper there. I guess he ended up spending a lot of time in a quite unusual toy shop, which is partly why we ended up with such a hilarious video. No one seems keen on broadcasting it because it`s a bit off color. Either way, the song found its home in Russian clubs and we use it often as an encore song. A lot of times we go into the audience and ask girls to sing the solo. So far we have Russian and English version — the Spanish and Chinese versions are on their way.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album — right here!