Kuptsov, Denis Vitalievich

Born February 3, 1970 in Leningrad . At the age of 10, Denis became interested in music, listening to records of The Beatles , Rolling Stones , Beach Boys , The Who , Elvis Presley , Gene Vincent , Eddie Cochran on Riga’s radio line . Kuptsov began to organize school discos, putting on his record player records of Western groups of the 1960s, along with disco hits of the 1970s. In 1985 , shortly after graduating from Art School No. 2, Denis entered the Art College named after V.A.Serov , where his passion for music became more serious. For their scholarship, Merchants acquired original foreign vinyl records of their favorite groups and expensive “brand” clothes. Not a single serious Leningrad party, be it a concert of the Secret group, Bravo or the Zoo, could not do without its participation. Due to the "styling" Denis repeatedly had problems with the police.

In 1987 , Kuptsov met guitarist Alexander Ryabokon, who was filled with fresh and interesting musical ideas. At the same time, Denis began to learn the game of percussion instruments and by 1989 , he could adequately perform his parts on drums. One of his first drum teachers was Valery Kirilov , who was playing in the Zoo group at that time. In 1988 , Merchants and Ryabokon created the band The Swindlers (The Fraudsters), who performed English-language compositions in neo-rockabilly style with a bias towards punk rock and psychobilly . The debut concert of the newly-minted team took place at the Festival cinema in 1989 .

To buy new musical instruments, Kuptsov and his friends worked part-time at the Lenfilm film studio, where young musicians were dragging equipment. The 1990th year was a landmark for Denis. It was then that the debut of Kuptsov and “The Swindlers” took place on the Soviet television screen - the band’s video clips were shown as part of the Pop-Antenna program on Leningrad television. At the end of that year, young musicians left the USSR , moving to Denmark . At first, The Swindlers were forced to give concerts in city squares and streets. Gradually, the group gained popularity and was able to go on tour.

By 1992 , the band broke up (the interests of the musicians diverged), at the same time Kuptsov met the Leningrad double bass player Igor Akulinin, nicknamed "The Parrot", who, in turn, brought Denis to young guitar player Konstantin Limonov. Soon Kuptsov played the concert with Akulinin and Limonov, after which the drummer left Denmark and now returned to the Russian Federation . In 1993 , Akulinin and Limonov made Denis a proposal to create a group that would perform compositions in the style of a garage and rockabilly . So a collective called “ Spitfire ” was born (the name was chosen by general vote). The band gave their first concert on the Indie Club stage in St. Petersburg on February 10, 1993, at the local festival of psychobilly and rockabilly . But at first, Kuptsov was forced to engage in "musical education" of the two other members of the group, since they did not have a clear stylistic idea of ​​"garage" music. In 1993 , Kuptsov, in parallel with the activities in the framework of Spitfire , took part in another St. Petersburg team, headed by his colleague the well-known radio DJ Radio Baltika and showman Daniel Shuvalov - Stunnin 'Jivesweets, where he met Gregory Umbrella, Andrey Kuraev and Alexei Pushkaryov (future participants of Spitfire ).

Since 1994, both bands have successfully and extensively toured in Germany , and already in 1995 , Spitfire released a composition on the alternative German label Ska Pork Pie, United Colors Of Ska Vol. 2 " .

In 1996, “Stunnin 'Jivesweets” ceases its creative activity. Before that, in 1997 their album was released on “Shock Records” - “Get Your Kicks With This Six”, recorded in Berlin at Vielklang studios .

“Spitfire”, thanks to the efforts and negotiations of Kuptsov, recorded their first long-playing album “Night Hunting” at the studio “Melody” in St. Petersburg. Mastering and production takes place in Berlin at the studio Vielklang and the label Pork Pie . The album is released on the label Pork Pie in January 1997 .

After that, the group has been actively touring Europe, recording albums and participating in various music festivals for many years.

While still in Denmark, Kuptsov began composing English-language lyrics for future Spitfire songs (Lemonov would write music for the lyrics a little later). Thus, in the period 1992-1994, he wrote the words to the compositions “Night Flying”, “Simply Can't Get Up”, “Freakin 'Businessman”, “Swamp Lake”, “I Wanna See You”, etc. Starting since that time, Denis has written many texts that have appeared on all Spitfire albums from 1996-2008.

In 2001, members of Spitfire and Markscheider Kunst created a side project: St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review . In parallel, Spitfire play concerts, record albums, and tour in Europe and the USA . Up to their temporary stop from December 2008 to 2010 .

Denis Kuptsov, in addition to musical activity, also draws. His drawings decorated the first two albums, "Spitfire", as well as numerous posters "The Swindlers", "Stunnin 'Jivesweets", "Spitfire", Saint-Petersburg Ska Jazz Review, Looney Boppers, etc.

Also Denis is known as dj Messer. His repertoire includes various compositions in rock , latin, Brazil, Jamaica, funk , hip hop , punk , soul , mod , rockabilly , jazz .

From December 2001 to January 2009, Denis played drums in the Leningrad band.

In 2007,2009,2010,2012 she participates in the Messer Chups group, records several albums with them, tours around Europe and the USA.

Since 2003, he has been participating in Yevgeny Fedorov’s creative musical project ( “Tequilajazzz” ) “Optimystica Orchestra” .

In 2009, Denis leaves the Spitfire team.

In 2010, Denis revives the St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review , which invites all members of the Markscheider Kunst group.

In 2013, Denis receives an offer from Julia Kogan (former soloist of the Leningrad band) for joint work.

Currently, Denis Kuptsov is involved in St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review , Optimystica Orchestra , Julia Kogan , Looney Boppers, SPb Percussion All Stars.

• The official website of the group “St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review ".

• The official site of the group "Spitfire"

• Old official site of the Leningrad group

• Official site of the Leningrad group

• The official website of the group "Messer Chups"

• The official site of the singer Julia Kogan

• Sharapov and Zhenya. Spitfire Interview Knives and Forks. (March 6, 1998)

• Elena Gutkina. Spitfire Interview “If you think that we are complete idiots, then this is a profound error” www.inter-view.org (July 8, 2008)

• Ilya Gamov. Denis Kuptsov: “Cord” put an eye on us, so much so that the Komsomolskaya Pravda had to reassemble the group . (March 3, 2016)

• Denis Kuptsov: Broke stereo.ru (December 13, 2010)

• Natalya Polyanskaya. Julia Kogan. “When I became pregnant, Schnur said:“ You should go “” womanhit.ru (June 29, 2016)

• Spitfire (interview with Russian ska-punk band before the presentation of the new album) skaru.ru (2004)

• 10 years to the server SKArbin. Interview with the Spitfire group skaru.ru (2009)