Musician MayerVolk (Alexey Mayer-Volk): interviews, art, clips

In the field of my interest came an artist, about whom (to my shame) I learned only recently, leafing through a selection of musical novelties. I listened to a track from the recommendations, then I listened to it again, then again, then again, then again... and went to the artist's card to get to know his work better. And I didn't miss out. Such an honest presentation of thoughts through music, philosophy coming from the heart is quite rare in the modern world. So without a second's hesitation I contacted the management and arranged an interview.
So, uh, meet MayerVolk.

"Youth of the '90s era."

AT: It is clear that your songs speak eloquently about you as a very talented person with a big heart. But still, please, tell us a little about yourself - what kind of family you grew up in, what had a decisive influence on the formation of you as a person, as a artist and author?

MV: Thank you very much for such a flattering review, of course there is a point in it, but I am more reserved in assessing myself. My family is what you might call the most traditional. Like a lot of families of the 80's era. My parents undoubtedly tried to give me a good education and supported me in every possible way. I can call my childhood quite happy. But I must say that I learned a lot of lessons, as it is called, on the street. The youth of the 90s. Time partly dictated its own rules. The life experience of childhood taught me to be a man in any situation. I dreamed of becoming an artist from a small age, but, unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, fate did not quite work out the way I wanted. I spent most of my conscious years doing other things. But after 40 years, life somehow surprisingly brought me back to music, and the experience I had gained over the previous years actually made me an author.

AT: I know that you graduated from a music school. What grade did you take, did you attend lessons with great pleasure, what did it give you?

MV: Accordion class, I am an accordionist. Of course, I loved the classes (except solfeggio) and attended them with pleasure, but I must confess that "at the end" I was already quite lazy. My specialty was taught by Larisa Sergeevna Link, to whom, taking this opportunity, I send a huge greeting. She is an amazing woman, a delightful teacher and a great professional. I acquired musicality thanks to her. As you probably know, the music in my works also belongs to me - this is one of the most important merits of the music school, the basic foundation that allowed me to become a composer.

AT: And what kind of music did you prefer in your childhood and adolescence, what did you find in it, are there any artists you striving to look likeWhat do you want me to do?

MV: Yes, various kinds of music, actually. I enjoyed listening to serious works by great composers such as Beethoven, Bach, Vivaldi, as well as modern music of the time. Well, and of course the great maestros like Joe Cocker, Elton John. Like many of my peers, I was not bypassed by the songs of the band "Kino" and other rock bands of that time. My favorite pastime was entertaining girls in the yard with my guitar on the bench.

"First Steps."

AT: For all your predisposition to music, you did not follow this path at first, but chose a different path. What was is due to your choice of professionWhat kind of profession is it, and what heights have you reached in this field?

MV: As I mentioned above, fate had other plans than I had planned. And my plans were to enter the military music school in Novosibirsk after graduating from "musical school". But, first of all: the 90s began, and all these plans were destined to collapse together with what was happening in the country, and all this was aggravated by the fact that my parents began divorce proceedings, and our family broke up. And then it just went the way it went. This theme, as you can see, I preach in my texts, because I know very well all the negative consequences of such phenomena, not in words, but in practice. Returning to the question, further I entered and graduated from law school. Later I never worked as a lawyer, but went into business related to metallurgy. I became quite a qualified specialist and achieved good results.

AT: Nevertheless, you, as I understand, did not stop writing music and lyrics. For whom did you write songs, how was the cooperation with these artists?

MV: I haven't written a song specifically for any of the artists. But I have a few pieces that I intend to give to some of the artists. There is, for example, a song I wrote on behalf of a woman, so it's a song for a singer. In principle, I am ready to talk about giving these works away.

AT: At what point did you decide to become singer? Were your first steps in this role difficult?

MV: It happened literally three years ago. In fact, it's a separate amazing story that can't be told in two words, I don't want to take up too much of your time. As you know, I am a member of the Professional Union of Writers of Russia and as soon as I have more free time I will start writing books. So this story I will describe in one of them in the form of memoirs. "First steps" - of course, it was not easy, because since graduating from music school, I actually did not sing. I had to start quite seriously in vocal training. I changed several teachers until fate brought me together with Alexander Polyakov, a brilliant teacher with whom I am still practicing today.

