EP40 The Russian Wedding Singer - Uliana Elina

The Bla Bla Bunker

Uliana Elina was born in the Soviet Union, she is a true Jackie Of All Trades, she has been a customs officer in Russia, published a metal album, is a mom, former beauty queen, salesperson, translator, teacher, actress and a wedding singer.

Uliana visited my podcast, told me how life was under communism, how her parents kept the surface clean while beneath it all there was violent physical and mental abuse. She wanted to be in music but didn't get any support and being a musician wasn't a "real" job anyway...so the parents won and she graduated with a degree as a customs officer! There was corruption during communism but it didn't stop there, she told me how the customs officers were openly corrupt, how the system in Russia is broken, why we in the West see Russia as an enemy and how she feels the Russian people do not know what they want so they believe in the leader blindly. She wanted to leave so she eventually after a long struggle got a visa to move to Prague, during that time she made her first album with a metal band in Russia. We talked about her band, Aurora Party Band, that she started with her boyfriend in Prague. How other musicians see bands like her as the bottom of the barrel, how her band went from local band to a European event band and how it is to have to know a million songs and sing them for drunk guests at weddings! And much more https://www.instagram.com/aurorapartyband/ https://www.facebook.com/aurorapartyband https://soundcloud.com/uliana-elina https://www.instagram.com/elina_uliana_official/ https://www.instagram.com/uli_elina/ https://www.facebook.com/Blablabunker https://www.instagram.com/theblablabunker/ https://www.youtube.com/theblablabunker