A. Romanov ("Vintage"): What is a hit? It's a 100% authentic story! Pletnev about the scandalous departure from the "vintage" and the sharing of money Alexey Romanov Ranev's song who is.

| Russian celebrities - women
| Foreign celebrities - men
| Russian celebrities - men
| Foreign groups
| Russian groups

15.10.2014 11:57

Vintage History of the group (Vintaj Photo) Russian group, Anna Pletneva, Alexey Romanov

Vintage is a Russian pop group consisting of singer Anna Pletneva and singer, composer and sound producer Alexei Romanov. Previously, the group included dancers Miya (2006-2008) and Svetlana Ivanova (2008-2011).

Since its inception, the group has released five studio albums: "Criminal Love", SEX, "Anechka", "Very Dance" and "Decamerone". The group also released eighteen radio singles, seven of which topped the Russian radio chart, holding the 1st place for a total of 23 weeks. "Vintage" has become the most rotated group since the introduction of the Russian radio chart. For two years in a row, the group has been in the top five most rotated artists of the year, and in 2009 it takes first place. The team gained commercial success with the singles "Bad Girl", "Loneliness of Love", "Eva", "Romance" and "Trees", which became successful in digital sales.

The musical style of the group was europop, mixed with various styles of music (electronics, dance-pop, psychedelic pop, etc.), in which elements were introduced both from classical music and from images of Russian and foreign popular culture inspired by Madonna, Michael Jackson, Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Eva Polna and Enigma.

The group is a laureate and nominee of various music awards, including RMA, Muz-TV Prize, Golden Gramophone, RU.TV Prize and Stepnoy Volk. Since 2008, Vintage has been an annual laureate of the Song of the Year festival. In 2011, 2012 and 2013 they were recognized as the best group at the ZD Awards, according to the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.

2006: Formation of the band

The Vintage group was formed by the ex-soloist of the Lyceum group Anna Pletneva and the former soloist of the Amega group Alexei Romanov in mid-2006. The history of the emergence of the group from the lips of the soloists sounds something like this: Anna was in a hurry for an important meeting, but her plans were not destined to come true. She collided with the car of Alexei Romanov. While the artists were waiting for the traffic police, they made a mutual decision to create a pop group.

According to Alexei Romanov, after meeting with Pletneva, the group worked in the studio for six months, trying to find their own sound: “We really locked ourselves in the studio. We sat for six months in search of sound. We didn't understand. We were like blind kittens back then. Now, of course, it's cool to remember this. We were then creating our own new story, which had nothing to do with previous projects. Initially, it was decided to call the team "Chelsea", but then the name "Vintage" was chosen. Alexei said that the group at that time submitted a request to the London law office that owns the Chelsea brand, but after a while they saw on TV how Sergey Arkhipov presented a diploma with the same name to a group from the Star Factory. Anna Pletneva also said in an interview: “We even negotiated with an English record company about this. They considered our offer. But then there was an embarrassment. The head of a well-known media group, having received the rights to a name, presented a diploma with the name Chelsea to the now famous Chelsea group, graduates of the Star Factory.

On August 31, 2006, the official creation of the group and its name were announced. It was also reported that the band was filming a video for the first single "Mama Miya" and that two-thirds of the band's debut album, which was recorded at Yevgeny Kuritsyn's studio, were ready. Later, the second single of the group was released - the song "Aim", which rose to the 18th line of the Russian radio chart.

2007-08: Album "Criminal Love" and single "Bad Girl"
2010-11: Album "Anechka"
2012: Album "Very Dance"
2013 - present: Album "Decamerone"

Alexey Romanof (Perepelkin)
basic information
Full name	Alexey Romanof-Perepelkin
Date of Birth
Years of activity	1998 - present time
A country	Russia
Professions
Genres
Labels
vintagemusic.com

Alexey Romanof (Perepelkin)(born April 14, Moscow) - Russian singer and composer, soloist of the Russian pop group Vintage. Former soloist of the Russian group "Amega" (1998-2005). Alexey is the author of almost all the songs of the Vintage group.

Amega Group

The team was formed by producer and composer Andrei Grozny. Alexei Romanov (Perepelkin) was supposed to be the leader of the group. But in 2001, with a scandal, he left the project for solo work. But in 2005, Alexey Romanov returned to the group for a short time, but a week before filming the video for the song “Running Away”, he unexpectedly announced his departure. The group released hits that became loved by the whole country due to the fact that their work was distinguished by deep meaningful texts by the poetess Tatyana Ivanova and original arrangements by Andrei the Terrible and sound producer Sergei Kharuta. At the end of October 2001, MTV reported that Alexei Romanov had left the group. He returned to the Russian stage in September 2002. Before that, he spent about a year in Spain, where he lived with friends and prepared his own project. In 2003, Alexei released his own EP "Nunca Olvidare: I'll Never Forget".

Group "Vintage"

In 2006, together with the ex-soloist of the Lyceum group, Anna Pletneva, he created the Vintage group. The history of the emergence of the group from the lips of the soloists sounds something like this: Anna was in a hurry for an important meeting, but her plans were not destined to come true. She collided with the car of Alexei Romanov. While the artists were waiting for the traffic police, they made a mutual decision to create a pop group.

According to Alexei Romanov, after meeting with Pletneva, the group worked in the studio for six months, trying to find their own sound: “We really locked ourselves in the studio. We sat for six months in search of sound. We didn't understand. We were like blind kittens back then. Now, of course, it's cool to remember this. We were then creating our own new story, which had nothing to do with previous projects. Initially, it was decided to call the team "Chelsea", but then the name "Vintage" was chosen. Alexei said that the group at that time submitted a request to the London law office that owns the Chelsea brand, but after a while they saw on TV how Sergey Arkhipov presented a diploma with the same name to a group from the Star Factory.

Discography in the group "Amega and Solo Album"

Albums

• "Up. Part 1 "- 1999
• "Up. Part 2 "- 2000

Solo album

• EP "Nunca Olvidare: Never Forget" - 2003

Discography in the Vintage group

Albums

• "Criminal Love" - ​​2007
• «SEX» - 2009
• "Anechka" - 2011
• "Very Dance" - 2013

• The real name of Alexei is Perepelkin, and "Romanof" is his pseudonym. But according to rumors, Alexei even according to his passport is "Romanof".

According to the spectacular brunette, there was no drama or conflict at the time of her farewell to Vintage. Colleagues in the team reacted with understanding to Anna's decision to perform solo. “When it became known that I had left the group, they began to ask me:“ What happened? Didn’t they share the money?” And I didn’t even have anything to answer. Apparently, for all these years I haven’t been able to become a person from show business, because I couldn’t come up with a scandal, ”Pletneva said with a smile.

ON THIS TOPIC

Alexei Romanov, who created Vintage together with the performer, reacted to her resignation of her own free will surprisingly calmly. “He answered me only one thing:“ Thank God that you suggested it yourself: I didn’t know how to tell you the same thing. ”He felt that I was getting cramped within the group and I was ready to move on,” the ex-soloist explained "Vintage" - In this situation, he behaved like a friend, not like a colleague.

