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Alina Simone is crying out

By Bram Fulk

Alina Simone's original music is ghostly, emotional, and brilliant. Because of that, it wasn't very much of a stretch for her to inhabit the genius of the tragic Siberian Cold War-Era punk-rock figure Yanka Dyagileva. To coincide with the release of her new CD, "Everyone is Crying Out to Me, Beware" — a cover album of Dyaglieva's work — Simone will kick off a nationwide tour on Wednesday, July 23, in Columbus at the Surly Girl Saloon. The bright and bubbly Simone recently took a moment to speak with UWeekly.

UW: You've been getting a lot of attention this year for the Dyagileva album. How has that been?

It just, really in the past couple weeks, really picked up. So it's definitely super strange for me because I'm used to being a really under-the-radar, sleepy little indie rocker. It's been great because I'm really passionate about this music and I'm really excited that it's been getting exposure, not just my covers but Yanka's original music. It's been a little hard with my job because I've had to beg for a lot more time off than I used to.

UW: What do you do, if you don't mind my asking?

Oh, sure. I work in international development. I have a job that sends me to Russia quite often. We work with non-profits and governments, sort of do training and help those organizations be more efficient. (laughs) It's not that exciting! (sarcastically) Because I'm terribly exciting! But my boss is very understanding, because right now I'm at work and I'm like, 'Oh, can I just go out on the street to do this?" (laughs) He's like, "Okay, come back when you're done."

UW: You're about to start a tour.

I actually leave for Columbus on Wednesday. It's my first date. I'm doing the East Coast and the Midwest.

UW: You're music is, first of all, amazing…

Thank you! You're nice.

UW: The new album feels incredibly emotional. Where does the emotion behind the music come from?

Well, it's a cover album of Yanka Dyagileva, who led a very short but intense life. People say that the music is so emotional and harrowing and raw, but it's like — if you listen to her originals — I feel like I'm taking it down a notch. The songs are hers and she lived through this very harrowing time. She died [mysteriously, likely suicide] literally months before the Soviet Union collapsed. She sort of came of age during this time of intense change while the Soviet Union was literally falling apart. Three generations of dreams were really just rupturing. It was an exciting time, but it was also a very scary time, and I think it maybe has strong similarities to the '60s here in that there were a lot of new freedoms being explored, but that also included drug use and living fast and hard and not necessarily being in the most stable environment for young people. So, in order for me to successfully cover [her songs], I felt like I wanted to make them my own and sort of update them in a way that I wanted to make it sound like a record made now, but I also didn't want to lose that intensity, because I think that's the most exciting thing about the songs.

UW: How would you describe your original music?

I would say that this original album and my previous work, there's a big difference. I really took a leap in making this record. I switched to an acoustic guitar, which I played very, very little of...before. I played this whole record on acoustic and really tried to adopt a strumming style that was more similar to Yanka's, which was also unusual for me. I would say my previous work does bear similarity to Yanka's original music in that I think that we're both people who have a passionate element in our music. I think that both of us could savor simple arrangements, sort of skeletal guitar and strong melodies. I don't think it's that much of a stretch. A lot of people say, "Wow, why did you decide to cover her? What was it about her music?" And I would answer, you know, if you listen to my original music and you listen to her original music, it wouldn't be that mysterious to you. I think there are obvious connections.

Originally Published: July 23, 2008

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