interview with Дмитрий Барышников

Have any of you played in other bands? It was many years ago, before the creation of our band.

How is it that you started playing music? It was in childhood. My neighbor started learning to play the guitar. In the district the guitar was only my father. He played it in his youth, but now she's been going to waste. My parents forbade me to take the guitar out of the house. So the neighbor was learning to play at my home in my presence. And I began to learn from him. Soon the neighbor left to learn to play the guitar. And I'm still learning to play it.

What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you? Dmitry Baryshnikov - vocalist, rhythm guitar, 35 e.o. Alexey Papazov - lead guitar, backing vocals (maybe in the future), 34 e.o.

Did you make music even when you were young? Yes. It was a pretty clumsy experiments in different genres.

Where are you from? Russia. Eastern Siberia. Now we live in the Irkutsk city. It's near lake Baikal.

What year did the band form? 2016
What's your style of genre? This is a Russian genre. It's called "Bard songs" in Russia. This is when a musician writes lyrics and music, he sings and plays the guitar. It can be done with different musical styles and genres, but the main in song is meaning of the lyrics.

What inspires you? Life in all its manifestations.

How often and where do you rehearse? We use acoustic guitars, so we don't need equipment for rehearsals. We rehearse anywhere you can sit down with two guitars and not bother anyone: any room, hotel room, train compartment... the Most exotic place of our rehearsals is the ice breaker "Angara" - an old ship turned into a Museum in Irkutsk city near the bridge of Angara river. There we were allocated a cabin for rehearsals. But we prefer the winter to rehearse there, when the vehicle is ice and not swinging. My partner guitarist seasick. ))) We have a song about this ice breaker.

How have you developed since you started with the music? Enough to stop performing for free (this is a joke). But seriously, we are the winners of many competitions of bard songs in Siberia. And this year the jury of biggest festival of the bard song of a name of Grushin called me one of the best authors in the genre. At this festival in 2017 was visited by more than 20,000 people. And this year I started to collaborate with the Museum of history of Irkutsk city. I started to shoot for their documentary historical films, using my music.

Do you have other interests of work outside the band? We both work a regular job and play music in my spare time. But now we are close to a decision to pursue music professionally.

Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? No. The fact that russians has not yet decided to pay for the content, so the main source of earnings for musicians is the gigs. The Internet is full of free records. In countries with a more civilized music market in our genre isn't as interesting as in Russia.

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? Were not looking. Major labels would prefer to work in pop music. In realities of the Russian music market is more profitable. A small label in Russia simply can not survive in the above-mentioned reasons. We can say that the genre bard is now in the underground, despite the large number of fans.

What made you decide to make this music? This music is my spirit and gives me the opportunity to convey my thoughts to the audience. Besides, this music does not require me professional vocals and playing a musical instrument. More important is the sincerity, the truthfulness of what I sing.

What are your songs about? About friendship, love, devotion, repentance, honor... well, about life.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? It's all mine. But we're writing the arrangement with Alex together.
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Differently. Typically, first comes a short musical phrase. Then added the text under the music size. After that, the music is appended to the finished text. In the process the text and musicare change, until they love each other. And in the end it may turn out totally not what was intended in the beginning. And much better.

Do you compose in a certain environment? Yes, this requires a state of complete serenity and detachment.

Have you done any covers live? Sometimes we play the songs of famous bards in concert, which is dedicated to their memory. But on our gigs we use only our original songs.

What language do you sing in? Only in Russian. Because write in Russian, I think in Russian.
What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? Most come intelligent, educated people. About the same who go to the theatre and concerts of classical music, those who appreciate poetry.

What ages are most of your concert attendants? Usually 30 years of age and older.

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? There are certain songs that we especially like and play always. The rest depends on my mood and the length of the set. However, if the set is short, we choose songs according to the theme of the event.

Do you have a regular place you play live often? Yes, and not one. One of them is the ice breaker "Angara", we often play there. Still have a couple of the resorts on the shore of lake Baikal.
What was your first gig like?
This is the lineup for the first time we played at the city celebration. The audience received us very warmly and friendly.

What was your latest gig? It was recently in the resort on lake Baikal. The organizers made the gig is free and in the middle of our performances in the room it was more people than you can accommodate. We had to make a break for the ventilation of the hall.

Have you had to cancel a gig? Never.
Where have you played live this year? As I said, it was at Grushinsky festival in Samara. It's 4,000 kilometers from Irkutsk. I spent 8 days on a train traveling there and back. Oh Yes, Russia is a big country, you know. In addition, we played a set at the festival Baikal-Life on the lake Baikal shore in late August. In just the last year there were two solo gigs and about 15 group shows.

Where do you plan to gig the comming year? Next year we plan to visit several cities of Siberia with gigs. And we want to take part in a major festival of bard songs in the Urals.

When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? We already sell the disc at his concerts. These discs we produce by yourself, is not done professionally. Soon we will record a new album in a professional sound Studio.

Where can people buy your merchandise? Today only at our gigs.

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? It is difficult to say. You can talk about the freedom of access to information these days. However, being a songwriter I know how much effort and money invested in the recording of each music track. Then this download for me is similar to theft.

What do you think of my work? You're done!

How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? I do not know. It is unlikely that anything will change.

Do you have any role models or idols? No, but there are musicians that I like to listen to and from whom I can learn something. In any case, everyone should go his own way.

Why do you think that they exist? With hard work and proper promotion.
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? Are inseparable. Old groups give basis, and the new show direction of movement.

What have been your biggest obstacles? Lack of time and unknowing the right people.

What advice would you give other bands or artists? Always go its own way.

How do you get psyched for a gig? It gives me a boost of energy.

Do you have any new material? Yes. Now we compose the guitar arrangements for new songs and try them at our gigs. Soon they will be on our next album.

What are your web sites? We have no website yet. But we have a page of our band in Russian social networks. For example:https://vk.com/club126079959
How can people reach you? They can send me a message in Facebook.

What are your plans for the future? A lot of things. Recording new albums. Creating your own web site. Concerts in the major cities of Russia and in other countries. To devote myself only to music, our hobby must become a profession.

Do you have something to add? I wish us all good luck!

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