Always dressed in erotic outfits, 39-year-old Pletneva promised that she would continue to be a "bad girl." “This stage image was chosen by me consciously. Fortunately, no one dictated to Lesha and me how to behave, how to dress and what to sing - we were our own producers. I can’t say that the solo singer Anya Pletneva will be very different from soloist of the group "Vintage" Ani Pletneva, because it was me too, "the star emphasized.

However, the singer made some adjustments to her appearance. "Of course, there will be changes, otherwise why was it then to leave the group? I have many serious songs that I have not performed at concerts before, and I want to be heard. This does not mean that I will now sing exclusively lyrical ballads, "I will turn into a kind of Alla Borisovna Pugacheva and become correct. No, I will still remain a hooligan and a "bad girl," the HELLO! magazine quotes the performer.

By the way, earlier Pletneva first admitted to reporters that in her youth she was crazy about Vladimir Presnyakov. At the same time, at that time, Anna did not perceive the artist’s beloved woman, singer Kristina Orbakaite, as a rival. "I saw him on TV and fell in love, despite the fact that I was brutal in musical tastes, I listened to St. Petersburg rock - Tsoi," Nautilus Pompilius ", well, The Doors, Bjork. I was not interested in pop music. But Volodya appeared, and I stopped eating, sleep and breathe without his music,” recalls the artist, “I didn’t perceive Kristina Orbakaite as a rival, she seemed to me a temporary phenomenon in Presnyakov’s life. Intuition did not disappoint.”

« Vintage"- a Russian pop group, which includes singer Anna Pletneva and singer, composer and sound producer Alexei Romanov. Previously, the group included dancers Miya (2006-2008) and Svetlana Ivanova (2008-2011).

Since its inception, the group has released five studio albums: "Criminal Love", SEX, "Anechka", "Very Dance" and "Decamerone". The group also released eighteen radio singles, seven of which topped the Russian radio chart, holding the 1st place for a total of 23 weeks. " Vintage”becomes the most rotated group since the introduction of the Russian radio chart. For two years in a row, the group has been in the top five most rotated artists of the year, and in 2009 it takes first place. The team gained commercial success with the singles "Bad Girl", "Loneliness of Love", "Eva", "Romance" and "Trees", which became successful in digital sales.

The musical style of the group was europop, mixed with various styles of music (electronics, dance-pop, psychedelic pop, etc.), in which elements were introduced both from classical music and from images of Russian and foreign popular culture inspired by Madonna, Michael Jackson, Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Eva Polna and Enigma.

The group is a laureate and nominee of various music awards, including RMA, Muz-TV Prize, Golden Gramophone, RU.TV Prize and Stepnoy Volk. Since 2008 " Vintage are annual laureates of the Song of the Year festival. In 2011, 2012 and 2013 they were recognized as the best group at the ZD Awards, according to the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.

Story

2006: Formation of the band

Group " Vintage”was formed by the ex-soloist of the Lyceum group Anna Pletneva and the former soloist of the Amega group Alexei Romanov in mid-2006. The history of the emergence of the group from the lips of the soloists sounds something like this: Anna was in a hurry for an important meeting, but her plans were not destined to come true. She collided with the car of Alexei Romanov. While the artists were waiting for the traffic police, they made a mutual decision to create a pop group.

In my life there was already "Amega" and an attempt at a solo project. My songs were performed by many famous artists. There was not only unambiguity in personal self-determination ... And then a blow from behind and Anya appears, who says: “I need you!” ... ... Name " Vintage” also did not come right away. And who knows what the fate of the group would have been if circumstances had not influenced the choice of a name for a new project, because among the options were both Dreamers and Chelsea ... But one day Anya called Alexei with the words: “We are already with you people with history! Vintage, you know? Seasoned, but not restrained ... "- The history of the group on the official website of the band

According to Alexei Romanov, after meeting with Pletneva, the group worked in the studio for six months, trying to find their own sound: “We really locked ourselves in the studio. We sat for six months in search of sound. We didn't understand. We were like blind kittens back then. Now, of course, it's cool to remember this. We were then creating our own new story, which had nothing to do with previous projects. Initially, it was decided to call the team "Chelsea", but then the name "Vintage" was chosen. Alexei said that the group at that time submitted a request to the London law office that owns the Chelsea brand, but after a while they saw on TV how Sergey Arkhipov presented a diploma with the same name to a group from the Star Factory. Anna Pletneva also said in an interview: “We even negotiated with an English record company about this. They considered our offer. But then there was an embarrassment. The head of a well-known media group, having received the rights to a name, presented a diploma with the name Chelsea to the now famous Chelsea group, graduates of the Star Factory.

On August 31, 2006, the official creation of the group and its name were announced. It was also reported that the band was filming a video for the first single "Mama Miya" and that two-thirds of the band's debut album, which was recorded at Yevgeny Kuritsyn's studio, were ready. Later, the second single of the group was released - the song "Aim", which rose to the 18th line of the Russian radio chart.

2007-08: Album "Criminal Love" and single "Bad Girl"

At the end of August 2007, the group began filming a video for the song "All the best." The single appeared on radio stations in September and peaked at number 14 on the chart. In August and September, the group held a short promotional tour of Moscow and the Moscow region, during which they gave several concerts in clubs, and also performed at a beach party hosted by Europe Plus radio station.

On November 22, the band's first album "Criminal Love" was released. The presentation of the disc took place on November 27 in Moscow, at the Opera club. The disc was sold out completely, and as a result, the album took 13th place in the Sony Music catalog in terms of sales for 2005-2009. According to Alexei Romanov, 100 thousand copies of the album were sold. In October, "Vintage" goes on a promotional tour in support of the album, several concerts were given in Moscow clubs, and a television shooting-performance took place in Kyiv, at the Ukrainian "Star Factory".

On April 7, 2008, the video for the new song of the Bad Girl group, sung in a duet with actress Elena Korikova, is being filmed. On April 19, the clip appeared on Russian music channels, and on April 21, the video was presented at the The Most club. On June 12, the single took 3rd place in TopHit 100 - the only official Russian radio chart, the song becomes the group's most successful single. Later, "Bad Girl" takes first place, holding out on it for 2 weeks. The video for the song began to be actively rotated on television, and as a result, the group's rating began to grow.

On August 29, the group will present a new song "Loneliness of Love" on their official blog. On September 1, the song enters the radio rotation. On September 26, there was a presentation of the video, in which the roles were played by friends of the pop group, such as the famous drag queen Zaza Napoli and radio host Dima Garanzhin. The song becomes the team's second success, having reached the first position on the chart and stayed on it for two weeks.

