Not So Socialist (History of Margovya)

Not So Socialist is a rock band formed in 2000. In the band's early days, the band was a trio made up of then-Tidzhomov Music Records talents, and , but rapper  joined the band in 2002 following a stint as a guest star in the three women's TV show Three Girls. Currently, the band is performing with acclaimed actor, who is just beginning his singing career following successful stints in both acting and politics.

Formation and early years
In 1997, was signed by  after music producer Denis Tidzhomov discovered her while she was performing for a school play at Sergei Eisenstein Film Academy. Three years later, Tidzhomov had added  winner and Top 16 contestant  to its lineup, and the three recorded some songs for the label's New Millenium Special to commemorate the arrival of the year 2000. During these recording sessions, the three got to know each other well and became close friends. It is unknown who among them came up with the idea of forming a band; all three have said in various interviews that they were the ones who came up with the idea first. But despite the varying and sometimes conflicting origin stories, it is clear that they knew who would be handling what when they formed the band in August of 2000: Kalinina, who had been a proficient guitarist and used said instrument to her advantage during her run as champion of Svolochy Showdown in 1999, would play the guitar; Atolova, a skilled pianist and keyboardist, would play said instruments; and Kumilyova would play the drums, an instrument which she had learned to play during a brief interval in her career.

The band called themselves Not So Socialist after Kalinina's throwaway comment about being not so much like her father, a known supporter of the. In an interview with Oomph! magazine in 2010, Kalinina said that the plan had never been to call their band Not So Socialist; they were looking for "something short and snappy" to call themselves, and after a brainstorming session eventually turned to the subject of family and parents, Kalinina boasted that once people learn of her political views, they would learn that she was "not as socialist as [her] father." Somehow, the words turned into "not so socialist" and that was how the band's name came about.

Not So Socialist (2000-2002)
Not So Socialist started recording their first and self-titled album in September 2000 at what would become Unbelievable, Jeff! Studios in Remontadov. Denis Tidzhomov produced the album. A rock version of Kalinina's winning single for Svolochy Showdown, "My Only Man", was released on 1 May 2001 as the album's first single, and it reached gold status in Margovya on 17 July. The second single released from the album was "Great Balls of Justice", which was used as the theme for the film A Big Ball of Justice: The Adventures of Yakov "Fat Man" Yazenev, of which Kalinina was part of the cast, and debuted at number 10 on the Margovyan single charts. Not So Socialist announced their first tour on the same day of their eponymous album's release, 13 July 2001. The album achieved top spot after three weeks on the charts.

Tidzhomov Records marketed extensively the band and their new album, contributing to the popularity of both rising exponentially within Margovya. A third single, "Rivadavia," was released on October 2001 to coincide with the release of the Karageorgiyev: The Movie, of which "Rivadavia" is part of the soundtrack.

The Promiscuous Album (2002-2003)
Not So Socialist announced that rapper and actor had joined the band in December 2001 after the four had gotten together during the filming of Three Girls, in which Arigov was a guest star. Arigov took over drum and percussion duties from Kumilyova, allowing the latter to play backup guitar and bass guitar. The band also bought the old studio in which they recorded their first album and turned it into their permanent recording base. They named their new company Unbelievable, Jeff! Studios, after the famous utterance of English sports commentator. They recorded their second album between November and December 2001, and was mixed at Tidzhomov Studios in April of that year.

2002 was a big year for Not So Socialist and its members; Three Girls was reaching the peak of its run, and Arigov's second solo album, The Fastest Mouth in the South, was steadily climbing up the charts. The band toured the country from January to March 2002 alongside other Tidzhomov talents in the Great Continental Tour, and Not So Socialist toured Margovya on their own with the Sleeping Positions Tour. "The Lone Warrior," theme tune of the film Iquitos, was released in MP3 format as a teaser for their new album, titled The Promiscuous Album, on the day of the film's release.

March also heralded the shooting of the music video for their upcoming single "Real Risque", recorded at Unbelievable, Jeff! Studios from 7 to 10 March. The video was released on 28 March 2002. The single for "Real Risque" was released on 9 April 2002 in Margovya, featuring an instrumental version of the song, a remix, and the song "To Be E" from the upcoming album.

