Alexander F. Sklyar
Alexander Felixovich Sklyar (Александр Феликсович Скляр, born March 7, 1958 in Moscow, USSR; usually stylized as Alexander F.Sklyar) is a Russian rock musician, radio presenter, actor and author. Sklyar, who in the 1980s and early 1990s fronted the popular punk metal band Va-bank, later moved into the traditional Russian singer-songwriter territory covering the vast stylistic spectrum (Alexander Vertinsky, Vladimir Vysotsky, Leonid Utyosov, Mark Bernes). Biography. Alexander F. Sklyar was born in Moscow, to Felix Sidorovich, a physicist, and his journalist wife Irina Viktorovna, a one time "Rabotnitsa" magazine second editor. In 1985 Sklyar graduated from  the prestigious Moscow State Institute of International Relations and joined the Soviet embassy in North Korea as a minor official. Upon return later this year he became a member of the band Tsentr, fronted by Vasily Shumov (whom he played with in 1979 as a guitarist in 777, the band's first incarnation) and took part in the recording the "Priznaki zhizni" (Signs of Life) LP. In June 1986 Sklyar formed his own band, Va-Bank. A year later the band visited Finland to give some concerts and record an eponymous debut album. The European tour followed in 1989. In  1991 (along with Alisa, DDT and Brigada S) Va-Bank took part in the Rock Against Terror event and released in Lithuania its second album "Vypei za menya" (Drink for Me), recorded during the ten days sessions in the Gorbunov Culture Club in Moscow. In 1991 Sklyar debuted as a children's writer with the book "Petrovich and Potapum in the Magic Labyrinth", co-authored by Roman Kanushkin. The same year he started his own rock radio series "Utchites plavat" (Learn to Swim) on Radio Maximum (it later re-surfaced on Station-2000). In 1995 he formed the duo Botsman i  brodyaga (The Boatswain and the Tramp) with Garik Sukachov of the Brigada S fame. 1998 saw Sklyar going solo with the album "Po napravleniyu k tango" (Moving Closer to Tango), starting to experiment with different retro styles of popular Russian music. In 2001–2009 Sklyar appeared in seven Russian feature films and tried himself as a TV film and music programs' presenter on TV3 and TV Kultura. Views. In January 2015 in the Internet appeared a video with a song recorded to support Russian separatists in the war on East Ukraine. Alexander F. Sklyar, as well as Ivan Okhlobystin and Garik  Sukachov took part in it.