Is it true that the name Therr Maitz was coined after being stoned?
Well, in general, yes... But I didn't smoke! Everyone around was smoking. By now I had already given up...
To be honest, the name sounds like it came from being stoned. It is so special that it is difficult for people to pronounce.
This is evidence of our naivety in marketing at that time!
It would be more interesting to just change the name after each concert.
We did this, by the way, before Therr Maitz! They performed at some bikini party hosted by Vladivostok oligarchs. They ask us: “Well, what’s the name of the group?” - “Well, let’s take Marcus Aurelius, for example...” - and everything is clear that the party is like that...
And there's an orgy at the party, right?
Yes, yes... Or, there, “Smiling IIchki”.
How did you write it? "AI..."?
We didn’t write, it’s just for one time! You just say it to the entertainer, that's all.
One of my favorite books is Our Band Could Be Your Life, a documentary about the American independent music scene of the 80s. They traveled around America with ten of them in small minibuses and played not the best in the most ordinary clubs. popular music. Before “The Voice” made your face known everywhere, was your life the same?
Well, basically, yes. This is a situation where you, like, really want to work, but you... they just don’t offer you anything. You have a lot of strength, but you also have to find a job. That is, call someone, or your wife should call and explain: “This is my husband playing electronics, you understand? Name? Well, then I’ll say, it doesn’t matter...” You don’t understand what to do with yourself. A musician without popularity - this causes some, it seems to me, dangerous rotting inside. This feeling begins - it seems like I’m still doing the right thing, but nothing changes! No response. But even now, of course, I think that maybe this is just a surge in popularity, people suddenly thought because of the broadcast on Channel One that they might like it, but in fact we are doing complete shit - this thought is still spinning . But when there is not even a surge in popularity, you are generally in hell. And just every day you think: “No, is it really necessary to go to a cell phone store to work as a salesperson?”
Looking into the sad eyes of his wife.
Yes. Taking out a loan for a laptop.
Only those who truly love the process can achieve success among musicians.
Well, naturally.
For me, this is not so natural, because in our field, where you have to sit at a computer and write, very few people love the process of work itself. To sit down and write a text, many of us need to “roll in”: an hour, two hours of stupidity...
The same thing happens to us.
But it seems to me that it’s like this for musicians: if you don’t like to play the same thing on the guitar every day in front of new people, you won’t achieve success.
No, that's not entirely true. When you stand on stage, it's not a process, it's already a result. The process is what has been happening to me for the last four days. I know that I need to show new songs at the concert, and I kind of come up with them. But structuring them, turning them into something that will reach you, my musicians, everyone else, is a process. For example, there is a missing word in this phrase, and the decision can no longer be left for later, because it still takes time for the musicians to learn and do it - and here is the process. Yesterday I sat in the studio for twelve hours, squeezing out one minute of material. I already hate these songs, although I haven’t even made them yet, but I already feel bad. That is, I know that in the end it will be good, I believe in it. But there are tasks that still have to be solved routinely; there is no escape. And on stage it’s already...
Result.
Yes. This is already a thrill. Although you also get tired sometimes. But it’s all the same - this fatigue is not a routine. The routine is to get there, get some sleep.
With us, of course, it’s about the same. I hoped that at least musicians don’t procrastinate...
Unfortunately, it seems to me that people often try to reassure themselves: like, we have a special job. But in the end, when there are responsibilities, when certain standards need to be met, we are all in the same situation.
It turns out that everyone has this hated moment of entering work, when you do anything, just not to start.
Yes, yes, yes.
And another cigarette.
This is what Dima says: it can take a week to force yourself to sit down and write the text.
No, well, I'm not an example. I can force myself for months and years at a time, and in the end I can’t force myself to do it.
I think this indicates good things. You can just sit down and write [nonsense]...
And go home.
And say that you did everything you could. But to put it bluntly, I don't want to stand on stage with a bad song. I want to stand with a good one. And I'm ready to suffer for this.
How many Russian-language songs has Therr Maitz released in five years?
Not at all.
Isn't it time to pluck up the courage and write it down?
It's not a matter of courage, but of finding a formula. I understand perfectly well that as soon as we record some successful music in understandable Russian, our regional halls will most likely turn into ice palaces. And I don’t have such a block, God forbid, in Russian. I have already passed this stage. I'm ready to sing in Russian. It’s just important to me that this is done for real, and not for the sake of ice palaces and more airtime on the radio. I have a sniper nature. I can't start trying, I need to aim accurately first.
