ROCK IN A HARD PLACE? Ft. Joanna Stingray, American musician

It’s hard to find a more drab and yet more romantic period in the history of the Soviet Union than in the 1980s. Life as people knew it was falling apart and yet there was also a growing hope that something new and exciting would rise in its place. That sense of cognitive and emotional dissonance was perfectly captured by the underground music of that time, produced by young non-conformist musicians in what was then the city of Leningrad. What was it like to live and make music in that period of hopeful despair? To discuss this, Oksana is joined by Joanna Stingray, American musician and avid chronicler of the Leningrad rock scene.