Alexander Bashlachev

Alexander Nikolaevich Bashlachev (27 May 1960 – 17 February 1988) was a Soviet poet, singer-songwriter and guitarist, a performer in Russian rock music, included in the 27 Club.

Early life

Bashlachev was born in Cherepovets, Soviet Union, the son of Nikolai Bashlachev and Nellie Bashlacheva. In 1977, Bashlachev graduated from Cherepovets High School in Cherepovets, and worked as a painter at the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant with his father. In 1978, he resigned from the plant to enroll at the Ural State University in Yekaterinburg (then called Sverdlovsk) as a journalism major. Bashlachev graduated in 1983.

Career

In early 1983, Bashlachev wrote "Griboyedov Waltz", which was the first song he had written. Throughout the 1980s, Bashlachev wrote and composed music. After he graduated at the Ural State University, Bashlachev left Sverdlovsk and returned to Cherepovets, where he worked for a year with the newspaper The Communist. There, he wrote articles about the power plant, and, later, about cafés.

In May 1984, Bashlachev attended the Leningrad Rock Festival in Leningrad. There, he bought an acoustic guitar which he had taught himself to play. In September, he played some of his songs at his friend Leonid Parfyonov's apartment in Leningrad. Over the years, he would play several flat concerts. It is worth noting that rock music was censored in Russia during the 1970s and the 1980s. To get around this, musicians played for small audiences at their homes or at the homes of their friends. These gatherings were called "kvartirniks". In October, Bashlachev met music journalist Artemy Troitsky, who invited Bashlachev to Moscow to write and compose music. In December 1984, Bashlachev settled in Leningrad.

In March 1985, Bashlachev along with Yuri Shevchuk played at the Leningrad Rock Festival. The two performed before an audience of six hundred concertgoers at the Leningrad Veterinary Institute in Leningrad. A recording of this concert was released under the title of "Kochegarka". Officially a worker at a coal boiler station, popularly known as Kamchatka (it also served as an underground rock venue), Bashlachev became a member of the Leningrad Rock Club. In June 1987 he performed at the Leningrad Rock Festival for the second and final time, and was awarded there Nadezhda (Hope) prize.

Death

Shortly before his death, Bashlachev had difficulties with writer's block, rarely writing new songs and tending to avoid performing old ones. His last song, entitled "Cherry", was written in August 1987. He also became more isolated as his depression grew more severe.

On 17 February 1988, Bashlachev died after falling from the window of the ninth floor of an apartment on Kuznetsov Avenue in Leningrad. The most likely cause of his death, though unverified, was suicide. He was buried at the Kovalevskoye Cemetery in the Leningrad Oblast. Bashlachev's son, Yegor, was born to his girlfriend Anastasia Rakhlina a few months after his death.