He is a highly qualified, without exaggeration, specialist who has spent his entire life teaching at the Gnessin Academy of Music, the Institute of Contemporary Art and other institutions of higher education. He is a highly skilled specialist, without exaggeration, who has taught at the Gnessin Music Academy, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and other institutions of higher education. I consider my acquaintance with him to be my great good fortune, and I also thank for this a very respected Russian singer, winner of international awards, professor, head of the pop-jazz singing department of the Institute of Contemporary Art, vocal teacher of Central Television Marina Vladimirovna Polteva. It was she who introduced me to him.

AT: Your songs reveal a truly caring person in you. What do you inspires to create them, where do you find this unrelenting human pain, how does it feel to let it pass through you?

MV: It happens in different ways. Most of the time it's my life experience. I prefer to talk only about things that I have managed to understand very well in life. After all, what is a song? It's a dialog with the audience, of which your narration is a part. How can you talk about something you don't know for sure, especially on behalf of a man? That's what the street taught me very well, by the way. In that sense, the "pain" you asked about is nowhere to be found, I've experienced it all.

And as for inspiration, I will be happy to know that the problems described in these or those works saved at least one particular person from making a mistake, did some good, made him happier. For me, that would be a lot. People, in my opinion, are the most important thing we have in our lives. I say this without irony or pathos.

"I'm Taking the Road" and "The Philosophy of Pictures"

AT: How were realized duetsthat you've recorded with some wonderful artists--
Mia, Olga Bragina, the Neposedi? What did they bring to your songs?

MV: This is a topic that also requires a separate interview. It would take a lot of time to describe all the emotions during this work. So I will be brief in answering this question. Olga Bragina is a real professional. She is an amazing singer, talented, with great experience. It was comfortable to work with her, she had a lot to learn. I am pleased that she took part in my project, and you can judge what came out of it. Mia is a young and also talented girl who still has a lot ahead of her, she is a good kind person, maybe we will work with her again.
And "Neposedi" is a separate amazing story. Amazingly talented children. Many of them are already established vocalists who undoubtedly have a great future in music. Sincere smiles, burning eyes, an ocean of positivity that came from them - this is the least that I can describe. Working with them is my great creative luck. I am very grateful to the founder and artistic director Elena Pinjoyan for this work.

AT: What stage is your album at "I'm hitting the road."? What media will it be released on, will there be a presentation ?

MV: All the songs on the album have already been written. Some of them have been released as singles on digital platforms, the rest are in the process of recording in the studio. Nowadays the practice of releasing albums is not very popular, everyone is releasing singles. But when we finish all the pieces, maybe we will release a record, maybe even vinyl. Maybe it will be a collector's edition. We will think about that with my team

AT: I'm really impressed by the song. "The Philosophy of Paintings.". How was it created, what sources (religious, philosophical, etc.) did you rely on when composing it?

MV: The metaphor I used to write it was born by myself. It's hard to argue that any events that happen on our planet and in our lives were originally someone's plans. Why was not it possible to present these very plans in the form of imaginary canvases. And the problem of not quite happy children has always been, is and will be in our society, to my greatest regret. It most often comes from our own irresponsibility. What is the picture when some negligent father "educates" his child in a store, for example, thus humiliating him, in front of complete strangers instead of being a protection for him.

I am sure many of us have seen this phenomenon many times. I am not talking about what children who have no parents at all have to go through. How much suffering, resentment and so on they have to bear. This issue has caused me pain for as long as I can remember. I tried to do at least some actions in order to take part in helping at least one little person. These emotions as a whole unfolded the content of my song.

AT: "The Philosophy of Paintings" is also valuable because you have put its theses into practice by creating a corresponding charitable foundation. What is its focus, what steps are being taken within its framework, and how does its activity fosters your creativity?

MV: I don't like to talk much about the foundation. It causes mixed reactions in society. I have never asked for anything for the foundation, I believe that such an impulse, i.e. a decision to help, should come from the desire of a particular person. But I do not hide the hope that the fame I am gaining will serve for the benefit of the foundation, thus, literally, helping specific small defenseless children. And in general, yes, the foundation is aimed at helping orphans, including those who have lost their parents in difficult life situations.

I have two co-founders in this organization: my old friend and business partner, entrepreneur, with whom I have been working for about 20 years, Denis Viktorovich Tryatsin, and a dentist, an excellent professional, a man with a big heart, Konstantin Evgenievich Yuraev. Actions on the fund, for the most part, they take now. I have a musical project that takes up a lot of my time.

This is how interesting and informative the conversation with Alexey, who can be found on all streaming showcases under the name of MayerVolk. I would like to wish this extraordinary person to realize everything planned and to continue to bring goodness and sincerity to the world with his creativity.

Talked to: Andrey Tarasov

Photo provided by the press service of the artist