Mustelide. "Women-Sevens"

Natalya Kunitskaya, producing a strange electric pool under the Mustelide pseudonym, originally from Belarus, but not at home. Over the past four years, Mustelide has played more than 150 concerts, having traveled all eastern Europe and performing at the largest festivals-showcases in Germany, Hungary, Slovenia and Estonia. Her new, third in a row, the album “Woman-Sevens” was brought by a producer-producer from the United States, where she participated in the Onebeat project, falling among 25 musicians selected from 4,000 applicants from around the world. On this entry, Natalya Kunitskaya replaced synthesizers with broken instruments orchestra, providing both melodies and bats exclusively from samples of faulty cello, Arph, pipes, saxophones, flute, violins and other instruments found in the music schools of Philadelphia. Mustelide told Colta.ru about how this unusual record appeared, about cooperation with the label of Ivan Dorn and why she calls her music a legal drug.

-The album “Woman-Sevens” appeared after your participation in the American OneBeat program. How did you get there and what else did this program give you - besides inspiration for the new album?

- C Onebeat everything turned out very simple: I filled out the application, made a small video about myself and how I write music, and after a few months they answered me that I had passed. The selection, however, was not so simple: there were more than 4,000 applications, and some musicians who participated in the program with me were submitted five times until they were taken. And I really was inspired, but it was the idea that you need to break the system and not go a beaten road. Therefore, I abandoned the usual synthesizers on the new album. So many unusual things took place on Onebeat - starting from completely different brightest musicians, not just playing exotic instruments, but soaked in another culture and other thinking, and ending with the places that we visited and where we made music together. The plus of the activity that we were engaged there were also new to me: all these wild meditations, exercises, sounding films, sounding, endless jams. From the outside it looked a little in a secretary, but we really became fanatics of music and each other. All this was accompanied by communication with the cool mentors - bright, experienced musicians with burning eyes and hearts. This does not necessarily change your whole life, but, having touched the miracle, I want to repeat it again and again and look for ways to feel it.

- Why Found Sound National collects records of broken tools? How did you work with them?

- Found Sound Nation is the organization of socially active musicians in New York, which implements different projects. Onebeat is perhaps their main project, but there are others. Like, for example, this mess with broken tools. The guys came up with a competition for everyone, the condition of which was to create one track purely from the sounds of broken orchestral instruments, the use of vocals was also allowed. FSN with the support of Symphony for a Broken Orchestra collected and recorded sounds of more than 800 broken instruments. The purpose of the project sounded like this: to inspire the public to adapt these tools and raise funds for their repair and return to the schools of Philadelphia (funds from the sale of trackers of the contestants). Then people like me made compositions from these samples to participate in the competition. I did not win it, but I fell in love with these strange and charismatic sounds, I could not stop - I caught fire - and I realized that I wanted to make them a whole album. Only from them. There was an element “on weak”, but just a buzz from how they sound and how I can make beautiful music from them, help them and love. So sorry they were, poor fellow.

Witches are not just like that.

-“Women-Sevens” is a samples?

- Samproitka - but I like that. Everything is clear with samples, they became my new instrument, they formed the basis of a unique sound that I had previously achieved with analog synthesis. And the psychedelic is also very close to me, since the purpose of my songs is to change the perception of the usual things: I always called my music a legal drug that does not harm health, and the idea is that everyone should first think that this is a pop, and then I put any psychodel and surprises hidden in the songs under a noise. I like this ambiguity, I like to encourage people to think differently and perceive in a new way.

-And now, please tell me more about the sacred female abilities that you sing in the track “Woman-Severe”. What did you mean?

- Over time, I began to feel that witches - it was all not just like that and burned them alive, too, for a reason: they posed a danger to the system. And not the witches were, but strong and smart women. And their strength was precisely characteristic of the floor, men also have power, but another. And all the women who now create and do something against the rules are also modern witches, only many no longer allow themselves to burn.

I also began to feel such a witch nature in myself. And all this is not from the head, but at the level of some inexplicable feelings. Therefore, when I once again stumbled upon the root of the ginseng, the name of which sounds almost like a “woman”, all this awareness has developed in some kind of puzzle in my head. And I only have one song about this on the album, but the potion itself, brewed by me, is an example of such sacred female abilities that should work at the subconscious level, like spells and change this world.

-“Women-Sevens” comes out on the label of Ivan Dorn “Workshop” . How did you contact him? How is it arranged from the inside? How many albums did you sign a contract?

- I have a contract to my third album. This is a great occasion to try with these guys. If I like it, maybe other albums will appear there. I did not plan to work with the "workshop"; Of course, I heard about the label, and the musician friends were signed with him, but the goal was to find a western label, since I now spend a lot of time in Europe and the USA. And then one of the representatives of the Ukrainian label was at my concert in the Kiev planetarium, after the concert he contacted me and offered to send them my music. I sent a demo of the new album, which I have not sent any other any other. Then it turned out that they leave the demos blindly on the artistic council with the whole team along with Vanya Dorn, all this happens online, which was very outraged, and I even thought to abandon the listening at the last moment. But then I realized that this is a good opportunity to find out an honest opinion about my music from pros, and I really appreciate constructive criticism. As a result, there were no critics, everyone was so vividly reacted and checked out, immediately offering me to get out of them. And I, reflecting, realized that something to knock on closed doors, I would better be with the guys who invited me themselves, who have an excellent reputation and who rummage in music. Studying the stories of other artists, I always came to the conclusion that this is what it happens: the musician makes music, and the right people find him themselves. And this is the right path.

As for the label device, there is a team of people there, each has their own area of ​​responsibility, there is an office, they all work every day. And, it seems, complete democracy: any important issue is initially discussed with the team. The label is open to the provision of complete freedom to the artist, while ready to support at any stages. It’s too early to draw some conclusions, but I see that these are ambitious and active people in the topic, which I need.

-You live the life of a wandering indie musician-you move between cities, countries, festivals, showcases and residences. Is this a deed strategy or part of your nature? What are your immediate plans for travel and projects?

- I die in the routine, in the system, in the absence of impressions and bright colors. At the same time, I understand that behind these impressions it is not necessary to constantly go somewhere, they can be created yourself. But I am very gullible to life, and while it leads me just like that: some new proposals, people and projects that are circling me around the world appear all the time, and I do not prevent this. Although, I admit, it is difficult to sometimes lead such a nomadic lifestyle. But life, like a film, is worth all the risks and uncertainty in tomorrow.

While I was in the United States for three months, I really missed Eastern Europe, on my own. Therefore, the plans are still concerts in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Then I will go to Berlin, where I try to live. And there we will complete our joint album with an American musician. But this will be a completely new project, which I will talk about later. I also have plans to understand which city is most suitable for me for life, and I test different locations. Number one is still Berlin.

And come to a concert in Moscow on April 6 at Powerhouse .

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