Manysheva. "Faith"

Tina Manysheva-vocalist of the Moscow Ind-Pop Group Tinavie -has been living in Paris for the third year, where she met the French producer Mark Collin (Nouvelle Vague) and is preparing for the release of Alataou solo album, full of stories about loneliness, mysticism and love of “living synthesizers”. Tina told Colta.ru how it all happened.

About how she moved to Paris

For the first time I left for Paris without a return ticket in December 2013, that is, four years ago. Only having finished studying, releasing our third album “Kometa” with Tinavie , I left. Because my loved one lives here, and it was not easy for us to constantly go to each other. And I, in general, committed a fairly desperate, not very thoughtful act at that time. But I am such a person: despite doubts and millions of fears before the unknown, I still click, take a step and then fly or fall! Then I lived for a long time that I live in Paris, and I go to Russia to work, concerts with Tinavie . Then I also played from time to time solo, but I had no support, no one knew me in Paris. All from scratch. I did not know anything about the French relevant stage, and I never thought that I would be here. At first, I managed to establish ties with famous journalists, musicians to tell the same possible number of people about Tinavie to find ways for organizing group concerts in Europe. But I am not created for organizational affairs. Further interviews on the famous radio with French journalist Christoph Krenel, coffee and a sweet conversation about art with Jean Benois Dunkel did not go.

To feel comfortable, I needed to find things, people, friends, colleagues. Therefore, from the very beginning I began to look. From time to time I play the violin with different orchestras, compose, write down, write music for the theater thanks to my Russian experimental friend Vladimir Kudryavtsev, there was a period when I played in a small theater at Montmartre in one miracle Pesa, I teach a lot in different places and different things. For example, last year she conducted an atelier from the invention of musical instruments from improvised objects and the composition of music on them with children from the social center. This is something like a boarding school. Stunning experience. All the time they asked me to sing the song “Tatars”, which I sang with Inna desired, and now I have thanks to them my favorite lullaby - African.

Now it’s hard to say whether I will return or not. At the moment, I am here, finally adapted, although I wildly miss the house, around Moscow. Now I feel Russian as never before, I have become more meaningful and proud to think and talk about my country. It is important for me not to forget my roots.

About cooperation with Mark Collin

I met Mark thanks to my St. Petersburg girlfriend. She gave me his contact, and we met. Immediately, in one cafe near Kwaidan studio in the 18th district. But somehow they talked-and everyone, almost a year after that did not see each other. By that time, I have accumulated many new songs related precisely with a new life in Paris. Mark said: come to the studio and show me these songs. Immediately imbued somehow. He offered to record them. We then have a lot about styles, we talked about music. Oddly enough, they found many common preferences. Mark has a very rich musical culture, and he never misses, he is always in search, likes to start new projects. Constantly. So we started. They didn’t know at all that it would be, and I liked it: my style.

At first we recorded my sketches: a piano and a voice. And then the sound of the piano was removed, all kinds of analog synthes from the brand studio came in its place. We experimented with sounds. I felt like in the laboratory. Mark is a fan of historical synthesizers, I call them “living synths”. You play often on them and you understand that it is not you, but the tool decides what sound will be. Moreover, often each key press gave a different sound. Then we talked about the rhythmic component. I explained what I hear in a particular song, sound and drawing. Mark turned on the sound, and I painted the rhythm. This was my first experience of essay from A to me of all parties. Although later in some songs, Mark made “surprises”, recording completely unexpected bats and rhythms.

There are many impressions of what I see every day on the streets of Paris. Homeless, crazy, immediately beauty and romance.

The voice was almost always recorded from one or a maximum of two takes. This is a record for me! But I liked it. The result is imperfectly clean and vividly. What I love. For myself, I called our style “living electronics”: not synthetic, but analog, warm, or something.

We talked a lot about our favorite old groups, such as CoCteau Twins , for example. I was also very fond of James Blake's music. As it turned out, the brand also really likes him. Something like that, in conversations about music and musicians, we came to some decisions, I think. But mostly the style was dictated by all the same historical synths from the studio.

However, Mark is not the only person with whom I created music for EP and album. At some point, he introduced me to the Greek electrician Olga Kulaka. And we continued to work on the album with her. So, for example, the songs “Cat's Town” and “Moonflower” are recorded completely with Olga. The style of her work is completely different. It was a more thorough and complex recording process. We became friends and already thought that this project would be a duet of two girls. But for the reasons that did not understand and, due to mysterious circumstances, once Olga went home to Athens, did not return here anymore and did not even get in touch. I remember then all these terrible terrorist attacks took place, people were scared. We talked a lot with her about it. And I felt that she was uncomfortable in Paris because of this. It was scary.

About a solo album

The album will be called “ A Lataouu” because I spent half a day in these mountains, my family on my mother’s line lived in Alma-Ata. The longer I live far from my homeland, the more I think about my roots. I am trying to combine in my head all those cultures, national features that are intertwined in my family. And I continue, in turn, to “complicate” these interweaving in my family. It is important for me to remember and not forget where I really come from. Asia plays a large role in my formation. The album has a lot of mysticism, dreams. I dream my grandparents, who was gone when I was here. I dream of mountains and the childhood that was connected with Alma-Ata. At some point, I was read out by the books of Haruki Murakami. I was absorbed by that bilateral world that the writer describes in books. Japan. I have not been there, but I definitely want to go. Several songs from the album, including Cat's T OWN , are connected precisely with the Muraki.

The album also has many songs associated with my sensations, observations and fears in the new country. There are many impressions of what I see every day on the streets of Paris. Homeless, crazy, immediately beauty and romance. Despair, fears, loneliness, loss of its identity, love, the discoveries of the world, mystic, la vie est belle , beauty. All this revolves in me and mixes in me. I'm looking for myself here. “Alatau” is the word with which I find myself. My clue!

There are 12 songs in the album, this is a whole series of stories and legends, framed by the stories of the “living synthesizers” of the last century. I advise you to listen to in the dark and in the headphones, closing your eyes!

About the new album Tinavie

With Tinavie, we are finishing work on a new album. Which, to be honest, turns out to be incredibly cool, also with its own history and idea. We really want to release it at the end of the spring of 2018. It is very difficult for us to exist in the regime as we have now. But I am sure: this is such a period, and it must be experienced. We will definitely set our working rhythm. I continue to work to bring the guys here. Let's see!