In October, there were changes in the composition of the group. Miya, a member of the team, leaves, and Svetlana Ivanova comes in her place. The album "Criminal Love" is also re-released with a new track "Bad Girl". On October 29, the group won in the special nomination "Sex" at the MTV Russia Music Awards 2008, the success is due to the sexually explicit video for the song "Bad Girl", which became one of the most rotated on Russian music channels in 2008.

2009: Album "SEX"

In February 2009, the group goes on tour, visiting cities such as Moscow, Ulyanovsk, Riga, Minsk, Samara and Kaliningrad. On March 15, the group presents a new video for the song "Eva". The single "Eva" was dedicated to the singer Eva Polna from the group "Guests from the Future", and the song itself used a sample from the song "Run from me" by this group. Alexei Romanov said that the inspiration for the composition was Madonna's song "Hung Up", based on a sample from a song by ABBA. “I was insanely inspired by the work of Madonna ... ... She made me think about whether there are songs in Russia on the basis of which it would be possible to create the latest works that could stir up old emotions and give new ones,” the musician claimed. In the Afisha magazine, describing the song “Run from me” as “a brilliant song about dislike, with a perfect sound”, they noted: “It is typical that perhaps the most successful Russian pop song of the 2000s is“ Eva ”by the Vintage “- is entirely built on the dialogue with the first hit “Guests from the Future”. The single became the most successful for the entire existence of the group, leading the Russian radio chart for 9 weeks. The composition also became the most rotated Russian-language song in 2009. "Eva" was nominated for the independent music award Artemy Troitsky "Steppe Wolf 2010", in the category "song", along with the works of Noize MC, "SBPC" and Sevara Nazarkhan, and also became a nominee for the Muz-TV 2010 award, in the category "best song". The group presented the song to the general public on February 14 in Moscow, as part of the Big Love Show concert.

March 27 Vintage”Received the title of“ Fashion Group of the Year ”at the annual World Fashion Awards. In April, the group goes on tour to Germany, visiting 9 cities. In May-June, a tour of Russia takes place. The group visited many cities.

On August 31, 2009, the fourth single from the upcoming album, Sleepwalking Girls, was released. The song has a social connotation, and the video has become one of the most scandalous for the group. The song reached number 14 on the Russian radio chart, breaking a string of #1 singles.

Work on the group's second studio album was almost completed in March 2009. Alexei Romanov said in an interview that the disc will include borrowings from classical music, and the album will begin with an overture from the opera "Eugene Onegin" by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. A member of the team also spoke about the fact that the group ended its relationship with the major Sony Music. “The release date [of the album] will depend on the record majors. We are not happy with the company that released our first album… …We don't want to repeat the situation that happened with the first album released by Sony BMG. They printed a hundred thousand copies, sold them - and that's it. Because of this, it is impossible to buy it today, ”Alexey explained. As a result, a contract was signed with the label Gala Records. On October 1, the group's second album, SEX, was released. Despite the success of individual songs, the new album of the group did not "shoot", debuting at 12th place in the Russian album chart, which was the highest position in the ranking for it. Nevertheless, Anna Pletneva said in an interview that she was satisfied with the result of the work on the album:

…This is quality work. By the way, we are constantly asked the question about its name. It's very simple: sex is music, and music is sex. We recorded 12 songs - the famous "Bad Girl", "Loneliness of Love", "Eve" and many more new ones. But the success of the album should be judged by our fans. The most difficult thing in working on it was to get used to the roles of the characters in the songs, to feel them in order to most emotionally convey to the listeners. We have always wanted our listeners to believe us. We got used to the seventh sweat. And we hope it's not in vain.
- Anna Pletneva

2010-11: Album "Anechka"

In 2010, the single "Victoria" reaches the first line of the Russian radio chart. Thanks to him, Vintage became one of the few artists whose songs topped the radio chart more than 3 times. It is also one of the few songs in Russia that has achieved success with a live-clip and without its hot rotation.

On April 16, a new musical composition - "Mickey", dedicated to Michael Jackson, was presented live on Love Radio.

The group shot two versions of the video clip for this composition - Russian and English. The presentation of the clip took place with a full house in the Moscow club "Leningrad". Despite the fact that the song failed to achieve the success of previous tracks, the video for it was popular on the Internet and became one of the most talked about. In the English version, the clip was rotated on music channels in Eastern European countries, where it became more popular than in Russia. In June, the group became a nominee in several categories for the 2010 Muz-TV awards: "Best Group", "Best Album" (SEX) and "Best Song" (Eva), but in the end did not receive any awards, although critics predicted the victory of the group in all categories. In August, the group performed at the international music festival "Meeting Place: Latitude 54", held in the Ryazan region.

On September 13, a new single, “Roman”, is released on radio stations, which, 6 weeks after the premiere, rises to the third line of the radio chart, and a video clip is also shot for the song. Filming took place in the Moscow club "Soho Rooms", for 18 hours without a break. The song was originally supposed to be performed by a trio, with two well-known singers, but the idea was later rejected by the group.

In 2010, the group performed at such international awards and concerts as "Song of the Year" and "Muz-TV Award", as well as in the top 20 songs of 2010 according to the popular Projector Parishilton program. The group also performs for the first time on Belarusian television, in the concert “Belarus is open to the world”. "Vintage" took eighth place in the user voting on the site NewsMusic.ru, in the category "Best Group of 2010", gaining 3119 votes.

In January, information appeared that the group was going to release their third studio album "Anechka" in August 2011, and on October 15 they planned to perform in Moscow with a big solo concert-presentation of the disc "The Story of a Bad Girl". On February 18, 2011, the group released another single "Mama America". On March 22, the group was announced among the nominees for the Muz-TV 2011 award in the Best Pop Group category. On August 15, 2011, the group presented a video for the song "Boy", where they filmed their fans.

On August 21, on the fifth anniversary of the group and the birthday of the soloist, the composition "Trees" was released. At the end of August, a video clip was shot for the song, however, on September 22, it became known that the release of the video was being postponed due to the fact that it was censored. As stated, the officials wanted to ban the clip due to the fact that in the teaser of the video, Anna Pletneva "in a crown of thorns watches with approval the acts of copulation" and this "injures the consciousness of the younger generation." In response, the soloist of the group said: “We just wanted to say that the main thing on Earth is love. It awakens in our souls all the best and does not allow humanity to destroy itself. But, unfortunately, there were people who saw in this complicity with totalitarian sects. Censorship always thinks in stereotypes. I assure you, we are far from the Illuminati and worldwide conspiracies. On August 26, it was reported that due to the ban on the music video, the song was removed from radio play. The group's press service reported that "the song" Trees "had to be removed from the rotation, because without the clip it is perceived differently." On September 14, Alexei Romanov commented on the situation, saying that “The Trees are being postponed, for reasons beyond our control. I think if everything goes well, it will be February 2012.” He also added that the song "Stereo" should become the new single. However, after the release of the music video, the composition was released into rotation on October 10, 2011. In late September and early October, both digital and CD versions of the new album were released, and on October 9, the band's autograph session took place in Moscow, timed to coincide with the release.

