Mumiy Troll ( ) is a Russian rock group, founded in 1983 in Vladivostok by vocalist and songwriter Ilya Lagutenko (). The name is a pun on Mumintroll, the children's books by Tove Jansson, translated into Russian as "Mummi Troll".
Career
Ilya Lagutenko founded Mumiy Troll in Vladivostok on 16 October 1983.
Mumiy Troll disbanded when Lagutenko was conscripted into the Russian navy. In 1990, they briefly reunited and released their second album, Delay Yu-Yu, on tape. In 1995, he returned to Russia and reformed the band.
In 2001, the group represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest and came in 12th place. Time Out (London) wrote that they 'stole the show' by standing out as snakeskin heroes amongst all the taffeta and tuxedos.
The group wrote and produced soundtracks for a full-length cartoon movie and gave a new sound to classic Russian silent sci-fi movie and donated tracks to feature films including Russian blockbuster Night Watch, where Lagutenko also plays the Vampire. His face is on the cover of the American release.
Their 2005 album Sliyaniye i pogloshcheniye () was called back from the printers on the day of release when distributors realized that the bride and groom on the cover were wearing masks of Putin and Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The band changed them into symbols of hearts and United States dollars respectively.
In 2008, the band signed with the Agency Group.
In 2015, they released album Piratskie kopii () and in 2016, the English-language album Malibu Alibi.
In 2011, the first Mumiy Troll Music Bar was opened in Vladivostok. In 2015, Lagutenko opened a second Mumiy Troll Music Bar in Moscow. The festival was dubbed "a small Pacific Woodstock" by Russia Beyond The Headlines. V-ROX was held annually from 2013 to 2019. The 2020 edition of the festival was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mumiy Troll was the first to support the activities of PSI organization fighting AIDS in Russia and performed at the No Name Fever exhibition for AIDS in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2005. They are also well known for conservation activities on wild life in Far-East taiga and helping local minorities to survive. Ilya Lagutenko is a patron of the British-Russian Amur fund for the protection of Amur tigers and leopards.
In 2022, the group condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and, as a result, had all their concerts in Russia canceled by the authorities.
Style
Lagutenko lived in London in the 1990s and was influenced by the Britpop scene at the time.
- 2016 – Malibu Alibi
- 2016 – #31E
- 2018 – Vostok X Severozapad ()
- 2020 – Prizraki Zavtra ()
- 2020 – Posle zla ()
Awards
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! scope="col" | Award
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Nominee(s)
! scope="col" | Category
! scope="col" | Result
! scope="col" class="unsortable"|
|-
!scope="row"|MTV Europe Music Awards
| 2001
| Themselves
| Best Russian Act
|
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan=3|MTV Video Music Awards
| 1999
| "Ранетка"
| rowspan=3|Viewer's Choice
|
|
|-
| 2000
| "Без обмана"
|
|
|-
| 2001
| "Моя певица"
|
|
|-
!scope="row"|Russian Flash Awards
| 2006
| "Страху нет"
| Animation
|
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan=44|ZD Awards
| rowspan=2|1997
| Themselves
| Group of the Year
|
| rowspan=8|
|-
| rowspan=2|Ilya Lagutenko
| rowspan=2|Male Artist of the Year
|
|-
| rowspan=3|1998
|
|-
| rowspan=7|Themselves
| rowspan=1|Group of the Year
|
|-
| rowspan=2|Rock Act of the Year
|
|-
| rowspan=2|1999
|
|-
| rowspan=1|Group of the Year
|
|-
| 2000
| Hall of Fame
|
|-
| rowspan=3|2003
| Rock Group of the Year
|
| rowspan=3|
|-
| Disappointment of the Year
|
|-
| Ilya Lagutenko
| Male Artist of the Year
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2007
| Амба
| Album of the Year
|
| rowspan=2|
|-
| rowspan=3|Themselves
| rowspan=2|Group of the Year
|
|-
| rowspan=5|2008
|
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Rock Act of the Year
|
|-
| Ilya Lagutenko
| Artist of the Year
|
|-
| 8
| Album of the Year
|
|-
| "Контрабанды"
| Video of the Year
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2009
| Themselves
| Group of the Year
|
| rowspan=2|
|-
| С новым годом!
| Concert of the Year
|
|-
| rowspan=5|2010
| rowspan=2|Themselves
| Group of the Year
|
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Rock Act of the Year
|
|-
| Ilya Lagutenko
| Artist of the Year
|
|-
| Редкие земли
| Album of the Year
|
|-
| rowspan=2|Live in Olympic Stadium
| rowspan=2|Concert of the Year
|
|-
| rowspan=3|2011
|
| rowspan=3|
|-
| rowspan=2|Ilya Lagutenko
| Artist of the Year
|
|-
| Male Artist of the Year
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2012
| World Tour
| Event of the Year
|
| rowspan=2|
|-
| rowspan=4|Themselves
| rowspan=4|Rock Group of the Year
|
|-
| 2013
|
|
|-
| 2014
|
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2015
|
| rowspan=2|
|-
| Пиратские копии
| Album of the Year
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2017
| Themselves
| Rock Act of the Year
|
| rowspan=2|
|-
| Морская. 20
| rowspan=2|Concert of the Year
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2018
| Вечерний чай
|
| rowspan=2|
|-
| rowspan=4|Themselves
| rowspan=2|MegaBeat Award
|
|-
| 2019
|
|
|-
| rowspan=5|2020
| Group of the Year
|
| rowspan=5|
|-
| Innovator of the Year
|
|-
| После зла
| Album of the Year
|
|-
| "Космические Силы"
| Video of the Year
|
|-
| Ртуть Алоэ VR
| Concert of the Year
|
|-
!scope="row"|Поколение Video Festival
| 1998
| "Дельфины"
| Best Shot
|
|
- 1997 The Best Still Image 1996 for Utekai (Slip Away) – the award from the Pokolenie Video Festival.
- 1997 The Best Rock Group 1997 – Ovation prize from the Russian Music Academy.
- 1997 The Best Group 1997, The Best Album 1997 for Morskaya (Nautical), The Best Song 1997 for Utekai (Slip Away), The Best Group 1998, The Best Video 1998 for Delfiny (Dolphins), The Best Video 1999 for Nevesta? (Bride?), The Best Musical Site 1999 – Russian music magazine Fuzz prize
- November 2002 Golden Disk according to the Meamories album sales in Latvia.