Group Amega Alexey Romanov. Pletnev about the scandalous departure from the "vintage" and the sharing of money
Almost sobbing from the "divorce", the pop heroine is preparing for a new breakthrough
Passions are running high: one of the finalists of the ZD Awards - a milestone (you can already say so!) For our pop music, the Vintage group, which has repeatedly taken the lead, can become the Group of the Year for the last time in its golden line-up. Anna Pletneva and Alexey Romanof have always called themselves "musical husband and wife", left their previous stage colleagues at the height of their fame to start working together, and seemed to create an indestructible creative union. But more recently - 11 years after their crowned connection - the superpop tandem announced their breakup. Pletneva was replaced by four new vocalists, whom Romanof selected, however, together with Anya. The former frontwoman continues her solo career. In an interview with ZD, the artist told why such a strong union broke up, what awaits fans around the corner and how she met the new Faina Ranevskaya.
Anya, it is quite obvious that the readers of "ZD", choosing the finalists in the nomination "Group of the Year", voted for the "classic" "Vintage", in which you and Alexei Romanov were one musical entity. On the rise of popularity, the group breaks up. ABBA you are ours!!! Why?
Much to my regret, this story really ended. We made the decision together, although many fans thought that I put an end to it - as the frontwoman of the group. What happened was the logical outcome of what was happening, we simply had no choice. Recently, everything has been like in a marriage that has already cracked, although outwardly this did not manifest itself in any way. Union, personal or creative, cannot last long in this state. If people no longer burn with a single impulse, are not in the same clip, and something has broken inside, then very soon their paths will diverge. Alas, this happened in our case. The fact that people still vote for us as a single creative whole, on the one hand, is insanely pleasant, on the other hand, it even hurts like a knife to the heart, because right now we are saying goodbye to that very amazing energy, to the very team that lived a fairly long and happy life. But, despite any quarrels, short-term grievances between Alexei Romanov and me, I know for sure that only great love for our common brainchild remained inside, great pride in him. I speak very emotionally, because feelings overwhelm. And I have a clear realization that we made this whole amazing story together: it would not have been born if our tandem had not arisen.
Back in August last year, you renamed the group: “Vintage” turned into the Anna Pletneva project, and then new members appeared ... Did you carefully plan the separation algorithm?
No. Now from the outside it may seem that all our recent joint actions were a cunningly planned scheme - the video “A Little Advertising”, where we showed ourselves in a coffin, the very words of this song - “leave at least a little love after the dot for memory.” In fact, this was absolutely not the case: we planned to continue working together, but fate decreed otherwise. And, by the way, with the advent of the Anna Pletneva project, the Vintage group has not disappeared anywhere, continues to successfully exist in a renewed line-up. Now there are four soloists in the group - four "bad girls".
- How do you see the phenomenon of "Vintage"? What secrets of success have been manipulated?
We certainly had them, these secrets, but, to be honest, we ourselves could not reveal them to the end. Before the birth of the group, both Lesha and I were not creatively free, each was in his own musical “prison” - I was in the Lyceum group, he was in Amega. Perhaps the fact that we escaped from there, began to go “contrary”, gave a big impetus to further development. It has been 11 years since we created Vintage. At the beginning of this journey, we were called "downed pilots", no one the right artists. And we, being proud, stubborn people, decided - "come what may", we felt free and began to break away without thinking about the format, about the trend. We created our own trends. But still, I think the main reason for the success was the action of some magical powers in which I believe. And the way they work is inexplicable.
Many Russian artists are still criticized for being on a level below Western artists, and your shows were really high quality. What foreign samples did you focus on?
Lesha and I have not only similar creative stories, we are also the same age, so we grew up in the same era, in fact - on the same music. We caught the turning point when the forbidden became available, Madonna, Michael Jackson appeared on the stage, to whom Vintage once dedicated the song Mickey. These artists changed the minds of people, they influenced us too. In addition, I was a more alternatively oriented girl than Romanov, at some point I went crazy for Björk - I really liked her. I remember the first clips, the first VCRs on which they were recorded. All this could not but leave an imprint, and all this has shaped us as individuals since childhood. But of course we never copied anyone's shows on purpose, that would be too primitive. Sometimes there were some associations, allusions: for example, I was at Lady Gaga's performances several times and thought that in some sense this story is parallel to ours. It seems to me that in the creative world there is a certain unified information field - and a similar energy can manifest itself in different people in different parts of the earth. This is also such an interesting and inexplicable thing.
- Isn't it chilly now, in the form of a solo performer? With what thoughts does a new stage begin?
Now I feel my power, and this is primarily the power of experience. Of course, that girl 11 years ago and me today are two different person. I feel confident, I know that I can do a lot, and most importantly, I want to move on. In show business, in life in general, everything is not as simple as it seems from the outside. We do not go in a straight line, we rise and fall, and in this situation it is very easy to break down, to lose the desire to do something, to create something new. I still want it, which means I can. In my case, this formula works absolutely.
What bar are you setting for yourself right now?
I have many ideas. I want to do a big solo concert. After big changes, a lot needs to be built anew, in a sense - to start with clean slate but go further and higher. I have a favorite phrase from the book "Through the Looking Glass". When Alice and the Black Queen are running across the chessboard and at some point Alice asks the Queen if they have reached the goal, which, it would seem, is very close, she replies: “Well, dear, in order to move to the next cell, you need to run two times faster". Right now I have the feeling that I have to run twice as fast, make a dash, and I will do it.
Recently, you released a very funny and unexpected clip "Girlfriend", filmed with comedian Marina Fedunkiv. How did this work come about?
This is a unique story, because we really became friends, although we didn’t even know each other before. We realized that we do not want to stop, we want to rock, we shoot our series, we constantly meet and just laugh together. She is, of course, an amazing person, unlike anyone else. I am very glad that Marina appeared in my life. You know, this is such Faina Ranevskaya of the new time. I always adored Ranevskaya, dreamed of meeting her, and now I met her - in some new incarnation. It's great that everyone liked our duet, although for me it was not a typical experiment, a gift of fate.
- What are the main conclusions made for yourself over the years on stage?
You know, I feel and clearly understand that I am not even in the middle of the road yet. Therefore, can I draw conclusions in another 20 years? Maybe I'll write a book about it. (Laughs.)
The hitmaker of "Vintage" told how the accident actually started the group, and admitted that Yuri Usachev taught him a lot.
Lesha Romanov is a modest person. He wrote at least fifty songs that the whole country sings, and at the same time he rejoices that few people recognize him by sight. Behind him - work in America with Sergei Krylov, cooperation with Yuri Usachev, work in the popular "Amega". But most importantly, he is one of the two people who make up the backbone of the super-actual Vintage group. He and Anya Pletneva.
Just "Vintage" released a new album "Decamerone" - daring, provocative, bright. Already caused the darkness of controversy on the Internet. And on November 8, "Vintage" will show a new show at the Ray Just Arena, one title " forbidden world»What is it worth...
- How many children do you have, Alex?
Two for now two. The daughter went to the fifth grade, and the youngest turns three in October. My daughter goes to an English school.
- Do they have music lessons? It seems like all schools canceled them ...
It seems there is. At least in the first three classes, she definitely had them. But about Last year- Don't know. When I myself went to school, we taught music from the first grade to the sixth, and I really liked these lessons. I remember that in the fifth or sixth grade I even replaced the music teacher. I took the records of the Beatles, Arabesques, something from the classics, even tried to sing something at the piano ... But still no one listened to me! Usually schoolchildren were skeptical about this lesson - like if you like music, you are a nerd. And there were no ensembles or groups on the basis of the school. I went to study at the Palace of Pioneers on Polyanka, where at the age of 12 I studied at the VIA Druzhba. And then a chain reaction began - at first I had a fake "Tender May", then a semi-"Tender May", and off we go. By 1993, I had grown to the team of Sergei Krylov.
Oh, I recently saw him at Five Stars in Yalta. Moreover, he walked importantly, because he introduced himself as a producer of one of the participants in the competition.
You will laugh, but he also produced me at one time! It was very funny. Seryozha is generally a very interesting person, with his own principles, numerology and other things. And then Krylov had such a show "School". I came out of it, the singer Bush and Yulia Nachalova, widely known in gypsy circles.
- Did she still have a story with the Morning Star show?