It’s just that this foreign gloss that appears from the English language - it seems to me that the trend for it is beginning to subside. There is still some sense in somehow getting to the West, to a wider market. Are there any successes in this?
My Love Is Like is the first time we consciously open up to the West.
That is, from this point of view, it’s not in vain, right?
It is important to understand that when you are not inside the process, it may seem that we are clinging to something, holding on tightly and are afraid to give up... This is not so. For us it’s still an experiment, a game. We don't know how it really works. Nobody fucking knows how it works. We live inside this story and think: “Well, now it will definitely end.” We actually look forward to this every day. Every concert for us is the thought: “This is probably all.”
Are you going to be faithful to your image until the end of your days, like Elton John, or are you more Bono?
In general, I don’t have such a special image...
Come on! Black color, suit, these glasses - I just described Anton Belyaev.
Not in any suit...
Well, black color and glasses. Sometimes the costume is added, sometimes it is subtracted. How come there is no image? Here it is!
This is called ergonomics. I'm just comfortable. I don't like things that aren't black. I have funny shirts, you know, funny ones. But I eventually come to the conclusion that I need to be comfortable all the time. A concert, flying to twenty cities and not wearing black clothes - well, it’s terribly simple, because it’s not clear how they will wash them there...
Why don't you wear contact lenses, because it's much more ergonomic?
I got it, okay. I don't wear contact lenses because I have good eyesight.
This is a man who says he is out of character.
This is an artist. He can do anything!
Good answer!
I agree to everything.
In fact, I started wearing glasses not for the sake of the stage, but in life - because I was tired of the endless questions from those around me about why my eyes look so “dead.” At first I wore dark glasses, but when you wear dark glasses, you begin to turn outwardly into such a [being in a state of altered consciousness] rock star...
Now Grigory Leps hiccupped.
And that's why they are transparent. They seem to deceive in such a way that everything is normal, but on the other hand, there is no overkill.
Anton Belyaev is called one of best musicians Russia. Lately He is engaged not only with his band Therr Maitz, but also presents a new immersive show “Faceless” on November 9 in St. Petersburg, and also gave a solo concert on November 3 at the A2 club. Anton told StarHit how he felt in the role of dad, and also admitted that if he had not met his wife Yulia, he would have begun to “destroy.”
The premiere of the immersive show “Faceless” will take place in St. Petersburg on November 9, where many of the characters will be wearing masks. Will you become a participant yourself?
In “Faceless” I am not an actor, but a composer. The work on this project was difficult, we recorded about 11 hours of music. We were faced with an interesting task - the show will take place in a mansion on Palace Embankment, where there are more than 50 locations and in all these locations there are different sound sources - it was important to find connections so that when moving from one location to another, we would not interfere with the music, but would lead the viewer further . Therefore, we came up with a form in which music allows us to think through a lot. Naturally, there are moments that were invented and written in advance, but the main canvas is the music, which was created by live musicians.
Yes, I'm interested in different genres. What we do for the stage is very clear and understandable work. There are always some surprises here, other opportunities, I’m interested in not being confined to my own genre, that’s why I’m interested in both cinema and theater arts.
How was the concert in St. Petersburg?
We performed with a large string group, played our concert hits, as well as fragments of the new album, which will be released on February 14. To be honest, I swore that we wouldn’t do this, but it’s impossible, I wanted to quickly show fresh material.
This year you have many projects, but the most important thing is that you have a son. Who does he look like?
IN at the moment- at me! There are photographs of me and his as children that are simply identical, they have a frightening resemblance (laughs). Mom's traits can also be traced. All in all, an interesting guy.
He was born...
It turns out that he is a Gemini according to the horoscope, do you believe in the forecasts?
I think my wife pays more attention to such things. It is clear that genetic and cosmic data will influence its formation, but upbringing is the most important part. I think we need to observe human development.
After whom did you name your son Semyon?
Since we musical family, then we were looking for some interesting name. We had big list, our top list, and until recently we thought that when we looked at it, we would choose from it. As a result, when I saw my son, I realized that none of our fancy names suited him. The midwife brought me to this idea: “What’s your name?” - “But not yet” - “We need to name it, a person must have a name!” At first I was with my son, and then I took him to a special place where babies are kept after birth, and went to my wife: “So, we have a meeting for 20 minutes, we must decide what the person’s name is.” We looked on Google, it was Semyon's day. When this sounded, we said to each other: “Yes, okay.” There was no deep meaning or serious preparation in this, but I am very glad that it happened. The name suits my son very well.
Many parents try not to show their children, but you often post photos of your son on the Internet...
