Submitted By: dvlina

Genre: Electro

Date of Set: May 20th, 2007

Filesize: 28.24 MB

Total Downloads: 0

It was my first experience in making drum-n-bass music in the late 1990-ies that made me start DJ-ing. Three of my tracks were released by Moscow-based semi-underground labels “Azone recordings” and “Citadel rec...Drums republic” on various d-n-b compilations. Then, almost simultaneously, I started dancing in a B-boy crew. We listened to funk and hip-hop music in our training room and I’d already known many tunes from “Freestyle” radioshow broadcasted at that time in Moscow. There had been several vinyls in my records collection already and it was expanding rapidly.

I started it by keeping all my d-n-b records and then during my trip to Germany in 1998 I bought my first dozen hip-hop and funk vinyls. Every time I’ve been travelling abroad since then I was buying vinyls and cds. I visited many music stores and markets all around Europe in the past eight years or so. It was also both interesting and fruitful for me to see the true music culture in Berlin, London, Paris, Habana, Athens and Stockholm along with the urban-youth culture of B-boying, freestyle jams, graffity, clubbing, art and fashion. The first interesting artwork of mine was a small home video called “Berlin Graffity Freestyle” which was filmed together with my foreign friends during my stay in the german capital and then released on VHS with perfect design. I made a special mix of my favourite funk tracks of that time and it was used as a soundtrack for our do-it-yourself video. Back in Moscow I played five or six times at B-boy jams here and there.

Then in 2002 I brought my “Afrodesia Mix” in the “Cult club” and started spinning there together with my girl-friend as DJs “Funky family”. There have been many DJ guests from the EU, UK, US and Brazil in the “Cult Club” since its opening in June, 2001. I think I have to be grateful to the Cult’s crew and friends because they made really positive atmosphere anytime anywhere. All those events formed my vision and launched my DJ and music-making career. I started collecting old russian vinyls with funky tunes which could be used for sampling or could be reissued sometime, as a lot of electronic musicians who live outside (and inside) Russia have never heard of them. I think our specific old “soviet sound” can bring something new in the worldwide music culture. There could have been made a special synthesis of “soviet sound” and western skills of hip hop and future groove. Such collaboration could become a new way of cultural dialogue between the East and the West, and obviously it has the potential to become the part of music mainstream. It’s impossible to underestimate the cultural potential of one of the largest integrational communities in human history, which was the Soviet Union. Nations and cultures in Africa, Latin America, Vietnam, China, Middle East and Central America (and Cuba in particular) lived under soviet influence which came in various forms and was not always negative as many people tend to think nowadays. I came to such a conclusion while listening to old soviet records I have in my collection.

Finally, this small investigation appeared positive: I found many themes revised from Sergio Mendes (e.g. “For What It’s Worth”), Eumir Deodato, George Gershwin, Herbie Hancock, etc. Some of these records are rareties. For instance, an LP where the Moscow Cinematographic Orchestra plays close-to-funk themes with French-singing vocalist from Congo. Sometimes one can find old cuban compilations in private record collections or vinyl shops in Moscow. Those vinyls were produced exclusively for Soviet Union in Cuba.

Not many people remember how difficult it was to release anything in a communist state, where everything was under the party-bosses’ control. That is why records released at that time were (and still are) all of impeccable quality, for Party ideological and cultural editors could have cancelled everything anytime for whatever reason, for example, because some Party leaders liked ballet more than music. It sounds illogical but it was just like that. I suppose, only because of that some of the old soviet records belong to the world’s cultural heritage. Along with the soviet retro sound I was listening to jazz. Early Chick Corea albums appeal to me most. That’s why I started learning to play the flute. I’ve met a wonderful tutor, a girl from music theorist’s family, who works in the Moscow Music Academy and plays in Galina Vishnevskaya’s orchestra. In 2003, I was still playing in Cult club sometimes, but alone, and tried to combine DJ-ing with writing my own tracks in different styles from hip hop to funk music to house. Moreover, I made a compilation called “Soviet Groove vol.1” and sent it to Irma Recordings. The CD contains retro soviet tracks (dating the period of the 70-s and the 80-s) from all over the Soviet Union. Irma Rec’s reply was very inspiring, but the russian copyright law requires paying taxes for distribution in other countries. We made a pause. I think I have to figure out what to do with this project as soon as I am able to dedicate more time to it or get another opportunity. Anyway, many “Cult Club” foreign guests have got copies of my “Russian Funk” compilation and “Melody” samples CD.

Also in 2003 I produced a music score for a short film showed at “Saint Anne Annual Films Festival” and made a funk compilation for my friend Masha Kurushina who was participating in Moscow Fashion Week. Then I produced a promo soundtrack (called “King of Air”) with vocalist Alexander Kireev, who then took the second place in the russian version of “TV Star” show in the end of 2003. In May, 2003 “Cult Club” released its guests and residents’ compilation for the club’s second anniversary. The CD is called “Cult Cuts. Vol. 2” and contains one of my tracks. In the end of 2003, I met my soul-mate Guga in London. I was strolling from “Reckless” to “SoulJazz” and then I heard somebody speaking Russian near “Black market”. It was Guga chatting with a friend. At that time he was finishing his lounge album “Isolated feelings” which was later released by “Ideology.de” net-label. It was a surprise when he told me that he started as a hip-hop DJ, especially for B-boys dance-parties. We decided to try producing some music, with me playing flute and him making grooves using his collection of analogue gear. One month later I met Michael (aka EDO) in “Cult Club”. The two of EDO’s tracks were also released on both “Cult Cuts” compilations in 2002 and 2003.

In 2004 we (EDO & me) made just another promo soundtrack for animation film “Sorry Earth”. Another result of our collaboration came in 2005, when we produced a vocal house track (vocals by Maya and Maxim Neretin and a flute solo by me) for Maria Kurushina, who used it when showing her collection “All Week in Clubs” during Moscow Fashion Week 2005. Then EDO made a perfect broken remix of this track and we started to produce tracks for future releases. So, now I am looking forward to continue our music-making sessions with my friends (Guga & EDO), who have the same positive vision of open collaboration and lifestyle. Finally, we feel the same soul vibe. It was a good news when I heard that my “Soviet Groove” compilation finally came to use. Tim Giles made a small guest radioshow on Voxpop45.com called “Russian Funk” in March, 2005 and I hope there would be further collaboration with foreign DJs and musicians. ALSO CHECK MY RADIOSHOWS AT WWW.HEADZ.FM

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