The girls from Taty want to conquer USA as well! (Slovakian Magazine)
They have changed their image, but they still believe in their love. Lena and Yulia shock, they break the barriers and are famous for it. What future do they see for themselves?
The girls from Taty know how to captivate the public's interest. During our interview with them, they arrived with a different image in tow, they spoke in Russian, and holding hands, they conversed about their love. Their love had not changed; TATY still meant "Ta lyubit Ty". They had just performed several concerts in Slovakia, and now are exhausted after a long day. It was apparent in their demeanour. "Must we?" asks Yulia. But they sit down anyway and start talking...
It looks like you're both very tired from this whirlwind tour. Don't you sometimes feel like escaping from it all, changing things a little?
Yulia: Of course. Sometimes, we are very tired. And in those moments, we just want to let it all go. But when we're out there, we're alright.
Lena: We have got a while yet, but we know that there will be difficulties to look for in the future. For now, we don't have to think about it, we don't really want to.
You're stars now. When you were children, did you ever wish to be famous, or was this just a turn of luck for you?
Yulia: I have always wanted to be a singer. It's fantastic that my dream has come true!
Lena: Yeah. I've known Yulia for 8 years, and it's always been our dream.
In life, it's said that once you've achieved one dream, you'll just as soon have another wish to fulfill. Is this your case?
Lena: We have many dreams.
Yulia: But we won't tell you about them. Because then they might not come true, you know? We can't risk it. But when they come true, you'll know it.
Girls of your age are dreaming of building a family and having children...
Lena: Us too! We've been longing for it.
Yulia: This is also a part of the dreams that we have, that we want to come true. But we want it together, Lena and I.
Do you want to have a baby together? Is this possible?
Yulia: Of course, this is possible. Maybe we'll get to be in the Guinness Book for it.
You have become popular so far, and it's partly due to the fact that you are a couple as well. Now, you wish to pierce into the American market. But Americans seem to be more prone to controversy than here in Europe. Are you not afraid of how they will receive you?
Yulia: I hope that they will like us, because we are like we are, and we will not change.
Lena: And we'll also be the first Russian group to ever sing in the US.
Yulia: And we're also young, not adults yet. Surely, they can like us!
Do you have any concrete plans for the future?
Yulia: The future holds all sorts of possibilities. We'll just go with the flow. Besides, like I said, we have some dreams for the future, but we don't want to talk about it.
Lena: Maybe in 2, 3 years from now.
Though you love each other, do you think there could be solo projects for either of you?
Lena: It's possible.
Yulia: It can happen.
Okay, let's talk about the past. How did you feel when you first saw your faces on TV?
Lena: It was horrible!
Yulia: Unbelievable.
Lena: When I saw our first video, I didn't want to believe it was me. All the people were saying, "Look it's our Lena." But after a while, I got used to it. It was an unbelievable feeling. But afterwards, it became normal. Today, I don't have any peculiar feelings when I see our video anymore.
Your music is full of life and energy. But the video, you're overtaken by rain, wind and cold. Why?
Yulia: In our videos, it rains often. Our producer wants it that way. But to be in that environment, we are more in tune with the song. We can feel and perceive it more intensely.
Lena: The lyrics describe how we feel inside. When we made the video for All The Things She Said, rain and cold were very important. When it's raining and cold, we have to react to it. It helps us better express our feelings.
Singers are always singing about love. It looks as though this will also be your theme.
Lena: Why not? When someone sings about love, it seems to be because they want to have love, to feel love, or to be in love. People say that someone who puts their emotions into a song should be shown approval and acceptance.
Have you loved anyone else before you loved each other?
Yulia: We don't want to say.
They want a double bed.
The interview was over. The popular seventeen year-old Russians left to meet their manager, who waited for them with eight other members of their press group. Now, the single greatest dream they had was just to go to bed. In the cheapest Bratislava hotel, they asked for a room with a double bed, and only a single pillow on it. For the time being, they do not seem to have very many "superstar" demands, as is usually seen with international stars. All they want is to have a good amount of mineral water without bubbles, juice, tea, coffee and fruit. For breakfast, they want porridge, one egg, bread with butter, Earl Gray tea and one slice of whatever sweets available. The demands of the Slovak organization team were more interesting: No Russian (I have no idea what they say here -E)! Yulia and Lena are hard to miss. They are nice looking girls that seemed trapped between childhood and adulthood. Their songs are catchy and actually good. Music lovers can rest easy. In Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and in Slovakia, they have sold over one million official copies, and over four million illegal copies. The numbers are very clear-cut: TATY is the most commercial Russian group of all time. And the girls have yet to say the last word.
Attacking the United States.
"We are patriots of our country. We will only sing in Russian, once in America," the girls had said a year ago. But times have changed. "In the States, they want for us to sing in English, so we have translated our lyrics for this purpose. When we sing in Russian, no one can really understand us. The translations are very good, but we still left some songs in Russian." Their producer Ivan Shapovalov knows what is good for their commercial success. The States will be stunned one day by the scenes of Prostie Dvizheniya, open-mouthed and gapping. They will surprised by these young liberal girls. Maybe Yulia and Lena can become stars in a month and go out to sing ATTSS. Next year, they might even have live performances there. The American dream may be one of the most fleeting dreams, but these Muscovite girls know how their romance may stir the pot a little. They will be offering what others are afraid of showing. Taty have made a career of crossing the line, after all.
They have made a film.
"Teenagers can see themselves in us. They like that we are different from others, and that's why we are famous," they have said about their growing career. "We are for girls and boys." And the fans are happy with what they see. Yulia and Lena are definitely an interesting pair; new, exotic, courageous. They speak about the problems that young people have, and they are not afraid of saying things as they are, without sugarcoating the truth. "The song Not Gonna Get Us is about a time when we had lots of problems with our parents. They did not understand us, and we wanted to run away from it all," they say about their first single. Though it is their producer that finds the lyrics, they say that he can feel what they feel and thus communicate it for them better into songs. Shapovalov has not only made Taty, but he is also behind all the songs, videos, performances and the concept of the image itself. He had chosen Lena and Yulia at a casting in 1999, where 500 other girls were auditioning. Before filming their first video, Lena had to lose 10 kg, and Yulia had to cut her hair very short and dye it black. Now, Lena is a blond, "But I want to be a redhead again." She liked the colour of her hair. "We're now editing our first documentary about Taty, and it's about our way to the top," the girls from Moscow have said, "There's nothing in the world that can stop us."
What about their sexual orientation?
In the next year, the girls will be touring in Japan and Germany. And what they have to say about this is, "About our relationship, we do not want to talk about it. We will only say that we love each other very much. More than you could know, even after seeing our video for ATTSS." This will play a lot on their popularity in those countries. First, they will see how Lena and Yulia kiss in ATTSS. Then, they will speculate on how they are only a marketing product, while many others will just believe that the girls are unorthodox in their sexual orientation. The producer never says that the first possibility is untrue, but he also says that the girls kiss and hug, off-screen as well as on-screen, in front or not in front of reporters and cameras. But upon direct questioning about their sexual orientation, they simply will not answer. The mystery about the relationship has never been explained, and thus, the imaginations of fans can run wild on this matter. However, despite all this, we can say that these girls have a unique talent for singing. "Show-business is a very dirty world. To be successful, you must be good. And you must know the right moment to snap back and be a snake," says Yulia. Lena completely agrees with her, "Show-business, fame, popularity? It's all sh*t!" But, on the other hand, they want to stay on top in this "dirty world". It looks like they will make it.
Translation by jarolicka.
Edited by E.
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