Is it true that with the birth of a child, the worldview changes?
You know, I wouldn't agree with this 100%. Despite the fact that my age has exceeded 30, and I have not yet had a child, the questions “When?” Naturally, they were present. And in my circle, people gave birth every month. But I was never obsessed with procreation, I never thought about it seriously - that is, the transition happened easily for me: my wife became pregnant, and I realized that I was ready. I feel organic in the role of dad - I like it: rocking my son and even changing diapers. Just came into my life new person, so there is no dissonance.
It seems that you and Yulia have an exemplary marriage...
You know, we are an absolutely normal family that sometimes quarrels both at work and at home - again, what you see are just pictures on the Internet. It is clear that we do not broadcast or advertise all our lives, we are happy when we are on the beach, we are happy when the autumn leaves fall, we are a completely ordinary couple who are lucky to have each other. From myself I can say that if I had not had such a wife, then perhaps some time ago I would have gone down the path of destruction, because this person organizes me and turns me into an efficient and conscious unit. In general, as a musician, I am a chaotic person - but meeting with Yulia saved and stabilized me
She is a former journalist, and it often happens that stars align with media workers...
This is probably due to the fact that they interview them, but Yulia did not interview me. At that time, I lived in such a way that it was just another funny story. After a friend’s wedding, after drinking a few glasses with Lolita Milyavskaya, I went to see my friends – Dutch architects, whom I had not seen for a long time. We drank, decent girls were sitting at the next table, and I decided to say boorishly: “Let’s send them vodka?” We sent them vodka, everyone laughed, and as a result of this communication, Yulia gave me her phone number with the wrong number. I found this phone a few days later, got into the wrong place a couple of times, finally got through and said: “I don’t really need this, but if you want, we can go to a jazz party.” It was an absolutely boorish intrusion into her life, but we met, went to a party, and after that we lived together. After some time, I realized that after this meeting I did not want to look for anyone else.
Either some kind of stagnation would begin... Naturally, musicians are ambitious, we want to open up to the world, to be loved, listened to music and understood. But aggression accumulates while you do something to the table, until it finds a way out, the person gets angry. It seems to me that I was on some kind of Rubicon. Completely alien to me television projects, I don’t accept the “Star Factory” system, when you came, they made something out of you, dressed you up in nice pants and forced you to sing a song that, according to the producers, will bring you success. Therefore, all my friends put pressure on me, my wife said: “Dude, stop showing off! Go, it won’t get any worse!” I managed to maintain my opinion in this situation. During the show I followed my plan: I did what I wanted, sang the songs I wanted, argued with the orchestra when I didn’t like what they were playing and didn’t allow me to change my nature.
Anton Belyaev about Therr Maitz’s plans to conquer the West and his attitude towards the new “Voice”
On November 11, a big concert by Therr Maitz will take place at the Bud Arena club. On the eve of the performance, group leader Anton Belyaev met with HELLO.RU and spoke about his Napoleonic plans.
Anton, we interview you on average once a year. And every time you talk about a new incredible idea - either you’re planning a concert with Bashmet at Crocus, or you’ve been filming a video for 4.5 years. Now he has released a video for the song My Love Is Like, which can safely be awarded the title of the strangest video of the year...
An artist must constantly change, grow, develop. This is a basic rule of show business. There are musicians who entered the profession at some level and continue to move on without changing their position, but this no longer “sticks” the viewer. And as a result, interest in them decreases.
My Love Is Like collected about 5 million views on YouTube in less than a month. At the same time, the clip is radically different from everything that is present on Russian music television. But earlier this"sinned"only Shnurov.
The funny thing is that I didn’t watch Shnurov’s “Exhibit” video, are we discussing it? I heard the song, but the video didn’t happen, it’s a coincidence.
We made a high-quality video not because we wanted to “puzzle” someone. We had abstract videos, and people got the impression that we were all such intellectuals, romantics and smart people. Anyone who has attended concerts knows that this is not so. (Laughs.) We have different songs - this is what we tried to show by recording My Love Is Like, and we wanted to make the video bright and high-quality, so that later there would be no thoughts that they didn’t screw it up, they could have done it better... And so it happened, video it worked.
We experienced the launch of the video while on tour, and it was not easy. We flew out at the beginning of October, the video came out on the 7th, and then I followed its progress. After all, it only seems that if the product is good, it will become successful on its own. In fact, success is always the result of competent management. For the consumer to notice the product, it must be placed on the right shelf.
Anton, in one of his interviews with HELLO! You said that in the song “I”m Feeling Good Tonight you are so confident that you can perform it in any condition and anywhere. Can you now say the same about My Love Is Like?
