In August 2009 Dirk Behlau flew over to Helsinki, Finland to produce new promotional photos of the legendary music group Leningrad Cowboys for the band itself and the Huber Verlag which appeared e.g. in the DYNAMITE! and Tätowier Magazine. The band and their management were so happy with the photos that they hired Dirk also for their La Carrera Panamericana Rally Trip in Mexico (October 2009) as well...but that is another story. More photos here!

About:
The Leningrad Cowboys is a Finnish rock band famous for its humorous songs, ludicrous hairstyles and concerts featuring the Russian military band Alexandrov ensemble.


The band was an invention of the Finnish film director Aki Kaurismäki for the feature film Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989). The fictional band, however, was made up of Sakke Järvenpää and Mato Valtonen, members of a real Finnish band the Sleepy Sleepers with some additional musicians.

After the film, the band took on a life of its own, recording music, making videos and giving concerts. The band appeared in two other Aki Kaurismäki films, the Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses (1994) and the Total Balalaika Show (1994), which is a film of a concert performed by the band and the full 160-member Alexandrov ensemble in Helsinki, Finland in June 1993.

Currently, the band has 11 Cowboys and two Leningrad Ladies. The songs, all somewhat influenced by polka and progressive rock, are performed in English and have themes such as vodka, tractors, rockets, and Genghis Khan, as well as folkloric Russian songs, rock and roll ballads and covers from bands as diverse as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, all presented with lots of humour.