Yes, it went in parallel. I didn’t get anywhere except in the USA. I was 16 years old, the collapse of the Soviet Union had just happened - it was very cool! Right now I don’t want to fly there, I have nothing to do there. And then - it was the most, I was there at the right time. I absorbed like a sponge everything that happened around Sergei Krylov and his friends. And among his friends were very famous musicians. Krylov recorded his albums there, and the atmosphere was wonderful. For example, I met Dr. Dre, who is now a rap mastodon, but then he was nobody. We sat and chatted. It was like this at this studio - at night Michael Jackson wrote his album HIStory there (at night because it was cheaper), and during the day - Sergey Krylov with cash pockets full of pockets. It was fun! We go to a clothing store fat people- Luciano Pavarotti walks there ... Seriously, I could not give out something creative then, I was young. But a lot of what I absorbed in America influences what I do now.
And I’ll say my biggest thanks to Krylov for introducing me to Grozny and Shlykov, with whom I subsequently made Amega.
- Passed from hand to hand?
I signed with ZeKo Records in 1994 and Amega was formed in 1998. For four years, I was actually “closed”. I now understand that some projects need to mature, endure or wait in order to be able to fire on time. And then? You are 15-16 years old, you beat with a hoof, rush forward, accuse the producers of doing nothing ... It's generally funny when artists blame producers. If it's a success, then it's like a great artist, and if it's a failure, then the producer is unusable.
- So many people think! But why weren't there any of your songs in "Amega" at all, just songs of Andrey the Terrible?
I can understand him. Andrei was interested in promoting his songs, it was interesting for him to engage in creativity. I made my modest contribution - already at the stage of producing and recording. But the success of the songs is, of course, entirely the merit of Grozny.
He shared projects in his head - "Amega" will be a guitar pop group, and "Brilliant" - a purely girl project?
Yes, he is generally a great mathematician and strategist. It's strange to me that he's out of sight now. After all, it was Andrey who created the first girl band in the country, and it was at the same time with the Spice Girls - the ideas were born at the same time! Moreover, the first two albums of "Brilliant" are excellent works, not only from a commercial, but also from a creative point of view. I especially like the first "There, only there." Grozny was then an advanced person, he listened to current music, on Fridays we went with him to the then fashionable Titanic club, to various jazz clubs. Olya Orlova sang excellently there, fantastically overtones. The girls were successful, not right away, but in a year everything worked out. Now it's hard to imagine that at that time the "Brilliant" were not only a popular, but also a fashionable band with an up-to-date sound.
And "Amega" was rather the alter ego of Andrei himself - what he would like to do on stage if he himself was an artist. He did the project for me. Now I can talk about it honestly and frankly. But - no one needed the ugly little black boy on the stage, they needed a picture for visualization. Picture for sale! Oleg Dobrynin was found - a handsome man, stately blond, our salvation in yellow boots. He then did not have a very successful career as a musician, but now he teaches vocals, and honestly earns his living.
The third link was missing, and the arrival of Lena Perova was still invented by me. Grozny said that we need a guitarist, we will find a guy, a fashionable guitarist, and we will launch in a month. That is, a purely male group was implied. And at that moment Lena Perova was released, she led the program "Party Zone". I call Andrey - why a guitarist, let there be a guitarist, and here is Perova. Terrible jumps up to the ceiling - excellent, but it's unrealistic, will you agree? I will try. And Lena just quite easily agreed.
- Why is it easy? She left the Lyceum with a scandal?
She was a superstar at the time. For the first six months, everyone perceived us like this as the Amega group and Lena Perova. From a media point of view, Lena did a tremendous job for the team! Of course, the group went on tour right away, instantly. Invitations to all the top programs followed, plus her brother Serezha Suponev already worked on Channel One, and at every opportunity he tried to push us into any channel programs.
- Was she pulling the blanket over herself?
No! We all pulled the blanket over ourselves, and Grozny and Shlykov acted as parents, telling each child that he was the most beloved. And Lena honestly worked for a year and six months, realized that she had nothing to catch, and left. She is a real person in general. She taught me a lot, both good and bad. Both should be experienced. We then had a fun, eventful, almost sleepless life.
- And what happened in the interval between leaving Amega and the famous accident with Anya Pletneva?
Time for rethinking. I somehow thought that the drops in my life are detrimental to the psyche. I just spoke to the president of some republic, flew on his private plane, landed in Moscow with a $ 50 fee - and you go by minibus to " Water Stadium". This is the problem with all production projects, it's hard to live with. In the "Lyceum" they paid 100 dollars. Of course, there were many concerts, and a decent amount was collected, especially for a young man, but ... Alcohol begins, extinguishing internal problems with something else. Although there were no creative problems, I realized myself. Then Lena Perova left, there were fewer concerts, discord began ... And you feel like a material for use, a manufacturer. I decided to leave. He moved to his grandmother, and lived with her for a year on her pension. Enough, she somehow managed. I even tried to get a job as a seller in a clothing boutique - they didn’t take it. And thank God they didn't!
I tried to use the money of Ira Shipilova, a former PR person for the Brilliant, to record some material. I went to Yuri Shmilevich Aizenshpis, it was a funny story. And he says to me - well, why didn’t you come to me a week ago? And I just got a new boy, Dima. Bilan, of course. And Aizenshpis also told me a very important phrase that I remember and remember every time. Even I, Aizenshpis said, cannot put this song of yours on the radio. If you write a song that all the radio stations put on, you will tear everyone! I still live under this slogan.
But another Yura still managed to put my songs on the air, this is Yura Usachev. Cooperation with Eva and Yura has already gone with me as a solo artist. But a colossal image mistake was made - we began to make cheerful dance slobbery music, it was formatted, radio stations took it, but people didn’t need it. They have not yet had time to wean themselves from the guitar "Amega" with me, and they are given sweet Ken in the clips with me. I still don't like watching those oily clips. Songs were played on the radio, clips were played on TV - but there were no tours, I didn’t go anywhere for half a year. "Ten kisses", "I won't look for you" under the name Alexei Romanoff. They are well known, but they are not associated with me now. The image was without a core. Even then it was clear to me that this was not the case. Yura did everything he could. But he thought that a little more guitar alternative would throw me out of the radio format. In those years, he was actually born, the same format.
I wrote more and more songs, Yura Usachev paid me for them, and even a little more than in Amega. He didn't make a lot of money though. And then my daughter was born ... We tried to live on $150 a month, buy diapers, and my wife's parents also helped. Then Katya Lel, Alsou began to sing my songs, and then my main hit was released by Nepara - “Cry and Look”. Then there were many other artists, I worked more and more on my own and moved away from Usachov.
And then we come to that accident. From the fee for three songs for Alsou, I just bought my first car, and from Yura. More precisely, Yura bought his wife new car and gave me her old one. I was in seventh heaven! I could not imagine that I would have my own car, and even almost a jeep - Honda HR-V. She was only 8-9 years old... I was happy.
And I gouged the bumper ... In general, Anya already has her own version, that it was she who drove into me! She remembered her, believed in her, and tells everyone in an interview.
- How was it really?
I parked, handed over backwards. And drove some "Skoda" with a woman driving in the ass. Well, the second month behind the wheel. And Anna was passing by at that moment! And here I am, almost crying over my bumper, and then some small creature in a fur coat jumps out of a passing car, which stretches along the floor for another one and a half meters, and shouts to me - hello! I don't even look, keep mourning the bumper. And she - how great that we met! Well, yes, - I sadly look at the bumper. It's all bullshit, come on, I want to work with you! she screams. It's just that Anya was driving by, and she saw a living Romanoff standing. And then I went to the Moscow Art Theater for the concert "Guests from the Future." Then he repaired the car under insurance, and what happened with Anya Pletneva and I is already known to everyone.
When you agreed with her, then about what? Wanted to make a girl project, or a guitar project, or a purely electronic one?
In the first album we were looking, we didn't want to be like other pop projects. We were a bit alternative, separate from everyone. They tried to create something new using Western models. In addition, Anya sang in a completely different way at the Lyceum, they laid out everything according to voices, it turned out “Leisya, song”, and I rather wanted Nina from the Cardigans - half-whispering, noir. And to some extent, we succeeded.
It was hard to straighten my hair. Anya did not want to, she is curly by nature, she resisted for six months, but agreed.
