Brothers In Mind | Вова Синий | Interview
Brothers In Mind were formed by Vladimir Siniy [Вова Синий] and Igor Shaposhnikov from Chelyabinsk. The duo created a spectrum of unique recordings using very limited equipment.
“How do I make music without musical instrument, without like-minded people and without money?”
Where and when did you grow up?
Вова Синий: I was born on April 17, 1962 in the city of Chelyabinsk-70 (Snezhinsk) – the heart of the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapon production. The most secret city in the world. My mother was Tamara Ivanovna. She was honored doctor of the Russian Federation. My dad was Yuri Nikolaevich, engineer and designer of atomic bombs.
How did you first get interested in music?
I was born in the midst of the Caribbean crisis, when Nikita Khrushchev from a high rostrum sent everyone to hell and start preparing the Soviet people for the third world war. I absorbed music with my mother’s milk. When Tamara Ivanovna was feeding her son, the radio played the same song, “Trololo”, performed by Eduard Khil.
Who were your major influences? What were some of the records that influenced you the most?
After a year and a half of feeding, I hated this vocalist! My parents had a tape recorder Dnipro-11m, which stood in the place of honor. We listened to Soviet pop music: Muslim Magomayev, Maya Kristalinskaya, Iosif Kobzon, Edita Piekha, Valery Obodzinsky… And when no one was home, I listened to “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones and was very happy. Local hippie guys with long hair brought vinyl discs and records on reels from Moscow, Leningrad, Sverdlovsk. Hairy guys listened to: Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Shocking Blue, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Cream, Osibisa, The Guess Who, The Beatles, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Jethro Tull…
Thanks and low bow to the guys who brought this beautiful music and for promoting such an incredible music in the Soviet Union. There was a considerable prison time if they caught you. Radio stations helped a lot. We listened to the radio stations like BBC, Voice of America, Radio Israel, Radio Luxembourg, which broadcast a lot of cool music. From rock to jazz, disco, reggae, blues, funk…
In 1976, my parents bought a new tape recorder – a Jupiter 202. The sound quality has increased. I started listening with my friends to KC and The Sunshine Band, Wild Cherry, Grand Funk Railroad, BTO, Donna Summer, T. Rex, Black Sabbath, Sex Pistols, War, Barry White, Stevie Wonder, …
“From the finished song recorded on magnetic tape, you cut out the fragment you like.”
Can you elaborate the formation of Brothers In Mind?
In those years, I played bass guitar in a school rock band. Sometimes I sang. I wanted something more. I hung my guitar on the wall and thought: “How do I make music without musical instrument, without like-minded people and without money?” And here’s how: From the finished song recorded on magnetic tape, you cut out the fragment you like. Jewelry work. You glue the ends together with tape and you get a ring. We fill the ring in the tape recorder. Start and go music in a circle (see scheme).
My first experiment was the song ‘Are Friends Electric?’ by Gary Numan. The musical ring spun for several hours and inspired further musical creativity. In these hours was born the name “Brothers In Mind”. As if there was a connection with the cosmos.
Why I used moniker “Vova Siniy”? Because Siniy (indigo) is the most beautiful and expensive color. And go-go. Through a homemade mixing console were superimposed the sounds of voice, guitar, keys, percussion, saxophone, dog barking, the noise of a crowded bus, a tambourine, a vacuum cleaner of the Ural brand, the sound of glass, the clink of iron money, the clink of glasses, girls’ laughter…
Brothers In Mind’s first lineup consisted of Vova Siniy, Igor Shaposhnikov, Igor Rakin, Alexey Morozov, Vadim Kutyavin, Dmitry Kunilov, Igor Smirnov, Maxim Shaposhnikov, Nelly Dvorko, Valera Golubev, Eva Krasko, Sergey Rakin. We recorded at night in a small apartment. In the daytime we studied and worked.
Would you like to elaborate on how it was to be a musician in the Soviet Union?
The Soviet Union was headed by Yuri Andropov. And it didn’t last long, thank god! I had problems with the KGB. I was harshly interrogated four times. That’s not for the weak. I thought they’d put me in jail. At the urgent request of a KGB colonel I knew, I joined the army. Soviet construction troops. Also not for the weak. But all glory to god. Sergeant Vova Siniy served and left for Moscow in 1988.
I started working in professional studios, where I used a real sampler for the first time. Miracles!
“Alexey Voroshilov performed on the stage of the Moscow concert hall ‘Cosmos’ as the opening act of the legendary group “Sonic Youth”
In 1989, Brothers In Mind Moscow’s lineup consisted of Vova Siniy, Igor Shaposhnikov, Vitaly Stern, Sasha Kuleshov, Alexey Voroshilov performed on the stage of the Moscow concert hall “Cosmos” as the opening act of the legendary group “Sonic Youth” and everyone was pleasantly surprised.
I don’t like big halls and stadiums. I prefer chamber halls for 50-100 people, when only the beloved and loving gather.
In 1993, due to the birth of my son, I returned to Snezhinsk. For three years I raised my child.
In 1996, in Yekaterinburg, I met Viktor Zaitsev, director of the music studio “New Projects”, where about a hundred tracks were recorded. For 20 years, I have worked fruitfully with the excellent sound engineer Maxim Vasiliev. During the same period, I worked at the Sverdlovsk film Studio to create feature films and documentaries as a composer.
Real life is about taking care of an elderly mother. I recently buried my father. In my spare time, I paint with oil on canvas. Four artists are taking part in my new painting “PORTRAIT”.
The colors were not spared. It was beautiful. The eldest son, Arseny Rublev, is finishing work on a video dedicated to the creation of this canvas. Soon the picture will see the light. Complete.
Thank you very much for taking your time.
I would like to share a quote from a book by A. Troitsky; “Rock music in the USSR: the experience of a popular encyclopedia”:
Brothers In Mind: (Chelyabinsk). Vladimir Siniy and Igor Shaposhnikov from Chelyabinsk created wonderful recordings using only two tape recorders (Rostov and Elektronika) and their own voices. The entire musical basis was taken from instrumental losses of songs by Talking Heads, B-52’s, Grace Jones and other famous new wave and disco artists by “looping” fragments of the recording. This method was first tested by them in 1983, long before Sergey Minaev and other Russian disco imitators. The effect of combining the “signature” music, cynical punk lyrics and extraordinary manner of singing “Blue” was amazing. Over time, the duo began to use musical instruments – guitar, synthesizer, saxophone, but in modest proportions.
Thank you for your questions. It was nice to experience youth again. Вова Синий
Klemen Breznikar
