:::interview::::reviews::::press:::

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::[FUZZ March 2005]::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Fuzz Magazine

If to change the first letter of KLEVER into "C", you'll get CLEVER. However, in privat talk these guys are not so "Daedalean". Their music is shaggy, many-sided and unforeseen like the musicians themselves. Take a look at their new photos - you see the group with a fair future. Till this future is coming, let's speak about the new album: "In The Name Of Peace And Progress".

FUZZ: Why such a title: "In The Name Of Peace And Progress"?

Zmitzer: The photograph Zhenja, who did the design of the album, took some photos of one abandoned factory in the south of Russia. He had found a huge break wall with this soviet-times slogan: "In The Name Of Peace And Progress". In such giant, rusty letters. It seemed to me - that's exactly what we need. This mood fits to our music - behind this rust something grandious, mighty is hidden.

FUZZ: The impression from your music played live is irrational sometimes - the wall of sound, many-sided and puzzling ... How is it possible, to repeat THIS in a studio?

Zmitzer: Despite of some improvisations, our compositions are pretty structured. From chaos in the start of our work with a track we always come to cosmos, understandable only to us.

FUZZ: So, you were recording previously rehearsed material?

Zmitzer: Yep, that's true, however some arrangement was changed during the recording - we added some new sounds.

FUZZ: Is there a big difference between recorded material and the music you play live, to your mind?

Denis: In a studio we have to imagine how our instruments will sound on a record, for to play music with maximal concert energy and to put our emotions in to the end.

Sergey: If you listen to your own records in one or two years again and you still like this stuff, you can say that the problem is solved. All our studio records up to the year 2002 were thrown into a dust-bin. There is really big difference. The question - how to take it? We don't put in our aim - to repeat the concert sound.

FUZZ: Many things depend on a sound-engineer, a sound-producer, isn't it?

Sergey: A sound-producer, who understands what we need, and a studio with satisfying quality - all this is important. Our album was produced and mastered by Yurij Smirnov, the sound-producer of: KIRPICHI ("The Breaks") and ANIMAL JAZZ (the russian club bands number one - transl.). We are very thankful to him.

FUZZ: The music from your album sounds more rafinated than when played live.

Zmitser: No-no ... It seems to me that during the recording we got the live spirit of our performances. The idea to play and record all of us at the same time had changed - simultaneously only guitar and drums were recorded, but winds and keyboards were overdubbed later.

FUZZ: But nevertheless, where is this slight touch of ethno and trance elements, which always were special for your sound? In the new album we hear more of art-rock ...

Sergey: I never liked the word "art" ... There is something really artificial in it. I always liked honest simple music, built on feelings, but not on some complicated, tricky assemblage and virtuos playing. In the end, music must be melodious, not dumb. We grew up and started to play more melodious music. It's more "emo" than "art". Trance we have grown over. Now trance seems a bit dumb to me (smiles).

Zmitser: We got more melodious, more space came into our music - and it's not so important for us if there is some trance, or ethno, or art-rock or quasi-pseudo-something (laughs).

Denis: The recorded material is valuable, because there is a place for the listener, there is possibility for everybody to add their thoughts, emotions, fantasies to the music ... It turned out easy, to reflect what was in our heads just by the means of the three instruments.

FUZZ: A trio - is this your final state?

Zmitser: To our surprise it turned out, after many changes, that as a trio we reached a real comfort. We played all together more than one year, we even don't need words sometimes working with a composition. Sometimes during rehearsing we play over 30 minutes improvisations. You close your eyes - and you're in cosmos. And cosmos is the One.

FUZZ: We can call this approach "psychedelic". What would you put in this notion?

Sergey: The expression of the human thoughts and emotions from the most secret mental rooms. Not the music standarts, but the senses of ears push a musician. Different images and associations come out from the listener's subconsciousness. Memories comeout. It happens that during a performance I have over thousand different thoughts. You have played one theme - have survived the whole life.

FUZZ: You have recorded an album, have published it. What's then?

Zmitser: Besides our work over the new program, we try to collaborate with other musicians. Recently we have started to play with a cellist - I don't know yet what will come out of this (smiles). I think we will play together with that guy at our album presentation at 18th of March in "Red Club".

Alexander Starostin

(the interview was translated by Julia Blanche Goltsman)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::