- What for? To distance themselves from the "Lyceum"?
She is very kind with curly hair! She is so kind in real life too. But we needed a more aggressive, more sexy look. People are buying a picture! In the first album, we made Girl Power, such a self-made girl, all by herself, a loner. And by the second album they also achieved sexuality, they parted there in earnest ...
- Nearby were "Guests from the Future", the same Westerners - did not look back at them?
The difference is that Yura Usachev came out of DJs, he always makes dance music. And I'm from pop culture, focusing on Kylie Minogue, Madonna and the then defunct Lady Gaga. I prefer a more personal, personalized and more pop story. By the way, the first album was not commercially successful, only the song "All the Good" reached 13th place on the chart. Several good reviews, and rather in advance - it seems not bad, but let's see what happens next. I always read reviews, it is important for me, it gives me food for thought and influences my further actions.
- What conclusions were drawn from the reviews?
I realized that I need to write an album about what people think about every day. What interests each person, what does he think about several times a day.
- That is about sex? And focus on Madonna?
About sex. But Madonna doesn't have a Sex album. And her album Erotica, by the way, is the most disastrous. And "Vintage" album Sex turned out to be the most commercially successful. But the main thing is that in the first album the concept of the group was only guessed, and in the second it has already crystallized. What is sex? We lay it out on the shelves: it happens like this, like this and like that. It turned out a product that is interesting to everyone - they can scold or praise it, but it is interesting.
There was also the song "Bad Girl", which is actually a banter, but many took it very seriously. Mostly because of the clip. There should have been a blonde. The following were considered for the role of the blonde: Anna Sedokova, Vera Brezhneva, Yulia Volkova, Tatyana Navka ... Only Korikova agreed. She agreed and hushed up. We persuaded her for a long time, and yet she came to the studio, everything worked out. But as a banter all the same it was not read.
- Not read.
Although the male ass flickering in the face of Pletneva could tell ... By the way, about censorship. In fact, for the first time we did two versions of the video - a hardcore version, which was planned to be shown after midnight, and a soft version. What a surprise it was when at 11 am we saw the hardcore version on the TV screen! The song took first place on the chart. I couldn't believe it!
We generally rejoice and dance to the ceiling when this happens. Because after each video or album there are voices that “Vintage” has run out or “Vintage” is no longer the same. Now and on "Decamerone" it is noticeable. There were two fairly passable albums in terms of numbers - "Anechka" and Very Dance. In Very Dance, I did not write music at all, I rested, creative crisis or whatever you want. Although then he wrote all the tracks himself to the end, because the desired did not work out, and he spent much more energy and nerves if he had done everything himself from the very beginning. Well, that's how it happened. This year I announced that I don’t write songs to anyone else, I compose only for Vintage - and immediately rumors spread ...
And I read all this, and I almost already believe it! I really wanted to reset to zero, and do something completely incredible for myself.
- And it worked! "Decamerone" - the album is really out of the ordinary.
Thank you!
Shooting the video "Fresh Water"
The theme of politics, social programs - in almost half of the tracks. Previously, they only sang about prostitutes. Is it like a reaction to what is happening in Russia?
Rather, as a reaction to what is happening on the planet. We have Anton Kokh, a young guy from Samara, who thinks extraordinary and gives out unusual lyrics. He has hard lines. I first heard the track "Crisis", and I really liked it, I wanted to work with it. Aggressive sounding - at the same time very intelligibly.
Can't change the target audience? Boys-girls-bunnies who dance to your songs in clubs - are they not interested? Then for whom?
Don't know! When I released the first album, I was immediately asked about the target audience. I didn't know then and still don't know who it was. Yes, the first half of the "Decamerone" album is not for clubs, and not for city days. I read the responses on the Internet, and I am glad that thanks to these songs, many climbed into Wikipedia to find out the meanings of certain words - for example, infanta. 90% of listeners do not know that this is the heir to the throne. They have associations with the word "fanta". And I am pleased that people improve their erudition with our help.
This only applies to die-hard fans. Ordinary people meet unfamiliar words in a song, and immediately lose interest in it.
Probably so. But there are other songs for them, and on the same album. I did what I did. I didn't have the task of making an album of 13 namba wang hits.
- Um, why is that?
Because I understand very well that "The Wall of China" will not be a hit. And "Crisis" will not become a hit, even on YouTube it has few views. People don't want to hear or know the truth. It is much more pleasant to be deceived or to live in illusions. I myself live in my own illusions. "Universe" is a beautiful melodic song, although it's strange to hear comparisons with "Tatu", but okay - I love "Tatu". There is a banter in the song "DNA" - banter over mukla.
- Again, this is your target audience!
Yes, I understand it, they go to our concerts. Thanks to working with Eva and DJ Smash, we kind of got into that audience. But in general, our audience has now matured - thanks to the tracks “When You Are Near” and “Sign of Aquarius”.
Anya Pletneva looks amazing. Conserved as a girl. And the new songs are for a more mature audience. Is this preparation for Pletneva's transition to that audience?
Anya looks great. And the children still love her, they just adore her, they consider her theirs. We ourselves laugh at the title of "the best youth group”, we are pleased, funny and generally great. Despite our "advanced" age, we like to be young. And nothing prevents us from taking and making some other story!
Moreover, it seems that now Vintage is the hottest band in the country! Well, next to Serebro, let's say. But you all pulled from everywhere - something from the classics, something from Madonna, something from "Guests from the Future" ...
Yes, Yura Usachev taught me a lot. I sometimes use his personal techniques. I absorb everything! It started with Krylov, and off we go. If I talked to Madonna, wow, guys! I would move mountains, I guess. But her CDs are enough for me. Yes, I do rather a collective age. All the music was written before us, and our songs are a memory mold, my variation on the theme of what I know and heard.
What is a hit? This is a completely guessable story, this is a song that you subconsciously like already before it sounded. And you are trying to find something of your own, personal in it. When millions do it, the song becomes a hit.
Of course, I love Tchaikovsky, Madonna, Polna, Zemfira - and do not hesitate to quote what I like. If it seems appropriate to me. As a rule, I write music with feelings. For example, I really love Michel Cretu, the founder of Enigma and the producer of his wife Sandra from Arabesque, and "The Wall of China" was written under his influence. But there is not a single matching note! It says how I see Creta - how artists write with colors, moods ... Or - ABBA is read in the song "DNA", I did it on purpose so that there was a direct reference to Money, as to the egregore of the current lifestyle.
The last 20 years are eclectic times, after rap there is not a single new musical style. If “Guests from the Future” appeared today, they would still be obeyed.
Yes, if you tweak the sound a bit. De facto, of course, you are right, no new styles have appeared. Lady Gaga has appeared, and she is ahead of the rest in terms of eclecticism. Alejandro's song is literally a quote from Ace of Base, but that didn't stop him from becoming #1 track all over the world.
- And which of the new artists can be named - those that inspire?
This is more difficult for me. I grew up back then! All my hormones-pheromones were laid down in the 80-90s, I still use them. I take new music with a grain of salt. I like Sia, like DJ Zedd who did three songs in Lady Gaga's Artpop. I liked the latest Daft Punk album. And so in the player - Vintage, Justin Timberlake, Guests from the Future, Eva Polna, Zemfira, Linda, Madonna, Alanis Morrisette, Bjork, Tchaikovsky, Craig David, Daft Punk, David Guetta, Depeche Mode, Elton John, George Michael, Lady Gaga , Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Mylene Farmer, Pet Shop Boys, Rihanna, Sandra, Seal, Sea, Sting, Stromae and Zedd. All!
- Have you ever performed at Kazantip?
It's funny that "Amega" performed at Kazantip, but "Vintage" did not. So it turns out that for organizers with small budgets, the Vintage group is too expensive. This almost always excludes us from the list of festival artists. Smash flies to France for little money to perform there. Serebro was also dumped to get there, to ride around the world. And if we get abroad, then, as a rule, to private parties. There are few open concerts, but they exist.
You didn't have a very good experience with Sony Music. But you yourself do not make attempts to break into some Western festivals?
