Hik. "Hik"

The “Place of Power” of Dewar ' S Powerhouse that recently appeared in Moscow is not only a fashionable bar-restaurant with concerts and tasting of whiskey, but also a sound recording studio for young musicians and label, which is engaged in their promotion. The fourth release of the Powerhouse label is the debut album of the singer and writers of the songs of Alexandra Vinogradova and guitarist Yuri Churchhelov, who gathered the Hik group. The musicians went to the release of this work for two and a half years, overcoming difficulties; Apparently, that's why the record turned out to be so mature and emotionally filled, sincere and real:

Alexandra Vinogradov

The very first song that entered the album appeared in 2009. Then there was no group and even the thought of its creation. In general, the very first song that I wrote is Rabbit . She appeared when I studied at school, in the 10th grade.

I started writing songs in English. It happened. After school, I lived for some time in England, and English was like a native to me. Therefore, the songs were written on it. The songs are already many years old. And those in Russian are later. Now I want to write more in Russian. The difference in sound. English is so soft, so melting. It is much more complicated with Russians, you need to be a real poet.

With Yura, a guitarist, we both started playing, never parted. I remember how he once came to visit me. I had an old acoustic guitar in the corner, which dad gave me for the 14th anniversary. Yura took her and how he began to play. I did not even know that he knew so well. I decided to put the song “Rabbit” to him, which she recorded in the garage band. "Well, how?" - I ask. He says: "And who is this?" I did not recognize my voice - I was very surprised that I was singing. "We need to do any project with you." And that's all - it hung in the air. I studied at the 2nd year of the university then. And a couple of years later, she called him to play along with a concert in the Turgenev Library. And we did not part anymore. Although we had a small quarrel, and I even played a couple of concerts with another guitarist, but this is not it. HIK without Yura - not Hik , but just Sasha Vinogradova.

We raised money on BoomStarter to record the album. ru - 77 800 rubles. They collected the world along the thread. We were supported by both friends and parents, but there were a lot of people from all over Russia who sent us money. We sent postcards to Khabarovsk, Surgut, Petersburg, Ryazan. In general, we were not going to go to BoomStarter , everything turned out by itself. My friend was settled to work there, and she needed to do a trial project: she asked us to become her project. To be honest, we didn’t even count on what we succeeded, and went for it just for Katya, because she really wanted to get there.

Then Alina, who liked us, called us to the studio PlusPlusPlus , then located on the "Shabolov" in a small basement. As soon as we received the money (I must say that in the end the amount was significantly lower due to the interest that BoomStarter takes), we immediately went there. We began to record, and a month later the studio flooded. And a long expectation began, which ended only in April of this year. But whatever is done, everything is for the better, because during this time we at least understand something to ourselves. And in the end, they waited that somehow the small basement studio on Shabolovskaya turned into a whole “concern” Powerhouse . Then for another six months we waited for our turn, but it was also for a reason. When our turn came up, a new sound engineer appeared at the studio, Pasha Nikolsky. It seems to me that we waited for all these years and a half, while the conditions folded in such a way that Pasha would record us.

Pasha is a “professional sound engineer”, as he was joking, but in fact not jokingly, he calls it. Pasha loves sound very much and feels it perfectly, and most importantly - he initially knew how to do everything. When we first came, he said that he realized how we need to record. We recorded the frame at the same time: drums, bass, acoustic guitar and voice, and then everything else.

Yuri Churchelov

This plate means a lot to us. This album is a reflection of who we are at this stage of life as people and as a group, what we have come to over these years of joint creativity. And we went to the record for a very long time, overcoming different obstacles.

I must say that since the formation of the group, we have grown up as musicians very much, and during this time our songs have gained the final form. We started with performances together (Sasha and Yura) in the courtyard under the guitar, then there were long and painful shifts of people in the group. For these 2.5 years, 7 drummers, 5 bassists, even a cellist was played with us. It was a difficult search for. For various circumstances, the musicians did not remain in the team for a long time, and each time they had to disassemble the material again. This was monstrously exhausted, there was no time to analyze new compositions. The drummer with whom we prescribed the majority of songs on the album left the group in the middle of the recording, because the dissertation was more important for him. We were very lucky with the bassist, Artem, who appeared already during the recording of the album.

In all these mistakes there is life and naturalness.

Record, information and mastering were also not easy. I remember when we first came to Powerhouse for the first time, I told Sasha: “Don’t worry, we will write down in a couple of weeks! A couple more for information and mastering - and at the beginning of summer we will release ... ”As a result, the process took us six months. Our sound engineer Pasha Nikolsky insisted on the living method of recording, and this was not just for us. We recorded some songs for several days, and, for example, we generally recorded the song “free” from the first double.

I believe that as a result of all our works we turned out to be a very worthy album. We managed to convey the mood and energy message of songs. The sound also turned out to be very lively and saturated. Maybe the plate will not appeal to lovers of “licked” and detailed phonograms, on it, if desired, you can find blots and errors. But personally, I was always interested in listening to old notes. Then the studio time was very expensive and there were no latest digital editing technologies. Take, for example, all our favorite musicians: Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Joe Pass and many others. All of them are sometimes mistaken on the records: here he touched the string, there uncleanly took the note, etc. But we are people, not robots. And in all these mistakes there is life and naturalness, they do not at all spoil the positive impressions of listening.

Hik will present his debut album on October 24 at Dewar's Powerhouse