Saint Nomad's music bridges
organic instruments, electronic soundscapes, and cinematic alt-pop hooks. It's
a sound built for dance floors and stadiums — an anthemic mix of melody and
movement, cemented by three brothers who write, perform, and produce their own
material.
Nikita,
Ruslan, and Yan Odnoralov have been
nomads for most of their lives. Born in Russia, they moved to Colorado as
political refugees in 1996, while the boys were still in elementary school. As
their childhoods unfolded, the brothers grew up stuck between two worlds.
Classes were taught in English at school. Conversations were conducted in
Russian at home. Throughout it all, a wide mix of music — including Russian
classics, European electronica, and the pop/rock hits on American radio —
filled the family household.
"We were foreigners in the
US," remembers Nikita. "We didn't belong in America and we didn't belong in Russia. There wasn't any sort of group that we could call our
own… so we made one for ourselves."
By their teenage years, the
brothers had begun creating music together. This was a chance to celebrate the
very things that made them different — to turn their unique perspective and
brotherly bond into songs about inclusion, tolerance, and belonging. It also
allowed the Odnoralovs to blur the boundaries between the various styles of
music they'd grown up loving. Armed with a sound that was every bit as unique
as their background, the boys hit the road, spending the rest of their
adolescence as touring musicians.
Saint Nomad marks the culmination
of those early years spent on tour. After playing more than 150 annual shows
for the better part of a decade, the Odnoralov brothers aren't boys anymore.
They're veterans of the road, armed with the ability to turn their worldview
into larger-than-life songs that stomp, soar, and swagger. As Saint Nomad, they
have regrouped and rediscovered the very things that drew them to music in the
first place. "We try to be as authentic as possible, and write songs about
whatever we're feeling in the current moment," says Yan. "We write
music about the things that bind us together."
Nikita is Saint Nomad's lyricist
and frontman, his vocal range topped by a versatile falsetto. Ruslan is the
band's digital mastermind — a longtime fan of dance music, capable of injecting
Saint Nomad's alt-pop anthems with an electronic sheen. Yan is the band's
drummer, contributing a percussive pulse and human heartbeat to songs that
frequently blur the lines between the organic and the digitally-processed.
After making their debut with 2018's Memento Mori — an album inspired by
the Killers' climatic sweep, Phantogram's electronic pop, and Tame Impala's
genre-jumping diversity — the brothers have continued releasing a mix of
standalone singles, remixes, and alternate mixes, with songs like "Nothing
to Lose" and "How Much Longer" showcasing not only the
sharply-written craft of their songs, but also the powerful punch of their
studio productions.
"Production choices are a
crucial part of the song," Ruslan explains. "They affect how a song's
message is presented. We see production as a way to tell a story, just like a
lyric would. The production decisions we make are part of our story as Saint
Nomad, because they're influenced by what we grew up listening to as kids.
We've always been fascinated with bringing together elements of electronic
music and organic music."
It's been years since Nikita, Ruslan, and Yan left their homeland and headed to America. Years
since they turned to music, desperate to transform their outsider status into
something positive and purposeful. Years since they hit the road, eager to
build a wider community around the inclusive sound they'd created. And now, as
Saint Nomad, these wanderers have found a home in their music.
