"Collision Of The Elements"

Interview with the members of this excellent Russian band

 

By Sergio Vilar

Hello friends, thanks for granting us the interview. It's a pleasure to talk with you. Before we get to the new CD let's talk about the past. How were the beginnings of Lost World?
Andy Didorenko: I came to Moscow to study at the music college when I was 15 and a huge The Beatles fan. Once I met the guy in the corridor who had beatle hair style, as did I. So I came up to him and said “Hi, I’ve got tickets to “A Hard Day’s Night”. Wanna go?” And he said: OK. That was Vasya. And I met Alex because we lived in the same room in student’s dorm. And then we started to write songs together and record them on an awful tape recorder.

Who are the members of Lost World, and what do they do?
Vasya Soloviev: I play flute, no doubt. Sometimes guys ask me to shake maracas. Alex Akimov also can shake maracas, and he is responsible for the drum sound and for the sound in general. And Andy plays some miscellaneous stuff like violin, guitars, bass and so on.

Can you tell me what bands and musicians were your personal influences?
Alex: At college: Rachmaninoff, Yes, Scorpions.

Andy: The Beatles, Supertramp, later Gentle Giant, King Crimson, ELP, Yes, and Shostakovich.

Vasya: The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elton John, and other classical music.

How would you describe your sound to those who haven't heard you?
Alex: It’s a blend of progressive and classical music, plus some modern bits of sound.

Vasya: Sort of music, you know, for violin, flute, guitar, bass and drums. No idea, actually.

Andy: In one word – neoartnoiseprogsymphomegapshychorock.

Well, can you tell us the concept of the release “Awakening Of The Elements”? Is there a deeper meaning about that album-title and is this album kind of a concept or are all songs standing apart from another?
Alex: Are you sure you want to get into this? Ugh...

Vasya: I can’t personally find any big concept, though I tried. I can see a few small ones, but they aren’t worth mentioning. Kind of story about life... or a journey.

Andy: In truth, it’s just a collection of compositions. But it’s good collection. I got the title from Daniel Harms – wonderful Russian writer - and we all love it because elements mean something very small and very big at the same time. I mean... well, it’s just a good title.

In my opinion there are so many great songs on the new CD. It is really an excellent progressive album. I would like to request them a brief description of each one of them.
Andy: OK, first goes happy prog-rock thing, with 7/8 middle eight. Alex and Vasya’s favorite.

“Infinity street” – it was great for me to just sit there and play all those guitars. At some point I got stuck and asked Alex what to do next. He said “Go backwards”. So I did.

“Simoom” – I lived in Taiwan for a while, and they have plenty of typhoons there. So I depicted one in music. And then we decided that “Simoom” sounds better. Yuliya Basis was in a big hand with the piano part.

“Over the Islands” – rock-roll? Well, sort of. My favourite, actually.

“Scenery with guitar” – Fripp-like soundscape, but with a sudden appearance of folk-style guitar in the middle. Funny.

“Shostoccata” – we don’t usually do adaptations, but this one makes a lot of sense to me. It brings the DSCH-motive to peacefull level, I mean the middle part. In Shostakovich’s music it gets distorted. And here it sounds different.

“States of mind” – concerto for two violins, heavy baroque-rock style, perhaps. Lots of notes.

“Paranoia blues” – a joke, written in 20 minutes. Fun with King Crimson style.

“Collision of the Elements” – big piece in 5/8. I’m thinking about playing it live and I believe it’s going to be a nightmare.

“Sky wide open” – closing number on a sustainer guitar with a lot of guitar sound-effects in the end. Sweet.

This is your second album... How has the band changed since your debut album in 2003?
Alex: Music became more complicated, I believe. But the album cover is almost the same.

Vasya: Our vocalist left, actually, before the release of “Trajectories”. With him, we sounded more romance-like, which was sweet but not really welcome on progressive stage. So this album sounds more rough.

Andy: For this recording, I bought a new guitar and a Fender jazz bass.

When did you start recording your new album, how long did it take and is it fun to work in a studio or do you prefer to play live?
Alex: I love studio-work. This album was actually recorded in our home studio. So you can always reach the fridge when you need it.

Andy: We seldom perform live, but we are going to start this summer. We played a lot of concerts as classical performers, but it’s different.

Vasya: Andy spent about 3 months recording this album. Alex was around, but not that much – 6 weeks or so. And I was there for a few days when we recorded flute parts. It was winter-spring 2006.

What opinion does it deserve them the current progressive scene in general?
Alex: It is very varied nowdays. A lot of different styles inside prog movement. Everybody get an inspiration from different sources.

Anyway, how is the progressive scene in Russia nowadays, can you get enough of that kind of music on TV, radio or magazines?
Alex: Better then 15 years ago, when we started, but still pitiful. There’s none on TV or radio, very seldom in newspapers. But there’s a group of people who are very enthusiastic about it and are trying to change things.

Vasya: Yeah, there’s very little prog in Russia. And even people who love prog have very different opinions on what is progressive and what isn’t.

Is there some new band that it has gotten you the attention and that you can recommend us to listen?
Andy: Well, I think it would be patriotical if we recommend Russian bands: InFront, Desin Gage, Kostarev Group. And they are very good actually.

A last question. How do you see, or how do you want to be the future of Lost World?
Alex: We’re gonna grow!

Vasya: It would be nice to live a stain in history. Not big, but bright.

Andy: We have enough of material for a new album right now. But first we’ll get on the road and see if people like us live.

Thank you for your effort answering my questions, therefore I offer you the opportunity to give a statement, explain something or just to say cheers.
Andy. Thank you, Sergio, and long live the Nucleus! Progressive people - stay online!
 

www.lostworldband.com

 

Nucleus interview: 18/03/07