Fans really like I'm Feeling Good Tonight, it's always convenient to open concerts with it, but at the same time I realize that this song is the stupidest and most primitive of everything I've written, and My Love Is Like is the same. But this is justified: so that to stay with the audience, sometimes you need to do something simple. I love my slow and complex songs that no one likes.
At the same time, both the song and the video are very"Western"V in a good way this word.
And this is also not just like that. With the new video we want to open up to foreign audiences. We were often asked if we were planning to start conquering the West, since we sing in English, but now I can say that we are ready for this.
Anton, Therr Maitz’s tour took place in different cities of Russia, including you visited the Far East and Siberia. How do you relax after weeks on the road?
Returning home this time, I slept for two days. I woke up, turned on the movie, ate the broth and fell asleep again - I never watched a single movie to the end. The road is always exhausting, so I can fall asleep anywhere: on an airplane, in the back seat of a car. I don’t drive a car myself - I realized that it wasn’t for me after I bought a car in my youth that I owned for only 5 days. Now my driver or my wife Julia takes me for rides; we have a Range Rover Evoque in bright orange. Yulia says that she feels like a rock star when she drives out onto the road, everyone pays attention to her, since the car is quite rare and noticeable. 
I can't help but ask about"Voice". The new season turned out to be very resonant due to the fact that among the participants there were several people from the music scene - Tatyana Shamanina, Alexander Panayotov, Katya Gordon. How do you feel about this?
I am loyal to the presence of not everyone there, but many. When a person is not intended for the stage, but he is a media person and for some reason gets into the show, this is wrong. No offense. But “The Voice” is not a show about music, it’s a show of emotions. Ratings are based on how the viewer reacts to what is happening, and if the participant is positive, that's good, if negative is also good, otherwise it will be bland. So even the appearance of characters in the show that do not coincide with our understanding of justice is justified in this situation.
You may like Shamanina or not, but it is impossible not to recognize the fact that she is talented. She has been performing as part of the Guru Groove Foundation for a long time, but she did not have access to a large audience, so I think coming to the show was a logical decision in her case. And Panayotov is rightfully there. For a long time after "People's Artist" he was nowhere to be seen, he needs to remind the viewer of himself. We know that he is good, but let the audience remember this too. Let's see if he can choose the right material, present himself and gain a foothold. 
Marina Savelyeva (HELLO.RU) and Anton BelyaevThis is exactly the most difficult thing - the show runs for several seasons, and only Therr Maitz and Nargiz have become consistently popular. Why?
Because you need to understand: you can be as talented as you like, but if you don’t offer the consumer something special, you won’t last long. This is marketing. When I came to “The Voice”, I filled a niche that was not occupied at that time. Unconventional use of the resource is the path to results. I was at the castings of the 3rd and 4th seasons and saw how five boys a day came in glasses, sneakers and a jacket, who sang - sometimes even sang very well! - Chris Isaac. Some use the images created by others literally, others, who are smarter, use the same schemes and mechanisms. But this is useless and will never work. Use your head, look for your niche, there’s no other way. And surprise.
Therr Maitz's repertoire includes songs exclusively on English. Is it possible that someday the group will release a composition in Russian and surprise us in this way?
I don’t want to sing in Russian yet. I don’t forbid myself from doing this, I just don’t want to do it out of the desire to expand my audience. I will not write a song specifically so that it will be taken on by Russian Radio. Now, if someday I can figure out how to do it well, like “Friday,” for example, or “Mumiy Troll,” then it’s possible.
Youwith Therr Maitz Are you making things difficult on purpose? Last year you performed with an orchestra, this year you are vaingloriously looking towards the West.
We just want it to be interesting. When we had our first concert at Crocus, we understood that we were not quite in the usual show business segment. Therefore, it was decided to do something musically experimental. We brought an orchestra that wrote music for the films "Gravity", "The Lord of the Rings", and "Star Wars". It was funny - we “write” our bullshit, and scores with the notes “Spectre” and “Star Wars” are lying around. They have some left over from yesterday, you know. (Laughs).
It's cool to hear your music from such hands... Real ones. Then we worked several more times with the Voronezh and St. Petersburg orchestras. The process is labor-intensive, but always produces results. We did an acoustic program, then an electronic one. 
Anton, during our last conversation a year ago, you said that in principle you are ready to do only what is interesting and close to you, even if the concerts will not take place in a huge " Crocus", and in a compact club"16 tons"...
I changed my mind! (Laughs.)