At the end of December 2011, Afisha magazine published its editorial list of the brightest and most memorable Russian pop hits over the past 20 years, which included the song "Eva". According to the voting results of the ZD Awards 2011, the group won in one of the announced nominations (they were also nominated in the Pop Project category). "Vintage" won in the nomination "Group of the Year".

2012: Album "Very Dance"

On February 17, 2012, the group released a new single "Moscow", recorded with DJ Smash. The duet became the first presented work from the new project of the group, called "Vintage Very Dance". Alexei Romanov said that he was not going to write his own songs for this album; it will include compositions by guest DJs and other young authors. “You can call it an experiment, you can - flirting with the club audience. I won't even argue with that definition. It's no secret that most of the concerts are now corporate, but we hope that with this project we will become closer to the people, at least to the clubbers, ”said the musician. In addition to the presented song, duets with Roma Kenga and DJ Groove were announced. According to Anna Pletneva, cooperation with DJ Smash began after her clone on Twitter agreed to release a joint track.

Smash calls me, says: “Well, when will everything be okay?<…>We are all already recording a song, we have already agreed. So, I had to write a song. 0 Anna Pletneva, Hot Secrets program with Alina Artz

Several of the band's songs were included in the soundtrack for the TV series "A Short Course in a Happy Life", filmed by director Valeria Gay Germanika and being prepared for broadcast on Channel One. On March 26, it became known that "Vintage" was nominated in three categories, 0 "Best Pop Group", "Best Album" ("Anechka") and "Best Video" ("Trees") - at the Muz-TV 2012 award. On June 1, it became known that the Vintage group won the Best Pop Group nomination. In May, the band released a new single "Nanana", produced by DJ Bobina.

In September, Anna Pletneva performed the song "Let Me Go" together with the group Knocking on Heaven, which became the band's debut single. "Vintage" acted as producers of the group, whose member 0 Otto Notman 0 previously wrote the song "Moscow" for them. On September 29, the “Second Musical Award of the RU.TV channel” was held, where “Vintage” was presented in three nominations 0 “Best Group”, “Best Dance Track” and “Best Video Clip”. "Vintage" won the "Best Video Clip" nomination for the song "Trees". At the end of October, a video clip was presented for the new single "Dance for the Last Time", recorded together with Roma Kenga. On November 4, Love Radio aired the new single "Fresh Water", recorded together with ChingKong, the video for which was released on December 21, 2012. At the ZD Awards 2012 "Vintage" for the second year in a row received an award in the nomination "Group of the Year": "in their genre, Anya Pletneva and Co. have achieved virtuoso perfection, without losing either courage, or hit, or striving for novelty and lively creativity", 0 noted the success of the team in Moskovsky Komsomolets.

On April 12, 2013, the band's fourth studio album, Very Dance, was released. On May 25, the third award ceremony of the annual national television Russian music award of the RU.TV channel took place at the Crocus City Hall concert hall, at which the Vintage group won in the Best Group nomination. On June 7, the Olimpiysky Sports Complex hosted the award ceremony for the XI annual television award MUZ-TV 2013, in which the group won the Best Video nomination for the video for the song Moscow (together with DJ Smash).

2013 0 present: Album "Decamerone"

On April 17, 2013, a new single "Sign of Aquarius" was released from the band's planned fifth album, the working title of which is "Decamerone". On April 22, the shooting of the video for this composition took place, directed by Sergey Tkachenko, and its premiere took place on May 21 on the Internet video channel "ELLO".

On October 7, in the official group "Vintage" on the social network "VKontakte", a new song called "Three Wishes" was presented, the authors of which are the young composer Anton Kokh and Alexei Romanov. On September 17, shooting for this composition took place, the Ukrainian clip maker Sergey Tkachenko also became the director. The premiere of the video "Three Wishes" took place on November 15 on the Ello channel.

March 16, 2014 in the iTunes online store released two collections of group 0 "Mickey. Alternative" and "Light". It is reported that the disc "Light" contains slow, melodic compositions, which, according to the musicians of the band, were undeservedly lost against the background of the band's dance hits. As Anna Pletneva and Alexei Romanov admit, there was never enough time for these compositions, although they contain thoughtful and deep texts. Among these soft, slow songs are the famous tracks "Fresh Water" and "Eva" in slow versions, as well as a brand new composition "30 Seconds". The second collection, "Mickey. Alternative" includes tracks that, for one reason or another, have not received wide rotation on radio stations. The participants of "Vintage" explain this compilation by the fact that due to their "non-format" some tracks could not get on the radio, but the musicians always wanted to show them to music lovers. As with the "Light" compilation, the band added a new song "Boys" and an acoustic version of the song "Mickey".

April 21, 2014 in the official group "Vintage" in "VKontakte" was presented the third single of the group from the future album "Decamerone" 0 "When you are near." The song was written by Alexander Kovalev and Anton Koch, the arrangement for the song was made by Alexei Romanof. May 31, 2014 2014, the fourth music award of the RU.TV channel took place, where "Vintage" won in the nomination "Best dance video" 0 "Sign of Aquarius". On July 22, 2014, the fifth studio album of the group 0 "Decamerone" will be released on iTunes. On July 21, a digital release took place album.On the very first day after the release, "Decamerone" took 1st place in sales in the "Top Albums" chart of iTunes and Google Play. According to the portal "tophit.ru", "Vintage" is the most rotated Russian-speaking group over the past 10 years, in total, the group has more than 4.5 million rotations on radio stations in Russia and the CIS.

Musical influence, artistry and themes of creativity

The group was formed as a duet, where each member performed his role. Anna was responsible for vocals, Alexey 0 for music. Later they were joined by the dancer Miya, who was later replaced by Svetlana Ivanova. Alexei Romanov previously sang in the Amega group, and then began a solo career under the guidance of Yuri Usachev, but his career failed. The musician returned to the group, and the single “Running Away” was released, which gained some popularity, but soon Alexey abandoned attempts to reanimate the band: “The song “Running Away” had already begun to storm the radio charts, a new explosion of popularity was approaching, and everything seemed to go according to plan ... But Alexei did not see himself in a solo project. He came to the conclusion that it is impossible to do something if in the end nothing depends on you. He also noted that he could not perform his own compositions: “It is very difficult to make me sing. I prefer to work in the studio, write songs. Going on stage is also a passion for me, but a smaller one. I can’t sing my own songs, I sing the songs of Andrei the Terrible, the composer and producer of the A-Mega group, very well. I think he is generally the best composer for me.” Anna Pletneva, speaking in the Lyceum group, was able at that time to eliminate "Alexey Makarevich's monopoly on the creation of the group's songs and brought her own material to the girl group", becoming not just a vocalist, but also a songwriter. It was noted that Anna wanted to become not just “a girl with a guitar from the Lyceum group”, but needed self-realization and wanted to become a full-fledged artist. Svetlana Ivanova is a professional dancer, performing on stage since she was 11 years old. She has previously worked with other artists, but only as a "backup dancer", and, according to her, the work in the group is especially valuable for her, as here she "carries her role".