The Promiscuous Album was released on 30 May 2002, sparking another tour of Margovya and a few appearances in neighboring and  in. On 16 June, the second single from the album, "Red Shirt, Golden Cannon," was released, along with a video for the single on 17 June. After a tour throughout Margovya in June, Not So Socialist embarked on their first ever international tour through Bolivia, Brazil, and  from July to August 2002.

"These Paper Covers," the third single from the album, was released on 8 September alongside a Tour edition of The Promiscuous Album (which featured the controversial cover artwork of the bandmembers naked behind the title letters), featuring alternative artwork and live versions of "Real Risque," "Red Shirt, Golden Cannon," "The Lone Warrior" and "These Paper Covers".

From 2 to 6 January 2003, Not So Socialist traveled to Ciudad del Celebridad to participate in a minor scene for the film Once In a Lifetime Chance. The band is seen in the last scene of the film, singing their song "Cat". "Cat" was released across Margovya as the first single from the Once In a Lifetime Chance soundtrack on 27 May 2003. Not So Socialist released a remix of the song, featuring new rap lyrics from Arigov. The video for the single was edited by and contains part of Not So Socialist's concert in the film and part snippets from the film itself.

2 (2003-2005)
Not So Socialist recorded 2 (meaning The Promiscuous Album 2, as Atolova claimed that they had made so much material for the first album that there were some songs that "just deserved to be in an album of their own") at the Unbelievable, Jeff! Studios in Remontadov, Viktoriyovskaya between November and December 2001; it was mixed at the Tidzhomov studios in November and December 2002 after Not So Socialist announced that they were making another album from content that had been previously cut from The Promiscuous Album. The first single from the album was "Pussy", released on 24 February 2003. The video was shot in the Yulianovsky district of Remontadov.

The video for the second single, "Eat Me Up", was filmed in the Gavrilovich Auditorium in Remontadov on 2 and 3 April 2003. The video premiered on 29 April, and the single was released on 15 May.

2 was released on 17 November 2003 and went straight into the top 10 charts throughout South America. According to the Billboard charts, Not So Socialist were at that stage the most popular Margovyan band of all time. Not So Socialist toured Margovya and parts of neighboring Brazil through December 2003 and January 2004. They were part of the annual MNBN New Year's Countdown in Ciudad del Celebridad, and they released the single "Kissing Talking Lips" on 2 January 2004.

In June 2004, Not So Socialist toured South America again. By 29 June, Not So Socialist had played 23 concerts in front of more than 150,000 spectators in thirteen countries. "I Burnt Myself on You". the fourth single from 2, was released on 29 June 2004.

Falling Leaves (2005-2010)
On 1 May 2005, Not So Socialist revealed the name of their new album: Falling Leaves. The band worked on the album in secret following the release of their third album 2, with the entire process from composition to recording to mixing taking up nearly two years. The first single from the album, "Hold On", was released on 10 June, with its video premiere on 16 June. Falling Leaves was released nationwide on 27 July. Directly following its release, the album continued the success of its predecessor 2, placing on top 10 charts in ever major South American nation.

9 September 2005 marked the release of the second single from Falling Leaves, "All I Want". The video for "All Right" was released on 23 January 2006, and the single was released on 18 February. "Lean On Me", the fourth single from the album, was released on 16 May, and just a few weeks later, Not So Socialist announced that they were taking a hiatus to "take time to recharge and focus on personal projects and ambitions". The band still toured together intermittently until 2007.

At the time of its release, Falling Leaves was the most successful Margovyan album ever in South America, selling a total of 10.1 million units throughout the continent. This has since been surpassed by both Product Misplacement and Prisoners of Presumption, Not So Socialist's latest studio album, which sold 12.4 million and 15.6 million copies respectively.

Product Misplacement (2010-2012)
Not So Socialist went into hiatus in 2007 to focus on the individual band members' personal projects, but then on 8 August 2009, the band announced that they were back together and were planning to release a new album in 2010. It was confirmed in August 2009 that the new album would have 12 tracks, and mixing of the album, which was taking place in Remontadov, had been completed. On 1 September 2009, it was confirmed on the band's website that "" would be the first single from the album. Tidzhomov Music Records published a promotional video on its website, confirming the album's title as . Later, the title was officially confirmed in an interview with Maria Atolova by Rock On! magazine.