Anya dreams about it. And I'm more of a skeptic. But what we achieved in Vintage - she dreamed about it, and I, as a skeptic, thought that we would make our way for a long time. And then again - and the song became number 1 in the country. But show business in Russia and there are arranged too differently. It is enough to be in Moscow alone to have all communications. And there you have to be on a constant flight - from Belgium to Paris, from London to Prague, and so on. This must be done by yourself and very carefully. I don't speak English well and I don't speak French at all. I studied this topic, thought a lot.
We recently made a joint track with DJ Sasha Dit - a French-language version of a song from the Very Dance album. The French Universal told him openly - we like the track, but we don't have time to deal with you. Communication problem. Exaggerating, you need to go with these people, drink vodka and talk. And there is no personal contact - there is no understanding why spend your time on promotion. I liked the track though. But how many such tracks are there in Europe? And even in Russia? We have a lot of talented guys. But you need to listen to the track, include it in the mailing list to radio stations ... Why waste time on this if you have not even seen that musician? And yet - everything is possible!
Alena Mikhailova in an interview told me an amazing phrase about you: “This is the top group in terms of radio broadcasts. And with each new song we break through the wall with our heads. Never had one delivered right away. And they are still scared by the tests. And "Vintage" has such a feature - they are always poorly tested in the first weeks. Their songs should be listened to, they are special. And every time you have to persuade to be patient, wait a week - and the tests will be excellent. And it happens with any of their songs.
Yes, for some reason the radio workers decided that I was writing complex music. But I always wanted to write beautiful music which I would like myself. I'm not lying if I say that everything I do - I then listen to it with pleasure, I like it. I've been playing sports all summer to "Decamerone". Listened and analyzed. I am not ashamed of this music, I love it. And in order for me to love her, I myself must like her.
Guru KEN
« Vintage"- a Russian pop group, which includes singer Anna Pletneva and singer, composer and sound producer Alexei Romanov. Previously, the group included dancers Miya (2006-2008) and Svetlana Ivanova (2008-2011).
Since its inception, the group has released five studio albums: "Criminal Love", SEX, "Anechka", "Very Dance" and "Decamerone". The group also released eighteen radio singles, seven of which topped the Russian radio chart, holding the 1st place for a total of 23 weeks. " Vintage”becomes the most rotated group since the introduction of the Russian radio chart. For two years in a row, the group has been in the top five most rotated artists of the year, and in 2009 it takes first place. The team received commercial success with the singles "Bad Girl", "Loneliness of Love", "Eva", "Romance" and "Trees", which became successful in digital sales.
The musical style of the group was europop, mixed with various styles of music (electronics, dance-pop, psychedelic pop, etc.), in which elements were introduced both from classical music and from images of Russian and foreign popular culture inspired by Madonna, Michael Jackson, Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Eva Polna and Enigma.
The group is a laureate and nominee of various music awards, including RMA, Muz-TV Prize, Golden Gramophone, RU.TV Prize and Stepnoy Volk. Since 2008 " Vintage are annual laureates of the Song of the Year festival. In 2011, 2012 and 2013 they were recognized as the best group at the ZD Awards, according to the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.
Story
2006: Formation of the band
Group " Vintage”was formed by the ex-soloist of the Lyceum group Anna Pletneva and the former soloist of the Amega group Alexei Romanov in mid-2006. The history of the emergence of the group from the lips of the soloists sounds something like this: Anna was in a hurry for an important meeting, but her plans were not destined to come true. She collided with the car of Alexei Romanov. While the artists were waiting for the traffic police, they made a mutual decision to create a pop group.In my life there was already "Amega" and an attempt at a solo project. My songs have been sung by many famous artists. There was not only unambiguity in personal self-determination ... And then a blow from behind and Anya appears, who says: “I need you!” ... ... Name " Vintage” also did not come right away. And who knows what the fate of the group would have been if circumstances had not influenced the choice of a name for a new project, because among the options were both Dreamers and Chelsea ... But one day Anya called Alexei with the words: “We are already with you people with history! Vintage, you know? Seasoned, but not restrained ... "- The history of the group on the official website of the band
According to Alexei Romanov, after meeting with Pletneva, the group worked in the studio for six months, trying to find their own sound: “We really locked ourselves in the studio. We sat for six months in search of sound. We didn't understand. We were like blind kittens back then. Now, of course, it's cool to remember this. We were then creating our own new story, which had nothing to do with previous projects. Initially, it was decided to call the team "Chelsea", but then the name "Vintage" was chosen. Alexei said that the group at that time submitted a request to the London law office that owns the Chelsea brand, but after a while they saw on TV how Sergey Arkhipov presented a diploma with the same name to a group from the Star Factory. Anna Pletneva also said in an interview: “We even negotiated with an English record company about this. They considered our offer. But then there was an embarrassment. The head of a well-known media group, having received the rights to a name, presented a diploma with the name Chelsea to the now famous Chelsea group, graduates of the Star Factory.
On August 31, 2006, the official creation of the group and its name were announced. It was also reported that the band was filming a video for the first single "Mama Miya" and that two-thirds of the band's debut album, which was recorded at Evgeny Kuritsyn's studio, were ready. Later, the second single of the group was released - the song "Aim", which rose to the 18th line of the Russian radio chart.
2007-08: Album "Criminal Love" and single "Bad Girl"
At the end of August 2007, the group began filming a video for the song "All the best." The single appeared on radio stations in September and peaked at number 14 on the chart. In August and September, the group held a short promotional tour of Moscow and the Moscow region, during which they gave several concerts in clubs, and also performed at a beach party hosted by Europe Plus radio station.On November 22, the band's first album "Criminal Love" was released. The presentation of the disc took place on November 27 in Moscow, at the Opera club. The disc was sold out completely, and as a result, the album took 13th place in the Sony Music catalog in terms of sales for 2005-2009. According to Alexei Romanov, 100 thousand copies of the album were sold. In October, "Vintage" goes on a promotional tour in support of the album, several concerts were given in Moscow clubs, and a television shooting-performance took place in Kyiv, at the Ukrainian "Star Factory".
On April 7, 2008, the shooting of the video for new song group "Bad Girl", sung in a duet with actress Elena Korikova. On April 19, the video appeared on music channels Russia, and on April 21 there was a presentation of the video in the club "The Most". On June 12, the single took 3rd place in TopHit 100 - the only official Russian radio chart, the song becomes the group's most successful single. Later, "Bad Girl" takes first place, holding out on it for 2 weeks. The video for the song began to be actively rotated on television, and as a result, the group's rating began to grow.
On August 29, the group will present a new song "Loneliness of Love" on their official blog. On September 1, the song enters the radio rotation. On September 26, there was a presentation of the video, in which the roles were played by friends of the pop group, such as the famous drag queen Zaza Napoli and radio host Dima Garanzhin. The song becomes the team's second success, having reached the first position on the chart and stayed on it for two weeks.
In October, there were changes in the composition of the group. Miya, a member of the team, leaves, and Svetlana Ivanova comes in her place. The album "Criminal Love" is also re-released with a new track "Bad Girl". On October 29, the group won in the special nomination "Sex" at the MTV Russia Music Awards 2008, the success is due to the sexually explicit video for the song "Bad Girl", which became one of the most rotated on Russian music channels in 2008.
2009: Album "SEX"
In February 2009, the group goes on tour, visiting cities such as Moscow, Ulyanovsk, Riga, Minsk, Samara and Kaliningrad. On March 15, the group presents a new video for the song "Eva". The single "Eva" was dedicated to the singer Eva Polna from the group "Guests from the Future", and the song itself used a sample from the song "Run from me" by this group. Alexei Romanov said that the inspiration for the composition was Madonna's song "Hung Up", based on a sample from a song by ABBA. “I was insanely inspired by the work of Madonna ... ... She made me think about whether there are songs in Russia on the basis of which it would be possible to create the latest works that could stir up old emotions and give new ones,” the musician claimed. In the Afisha magazine, describing the song “Run from me” as “a brilliant song about dislike, with a perfect sound”, they noted: “It is typical that perhaps the most successful Russian pop song of the 2000s is“ Eva ”by the Vintage “- is entirely built on the dialogue with the first hit “Guests from the Future”. The single became the most successful for the entire existence of the group, leading the Russian radio chart for 9 weeks. The composition also became the most rotated Russian-language song in 2009. "Eva" was nominated for the independent music award Artemy Troitsky "Steppe Wolf 2010", in the category "song", along with the works of Noize MC, "SBPC" and Sevara Nazarkhan, and also became a nominee for the Muz-TV 2010 award, in the category "best song". The group presented the song to the general public on February 14 in Moscow, as part of the Big Love Show concert.March 27 Vintage"received the title of" Fashion Group of the Year "on annual award World Fashion Awards. In April, the group goes on tour to Germany, visiting 9 cities. In May-June, a tour of Russia takes place. The group visited many cities.
