Ilya Knabengof - biography and works

Ilya Knabengof, a photo that appeared on concert posters since the mid 1990-ies, was born August 2, 1972 in Leningrad. His mother was from the Volga Germans, the great-grandfather was selling shoes in Germany, then moved to Russia. The mother of the musician played the piano, his father, an architect by training, drew pictures and gave them to friends. In his own words, Elijah had dreamed of becoming a pilot, but vision is not suited for this profession.

Biography

Future musician graduated from the eighth grade of high school and enrolled in College in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg College), where he studied at the projectionist. Says in an interview with Ilya, he wanted to be closer to the art world and implement their vision of the world. In those years, he talked with the Metalworkers. Then there was his nickname “Hell”. Ilya Knabengof remembered that he took it in honor of his friend who had the same nickname. He died early, and our hero decided to take his nickname. The first music group, where he started his career Ilya Knabengof, called “exhumator”. Young man playing the guitar for about two years. In 1989, the musician was invited to another team – «Aggressor», where he stayed for two years. In 1989, Ilya became a drummer in a band “Rascals”, played punk rock, and stayed in the team until 1992, During this time, “Rascals” released one album. Frequent touring has left little time for study, and Elijah went with the third year of College. In 1990, the musician went to the Leningrad architectural College, but soon left him. In his free time, Ilya worked – a janitor, a salesman at a kiosk, a forklift driver at a cold storage facility, a stable boy in the St. Petersburg zoo. In 1991, Ilya was invited to be the vocalist in the band AL.EX, which lasted until the end of 1994 the band's Songs were in English, and musicians have sought to gain recognition in the West. One day, Elijah decided to respond to the ad by a young group Surfing stone. Our hero and guitarist Alex Alfeyev performed at the audition of this group were in contact with Roman Chuikov and Vitaliy Belozerov. In December 1994, AL.EX, where he played Ilya Knabengof, has teamed up with Surfing stone. The new group was called Military Jane.

The Team, which was now being played Ilya Knabengof, released two albums. They still sang songs in English, which the musicians wrote journalist Roman Dances. In 1996, Military Jane has applied to the festival “Fill the sky with kindness”. One of the conditions of participation was the performance of songs in Russian language. Then the musicians decided to use the work that Ilya some time written in the table. Songs like the organizer of the festival Yuri Shevchuk, and the ensemble performed five of his works.

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War

At the beginning of 1997 the group was transformed into “Pilot”. Went to the former Military musicians Jane: singer Ilya “Hell” Knabengof, Roman Chuikov, bass guitarist Stanislav Markov, the drummer Viktor Kuzmichev. Over time, the composition of the team changed. From now on, the group sang songs in Russian. During the first years of existence of the band they recorded an album called “War”. In subsequent years, the group «Pilot» actively participated in concerts of St. Petersburg and Russia as a whole: “Fill the sky with kindness”, “tuna" and others.

Authorship

Since the beginning of 2000 Ilya and his companions helped young musicians, organizing the release of songs in the competition “Rock of gateways”, which was recorded on disks. Most of the works for the group is Ilya. But he loves to sing songs friends. For example, musicians play the works of the priest Nicholas kokurina.

Fish and mole

Currently, the group “Pilot” was released fourteen CDs. Critical acclaim has received its seventh Studio album, “Fish, mole and pig”. One critic compared it with the classic “Alice” for the younger generation. In March this year, released 14th Studio album – “Cuckoo”. The leader of the group tried to give it an ethnic touch. In addition to creativity in the “Pilot”, Ilya Knabengof has released four solo albums. Besides music, he deals with artistic creativity. Has published four books of prose. “the Tale of the jumper and sliding" Ilya was the basis for the second music album “Pilot”. Between songs, the musicians read out passages from the work. And in 2014 the team "Theatre games" from Krasnodar put this story on stage.

Personal life

Around the mid nineties the musician married a woman who already had a child. He raised a stepdaughter for seven years, till she's of age. Ilya Knabengof divorced his wife in 2012. He soon began to meet Mary Rough, and they had a child. The name of the daughter of Elijah Knabengofa media became known in autumn 2013. The girl was born in October 2013, and the parents named her Aya. In 2016, our hero and Mary were married by signing at the registry office of the city of Kronstadt.

Interesting facts

Among those who helped Elijah in the beginning of creative way, he calls Yuri Shevchuk, Mariana Choi and Alexander Ricochet. Mention of the fact that he is a protégé of the leader of the group DDT he calls the nonsense that someone invented. Ilya himself filmed the video for the song «Tram”. In the 20-degree cold he was lying on the tracks and recorded on camera what was needed for the video. Since 2003 the musician actively supports organizations such as WWF and «Greenpeace». He participates in rallies and various promotions. Group “Pilot” repeatedly gave concerts on the territory of the prison. Ilya played in the rehabilitation centers and orphanages-boarding schools. Provided assistance to such young performers as Cat Sasha, Yulia Kotelnikova, Basil To, the group “Sounds of the reformers" and others.