Having created the group, its members wanted to convey a new concept of their work, where vocals, music, plastic and theater were to be intertwined. Expressing their independence, the band chose which songs to release as singles. The same goes for the song "Aim", which was chosen against the opinion of the band's release label, which wanted a "lighter" song as a single. The video for the composition was based on the tragedy at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and it was filmed at one of the unfinished nuclear power plants near Minsk: “Being inside this abandoned station, a strange feeling arises, as if everything around is not real, lifeless. But our video, like the song “Aim” itself, is about a non-existent life in a non-existent city.”

According to the site Zvuki.ru, with the release of their first studio album, the group "occupied a long-vacant place on the domestic pop scene as outrageous aesthetes, who, at the same time, are not at all ashamed to listen to." Yakov Zolotov from Dreamiech noted that each song of the album was permeated with light sadness and hope, and the theme of love became its basis. “Words no longer make sense, words have lost their power. We replaced words with gestures, and conversations with dance ... ”- the album opened with such lines. “Pletneva appeared here not as a stellar hysteric, but first of all as a very good singer ... As for the melodist, Alexei Romanov suddenly brightly revealed himself in this role,” noted Alexei Mazhaev from InterMedia, describing the album. On the album, the group worked with sound producer Evgeny Kuritsyn, thanks to whom "a project of dubious intelligibility turned into a fashionable pop product in a year."

In 2008, the group first collaborated with an outside artist, Elena Korikova, recording the duet “Bad Girl” with her. According to the group members, the song was first offered to be sung by various singers, including Anna Sedokova and Vera Brezhneva, as well as figure skater Tatyana Navka, but only Elena Korikova immediately agreed to perform it. While working on the composition and filming the video, Anna Pletneva, according to her confessions, experienced a feeling similar to a split personality: “I suffer from a kind of split personality, because that girl, Anya, who comes home, and that girl, Anya, who works on stage, - these are two different people, plus I teach academic vocals at the State Classical Academy named after Maimonides ... However, I think the clip cannot be taken seriously, since this is just a kind of joke about what is happening in a world where female breasts rule everything and pop."

In the next composition of the group “Loneliness of Love”, the topic was raised that modern people sometimes do not know how to love. The composition "Eva", on the one hand, is dedicated to Eva Polna and reflects the theme of lesbian relationships, and on the other hand, the members of the team put additional meaning into it: ""Eva" is not just a woman's love for a woman, but an attempt to put oneself in the place of a man , who is forced to suffer all his life from unrequited feelings for his idol. All artists receive declarations of love, but few realize their responsibility for the feelings they have caused.

The band's second studio album was a concept piece with sex as its main theme. According to the band members, the SEX album is "a 'musical-sexual encyclopedia', where all possible types of love have found a place: corrupt, fleeting, same-sex." According to Alexei Romanov, the album reflects each of the band members and its creators. As Alexei said: “... it reflects each of us. We think about sex up to one hundred and fifty times a day, depending on the person's libido, and this applies to everyone. This is what rules the world. We tried to put all aspects of this beautiful sacrament into this album." In turn, critic Guru Ken wrote that ""Vintage" sings about sex, like men go to the supermarket - with a list of everything you need on a piece of paper, so as not to forget." The Afisha.uz website noted that "each of the 13 tracks of the album is like a frank confession, in its own way revealing the well-known phrase from Freud's thoughts "only this world is ruled by sex", enshrined in the title track of the album" Sex "".

A major role in the work on the disc was taken by Alexander Sakharov, who is the author of several hits by famous performers (including Valeria's song "Little Airplane"). According to him, cooperation with the Vintage group plays a special role for him, as it helps to convey his worldview. He also added that the album explored the theme of sex: "... [we] really believe that 'sex rules the world', that's exactly what the refrain of the album's title track says." Anna Pletneva performed on the disc not only as a vocalist, but also as a sound producer, playing a new role for herself in the group's work. Anna is also a screenwriter for almost all the group's videos, as well as their editor.

The composition "Lunatic Girls" touches on the topic of prostitution. Anna Pletneva said that “corrupt love has existed for as many centuries as the history of mankind has been written. And the mention of prostitutes is even in the Old Testament. Each time has its own view on this topic ... ". With this song, the group touched on a new topic for themselves, expressed in social issues. In one of the interviews, Alexey Romanov said (in particular, about this song) that "this album touched upon social issues, which are usually neglected in Russian show business." Also, the team members noted that the concept of "prostitution" in the song can be expressed in various forms and not necessarily in physiological terms. Religious themes were also touched on the album. The song "SEX" contains lines about God, and the song "Victoria" most fully reveals this topic on the album, speaking about the fight against the vices of mankind.

According to Alexei Romanov, the musical creations of Michael Jackson and Madonna had a great influence on the work of the band. The song "Mickey" was shone by the group to Michael Jackson, and the video for the song "Roman" became a reference to Madonna's "Vogue" video. The prototypes of the heroine of the clip were Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren. "Vintage" also highly appreciated the work of "Guests from the Future" and used a sample of the song "Run from me" in their composition "Eva".

The group itself had a certain influence on other artists: Roma Kenga and the Tochka G group called Vintage their favorite group, and singer Nyusha recognized Vintage as a high-quality pop project, saying that each of their songs is an absolute hit.

musical style

The basis of the group's musical creativity was the Europop style, although it was originally reported that the debut album would be made in the pop-rock style. Alexei Mazhaev described the band's style, at the first stage of its work, as something in between "Guests from the Future" (only more commercially oriented) and t.A.T.u. (without the patented provocativeness of the latter). The band's debut album contained borrowings from various styles of music and the use of various instruments and sounds: Indian motifs in "Gomen nasai", danceable, booming bass in "9 1/2 weeks - 2", octave jumping bass in "Mama Mia", violins in "All the Good", garage fuzz, Enigma-style beats and a considerable number of "household" samples. In terms of lyrics, the site "Best-woman.ru" noted that the distinguishing feature of the group's songs was the presence of meaning in the songs and that they "remind them of Pet Shop Boys, who string deep and ironic words on disco melodies."

The band's second album greatly expanded the band's stylistic direction. In addition to europop, borrowings from trip-hop, electronica, and dance-pop appear in the album. The album also used borrowings from classical works, such as a fragment of Muzio Clementi's sonata, a fragment of the overture from the opera "Eugene Onegin" by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, a fragment of a Bavarian folk song. The song "Loneliness of Love" in style refers to psychedelic pop, with ethnic and dance accents. The composition's intro also contains an oriental-style interlude performed to guitar accompaniment, where "in which Alexei Romanov demonstrates excellent vocal abilities." Alexey Romanov quite often performs backing vocals in the group's songs on his own, and on the first album his tunes were stylized as Madonna's track "Isaak".