On August 31, 2009, the fourth single from the upcoming album, Sleepwalking Girls, was released. The song has a social connotation, and the video has become one of the most scandalous for the group. The song reached number 14 on the Russian radio chart, breaking a string of #1 singles.
Work on the group's second studio album was almost completed in March 2009. Alexei Romanov said in an interview that the disc will include borrowings from classical music, and the album will begin with an overture from the opera "Eugene Onegin" by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. A member of the team also spoke about the fact that the group ended its relationship with the major Sony Music. “The release date [of the album] will depend on the record majors. We are not happy with the company that released our first album… …We don't want to repeat the situation that happened with the first album released by Sony BMG. They printed a hundred thousand copies, sold them - and that's it. Because of this, it is impossible to buy it today, ”Alexey explained. As a result, a contract was signed with the label Gala Records. On October 1, the group's second album, SEX, was released. Despite the success of individual songs, the new album of the group did not "shoot", debuting at 12th place in the Russian album chart, which was the highest position in the ranking for it. Nevertheless, Anna Pletneva said in an interview that she was satisfied with the result of the work on the album:
…This is quality work. By the way, we are constantly asked the question about its name. It's very simple: sex is music, and music is sex. We recorded 12 songs - the famous "Bad Girl", "Loneliness of Love", "Eve" and many more new ones. But the success of the album should be judged by our fans. The most difficult thing in working on it was to get used to the roles of the characters in the songs, to feel them in order to most emotionally convey to the listeners. We have always wanted our listeners to believe us. We got used to the seventh sweat. And we hope it's not in vain.
- Anna Pletneva
2010-11: Album "Anechka"
In 2010, the single "Victoria" reaches the first line of the Russian radio chart. Thanks to him, Vintage became one of the few artists whose songs topped the radio chart more than 3 times. It is also one of the few songs in Russia that has achieved success with a live-clip and without its hot rotation.On April 16, a new musical composition - "Mickey", dedicated to Michael Jackson, was presented live on Love Radio.
The group shot two versions of the video clip for this composition - Russian and English. The presentation of the clip took place with a full house in the Moscow club "Leningrad". Despite the fact that the song failed to achieve the success of previous tracks, the video for it was popular on the Internet and became one of the most talked about. In the English version, the clip was rotated on music channels in Eastern European countries, where it became more popular than in Russia. In June, the group became a nominee in several categories for the 2010 Muz-TV awards: The best group”, “Best Album” (SEX) and “Best Song” (“Eva”), but in the end did not receive a single award, although critics predicted the group would win in all categories. In August, the group performed at the international music festival "Meeting Place: Latitude 54", held in the Ryazan region.
September 13 on radio stations new single- "Roman", which, 6 weeks after the premiere, rises to the third line of the radio chart, a video clip is also being shot for the song. Filming took place in the Moscow club "Soho Rooms", for 18 hours without a break. The song was originally supposed to be performed by a trio, with two well-known singers, but the idea was later rejected by the group.
In 2010, the group performed at such international awards and concerts as "Song of the Year" and "Muz-TV Award", as well as in the top 20 songs of 2010 according to the popular ProjectorParisHilton program. The group also performs for the first time on Belarusian television, in the concert “Belarus is open to the world”. "Vintage" took eighth place in the user voting on the site NewsMusic.ru, in the category "Best Group of 2010", gaining 3119 votes.
In January, it was reported that the group was going to release a third studio album"Anechka" in August 2011, and on October 15 plans to perform in Moscow with a big solo concert-presentation of the disc "The Story of a Bad Girl". On February 18, 2011, the group released another single "Mama America". On March 22, the group was announced among the nominees for the Muz-TV 2011 award in the Best Pop Group category. On August 15, 2011, the group presented a video for the song "Boy", where they filmed their fans.
On August 21, on the fifth anniversary of the group and the birthday of the soloist, the composition "Trees" was released. At the end of August, a video clip was shot for the song, however, on September 22, it became known that the release of the video was delayed due to the fact that it was censored. As stated, the officials wanted to ban the clip due to the fact that in the teaser of the video, Anna Pletneva "in a crown of thorns watches with approval the acts of copulation" and this "injures the consciousness of the younger generation." In response, the soloist of the group said: “We just wanted to say that the main thing on Earth is love. It awakens in our souls all the best and does not allow humanity to destroy itself. But, unfortunately, there were people who saw in this complicity with totalitarian sects. Censorship always thinks in stereotypes. I assure you, we are far from the Illuminati and worldwide conspiracies. On August 26, it was reported that due to the ban on the music video, the song was removed from radio play. The group's press service reported that "the song" Trees "had to be removed from the rotation, because without the clip it is perceived differently." On September 14, Alexei Romanov commented on the situation, saying that “The Trees are being postponed, for reasons beyond our control. I think if everything goes well, it will be February 2012.” He also added that the song "Stereo" should become the new single. However, after the release of the music video, the composition was released into rotation on October 10, 2011. In late September and early October, both digital and CD versions of the new album were released, and on October 9, the band's autograph session took place in Moscow, timed to coincide with the release.
At the end of December 2011, Afisha magazine published its editorial list of the brightest and most memorable Russian pop hits over the past 20 years, which included the song "Eva". According to the voting results of the ZD Awards 2011, the group won in one of the announced nominations (they were also nominated in the Pop Project category). "Vintage" won in the nomination "Group of the Year".
2012: Album "Very Dance"
On February 17, 2012, the group released a new single "Moscow", recorded with DJ Smash. The duet became the first presented work from the new project of the group, called "Vintage Very Dance". Alexei Romanov said that he was not going to write his own songs for this album; it will include compositions by guest DJs and other young authors. “You can call it an experiment, you can - flirting with the club audience. I won't even argue with that definition. It's no secret that most of the concerts are now corporate, but we hope that with this project we will become closer to the people, at least to the clubbers, ”said the musician. In addition to the presented song, duets with Roma Kenga and DJ Groove were announced. According to Anna Pletneva, cooperation with DJ Smash began after her clone on Twitter agreed to release a joint track.Smash calls me, says: “Well, when will everything be okay?<…>We are all already recording a song, we have already agreed. So, I had to write a song. 0 Anna Pletneva, Hot Secrets program with Alina Artz
Several songs of the group were included in the soundtrack for the television series " Short Course happy life”, Filmed by director Valeria Gai Germanika and preparing to be shown on the air of Channel One. On March 26, it became known that "Vintage" was nominated in three categories, 0 "Best Pop Group", "Best Album" ("Anechka") and "Best Video" ("Trees") - at the Muz-TV 2012 award. On June 1, it became known that the Vintage group won the Best Pop Group nomination. In May, the band released a new single "Nanana", produced by DJ Bobina.
In September, Anna Pletneva performed the song "Let Me Go" together with the group Knocking on Heaven, which became the band's debut single. "Vintage" acted as producers of the group, whose member 0 Otto Notman 0 previously wrote the song "Moscow" for them. On September 29, the “Second Musical Award of the RU.TV channel” was held, where “Vintage” was presented in three nominations 0 “Best Group”, “Best Dance Track” and “Best Video Clip”. "Vintage" won the "Best Video Clip" nomination for the song "Trees". At the end of October, a video clip was presented for the new single "Dance for the Last Time", recorded together with Roma Kenga. On November 4, Love Radio aired the new single "Fresh Water", recorded together with ChingKong, the video for which was released on December 21, 2012. At the ZD Awards 2012 "Vintage" for the second year in a row received an award in the nomination "Group of the Year": "in their genre, Anya Pletneva and Co. have achieved virtuoso perfection, without losing either courage, or hit, or striving for novelty and lively creativity", 0 noted the success of the team in Moskovsky Komsomolets.