The band stated that during breaks in their respective schedules, they would get together via calls, text messages and chatrooms and talk about what they were going to do with their next album. Finally, in 2008, opportunity came for the band members to get together and combine their creative processes, and they immediately set about working on their new album at Unbelievable, Jeff! Studios. The entire process took two years. Lev Arigov said in an interview that they "wanted our next albums to tell stories through the songs in them. Our first few albums were just songs thrown together to form a vague common theme. We don't want that for our next projects, so that's why we took a long time before finally doing this. We think what we got in the end was good."

The music video for "Things I Hate About You" was released on 12 October 2009. The video shows Kalinina, lead vocals for the song, singing in front of a white backdrop interspersed with shots of the band playing in front of the same white backdrop. "" was confirmed as the second single from the album by Arigov and Kalinina in separate interviews with Radio Margovya. The video to "Chocolate" was released on 23 December 2009 and shows Arigov sadly eating a box of chocolates that he was supposed to give to his girlfriend before he saw her with another man, mixed with clips of the band performing in a parking lot. The single was released in Margovya on 10 January, and in the rest of South America on 19 January. Like the video for "Things I Hate About You", the video for "Chocolate" was directed by Adam Yaneyev, whom the band would end up working with again for .

Product Misplacement was released in Margovya on 1 January 2010, and to the rest of South America on 5 January. At the time of its release, it became the best-selling Margovyan album throughout the continent, selling an estimated 150,000 units on release day alone. The album has now sold 12.4 million units in total.

On 1 April 2010, Not So Socialist released the music video for the third single from Product Misplacement, "". It follows both the format and narrative of the video for "Chocolate", starting with Arigov getting in the same taxi that he got into at the end of "Chocolate" and singing "Lonely" while clips of the band playing at a bar are mixed in. The single was released on 23 April.

Product Misplacement would end up being the album with the most singles released by Not So Socialist, with nine songs from the album being released as songs before and after the release of the album itself. After "Things I Hate About You", "Chocolate" and "Lonely", Not So Socialist released "When I Knew It Was You", "Something Has Changed", "Hanging Out", "Together Forever", "Price of Beauty", and "Heart to Heart" between 2010 and 2012 as part of the "Product Misplacement narrative".

The Burberrys (2012-2014)
Not So Socialist addressed rumors that they were planning to release a greatest hits album by confirming their intention to produce one such album sometime in 2012. Arigov clarified in an interview with Oomph! Magazine that their next album would be "part greatest hits and part new and unreleased songs." He also confirmed the title of the album as The Burberrys.

The Burberrys was released on 31 June 2012. It contains four previously unreleased tracks. "Elmer" was released as a single on 1 June 2012 with another track, the band's cover of 's "". "Party" was the second single released from The Burberrys on 7 November 2012, alongside a rock version of 's "Dark-Eyed Cossack Girl".

The video for "Elmer" was filmed between 3 and 4 February 2012 on location in Ciudad del Celebridad and at the Unbelievable, Jeff! Studios in Remontadov. It premiered on the band's official YouTube channel on 1 June 2012. A full South American tour in support of The Burberrys began on July 2012 and went all the way up to February 2013. It included a continental tour that began on 3 December 2012 in, and ended on 26 January 2013 in ,  that visited 26 cities throughout South America. The Margovyan boy band supported the band during the Margovyan leg of the tour.

The Burberrys failed to live up to the standards set by its predecessor Product Misplacement, and despite being the band's greatest hits album, it is widely considered as the weakest album in the Not So Socialist discography, despite selling 1.6 million copies in 2012 and 5 million copies in total.

On 6 October 2012, Not So Socialist announced on their Facebook page that they will be releasing a video collection featuring all music videos entitled Family Memories, plus two unreleased music videos for "Sorry That I Love You" and "One and Only You", which were originally featured on the album Falling Leaves. The video for "Sorry That I Love You" premiered on the band's official YouTube channel; the video for "One and Only You" went up on the band's official website. Both videos were directed by Adam Yaneyev. The first was released on 7 November 2012, and the second followed three days later, at the same time as the official release of the video collection DVD.

Prisoners of Presumption (2014-2016)
After the members of Not So Socialist resigned from the positions appointed to them by President following their controversial sex video scandals with other appointed officials, the band revealed in their first interview after the scandal that they were nearing the end of the production of a new album. Plans to release the album in 2014 were already in the works, the free time that had been given to them following their resignations had allowed them to speed up the process for the new album. They also confirmed the title as Prisoners of Presumption.

