Scandalous t.A.T.u. activities are constantly being updated. U.K., Latvia, Germany, Israel – everywhere Lena, Yulia and their artistic leader Ivan Sapovalov find enough power and imagination to kick up ballyhoo and cause a total mess in the minds of common people, increasing by the latter the number of sold records. Recently, the duo caused a scandal in Japan. Upon a tradition, t.A.T.u. were not allowed to shoot their video in the centre of the city (in Tokyo this time), and the artists, in their turn, refused to perform in a TV-show – a live TV-show!
The most interesting thing is, that in spite of such active scandalous life style, t.A.T.u. seem to have some power left for their creative aspects. It’s possible that in the nearest future, Yulia and Lena start to recycle Russian pop-music and bring back to life a somewhat immortal but rather forgotten hit of the 90’s “Strannie Tanzy” (Strange Dances), composed by Roman Riabtzev during the age of greatness and total success of group Tehnologia. From the first sight, the news are a bit paradoxal and as strange as Dances itself. ZD ivited both Roman Riabtzev and Ivan Shapovalov to clear up the situation.
Riabtzev:
“Well they can sing”
Riabtzev is giggling:
- When Ivan suggested that I would sell this song to him I first though that he got sunstroke. I wrote this Dances one sleepless night during a period of my hopeless love to one girl. So, what does it have to do with t.A.T.u.? Later, I got it – there are no pronouns in my song. Generally, I try to avoid using such words as “love, she and he”… With another words, there’s no obstacle of transforming this tear making story of a hetero love into another pathetic lesbo-anthem.
But the author is very enthusiastic about it:
- That’s cool! I’m hardly going to make anything new out of this song – it lies inside me as it is. With t.A.T.u. it can get a new understanding, especially now – when doing covers is very trendy. I’m not saying here that the song will be better with t.A.T.u. – simply, it can get a new reading. As a composer, I’m very curious of such an experiment.
The truth is that a relation between Riabtzev and Shapovalov started long before t.A.T.u.
- First, Ivan got in touch with Dima Pustovalov from group Arrival, recalls Roman, - but Dima was very busy at that moment working with group Demo and he sent Ivan to me. We met. He said that there was a girl, Lena Katina who needed songs. I said “No problems”. Then I wrote a song, we recorded it and only after that Yulia showed up in the group. We adjusted the song to fit with the duo and it was called Moy Vrag (My Enimy). The song was included into their album later on but with a different arrangement.
Shapovalov started talking on Strange Dances about a year ago and only now they made a deal.
- If it will be selling well, I’m going to make some money, says Riabtzev. – They don’t have any black taxes-fees – only author’s royalties. t.A.T.u. belongs to a foreign company, so everything is legal. I treat this making-some-profit thing philosophically – I’m just curious. Well, I’ll make good money anyway, without any help from t.A.T.u., just doing my regular job.
The musical mind, the composer and the inspirational leader of Tehnologia hasn’t been a source for scandalous news lately but instead he thoroughly prepared the news while staying in the shadow. The nostalgia of the past success is still here:
- It’s not a matter of returning to a big show-business but simply a wish to work for myself this time instead of working for another people.
What can really upset Tehnologia fans is a fact of such enormous mockery of their sacred relic in the light of a newly conducted business affair with t.A.T.u. Riabtzev has another opinion:
- Strange Dances was not a typical Tehnologia thing: nothing of a heavy type – just a typical romantic pop-song that can be sung by any one. That’s the best thing with pop-songs.
By the way, a deeply settled opinion on t.A.T.u.’s lack of vocal skills (especially after “that artistic wheeze” at Eurovision) is energetically denied by Riabtzev. He says that he didn’t need to correct their vocals any single time in the studio. Though, together with ZD Ribtzev got a good laugh at the latest t.A.T.u. joke:
“Concert organisers call to Ivan Shapovalov
Organisers: We want to invite t.A.T.u. to give a show. How much do they cost?
Ivan: Full playback singing - 40K, live - 25K.”
t.A.T.u.
Mission impossible?
Zvukovaya Dorozhka cought the producer – puppet-master Ivan Shapovalov, practically unpacking his suitcases after a return from Tokyo, where t.A.T.u. successfully continued their new worldwide circus show – a running from the police game. First, they, accompanied by a crowd of insane schoolgirls, were chased by London Bobbies all along from Big Ben, then by Moscow police fellows from Red Square and now by Japanese police all around Tokyo.
- Geopolitics was involved here, which tries to use music, said Ivan briefly but seriously. ZD didn’t get his point first, but Ivan explained:
- The world is full of worries and expectations. There’s only a fear around which is projected on us … It took 15 minutes for thousands people to gather around t.A.T.u. in Tokyo. During the next hour the whole city could be there, so they got scared. It’s really scary – the whole Tokyo means 16 million people!
International foreign news agencies like AP or Reuters sent their news from Tokyo with the next scandalous t.A.T.u. tricks – very short but filled with a dead poisonous sarcasm which had been exercised back in London.
- No, no, Japanese press was in a total joy, states Shapovalov. – They just covered the entire tour by seconds, from our arrival to the departure.
Good for them …
Speaking about Strange Dances, we wondered:
- Can this purchase of a recycled material be a sign of an artistic crisis and a lack of new original ideas?
- No, says Shapovalov firmly, - Russian music is full of great hits that deserve to be shown to the world. There are millions of them, but no one except t.A.T.u. is able to do it at the moment. We are the conductors. Songs in Russian can be as popular worldwide as in any other language. t.A.T.u. proved it at Eurovision. It’s not the language that is important here but the music and the right energy.
This noble impulse is understandable. Honour and flowers! But there's a fog spread over the genre crisis. Album “200 km/h In A Wrong Lane” in both languages is worn out for the past two years since it was released. Worn out to the holes so greatly as no one had previously succeeded to accomplish the same before. While Ya Soshla S Uma (All The Things She Said), if judging by its cult status, turned into a pop version of Statue of Liberty, How Soon Is Now has just begun its rotation at European and American music stations. Those who have a Viva satellite dish can already watch it from abroad because it’s not broadcasted over to Russia, probably because of its foreign origin. Ne Ver’, Ne Boisya has become the first song released for the past two years which is not from the album.
We can adore this excellent example of rationality and unique efficiency but we can’t get rid of a suspicion of the artistic crisis and worries for the group’s future. Plus, here we have this active purchase of the pop antiques (not only Strange Dances have been bought).
- We haven’t decided yet whether we are going to sing them or not, explained Shapovalov, - we simply bought them. We may, for instance, make a whole album based on Russian covers but the priority, of course, lies on our own material.
- Will there be new material? And when?, we couldn’t help asking.
- Will be, will be. Soon., tried to comfort us Ivan.
We are waiting!
Source: Zvukovaya Dorozhka #24 (MK, July 11, 2003)
Translation: TatySite.net Team |