Other artists have already quoted this phrase in interviews, but you changed your mind.
You get hooked on popularity and success; it’s stupid to deny it. I don't go back on what I said, but I'm now willing to admit that I'm taking a broader view of the situation.
Do you want your music to sound from all angles?
And so you won’t be surprised that the interview won’t include the two main questions that worry the band’s fans, I’ll answer them for the hero. The name of the group comes from the modified word “termites” and has no translation or symbolic meaning - Anton just liked the sound of this combination, reminiscent of the “correct name of a dog” with an accent r-r-r. But he doesn’t sing in Russian as a matter of principle: according to Belyaev, this is his attempt to expand the boundaries, and not only musical, but also cultural and mental.
I would like to start with the formal occasion of our meeting - a concert dedicated to the 7th anniversary of the group, which will take place at the Flacon. What kind of show will it be and will it be any different from the program presented in March at Stadium Live?
It will be, yes - always something different. But I won’t specifically talk about surprises. We can't play the same way every time: we get bored. Plus it's air. In open areas there is always a different energy, a different contact with the public. This inspires us to do some strange things, and people behave a little more relaxed.
7 years is a significant period. How has your sense of music and how has the audience’s attitude towards it changed over the years?
The audience grows and changes, and we have to do it with them. Internally, everything only became more complicated. The bar of self-criticism rises higher and higher. And for me it's devastating. The nuances come to the fore. And the music “clears up.” We began to reduce layers and strive to be more precise in some main things, not to hide behind the amount of design, which I personally really love.
In an interview, you once said that “in order to stay with the audience, you need to do something simple.” Do you still think so?
Musicians generally approach music differently. Besides the fact that it’s a job and you’re “oversaturated” with music, you’re in constant competition with yourself and always trying to sit on two chairs. On the one hand, to satisfy your ambitions, on the other, not to lose touch with your listeners. We all understand that Schnittke is great, but there are limitations. We play different music, but we also play with the intellect. If it were up to me, I would only play complex, truly intellectual music, but I understand that this is not what my audience expects from me. Therefore, you have to pull yourself together all the time.
Another quote of yours: “Music is an indicator of the standard of living in a country.” Continuing the analogy: how is the standard of living in our country now?
Music is plastic, like everything else, apparently (Laughs). The point is rather whether people are ready to listen to music and spend time on it. After all, music is a way to escape from problems, and many people use it for this purpose. Of course, it’s difficult for me to judge: we live in Moscow, and this is another planet. But from the cross-section that I observe, it seems that people have opened up to music, they have become mentally ready for it. We were behind the curtain for a long time, and any trends came to us as if from around the corner, and even with a great delay. As a rule, they were brought by individuals and “infected” the space around them. And now there is a “mass infection” - not without the help of digital, of course. People have the desire, the mood and the opportunity - and choose music “for themselves.” This is their field of life, and they themselves invite us there.
You say that the Western market is oversaturated, but you still do not lose hope of capturing it - and that is also why, as I understand it, you sing in English. Why isn't it working yet?
I'm a bit of a sniper by nature. I can't run somewhere with a bayonet all the time. It doesn't suit me emotionally. I peer, and if an opportunity arises, I try to shoot. But I’m not ready to get on the bus now and go on tour across America, I’m not ready to play in empty halls. We all understand perfectly well that getting into category, even if not A, which includes Beyoncé, Jay-Z and other artists of this caliber, or even category B, requires huge financial investments. You can’t drive a Zaporozhets into this business. In our case it was lucky opportunity in the person of the channel and the show that turned up at the right time, to expand its audience. And without this nothing happens. All this requires searching for people, targeted activity, and it costs a lot of money. But the most important thing is how prepared a particular person is. When I feel like I can go on any platform and can take the audience by the throat, then I’ll probably be there.
Let's forget about the West for a moment. Russian music scene in recent years noticeably rejuvenated. Do you follow these often subcultural processes, is it interesting to you?
We finally found ourselves in America in the 90s. But these are all flashes. I don’t relate to them in any way - I’m just not very interested in all this. This has nothing to do with the quality of these people or their product. I live in a fairly closed world, and YouTube is unlikely to give me anything that will surprise me. Neither Yegor Creed, nor Oksimiron, nor Hatters. It is very important in which information field a person exists. I deliberately avoid contact with the “new” - I think it will clog me.
Do you have any preferences in this “closed world” of yours? Or maybe musicians, artists who somehow influence and inspire you?