Criticism

With the release of their debut album, the group attracted the attention of music critics. Aleksey Mazhaev from InterMedia wrote that at first he had a negative attitude towards the group when their demo CD came into his possession: "Vintage seemed like one of dozens of meaningless pop groups, indistinguishable from one another and existing only thanks to Financing." However, he changed his mind after listening to the band's album. “We will not predict Western success for Vintage here, but against the backdrop of a typical domestic pop-pop chewing gum from TV, the group stands out significantly, entering the top ten (if not the top five) of the most shamelessly sounding artists of this genre,” the author noted. Boris Barabanov from the newspaper "Kommersant" ranked the group among the best debuts of the winter of 2007-2008. Noting some shortcomings (in particular, in the vocals of Anna Pletneva), the critic wrote that “in general, the product does not look ashamed, in some places it looks like an adult. “Vintage”, contrary to popular belief, is not so much a competitor to the singer MakSim as to the duet “Nepara”, which has recently monopolized songs about the passions of mature citizens on our stage.” On the site Toppop.ru the album was described mixed. Konstantin Kudryashov wrote that "the album in its fierce banality and comfortable averageness is downright divinely beautiful and perfect." However, the author noted that the recognition of the group as the discovery of the year was due only to the efforts of journalists. The record was described mixed in Billboard. Artur Malakhov noted the group's growing popularity, but expressed the opinion that "this is not the highest level, Vintage does not shine with full stadiums and Western recognition, but everything here is done as high quality as is customary in the Russian pop industry." Zvuki.ru wrote that the group "gives out Europop at a high, high-quality European level" and that their "quality of recording songs is at an unexpectedly high level for domestic show business."

Concerning the release of the group's second album, Alexei Mazhaev wrote that "The Vintage group was not satisfied with the reputation of one of the most interesting Russian pop projects of our time." He noted that the group apparently decided to take the place of t.A.T.u. in Russian show business and has every chance of doing so, however, on this album "Vintage" crossed a certain line, and "erotica outweighed the music." In this context, the journalist recalled Madonna's "porn period" and her scandalous album Erotica. On the website of the MirMadzhi project, the group was criticized for exploiting the theme of sex in their work. The publication wrote that “if the Vintage group wants fame, they will get it. Mud is the most digestible product of all time." Boris Barabanov from the newspaper "Kommersant" badly evaluated the concert-presentation of the album. He wrote that the group used "all the standard tricks that, in the understanding of domestic pop artists, form the concept of" show "", while noting the poor sound at the concert. Andrey Zhitenev of Muz.ru positively described the album, noting that the creative tandem of Romanov and Pletneva created "something outstanding". According to the results of 2009, Muz.ru included the album in their list of "TOP 50 Best Albums of 2009". The album was placed at number 4 on the list, behind only albums by Lady Gaga, Beyoncé and the Eurovision songbook. In the list of the site "Top 100 Songs of 2009", the song "Eva" took 3rd place, and the song "Lunatic Girls" took 25th place. A positive assessment of the album was given on the site of the project "Map of Music". “The group sets the standard of quality that most artists have lost in the pursuit of money and fashion. “Vintage” is a vivid example of the fact that you can remain true to your ideology and at the same time be popular and successful,” the publication noted. Guru Ken wrote that "the new album will certainly elevate "Vintage" to the highest echelon of show business, primarily due to full-fledged hits (although there were no new hits on the album) and a competent tasty sound", but still wondered: “Will a project with a mother of many children be able to exist for a long time on the image of a diva sucked from a finger in black leather and with a whip in her hands?”

In 2011, the group received several positive reviews in the Afisha magazine. Grigory Prorokov positively described the video clip for the song "Mama-America" ​​and noted that: "Vintage" must be protected - it is difficult to find a more humane group in Russian pop music. In turn, Bulat Latypov called the team one of the best pop groups in Russian show business and positively described the songs "Roman" and "Stereo". “Even one composition“ Roman ”would be enough to convert all reasonable individuals of the planet to their faith, but the group, it seems, decided not to take prisoners. Unlike many colleagues in the workshop, "Vintage" does not wriggle like a petty demon in the scorched space of the domestic stage, but calmly takes its toll. The new composition ("Stereo") only confirms the obvious; it’s a sin to stand on ceremony with the flock, having such songs,” the author wrote.

The band's third album received mixed reviews from critics. Positive reviews were received from Billboard magazine and InterMedia, who noted that the group created a good pop album that "catches" and "beautifully whispers rather important things with non-irritating intonations." Vladimir Yurchenko in Billboard magazine gave a positive assessment to the album. In his opinion, in this work, the group pleased with the consistency and did not pay tribute to fashion, recording music in the Romanian dance genre. Alexey Mazhaev in InterMedia gave a positive assessment to the album (4 points out of 5). It is felt in the work that the group was overtaken by the previously undescribed "syndrome of the third album", the author wrote, noting that apparently "Vintage" decided to "slow down" a little with the conquest of pop peaks in order to "release a very strong, high-quality, smooth and pleasant to the ear record , in which, nevertheless, there are practically no sharp hits.

Other critics gave the record generally mixed reviews, noting that it felt like a failure after the successful SEX album. On the Maps of Music website, the disc received a mixed rating. The site noted that the band failed to create an album better than their previous work, SEX, citing the "template and uniformity" of the music as the reason for this. “Nevertheless, albeit with a bit of a stretch, Vintage can still be called a fairly high-quality popular group working in the dance pop genre,” they wrote in the publication. Nikolai Fandeev commented negatively on the work on the site Shoowbiz.ru, noting that the songs included in the album turned out to be "very weak".

public image

Anna Pletneva at the presentation of the album "SEX", where her behavior on stage was called "obscene and sometimes even vulgar."
Since its inception, the group has presented itself as a fashionable pop group, while noting that its members are independent creative units that do not depend on anyone. “We just met with Lesha and realized that we need to move on together. We had a bunch of some creative and interesting ideas that needed to be implemented ... our group was not created artificially, like Lyceum. With Lesha, everything turned out absolutely naturally. And it's great," Anna said. With the release of the song "Bad Girl", the team began to exploit the theme of sex in their image. The group appeared in outrageous outfits and gave candid interviews. The band members confirmed their sexual image at concerts. “With all her performance, Anna justified the name of the new disc. Both the choreography and her body movements in general were apparently intended to excite the male part of the audience - she constantly grabbed herself by the causal places, imitated orgasms and generally behaved extremely obscenely and in places even vulgarly, ”they wrote in Intermedia.ru about the concert-presentation of the album "SEX". Sexual imagery was also used in the band's video clips. In the video for the song "Lunatic Girls", Anna Pletneva played a prostitute, and Svetlana Ivanova played a go-go dancer. At the same time, the group noted that the composition was not aired by some radio stations, due to its ambiguous content. The group was also subject to bans on their performances. In 2008, the group's concert in the Latvian city of Ogre was banned. The official reason was not named, but Alexey Romanov considered that it was political: “Personally, I think that music should remain outside politics. And I am very sad that today civilized countries are beginning to erect “iron curtains” with their own hands and break relations between peoples to please politicians.” After some time, Anna Pletneva began to be called a sex symbol. She starred in candid photo shoots for Maxim magazine and was in 5th place in the list of "The Most Desirable Girls of Russia", according to Komsomolskaya Pravda.

