Animal Jazz (Animal ДжаZ) is a Saint Petersburg rock band founded in 2000. The lead vocalist and frontman of the group is Aleksandr "Mikhalych" Krasovitsky. The band’s side project is the group Zero People.
Listening to this artist's tracks on official streaming platforms, social media, and other services indirectly contributes to financing the war — through taxes paid to the budget of the Russian Federation.
Following 2014, Aleksandr Krasovitsky condemned the annexation of Crimea. In an interview with Channel 24, the band's frontman made it unmistakably clear that he would not perform in occupied Crimea:
Everything is very simple; I have already said this before, I say it again, and I repeat it. When Crimea returns to where it was illegally taken from, that is, to Ukraine... We have been offered to play in Crimea many times. As a matter of principle, we will not play in Crimea until the stolen property is returned back to those from whom it was stolen. That is my firm position.
At a concert in Moscow in March 2014, the band Animal Jazz demonstrated solidarity with Ukraine by performing in the Ukrainian language the song «Ya ne sdamisya bez boyu» (I Will Not Give Up Without a Fight) by the Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy.
In 2019, the musicians released a music video for the song «Chuvstva» (Feelings). The video also starred The Hatters, Yuri Shevchuk, Nayk Borzov, Ilya Prusikin (Little Big), Lizer, Tatarka, Vladimir Kotlyarov (Pornofilmy), Evgeny Margulis, Leonid Barats, Mikhail Kozyrev, and Valeria Lanskaya. Aleksandr Krasovitsky noted that all the participants in the video were united by anti-war views. Regrettably, following the full-scale invasion, not all of the aforementioned artists remained faithful to those principles.
On May 27, 2021, in an interview with Yury Dud, he stated that peace between Russia and Ukraine is possible only if there is a change of power in Russia. He stressed that any problems in Ukrainian society in 2014 should have been resolved internally within the country without the interference of external forces and Russia. Furthermore, the Russian artist declared that he was ashamed of Russia and the Russian authorities, who bear full culpability for the occupation of Crimea and the invasion of Donbas. Later, in his anti-war post, Yury Dud quoted Mikhalych:
Dreadful. A tragedy. And a sense of guilt… All those 'little green men,' all this foreign intervention from outside — it causes endless feelings of shame and guilt within me. On the one hand, because I cannot change or influence it. On the other hand, because this is my country, even though I am seemingly not directly responsible for these things.
Animal Jazz’s Position on the War in Ukraine
Following the outbreak of the full-scale war, the musicians of Animal Jazz, and Krasovitsky in particular, stopped giving interviews and remained silent on the topic across social media networks. The band emigrated to Israel, but later returned back to Russia.
Animal Jazz and Krasovitsky's side project Zero People continued performing concerts in Russia. However, their gigs began facing cancellations in June 2023, when activists from the nationalist movement «Zov Naroda» filed official complaints against the musicians' previous anti-war statements with the Investigative Committee and the Ministry of Justice. At first, June tour dates were cancelled in Vladivostok and Khabarovsk, followed by refusals from concert venues in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
On November 9, 2023, in Saint Petersburg, officers of the OMON riot police raided and disrupted a concert by Zero People. Mass media outlets reported that Krasovitsky’s anti-war statements were the underlying reason.
Just two days later, on November 11, 2023, the Telegram channel "360" published videos in which Animal Jazz musicians Aleksandr Krasovitsky and Aleksandr Zarankin declared their patriotism (almost certainly recorded at a police station under duress):
At our concerts and in our songs, there is not a single word against the SMO, not a single word in support of Ukraine. We hold great respect for the leadership of our country and are unconditionally patriots of Russia,» stated Animal Jazz and Zero People frontman Aleksandr Krasovitsky.
At the concert, nobody planned to perform with anti-Russian or pro-Ukrainian slogans. I am a patriot of my country and respect the leadership of the Russian Federation,» said keyboardist Aleksandr Zarankin.
On the very same day, information appeared on Zero People's VKontakte page announcing the postponement of their Russian tour, under which the musicians had been scheduled to perform across 17 cities in Russia (including Saint Petersburg). When the tour might take place remained completely uncertain. «We will pull through,» the statement read.
Following the widespread cancellation of their performances in Russia, the members of Animal Jazz have been touring across European countries and neighboring states. On concert posters, they can be seen alongside other prominent anti-war artists such as Nooki, Kasta, and Elysium.
Celebrities on the Position of Animal Jazz
In the spring of last year, we released an episode featuring Mikhalych from the Saint Petersburg band Animal Jazz. In response to the question: 'How do you perceive what is happening between Russia and Ukraine?', he answered: 'Dreadful. A tragedy. And a sense of guilt <…> All those little green men, all this foreign intervention from outside — it causes endless feelings of shame and guilt within me. On the one hand, because I cannot change or influence it. On the other hand, because this is my country, even though I am seemingly not directly responsible for these things.'
За Энимал джаз радость. С детства чувствую, что это замечательные люди.
Нет войне