I listen to a huge amount of music, but I never listen to it at home. I’m not allowed to play music in the car when I’m at home; my wife never plays “her” music. For me it's just stressful. Even if music is playing in the background in a restaurant, I am forced to immerse myself in analysis, and it all torments me, and I don’t want to work all the time.
From the interviews I read, I got the impression that you are a rather uncompromising person when it comes to creativity. Has this ever bothered you? Surely there were cases when you could “bend in” and get some special dividends for it?
Do you mean my endless desire for beauty (Laughs)? It's like childhood trauma. When I didn’t understand that there were no magic buttons, and didn’t know that in order to achieve success, you just need to develop and move incrementally, I wanted quick results, but none of the many “senior comrades” offered me clear schemes or decisions. Naturally, I follow some models of distribution and promotion and rely, among other things, on the experience of others, but I clearly understand that if I decide to do this, then I myself, personally, must understand this better than others. In short, life, apparently, did not throw up simple options, and everyone who could help me offered to transform into something understandable, but I wanted to convey what I put into my music, and not look for the beaten path. Don’t dress up in feathers and sequins, don’t go to a competition where nice producers will give me a tenner and show it on the central channels. Even from my youthful days I remember with what hatred I treated the Russian stage. Now, by the way, a lot has changed - I recognized a number of famous artists, and these turned out to be wonderful people. But I still keep this thought in my head, even if on the periphery of consciousness. Although I, of course, am no longer the maximalist who wanted to come to Moscow, burn everything down and build it anew.
Considering your dislike for the stage, do you regret your participation in the show “The Voice”?
No no! I hate television, I hate TV shows. I seriously despised people who built their careers on talent shows, it seemed to me that this was a downfall. For a very long time I could not internally agree with the decision to participate in “The Voice”. I went to the first season, passed the casting, and then “jumped off.” I understand: I’m not ready. And then I watched the debut shows, saw how it all looked on TV, and decided - it’s not a shame. Unlike many similar formats, “The Voice” is not vulgar. Before this project, there was a feeling that nothing could happen without cronyism. It scared me. More than I longed to open the doors, I was afraid to stand on a par with such people. “Voice”, of course, helped solve some problems - both financially and in terms of recognition. But more importantly, this show helped me get over myself. This was a very timely check. I was at a turning point - both age-wise and professionally. And I could get tired of these constant attempts to prove something to people who don’t hear me. In principle, I was ready to continue living in this misunderstanding, but one day everything changed.
I understand that you have been asked this question dozens of times, but I can’t help but ask: how is it that talent shows, including “The Voice,” produce a huge number of gifted artists, and in “ Blue light“And there are still the same faces on the stage as 20, 30 years ago?
This is a big question. Participation in the show does not guarantee further success - this, as you understand, is not spelled out in the contract. This gives you an audience of people who are interested in you at a particular moment in time. Quite funny: I somehow calculated that for all my participation in “The Voice” from September to December, I was shown on TV for a total of only 23 minutes. Moreover, after the first broadcast that night, some excited people called me and offered to work - and it was necessary to start the very next day. And I was completely ready. For the first year, all we did was work—we had to recoup these “advances.” During this time, the audience grew and was ready for our music. As for the other participants in the show, the situations are different. The artist seems ready, but he has three phonograms and no material: it’s not clear what to perform with. We need to prepare for such a moment. You can't come to a party without a suit and money for a taxi - anything can happen. If you want to meet Mick Jagger, first learn English.
That is, the problem is rather in the poor preparation of the participants themselves, rather than the closed nature of show business, which is impossible to get into?
Show business is structured quite simply: there are several forces that conditionally “control” this process. The same Black Stars that regularly release artists, and whether we like it or not, we cannot help but admit it - this is marketing, suppression, and aggressive PR. There is a lot of marketing for Channel One, in which Konstantin Ernst and Yuri Aksyuta decide that the artist is interesting, and he begins to appear everywhere in large numbers. There is a human factor everywhere, because people decide everything - and you need to be interesting for them, offer them something. Just being a great singer and good looking person is not enough. The talent must be usable. Any production company is just a group of people doing their job and they need material. Nobody does vocal rehearsal with an artist (that's money and time) when there are tons of professionals who are desperate to break through and who are already ready. Of course, everyone needs a little tuning, but it is important to be a building material, and not just a gifted vocalist.
What needs to change so that fresh, interesting faces appear at the conventional “Blue Light”, and this would not look foreign and out of place?