“Charming and sexy Anna Pletneva not only has excellent vocal abilities, but also managed to become a mother of many children - what could be more beautiful? The metrosexual performer and author of most of the group’s hits, Alexei Romanov, is a match for her, and the silent Sveta Ivanova complements them with her plastic translation of music into the language of dance,” Damir Sagdiev described the group in a review of the group’s second album. Alexei himself said in an interview that he does not consider himself a sex symbol:

No, I'm not a sex symbol. I don't go to parties and I'm a reserved and private person. Most do not know at all that I work in the Vintage group and that suits me. I enjoy the fact that I can go to the store and quietly choose products for two hours without signing autographs. - Alexey Romanov

With the release of the video for the song "Mickey", the group moved away from their sexual image a little, starting to use images of popular culture in their visual work. In particular, the image of Mickey Mouse was used in the clip. Talking about the fragility of popularity and dedicating the song to Michael Jackson, the group explained the appeal to such a character: “It's a symbol of pop culture. Mickey Mouse is the most suitable hero, on the example of which you can tell the whole truth about the show industry. Besides, today you are a “superstar”, and tomorrow you are just old. People consider it possible to tell even the great Michael Jackson that his show is cool, but no one is interested anymore, ”Anna Pletneva noted. In 2011, the image of the group was used in the online computer game "Hot Dance Party", along with the images of Eva Polna, Chili and Uma2rman. The game is a "disco with the participation of Russian and foreign pop musicians."

Group breakup

In February 2017, Anna Pletneva wrote an official statement on her Instagram that their duet with Alexei Romanov had officially ended due to different interests.

Social activity

Raising the topic of sex in their work, the group said that they were carrying out activities to maintain demographics. “Sex gives birth to children, and everyone knows that. We are for raising the birth rate in the country. And I think that we have done everything for this,” Anna Pletneva noted, and Alexei Romanov added (responding to accusations that their music popularizes sex among teenagers): “let them think about sex better than about drugs and alcohol” . The members of the group also spoke out in support of the LGBT community. Romanov, answering a question in Best For about the homophobic policy of the Moscow authorities, said: “In my opinion, this is an exclusively political order that has nothing to do with public opinion. Such actions completely negate the foundations of democracy that have been created over the past 16 years after the repeal of Article 121.”

« Vintage are also regular participants in charitable events. In 2009, they participated in a charity concert "Night for the Name of Children", organized by the "Union of Charitable Organizations of Russia", the proceeds of which went to help children with cancer. In 2010, the team took part in the recording and filming of the video for the song "Happy New Year!", Which became part of the charity event of the singer Irakli Pertskhalava to support children from orphanages. The group also participated in the action of the singer Roma Keng and the Podari Zhizn charity fund. The group presented their song "Roman" for a special collection, all proceeds from the sale of which went to a charitable foundation established by Chulpan Khamatova and Dina Korzun. In 2011, the group participated in the charity auction "From Heart to Heart" held by Muz-TV and Molotok.ru. All funds raised from auction sales went to help children with congenital heart defects. Members of the team also support the Internet portal to help homeless animals of the Kuban.

Compound

2006-2008 - Anna Pletneva, Alexey Romanov, Miya
2008-2012 - Anna Pletneva, Alexey Romanov, Svetlana Ivanova
since 2012 - Anna Pletneva, Alexey Romanov

It is now the soloist of the Vintage group Alexei Romanof who likes to work in the studio, and once he made a lot of efforts to get closer to the stage. At the age of 13, he got into one of the many compositions of Tender May, after that, going through ups and downs, he changed many teams, until finally, together with Anna Pletneva, he created a group in which he gained stable popularity ... Alexey invited the OK magazine! on a visit, introduced me to his wife Ekaterina and daughters and talked about how life guidelines and values ​​are changing

Photo: Irina Kaydalina

Alexey, and in your passport you also have the surname Romanof, or is it still a pseudonym?

This is the mother's surname. As for the letter “f” at the end, initially there were two of them, but in Soviet times one was removed so that people would not envy. ( laughing.) By the way, my wife and children also have a surname Romanof. Relentless. As a child, I had my father's last name, but it was not so artistic,

When you decided to change your last name, did dad get offended?

Dad took it absolutely calmly. But my mother was very happy.

In general, did your parents allow you a lot?

No, they were quite strict with me, and now I understand why. I was their first child, and the first is always more demanding. I have the same thing now: my wife and I are much stricter with our eldest daughter than with our younger one. Probably, if we have a third child, then he will generally ride like cheese in butter, and, apart from cartoons and sweets, there will be nothing in his life. ( smiling.)

And how many brothers and sisters do you have?

There were four of us in the family: I have two sisters and a brother. Moreover, with my younger sister, we have a difference in age of only ten years, that is, my mother was almost constantly on maternity leave. And I, in fact, served as a senior assistant. My mother and I have always had a wonderful relationship, there has never been a parent-child graduation. First of all, we were friends. Mom gave me the maximum amount of freedom - both in childhood and in my youth ... I didn’t even finish secondary school. ( laughing.)

How did it happen?

It was 1991. We had a fantastic turnover at school. Teachers changed every month, and those children who did not have the opportunity to study with tutors rolled into deuces. And to be honest, I didn’t really like going to school at all. From the age of two, I dreamed of making music, this was very clearly manifested in me in reciting poems and singing Alla Pugacheva's songs, standing on a stool. When I saw some dusty stage in the park, I immediately ran there.

Did you have musicians in your family?

No, although dad is quite a musical person himself, he never developed in this direction. And with my mother, in childhood, we often sang in two voices. This is probably where my passion for music came from. I dreamed that I had a piano, but we did not have the opportunity to purchase it. Now many give away this piano for free - just take it yourself. And then there was a big deficit. To purchase an instrument, they signed up in advance or turned to resellers. And I literally dreamed of music ... Imagine, I drew keys for myself on pieces of paper and tried to play something. ( smiling.) As a result, my grandmother somehow collected these three hundred rubles and gave me a piano for my birthday. I remember, I was nine years old, and I went to enter a music school.

Successfully?

Naturally, no one wanted to take me. I was overgrown, six-year-olds were admitted there, and I was already nine! A month before entering, I managed to work out, picked up a lot of melodies and came to act with Mozart's Turkish Rondo. Everyone was shocked that the boy himself heard and played such a melody. True, they still didn’t want to take me: the system is the system, and there should be no exceptions. But there was a teacher, Larisa Borisovna Goncharenko, she decided to take a chance and took me. I liked absolutely everything in the music school. I didn't have much to learn there. I am a listener and I always passed all solfeggio dictations first.