Not So Socialist released an EP titled Futuro Tiempo (Future Time in Spanish) on 5 July 2013, promoting it on their show . The EP contains four tracks, all covers by the members of popular songs at the time: "", "", "" and "".

Not So Socialist announced on their official website that former president was joining the band's official touring crew starting in 2014. To promote Leonova's joining the band, Not So Socialist released another EP, titled Collaborators, showcasing the former president's singing talents alongside Not So Socialist music. Two songs from the EP, "Write Your Name" and "Little Miss Snake Eyes", were eventually released as singles as part of the buildup to Prisoners of Presumption.

Arigov confirmed that a reworked version of his cover of "Gentleman" was going to be the first single from the new album. The song would be rewritten to fit the Margovyan mindset instead of just being a straight translation of the original Korean. "Gentleman" was released on 18 April 2014, with the video being released on 24 April. The video features Arigov as a promiscuous playboy who fools around with the female members of the band, who are playing his numerous love interests.

Prisoners of Presumption was released on 30 May 2014 in Margovya and on 3 June to the rest of South America. The album was widely acclaimed and became Not So Socialist's fastest-selling album to date, selling an estimated 190,000 copies on release day. Critics acclaimed the album as "a great return to form... Not So Socialist has found their magic touch once again." The band confirmed that at least three more singles from the album would be released.

"Don't Wanna Fall in Love", the second single from Prisoners of Presumption, was released on 4 July 2014. The video, which was shot at Unbelievable, Jeff! Studios between 30 March and 1 April 2014, depicts Atolova's character as she realizes that she's fallen in love with Arigov's character in the "Gentleman" video and compares the experience to suffering a heart attack.

"Baby, When You're Ready" is the third single from Prisoners of Presumption and was released on 17 August 2014. The video was uploaded on the band's official YouTube channel and shows Kumilyova's character, after being receptive to Arigov's character's advances in "Gentleman", now proceeds to sing for the playboy to come after her and get her whenever he feels like.

The fourth single from the album was "Dancing All Night", and it was released on 3 September 2014. The music video premiered on the band's official YouTube channel on 7 September, and shows Kalinina's character singing about how she can't stop thinking about Arigov's character from "Gentleman".

Prisoners of Presumption would end up being the album with the second-most singles releases following Product Misplacement, with four more singles following the first four into the singles charts. The following singles were "My Golden Star", "Margovyan Love", "Always Love You" and "You Never Loved Me"; all were released as part of the "Prisoners of Presumption narrative".

Musical style and influences
Not So Socialist is often classified as a rock band, although the group has experimented with other styles such as hard rock and heavy metal. The group's members have also ventured into pop, pop rock, R&B and alternative rock in their individual careers, and these have shown in some of their more recent works as a band.

Critics have been generally unified in their perception of Not So Socialist. The band has been praised for putting their collective success ahead of any individual's fame, a fact which has endeared the group to many fans and supporters. The blend of male and female voices, and the fact that the group constantly rotates lead vocals duties among each other, sometimes as many as four times in a single concert, has also accounted for the band's longevity and popularity. It is said that Not So Socialist's fanbase is larger than the fanbases of the four individual members combined.

Band members

 * Current members
 * &mdash; vocals, backing vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, piano (2000-present)
 * &mdash; vocals, backing vocals, backup guitar, bass, drums, percussion (2000-present)
 * &mdash; vocals, backing vocals, keyboard, samples, synthesizers (2000-present)
 * &mdash; rap vocals, backing vocals, drums, percussion (2002-present)
 * Touring members
 * &mdash; vocals, guitar (2009, 2013-2015)
 * &mdash; vocals (2015-present)

Discography

 * Not So Socialist (2001)
 * The Promiscuous Album (2002)
 * 2 (2003)
 * Falling Leaves (2005)
 * Product Misplacement (2010)
 * The Burberrys (2012)
 * Prisoners of Presumption (2014)

Tours

 * Fat Man of Justice Tour (2001)
 * Great Continental Tour 2002 (January – March 2002)
 * Sleeping Positions Tour (2002)
 * The Promiscuous Tour (2002–2005)
 * It's Autumn Time! Tour (2005–2007; 2010)
 * Advertise Wisely Tour (2010–2012)
 * Welcome to the Families Tour (2012–2014)
 * Crystal Ball, Crystal Palace Tour (2014–2015)

Awards

 * Margovyan Music Festival Awards
 * 2005: Best Band
 * 2005: Best Album for Falling Leaves