I didn’t watch Blue Light, but I read Maxim Fadeev’s post on Instagram, who was indignant at the constant cast of participants. During personal communication, I asked - what kind of righteous anger is this person... who does the same thing (Laughs)? What needs to change? Don't know. People change - those who play this music, and those who choose it, including a certain TV channel. In general, they often try to contrast me with this kind of music and, as it were, push me against it, but I am a non-conflict person, I know that these people do their job - and do it well. You and I may not like it, but each channel has a background: it has entertained this audience for decades, “raised” it - and it cannot abandon it. It’s even somehow... human, or something. It is unlikely that Ernst will decide to broadcast films that he personally loves. It's the same with music. Imagine: our mothers will suddenly be shown only Netflix series and English-language progressive music. They'll go nuts!
Well, Netflix takes into account the preferences of the audience, but wraps the audience’s tastes in such a high-quality and expensive wrapper that it somehow takes them to the next, more advanced level.
But this product is built in a completely different environment. We have a different level of morality in Russia. An adult woman, a teacher, is unlikely to watch the TV series “Gigolo” in the evening prime time. Russian television in the form in which it exists today is a very background product. But it's free. This explains a lot.
You experiment a lot with formats and, in particular, have written music for film and theater. How does this process differ from writing music “for yourself”?
The routine is all the same. But less responsibility. Cinema is a synthetic art. And with your music you help what exists. If the movie doesn't work, the music is unlikely to pull it off. When you make a solo product, it is responsible for itself. This is not the case in the movies. But this is a very interesting job. Music generally frames our lives, and cinema clearly demonstrates how this happens.
In theater or cinema, there are fairly clear measures of success - to play a certain role, do it with a specific director and receive an award. What or how is success in music measured?
Halls and sales are the breadth of your activities. As for the recognition of the professional community, I don’t really care, although, of course, it’s easy to say so when it exists. This is a nice bonus, but nothing compares to the torment that we experience every time, and no figurines can bring back lost time, health and nerves (Laughs).
In general, is popularity a pleasant bonus or does this phenomenon have more negative sides?
It's nice when people express their positive opinions about you. On the other hand, I don’t remember when I could last time go out somewhere and remain invisible. But it’s not that I suffered much from this. I think this is such a beautiful fairy tale about how artists suffer from being tired of popularity. At the first moment, when everything changes (strangers smile at you, and you understand that they are not familiar to you, but you are very familiar to them), you feel a little strange. For the first six months I couldn’t figure out how to live with it; Now it has become completely unimportant to me. To be honest, I don’t go out much - there are two cafes in the city where I go and where everyone knows me, but otherwise I can’t say that I lead some kind of social lifestyle.
You, probably, like other artists and creative people in general, have periods of decline and decadence. How do you pull yourself out of them?
You can't go to the bottom. In music, as in any work, there is a routine component. And it’s not going anywhere—you have to sit and do it. And this, of course, is very tiring. But this is what I say now. And then you leave, I sit down, in 10 minutes inspiration will overtake me, and time will fly in a different mode. There is no way to feel good outside of work. You just need to sit down and start doing. And then everything will work out.
Details
The Therr Maitz concert will take place on August 10 on the territory of the Flacon design plant.
It was a little scary because the format was new, people were unfamiliar, the main channel of the country. I was afraid of finding myself in hostile territory and having to try on a completely different role. Because, despite all the possible bonuses, you could get into trouble. Although it seems to me that I got myself into trouble. (Laughs.) I try to understand what is happening, but with such crazy activity it is difficult.
Do you have a strategy for further development?
The main task is to bring people to my group. To show that I have a whole team of musicians behind me, all of whom are talented, beautiful, sing and play great. That we have joint creativity and life besides “The Voice”. There is not much time - 2-3 months. In six months, new heroes will appear, there will be new project. These are the rules of the game.
Two weeks after being posted on YouTube, it had 400 thousand views. And the second version was edited with an emphasis on Therr Maitz.
You need to be in time during this period.
Coming out in April new album your group. Why is he second in number, but first in essence?
The first album Sweet Oldies (2010) is a pop product. It is clear that we are not trying to get on every radio with this album, but it is aimed at being easily perceived.
Is anyone helping with the release?
We didn't commit ourselves to any label, but we started collaborating with the big English publishing company Believe. The thing is that the label, when creating an artist, also makes money from concerts. What good does this do me? If they were putting on a multi-million dollar laser show, this would be understandable, but there is no such practice here.
I registered an account myself and posted the album on iTunes. I received $400–600 a month, but this is not the money that I want to earn. On the other hand, this is not the kind of music that is worth buying. This is a computer control rehearsal, designer lounge music, applique from beautiful pictures. I put it together in 2010 from old tracks, which I’m not too ashamed of.