On April 12, 2013, the band's fourth studio album, Very Dance, was released. May 25 at concert hall Crocus city hall", the third award ceremony of the annual national television Russian music award of the RU.TV channel took place, at which the Vintage group won in the Best Group nomination. On June 7, the Olimpiysky Sports Complex hosted the award ceremony for the XI annual television award MUZ-TV 2013, in which the group won the Best Video nomination for the video for the song Moscow (together with DJ Smash).
2013 0 present: Album "Decamerone"
On April 17, 2013, a new single "Sign of Aquarius" was released from the band's planned fifth album, the working title of which is "Decamerone". On April 22, the shooting of the video for this composition took place, directed by Sergey Tkachenko, and its premiere took place on May 21 on the Internet video channel "ELLO".October 7 in the official group "Vintage" in social network"VKontakte" was presented a new song called "Three Wishes", the authors of which are the young composer Anton Kokh and Alexei Romanov. On September 17, shooting for this composition took place, the Ukrainian clip maker Sergey Tkachenko also became the director. The premiere of the video "Three Wishes" took place on November 15 on the Ello channel.
March 16, 2014 in the iTunes online store released two collections of group 0 "Mickey. Alternative" and "Light". It is reported that the disc "Light" contains slow, melodic compositions, which, according to the musicians of the band, were undeservedly lost against the background of the band's dance hits. As Anna Pletneva and Alexei Romanov admit, there was never enough time for these compositions, although they contain thoughtful and deep texts. Among these soft, slow songs are the famous tracks "Fresh Water" and "Eva" in slow versions, as well as a brand new composition "30 Seconds". The second collection, "Mickey. Alternative" includes tracks that, for one reason or another, have not received wide rotation on radio stations. The participants of "Vintage" explain this compilation by the fact that due to their "non-format" some tracks could not get on the radio, but the musicians always wanted to show them to music lovers. Just like on the "Light" compilation, the band added a new song "Boys" and an acoustic version of the song "Mickey".
April 21, 2014 in the official group "Vintage" in "VKontakte" was presented the third single of the group from the future album "Decamerone" 0 "When you are near." The song was written by Alexander Kovalev and Anton Koch, the arrangement for the song was made by Alexei Romanof. May 31, 2014 the fourth music award TV channel RU.TV, where "Vintage" won in the nomination "Best dance video" 0 "Sign of Aquarius". On July 22, 2014, 0's fifth studio album "Decamerone" will be released on iTunes. The album was released digitally on July 21st. On the first day after the release, "Decamerone" took 1st place in sales on the "Top Albums" chart on iTunes and Google Play. According to the portal "tophit.ru", "Vintage" is the most rotated Russian-speaking group over the past 10 years, in total the group has more than 4.5 million rotations on radio stations in Russia and the CIS.
Musical influence, artistry and themes of creativity
The group was formed as a duet, where each member performed his role. Anna was responsible for vocals, Alexey 0 for music. Later they were joined by the dancer Miya, who was later replaced by Svetlana Ivanova. Alexey Romanov previously sang in the Amega group, and after he began solo career under the leadership of Yuri Usachev, but his career failed. The musician returned to the group, and the single “Running Away” was released, which gained some popularity, but soon Alexey abandoned attempts to reanimate the band: “The song “Running Away” had already begun to storm the radio charts, a new explosion of popularity was approaching, and everything seemed to go according to plan ... But Alexei did not see himself in a solo project. He came to the conclusion that it is impossible to do something if in the end nothing depends on you. He also noted that he could not perform his own compositions: “It is very difficult to make me sing. I prefer to work in the studio, write songs. Going on stage is also a passion for me, but a smaller one. I can’t sing my own songs, I sing the songs of Andrei the Terrible, the composer and producer of the A-Mega group, very well. I think he is generally best composer for me". Anna Pletneva, speaking in the Lyceum group, was able at that time to eliminate "Alexey Makarevich's monopoly on the creation of the group's songs and brought her own material to the girl group", becoming not just a vocalist, but also a songwriter. It was noted that Anna wanted to become not just “a girl with a guitar from the Lyceum group”, but needed self-realization and wanted to become a full-fledged artist. Svetlana Ivanova is a professional dancer, performing on stage since she was 11 years old. She has previously worked with other artists, but only as a "backup dancer", and, according to her, the work in the group is especially valuable for her, as here she "carries her role".Having created the group, its members wanted to convey a new concept of their work, where vocals, music, plastic and theater were to be intertwined. Expressing their independence, the band chose which songs to release as singles. The same goes for the song "Aim", which was chosen against the opinion of the band's release label, which wanted a "lighter" song as a single. The video for the composition was based on the tragedy at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and it was filmed at one of the unfinished nuclear power plants near Minsk: “Being inside this abandoned station, a strange feeling arises, as if everything around is not real, lifeless. But our video, like the song “Aim” itself, is about a non-existent life in a non-existent city.”
According to the site Zvuki.ru, with the release of their first studio album, the group "occupied a long-vacant place on the domestic pop scene as outrageous aesthetes, who, at the same time, are not at all ashamed to listen to." Yakov Zolotov from Dreamiech noted that each song of the album was permeated with light sadness and hope, and the theme of love became its basis. “Words no longer make sense, words have lost their power. We replaced words with gestures, and conversations with dance ... ”- the album opened with such lines. “Pletneva appeared here not as a stellar hysteric, but first of all as a very good singer ... As for the melodist, Alexei Romanov suddenly brightly revealed himself in this role,” noted Alexei Mazhaev from InterMedia, describing the album. On the album, the group worked with sound producer Evgeny Kuritsyn, thanks to whom "a project of dubious intelligibility turned into a fashionable pop product in a year."
In 2008, the group first collaborated with an outside artist, Elena Korikova, recording the duet “Bad Girl” with her. According to the group members, the song was first offered to be sung by various singers, including Anna Sedokova and Vera Brezhneva, as well as figure skater Tatyana Navka, but only Elena Korikova immediately agreed to perform it. While working on the composition and filming the video, Anna Pletneva, according to her confessions, experienced a feeling similar to a split personality: “I suffer from a kind of split personality, because that girl, Anya, who comes home, and that girl, Anya, who works on stage, - these are two different people, plus I teach academic vocals at the Maimonides State Classical Academy ... However, I think the video cannot be taken seriously, since this is just a kind of joke about what is happening in a world where female breasts rule everything and pop."
In the next composition of the collective “Loneliness of Love”, the topic was raised that modern people sometimes do not know how to love. The composition "Eva", on the one hand, is dedicated to Eva Polna and reflects the theme of lesbian relationships, and on the other hand, the members of the team put additional meaning into it: ""Eva" is not just a woman's love for a woman, but an attempt to put oneself in the place of a man , who is forced to suffer all his life from unrequited feelings for his idol. All artists receive declarations of love, but few realize their responsibility for the feelings they have caused.
The band's second studio album was a concept piece with sex as its main theme. According to the band members, the SEX album is "a 'musical-sexual encyclopedia', where all possible types of love have found a place: corrupt, fleeting, same-sex." According to Alexei Romanov, the album reflects each of the band members and its creators. As Alexei said: “... it reflects each of us. We think about sex up to one hundred and fifty times a day, depending on the person's libido, and this applies to everyone. This is what rules the world. We tried to put all aspects of this beautiful sacrament into this album." In turn, critic Guru Ken wrote that ""Vintage" sings about sex, like men go to the supermarket - with a list of everything you need on a piece of paper, so as not to forget." The site Afisha.uz noted that "each of the 13 tracks of the album is like a frank confession, in its own way revealing the well-known phrase from Freud's thoughts "only this world is ruled by sex", enshrined in the title track of the album" Sex "".
A major role in the work on the disc was taken by Alexander Sakharov, who is the author of several hits by famous performers (including Valeria's song "Little Airplane"). According to him, cooperation with the Vintage group plays a special role for him, as it helps to convey his worldview. He also added that the album explored the theme of sex: "... [we] really believe that 'sex rules the world', that's exactly what the refrain of the album's title track says." Anna Pletneva performed on the disc not only as a vocalist, but also as a sound producer, performing for herself new role in the work of the group. Anna is also a screenwriter for almost all the group's videos, as well as their editor.