So your parents didn't even have to force you to play music?

How did you not have to? ( Smiling.) Exactly six months before graduation, they found out that I had not been going to a music school for a year. I spent all my free time in the House of Children's Creativity, studied pop music, participated in ensembles, moved from one group to another ... In general, I did everything, just not to study. And by the age of thirteen, I had risen to the point that I was called on tour with the Tender May group.

What class were you in then?

In the seventh or eighth. I took responsibility and, on behalf of my mother, wrote a statement addressed to the director: “I ask you to let my son go on tour with the Laskovy May group for a month.” Signed, took it and left.

I take it your parents didn't know about this?

I called my mother already from Kerch.

And what did she tell you?

I was glad that I was found, alive and well. She knew how much I dreamed about this for a long time, and said that I was doing well.

The child is thirteen years old, he left school, went to another city ...

Yes. Now it sounds strange, but in the 90s it was normal for a large family. Of course, if now my daughter does not call me two hours after the end of the lessons, I will raise all my acquaintances to find her. But then it was a different time. From the age of five, I myself traveled by subway and by bus. I was very independent and celebrated my thirteen years on the train when I went on my first tour.

What were these tours like?

It was probably the 35th composition of "Tender May". To be precise, the group was called "White Roses". This is one of the variations on the theme of this whole huge Razin orphan company. Naturally, all the children did not sing with their own voices. But I have always sung live. I liked it all very much. This was the first and last global tour with this band. In my opinion, his director was imprisoned after those tours.

Were you well paid for speaking?

These were box office concerts. If you collected money, then you ate, but if you didn’t collect it, you remained hungry. I remember once I had no money at all, and one of the directors of the Philharmonic in Feodosia approached me, gave me three rubles and said: “Go eat, son.”

After a month of touring, did you return home?

Yes. And even tried to go to school, but somehow did not work out. Parents were worried, my mother went to school, quarreled with the director. But I couldn't study. He worked in different bands, recorded his songs in the studio, tried to somehow perform himself.

Do you regret now that you could not force yourself to complete your studies then?

No. I didn't regret it then and I don't regret it now. But they call me to teach.

You do not want?

What have you been doing all this time?

For four years, I was actually “closed”. Somehow I did something. But there was no recognition, no songs. I now understand that some projects need to mature or wait in order to be able to shoot in time. And then I was fifteen or sixteen years old, I beat with a hoof, rushed forward, accused the producers of not doing anything ... Now it’s nice for me to just record songs in the studio. And then I wanted everything to be the other way around, I wanted to perform on stage. I didn't know what stadiums were yet... All this came with the Amega group.

Alexey, you were waiting for this success so much, did it turn your head?

Certainly! ( smiling.) Those who say that they are not blown away by success are lying. This is a colossal work, which is associated with huge energy costs. We were paid a hundred dollars for the concert. Of course, there were many concerts and a decent amount was collected, but ... Internal problems appeared, and they were solved with the help of alcohol ...

How did you deal with all this?

My wife saved me. Katya and I met just at the moment when the history of the Amega group had just ended and nothing had begun. I just hung around and did not know where to put myself. Then I came to Yuri Aizenshpis, and he says to me: “Lyosh, what are you? If you had come to me a week ago, I would have taken you. And so I just took a new boy, Dima Bilan. Of course, he refused me so politely.

Was it a time of rethinking?

I somehow thought that the drops in my life are fatal. I just spoke to the president of some republic, flew on his private plane, and then landed in Moscow and, with a fee of fifty dollars, I went by minibus.

Alexey, how did you meet Katya?

At a party after New Years. Everything was banal - without meetings and views on the bridge. We just talked more and more often, and then we could no longer be without each other. Yes, and my mother also greatly influenced our relationship. She immediately liked Katya. And for the first time in my life I felt harmony, the hearth of the family in an embryonic state. Katya and I just felt that we were together, that's all. Our wedding cost, in my opinion, five hundred dollars - at that time a decent amount for me. It included payment for a restaurant and a limousine. Although even this money I then had to save for several months.

But your songs were performed by famous artists.

I have already written for "Nepara" a real hit "Cry and Look", several songs for Yulia Savicheva, Katya Lel and Alsou. By the way, once for three songs they paid me with an old car. I was in seventh heaven! I couldn't believe that I now have my own car. She was only eight or nine years old. I was happy.

Did you get into an accident on it, in which you met Anya Pletneva?

It happened on March 8, 2006. My wife and I arrived at the concert of the group "Guests from the Future", I parked, reversed and drove into someone's car. Anya was passing by at that moment and just saw me standing and worrying. And I really almost cried over my broken bumper when Anya jumped out of a passing car, practically grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and said: “Listen, I want to work with you.” I later found out that this is how it dawns on her. Her intuition is fantastic. And I stand and think about myself. What job? What are you talking about? I have a bumper, I have the first accident in my life. ( smiling.) As a result, the car was repaired, and the Vintage group still exists. When you talk about it now, you can’t believe that 9 years have passed. For half a year we closed in the studio, looking for a new sound, a “new” Anna Pletneva, not the same as she was in the Lyceum group. And it took another six months for our first single "Mama Mia" to appear on the air on the radio. There were moments when I heard the words “downed pilots” behind my back and my hands dropped. The same thing happened with Anya. But together we were able to break through this wall. We were very lucky to meet each other at that stage. Anya is a person whom today I can call my friend and true partner. And we survived because we were together.

Photo: Irina Kaydalina

Alexei, does your wife have anything to do with music?

No, God forbid!

Should there be only one artist in a family?

I find it funny when a husband and wife sit together on make-up before a photo shoot or shooting. “Oh, honey, look, my mascara didn’t run here?” ( laughing.) I think it's not normal. I’ll tell you honestly: I myself don’t really want to sit on makeup, but I have to do it, this is my job. But a singing wife is a nightmare!

What is Katya doing?

She is a bank employee, she has a modest position. I keep trying to get her out of this job. I was even ready to open a beauty salon or a kindergarten for her. Still, a woman must go to work. She needs to dress up, to communicate with someone. But Katya does not want to quit. This bothers us very much, because our vacations do not coincide, besides, children have vacations at different times.

How old are your daughters?

Mia is eleven and Ariana is three and a half.

Are you pampering them?

I turn on a strict dad at certain moments when I no longer have the strength to endure.

Is it possible to be strict with girls?

Yes, when their behavior goes beyond. The only one Mia listens to is me. She is very self-willed, although an excellent student, thank God. But sometimes I feel that the most difficult age is approaching, as it was once with me.

Alexey, aren’t you afraid that your daughter, like you once, decides to leave school?

She has good genetics - Mia to her mother. Katya's education is excellent. So I can be absolutely calm.