In Switzerland, hardly anyone knows this electro band from Pfäffikon in the canton of Zurich. Their rare public appearances take place in front of sparse audiences in confidential clubs. In Russia, their story is quite different: “The average Muscovite doesn’t recognise us on the streets yet, but in musical circles and polite society, we are treated like little stars”, concedes a delighted Myriam Russo, the band’s singer. This happy anomaly that verifies the saying that no prophet is recognised in his own country illustrates the revolution that has taken place these recent years in the record industry.
Zofka owes its notoriety in the East to two phenomena. Firstly, the communal website Myspace which propelled several tracks on the speakers of 38'000 friends on-line, an all-time high for a Swiss band. The band’s success is also due to what can be considered at first as a catastrophe: pirating. “Someone listened to our record and circulated it in Russia, distributing between 4000 and 5000 copies per store”. For an entire summer, “Nice”, the second record of Myriam Russo and her husband, the keyboard Michael Ricar, managed to stay in the Russian charts’ top five. The same with their latest record “Bikini” released in 2006 which brings to mind the great film music composers of the 50’s and 60’s Nino Rotta and Henry Mancini. “Since then, we have found a label in Russia that distributes our record legally, but the mere 10'000 albums sold this way remain marginal in comparison to the inevitable pirate sales”. The duo however considers only the positive aspects of this situation which concerns all Russian artists: thanks to this clandestine distribution, their promotion is made on a far larger scale.
Their tracks in French, mixing bossa-nova, sounds from the Sixties and accompanied by the accordion of Serb Goran Kovacevic have seduced rich ears. The band is indeed regularly invited to perform for the capital city and Saint-Petersburg’s polite society between the caviar and the champagne. It notably played on the roof of the Ritz in front of a collection of delighted oligarchs.
“I believe our French-speaking culture contributes to our being appreciated by this type of public” chances Myriam Russo. “For rich Russians, French has kept the prestige it could have had before the October Revolution. It is synonymous with chic and elegance”. Since 2003, Zofka has regularly toured in Russia, as well as in the Ukraine and in Turkey and will soon go to Georgia where they have been getting many demands from.
Their view on the hyper-rich Muscovites they have met during their tours is very positive. “Most the time, they are very outgoing and show us they love us. They marvel at us like children. There are of course a few snobs that show no more interest in our music than in a Prada handbag, but one also finds them in Paris, London as well as in New York”.
On a more personal level, this appreciation from the East symbolises a return to his origins for musician Michael Ricar: “I am a native Czech. Zofka was my family name when I was born in Prague.
I was lumbered with my present name at age 6 when my mother married Mr Ricar. This musical project is thus a late revenge against this change that was forced on me!” A revenge with a sweet taste of caviar and vodka.