The composition "Lunatic Girls" touches on the topic of prostitution. Anna Pletneva said that “corrupt love has existed for as many centuries as the history of mankind has been written. And the mention of prostitutes is even in the Old Testament. Each time has its own view on this topic ... ". With this song, the group touched on a new topic for themselves, expressed in social issues. In one of the interviews, Alexey Romanov said (in particular, about this song) that “this album touched upon social issues, which are usually Russian show business neglected." Also, the team members noted that the concept of "prostitution" in the song can be expressed in various forms and not necessarily in physiological terms. Also on the album were affected religious themes. The song "SEX" contains lines about God, and the song "Victoria" most fully reveals this topic on the album, speaking about the fight against the vices of mankind.
According to Alexei Romanov, the musical creations of Michael Jackson and Madonna had a great influence on the work of the band. The song "Mickey" was shone by the group to Michael Jackson, and the video for the song "Roman" became a reference to Madonna's "Vogue" video. The prototypes of the heroine of the clip were Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren. "Vintage" also highly appreciated the work of "Guests from the Future" and used a sample of the song "Run from me" in their composition "Eva".
The group itself had a certain influence on other artists: Roma Kenga and the Tochka G group called Vintage their favorite group, and singer Nyusha recognized Vintage as a high-quality pop project, saying that each of their songs is an absolute hit.
musical style
basis musical creativity The group's style became Europop, although it was originally reported that the debut album would be made in the style of pop rock. Alexei Mazhaev described the band's style, at the first stage of its work, as something in between "Guests from the Future" (only more commercially oriented) and t.A.T.u. (without the patented provocativeness of the latter). The band's debut album contained borrowings from various styles of music and the use of various instruments and sounds: Indian motifs in "Gomen nasai", danceable, booming bass in "9 1/2 weeks - 2", octave jumping bass in "Mama Mia", violins in "All the Good", garage fuzz, Enigma-style beats and a considerable number of "household" samples. In terms of lyrics on the site "Best-woman.ru", it was noted that hallmark of the group's songs was the presence of meaning in the songs and that they "reminiscent of the Pet Shop Boys, who string deep and ironic words on disco melodies."The band's second album greatly expanded the band's stylistic direction. In addition to europop, borrowings from trip-hop, electronica, and dance-pop appear in the album. The album also featured borrowings from classical works such as a fragment of the sonata by Muzio Clementi, a fragment of the overture from the opera "Eugene Onegin" by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, a fragment of the Bavarian folk song. The song "Loneliness of Love" in style refers to psychedelic pop, with ethnic and dance accents. The composition's intro also contains an oriental-style interlude performed to guitar accompaniment, where "in which Alexei Romanov demonstrates excellent vocal abilities." Alexey Romanov quite often performs backing vocals in the group's songs on his own, and on the first album his tunes were stylized as Madonna's track "Isaak".
Criticism
With the release of their debut album, the group attracted the attention of music critics. Aleksey Mazhaev from InterMedia wrote that at first he had a negative attitude towards the group when their demo CD came into his possession: "Vintage seemed like one of dozens of meaningless pop groups, indistinguishable from one another and existing only thanks to Financing." However, he changed his mind after listening to the band's album. “We will not predict Western success for Vintage here, but against the backdrop of a typical domestic pop-pop chewing gum from TV, the group stands out significantly, entering the top ten (if not the top five) of the most shamelessly sounding artists of this genre,” the author noted. Boris Barabanov from the newspaper "Kommersant" ranked the group among the best debuts of the winter of 2007-2008. Noting some shortcomings (in particular, in the vocals of Anna Pletneva), the critic wrote that “in general, the product does not look ashamed, in some places it looks like an adult. “Vintage”, contrary to popular belief, is not so much a competitor to the singer MakSim as to the duet “Nepara”, which has recently monopolized songs about the passions of mature citizens on our stage.” On the site Toppop.ru the album was described mixed. Konstantin Kudryashov wrote that "the album in its fierce banality and comfortable averageness is downright divinely beautiful and perfect." However, the author noted that the recognition of the group as the discovery of the year was due only to the efforts of journalists. The record was described mixed in Billboard. Artur Malakhov noted the growing popularity of the group, but expressed the opinion that “this is not highest level, Vintage does not shine with full stadiums and Western recognition, but everything here is done as high quality as it is accepted in the Russian pop industry. Zvuki.ru wrote that the group “gives out Europop on a high, high-quality European level" and that their "quality of recording songs is at an unexpectedly high level for the domestic show business."Concerning the release of the group's second album, Alexei Mazhaev wrote that "The Vintage group was not satisfied with the reputation of one of the most interesting Russian pop projects of our time." He noted that the group apparently decided to take the place of t.A.T.u. in Russian show business and has every chance of doing so, however, on this album "Vintage" crossed a certain line, and "erotica outweighed the music." In this context, the journalist recalled Madonna's "porn period" and her scandalous album Erotica. On the website of the MirMadzhi project, the group was criticized for exploiting the theme of sex in their work. The publication wrote that “if the Vintage group wants fame, they will get it. Mud is the most digestible product of all time." Boris Barabanov from the newspaper "Kommersant" badly evaluated the concert-presentation of the album. He wrote that the group used "all the standard tricks that, in the understanding of domestic pop artists, form the concept of" show "", while noting the poor sound at the concert. Andrey Zhitenev of Muz.ru positively described the album, noting that the creative tandem of Romanov and Pletneva created "something outstanding". According to the results of 2009, Muz.ru included the album in their list of "TOP 50 best albums 2009". The album was placed at number 4 on the list, behind only albums by Lady Gaga, Beyoncé and the Eurovision songbook. In the list of the site "Top 100 Songs of 2009", the song "Eva" took 3rd place, and the song "Lunatic Girls" took 25th place. A positive assessment of the album was given on the site of the project "Map of Music". “The group sets the standard of quality that most artists have lost in the pursuit of money and fashion. “Vintage” is a vivid example of the fact that you can remain true to your ideology and at the same time be popular and successful,” the publication noted. Guru Ken wrote that "the new album will certainly elevate "Vintage" to the highest echelon of show business, primarily due to full-fledged hits (although there were no new hits on the album) and a competent tasty sound", but still wondered: “Will the project be able to exist for a long time with mother of many children on the image of a diva in black leather and with a whip in her hands, sucked from a finger?
In 2011, the group received several positive reviews in the Afisha magazine. Grigory Prorokov positively described the video clip for the song "Mama-America" and noted that: "Vintage" must be protected - it is difficult to find a more humane group in Russian pop music. In turn, Bulat Latypov called the team one of the best pop groups in Russian show business and positively described the songs "Roman" and "Stereo". “Even one song“ Roman ”would be enough to convert all reasonable individuals of the planet to their faith, but the group, it seems, decided not to take prisoners. Unlike many colleagues in the workshop, "Vintage" does not wriggle like a petty demon on the scorched space of the domestic stage, but calmly takes its toll. The new composition ("Stereo") only confirms the obvious; it’s a sin to stand on ceremony with the flock, having such songs,” the author wrote.
The band's third album received mixed reviews from critics. Positive reviews were received from Billboard magazine and InterMedia, who noted that the group created a good pop album that "catches" and "beautifully whispers rather important things with non-irritating intonations." Vladimir Yurchenko in Billboard magazine gave a positive assessment to the album. In his opinion, in this work, the group pleased with the consistency and did not pay tribute to fashion, recording music in the Romanian dance genre. Alexey Mazhaev in InterMedia gave a positive assessment to the album (4 points out of 5). It is felt in the work that the group was overtaken by the previously undescribed "syndrome of the third album", the author wrote, noting that apparently "Vintage" decided to "slow down" a little with the conquest of pop peaks in order to "release a very strong, high-quality, smooth and pleasant to the ear record , in which, nevertheless, there are practically no sharp hits.
