Previously unreleased Saint Petersburg Disco Spin Club live project resurrected

We spoke to Kito Jempere to get the backstory behind ‘Live Sessions Volume 2’, and to find out how the excellent ‘lost’ works ended up seeing the light of day.

Saint Petersburg Disco Spin club were formed by Kirill Sergeew, better known as Kito Jempere, principally as a means to ‘create a live transformation of his music’. Active for just a few short years, the band released a handful of records on labels including Whiskey Disco and Is It Balearic?

The band was born out of Kito’s DJ shows. “From 2009 or 2010 till 2013 I was operating under moniker Saint Petersburg Disco Spin Club and SPDSC” says Kito. “I started DJing in one of the best bars in Saint Petersburg - Dom Beat, then in around 2011 we decided to debut a live show of SPDC at a club in Moscow called Solyanka - run by the same collective as Dom Beat”.

Kito gathered some friends to play the show - among them Lipelis (Public Possession / Animals Dancing), Sergey of Simple Symmetry, Poko Cox, Grisha of On-The-Go band, Black Lenin and Sasha of Poima. “It was really superb for the Moscow crowd and we fast became one of the most fun acts In Moscow and Saint P”.

Things evolved neatly from there. “We did a few festivals and made a live record for Is It Balearic? A year after that, we recorded this one at a special live session at D Gray Studios Saint Petersburg - a kind of recording session plus concert as we were doing it all behind the glass! The studio has special glass from the bar to the live room, like a big window”.

The recordings were initially put to bed without being finalised, until being rediscovered by the team at Emotional Response. “They kinda disappeared. But then Chuggy heard the material from Lipelis and came with the idea to release it with a remix. Basically, the remix search took all these years, so I’m happy it’s finally here!”

Listening to the tracks it’s easy to feel the improvisation, interplay, tight musicianship and heavy vibe of a band playing at their peak

The release consists of a version of an earlier studio release ‘Can’t You See Me’, a star-gazing post-punk laced slow jam that journeys via a haze of wigged-out vocals, heavy dub delays, deep bass and crashing drum fills. For the remix, the track is expertly morphed into a sunset disco essential by the always excellent Auf Togo (Leng Records).

On the flip-side, we find the epic, psychedelic exploration of ‘Simple Customer’. The cut ebbs and flows in a thick haze, mesmerising as the lead vocal soars over kaleidoscopic guitar motifs and swirling synth layers, weighted by a profound bass and rolling beats.

Understandably Kito is proud of this one. “Originally it was a kinda house track, like straight 120 bpm as we were always playing it. I said ‘let’s try it half time’, and we did it in just one take and it became a 13 minute opus! I really love it.”

We love it too, Kito, and we’re happy it’s been brought back to life.

‘Live Sessions Volume 2 is due out very soon on Emotional Response records. You can listen to and buy it right here.