The band Mashina Vremeni

Residents of Latvia and other European cities now have a great opportunity to hear a live performance of the best hits of the legendary rock band Mashina Vremeni. Despite the considerable age of the band, Andrei Makarevich and his colleagues are still full of energy and are planning a European tour, including a performance in Arēna Rīga!

“Mashina Vremeni” is one of the oldest Russian rock bands still in existence today, whose founding date is 27 May 1969. Its members were the first to compose and perform rock music in Russian. The band’s creative style includes elements of classic rock, blues and bardic song.

The creativity of “Mashina Vremeni” for more than fifty years of history has not only not frozen in its monumentality, but also continues to actively develop. The main merit in this belongs to the permanent leader of the group Andrei Makarevich, who is the author of most of the songs. At the same time, other members of the collective also composed and performed their own songs, so the group has always had several vocalists.

Currently, “Mashina Vremeni” performs with Andrey Makarevich , Alexander Kutikov and Valery Efremov, with the participation of session musicians.

Andrey Makarevich

Rock musician, singer, poet and composer Andrey Makarevich was born in Moscow on 11 December 1953. Since 1969 he has been the founder, leader and the only permanent member of the rock band Mashina Vremeni.

As a child, Andrey’s father arranged for him to study at a music school in the piano class. However, the boy was indifferent to classical music and abandoned his studies. He was more interested in the work of singers-bards – Bulat Okudzhava and Vladimir Vysotsky. Already at the age of 12 Makarevich began to learn to play the guitar and compose his own songs.

The world turned upside down for him when Andrey heard The Beatles for the first time. The Beatles’ songs not only changed his musical preferences, but also determined Makarevich’s future destiny. At the age of 15, with school friends, he created the band “The Kids”. This team then transformed first into “Time Machines” and then into “Mashina Vremeni”.

Alexander Kutikov

Composer, bass guitarist, vocalist and music producer Alexander Kutikov was born on 13 April 1952 in Moscow.

Glexander graduated from music school, learnt to play various wind instruments. Performed classical music, participated and won at competitions. However, at the age of fourteen, he became interested in the guitar. His idols were the Beatles, Joe Cocker, Creedence, Doors and other Western rock musicians. After graduation he worked as a sound operator at concerts.

In 1971 Alexander Kutikov met Andrey Makarevich at one of his concerts. They discovered many common musical interests. According to Makarevich, having become the bass-guitarist of the band, Alexander “brought the spirit of major cloudless rock’n’roll to the group”. Kutikov not only plays and sings in the band, but is also the author or co-author of many well-known compositions.

Valery Efremov

The permanent drummer of the rock band Mashina Vremeni since 1979, Valery Efremov was born on 25 December 1953 in the town of Sumerlya, Chuvashia.

At school he was fond of chemistry, so he entered the chemistry department of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. During his studies he played at discos in the city of Mytishchi as part of the group “Avangard”. Then since 1976 Valery was a member of the group “Visokosnoe leto”, with which he starred in the film “Shest pisem o bite”.

Valery Efremov is the only member of the “Mashina Vremeni” who has never sung. As he himself says, “you have to do one thing – either to sing qualitatively, or to drum qualitatively”. At the same time, he feels comfortable in the band thanks to his creative approach to work and the spirit of improvisation.