Other critics gave the record generally mixed reviews, noting that it felt like a failure after the successful SEX album. On the Maps of Music website, the disc received a mixed rating. The site noted that the band failed to create an album better than their previous work, SEX, citing the "template and uniformity" of the music as the reason for this. “Nevertheless, albeit with a slight stretch, but“ Vintage ”can still be called a fairly high-quality popular group working in the dance pop genre, ”wrote the publication. Nikolai Fandeev commented negatively on the work on the site Shoowbiz.ru, noting that the songs included in the album turned out to be "very weak".
public image
Anna Pletneva at the presentation of the album "SEX", where her behavior on stage was called "obscene and sometimes even vulgar."Since its inception, the group has presented itself as a fashionable pop group, while noting that its members are independent creative units that do not depend on anyone. “We just met with Lesha and realized that we need to move on together. We have a bunch of some creative and interesting ideas that needed to be brought to life ... our group was not created artificially, like the Lyceum. With Lesha, everything turned out absolutely naturally. And it's great," Anna said. With the release of the song "Bad Girl", the team began to exploit the theme of sex in their image. The group appeared in outrageous outfits and gave candid interviews. The band members confirmed their sexual image at concerts. “With all her performance, Anna justified the name of the new disc. Both the choreography and her body movements in general were apparently intended to excite the male part of the audience - she constantly grabbed herself by the causal places, imitated orgasms and generally behaved extremely obscenely and in places even vulgarly, ”they wrote in Intermedia.ru about the concert-presentation of the album "SEX". Sexual imagery was also used in the band's video clips. In the video for the song "Lunatic Girls", Anna Pletneva played a prostitute, and Svetlana Ivanova played a go-go dancer. At the same time, the group noted that the composition was not aired by some radio stations, due to its ambiguous content. The group was also subject to bans on their performances. In 2008, the group's concert in the Latvian city of Ogre was banned. The official reason was not named, but Alexey Romanov considered that it was political: “Personally, I think that music should remain outside politics. And I am very sad because today civilized countries are beginning to build with their own hands „ iron curtains“and for the sake of politicians, break relations between peoples.” After some time, Anna Pletneva began to be called a sex symbol. She starred in candid photo shoots for magazine Maxim and was in 5th place in the list of "The most desirable girls in Russia", according to " Komsomolskaya Pravda».
“Charming and sexy Anna Pletneva not only has excellent vocal abilities, but also managed to become a mother of many children - what could be more beautiful? The metrosexual performer and author of most of the group’s hits, Alexei Romanov, is a match for her, and the silent Sveta Ivanova complements them with her plastic translation of music into the language of dance,” Damir Sagdiev described the group in a review of the group’s second album. Alexei himself said in an interview that he does not consider himself a sex symbol:
No, I'm not a sex symbol. I don't go to parties and I'm introverted and closed person. Most do not know at all that I work in the Vintage group and that suits me. I enjoy the fact that I can go to the store and quietly choose products for two hours without signing autographs. - Alexey Romanov
With the release of the video for the song "Mickey", the group moved away from their sexual image a little, starting to use images of popular culture in their visual work. In particular, the image of Mickey Mouse was used in the clip. Talking about the fragility of popularity and dedicating the song to Michael Jackson, the group explained the appeal to such a character: “It's a symbol of pop culture. Mickey Mouse is the most suitable hero, on the example of which you can tell the whole truth about the show industry. Besides, today you are a “superstar”, and tomorrow you are just old. People consider it possible to tell even the great Michael Jackson that his show is cool, but no one is interested anymore, ”Anna Pletneva noted. In 2011, the image of the group was used in the online computer game "Hot Dance Party", along with the images of Eva Polna, Chili and Uma2rman. The game is a "disco with the participation of Russian and foreign pop musicians."
Group breakup
In February 2017, Anna Pletneva wrote in her Instagram official a statement that their duet with Alexei Romanov is officially over due to different interests.Social activity
Raising the topic of sex in their work, the group said that they were carrying out activities to maintain demographics. “Sex gives birth to children, and everyone knows that. We are for raising the birth rate in the country. And I think that we have done everything for this,” Anna Pletneva noted, and Alexei Romanov added (responding to accusations that their music popularizes sex among teenagers): “let them think about sex better than about drugs and alcohol” . The members of the group also spoke out in support of the LGBT community. Romanov, answering a question in Best For about the homophobic policy of the Moscow authorities, said: “In my opinion, this is an exclusively political order that has nothing to do with public opinion. Such actions completely negate the foundations of democracy that have been created over the past 16 years after the repeal of Article 121.”« Vintage are also regular participants in charitable events. In 2009 they participated in charity concert"Night for the sake of children", arranged by the "Union charities Russia”, the proceeds from which went to help children with cancer. In 2010, the team took part in the recording and filming of the video for the song "Happy New Year!", Which became part of the charity event of the singer Irakli Pertskhalava to support children from orphanages. The group also participated in the action of the singer Roma Keng and the Podari Zhizn charity fund. The group presented their song "Roman" for a special collection, all proceeds from the sale of which went to a charitable foundation established by Chulpan Khamatova and Dina Korzun. In 2011, the group participated in the charity auction "From Heart to Heart" held by Muz-TV and Molotok.ru. All funds raised from auction sales went to help children with congenital heart defects. Members of the team also support the Internet portal to help homeless animals of the Kuban.
Compound
2006-2008 - Anna Pletneva, Alexey Romanov, Miya2008-2012 - Anna Pletneva, Alexey Romanov, Svetlana Ivanova
since 2012 - Anna Pletneva, Alexey Romanov
The major music critic Maxim Kononenko named Alexei Romanov the Composer of the Year in Russia in his blog http://pop.gzt.ru/. "This guy has surpassed Konstantin Meladze," -
And he continues in the review of Katya Lel's new album. “If the name “Aleksey Romanov” appears at least once on the disc, then you should immediately take it. The main pop composer of the year, who surpassed even Konstantin Meladze in the number of hits, on the new album of Katya Lel is represented by three wonderful songs at once. It is absolutely impossible to understand where this guy takes so many beautiful tunes - but somewhere he takes them"
I have long believed that Meladze's fame is somewhat overstated, like his brother, the singer Konstantin Meladze, who from year to year sings monotonous songs written by his brother. Why Konstantin does not attract other authors and composers, I do not know, I would not like to think that the reason is banal - money should not leave the family.
And now on the composer's Olympus new king. What is known about him? Not much, there is a lot more information on the Internet about another Alexei Romanov - a famous Soviet rock musician who continues to work in his genre.
But since Maxim, besides the photograph, does not say anything more about Romanov, I tried to find out a little more.
As it is written on http://www.zelen.ru/music/music94-romanov.htm “Alexey Romanov, ex-vocalist of the pop-rock trio Amega, returned to Russian scene in September 2002. Before that, he spent about a year in Spain, where he lived with friends, resting from the vicious attacks of the press and former producers.
- Alexey, what made you write your own songs?
Lack of sex (just kidding, of course). I realized that I needed to write my own songs after talking with Andrei the Terrible, and he asked me if I knew what awaits me in 10 years. I realized that I don't know. To know this, I had to write solo songs, develop myself as a person, an artist and prove to myself that I am also worth something.
- Did you face any difficulties starting your solo career?
Yes, I had some trouble with leaving the band. 2002 was generally a very difficult year. That's why I went to Spain. Now I do not want to talk about it already - everything is behind. I rested, I was alone with nature. Of course, it was difficult to start all over again, but do not be afraid of it. If you have lost hope and cannot start all over again - consider that you are dead.
2.5 octaves. But, fortunately, or unfortunately, in this country it does not matter. Yes, and everywhere it does not matter. The main thing is that you sing sincerely and about what really worries you, and how many octaves you already have ... You can sing a song on two notes so that everyone will cry. For example, in my last song, which will be released in September, "Please Don't Cry", there are few notes, and its range is not great, but it is very sincere and honest.
Most of your songs are written in Spain. Has this sunny country influenced creativity? Or did love become an incentive for writing?
In fact, Antarctica has influenced my work. Or rather, distance from it. I was very glad that I was not there, and, experiencing this joy, I wrote a huge number of songs. Yes, Spain, nature and, of course, love - all together.
What artist/group's music influenced you?
queen. Wham!, George Michael, Whitney Houston, Madonna (she especially). We met with her in New York. As a person, I really liked her.
- What target audience do you focus on when writing your songs?
It's stupid to focus on someone, but I'm not writing a business plan, but songs. And the fact that many people like them, I am very pleased.
- How do you feel about the term "pop"? Do you make a distinction between "pop" and "pop" for yourself?
I'd like to come up with a new term, because I'm pretty tired of both. Why not just call it "mainstream", or translate it into Russian? There is no pop, no rock music, no pop music - everything is mixed up. In America, Britney Spears is called a rock singer, and it's true. I believe that I have already grown out of the age when artists pay attention to this.
