IOWA band: Life in Belarus leaves much to be desired, especially wages

The Belarusian-Russian band IOWA played a concert in Belgorod, Russia.

Songs of two guys and a girl can be heard everywhere, and tunes of “Prostaya Pesnia”, “Marshrutka” and “Ulybaysia” know all people who listen to the radio before going to work in the morning.

Lead vocalist Katia Ivanchykava, who earlier sang in Ilya Oleynikov's musical Prophet, guitarist and song writer Leanid Tsiareshchanka and drummer Vasili Bulanau said in an interview with go31.ru what surprises them when they visit their home country.

According to the musicians, the year 2010, when IOWA moved to Russia, was not the most difficult time in Belarus:

“If we are speaking about it, life in Belarus has always been difficult. Our friends say when visiting Belarus, 'It's very clean. Do you clean streets with shampoo? It's cool.' It is, perhaps, the only thing that our country can boast.”

The musicians visited their relatives in Belarus recently. They note that life there is not as good as it may seem.

“We'd like to say that life there leaves much to be desired, especially wages. But we don't like discussing politics. We prefer to talk about music with one another – this is our area.”