Are you planning a tour of Russia?
A large Moscow agency, which was involved, in particular, with Zemfira’s Russian tour, came to us with an offer. Now we're talking about about 40 cities and venues from 2 to 5 thousand places. And we responded to this offer with joy, although previously we were involved in concerts ourselves. But it is difficult to control their quality.
Often we are simply deceived. They say: the hall will be like this, the sound will be like this, people will be allowed in freely, tickets will be sold at this price. Then an update comes from the fan base: a poster was hung in the city, where it says “Anton Belyaev” instead of Therr Maitz and they also put the logo of the show “The Voice” on top. We arrive, and it turns out that this is not a club, but a restaurant, the deposit for a table starts from 10 thousand rubles. As a result, there are “furs” sitting in the hall, but what should we do? It seems they sent us photographs, and everything was different in them. We're tired.
The hotel cannot be located in the same building as the karaoke. There should be dark curtains on the windows - we sleep during the day. A restaurant should not be a canteen, after which all my boys are forced to take pills for heartburn. This is bad, because you have to work in the evening, and everyone is angry.
They began to offer three times more concerts than before. In December 2013 there were 44 invitations, and this is physically impossible. You can't make all the money. I don't want to play all the concerts in the world in a year and then die. I still want to live, so I can play two concerts, even three, a week.
I want an ideal world. And you do nothing, and a lot of performances, and all the time relaxed, rested. I want to come to the concert - and how to bang. But in the end everything happens a little on the limit.
Have your relationships within the group changed due to the surge in popularity?
Not at all. Maybe the chain of command has become a little stricter - not in the sense that I have become more of a boss, but in the sense that the responsibility has increased. This can't be rock 'n' roll in its purest form. Whiskey is removed from the rider simply because there is no such thing as now we have played, and then we rest. We don't rest.
In general, do you have an easy character?
Superficially easy, yet not easy. I am quite principled, I have positions from which I do not retreat. It's difficult for those around me. And it shows up strongly in work. Not everyone can stand it, because it is constant control and tyranny. No one around me has an opinion. That is, they express it, and I suppress it.
Attempts to play family with musicians are, in principle, doomed to failure. If I start intentionally throwing consolidation parties, it won't be right. So far everything is happening naturally.
In December, you led the hit parade with Vera Brezhneva on Channel One. Are there any other TV projects planned with your participation as a presenter?
I'm not ready to format my personality. And everything that doesn’t force me to do this suits me perfectly. I’m ready to host a cooking show if it’s funny. So far there is an agreement on a talk show about music on Channel One. I will communicate with people on a topic that I understand.
I’ll try not to be a critic until the end, because it’s important to me how I look in front of the musicians.
What if Nikolai Baskov comes?
I think this program will be in a different format. But even if he comes, I will ask him the questions that interest me. Why, Kohl? I'm ready to ask this and want to hear the answer. Why do you do everything like this? Explain to us. Why do you make videos like this? Why is the quality of the music so high?
Are you done with producing?
I haven’t given up on this, I just don’t understand when to continue. Let's say we worked with Polina Gagarina, she writes beautiful songs in English. There was a serious creative process, and at the same time some pop music was flopping around, which eventually shot out of every iron. And that’s it, she didn’t have time for this. Now she realized that she wants to work, but I can’t.
They say about you that as a sound engineer you are a cool “firm” - what does this mean?
This probably means my attitude towards work. I care what I do. And so every time - for $500, and for significantly more. I also recorded quite a lot of unpleasant chansons. This is a craft. With current technology, it's not difficult to make bad music. (Laughs.) Just so as not to drown, but it seems that it passed.
Your wife helps you with your business. Is it true that she quit her job for this?
The two most difficult roles are mine and hers. I, as an infantryman, constantly run with a machine gun, they just tell me - hit to the right, and I hit. And Yulia, in general, takes all the blows. Something always needs to be monitored. She is on equal terms with everyone, and the demand from her is the same.
And how does she feel?
This is stressful for all of us, but it would probably be worse if I sat in unwashed underpants at home at the computer, shouted that I was a genius, banged my fist on the table and earned 10 thousand rubles. My wife is my number 1 fan, as is my mother. They share this place. And it's very invigorating. In my current state, it is important to have such a psychological haven. I understand who I am doing all this for. When you see that someone really feels good from it, everything is more justified.
You said that when you met Yulia, you promised to sing to her while standing on the table.
Magdalene's Aria from Jesus Christ Superstar. I don't know why this occurred to me, because I don't sing this song. I still have to.
