Grimes Not Surprised "How F--ked Up" Russia is Following Pussy Riot Verdict

Posted on Aug 21st 2012 11:00AM by Jason MacNeil
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Ben Statham, Redferns

Polaris Prize-nominated musician Grimes says while people around the world voice their opposition to three Pussy Riot members found guilty last week, she wasn't particularly surprised by the verdict.

"I went to school in Russia for a while, so I'm very familiar with it," Grimes -- born Claire Boucher -- told NME during a stop at Japan's annual Summer Sonic last weekend. "It's funny to me because I think a lot of people are just realizing now how fucked up Russia is, and like, I'm not surprised at all that that situation is happening. I think it's something that happens more than people know."

Grimes -- who said the outcome "depressed" her -- also said that the answer might be for artists to continue performing in the country. This is in contrast to Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney's stance last week via Twitter stating the band would "never" perform in Russia "as long as they imprison innocent musicians for speaking their minds peacefully."

"I think what's being done, like Madonna and people going over there and performing, is all we can really hope for," she told the publication. "Russia will slowly become more educated. Younger people are better. It's going to be a matter of time before things die off. But it's still a really racist, homophobic place."

Grimes also said she's hoping to record her follow-up to Visions in Japan although there's no word as to when recording will start. An recent recording attempt in Los Angeles didn't go according to plan with the musician saying "I had people banging on my door every 10 minutes."

"I think the only way I can record is to leave a country where anyone speaks a language that I speak and go somewhere that's really isolated, and I feel like Japan is really calm and quiet and I'm really influenced by Japanese stuff, and I feel like spending some time here would be really good for my psyche."

In related news, Grimes released a trailer for her new video for the song Genesis via YouTube yesterday. The video appears to have similarities to Radiohead's "Karma Police" with Grimes on a dirt road walking towards a car with its headlights on. Fortunately, unlike Radiohead's video no matches or leaky gas tank are involved.

Grimes continues her tour this week in Ibiza and Paris before appearances at Britain's Reading Festival and Leeds Festival this weekend. Her North American leg begins with a two-night stand in Toronto Sept. 21-22.

Watch Grimes' "Nightmusic" Video