Leningrad Cowboys

T

he band’s mainly known for their unique live shows, during the 20+ years they have performed more than 1000 shows in more than 60 countries. They have produced massive joint concerts with the Red Army Choir, confused audiences at the MTV Music Awards, performed with classical orchestras and played in hundreds of festivals and clubs around the world. The band was an invention of the Finnish film director Aki Kaurismäki, Sakke Jarvenpää and Mato Valtonen, members of the Finnish pop-punk band Sleepy Sleepers. The band was conceived in a bar in 1986 as a joke on the waning power of the Soviet Union. Jarvenpää and Valtonen expressed their wishes that Kaurismäki would direct their first music video, which resulted in the short film “Rocky VI” (1986). After two further short films, “Thru the Wire” (1987) and “L.A. Woman” (1988), Kaurismäki decided to direct a feature film about them, Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989). In these films they are joined by Nicky Tesco, founding member of the UK punk rock band The Members.