The author of the compositions "Wave" and "Moscow Never Sleeps", which literally tore the dance floors of Moscow and London, tells in an interview about how he studied at school, what clubs he went to and why he ended up in a private school. Relations with parents, the first steps in the music industry - this is a brief biography of a 27-year-old guy who managed to become famous. He has a lot of plans and energy: "It seems I have been like this all my life," he says. We read the interview and find out funny pages from the life of a DJ who felt cramped in Perm, and he made the world dance.
As befits people of his profession, DJ Smash lives at night. Lies down with the first roosters, gets up when it starts to get dark. But at the same time, he magically manages to do everything - play in clubs, record songs (over the past few years, DJ Smash has released three records, his new release, a remix album, which will be called "Remixed Grand Cru", is on the way), come up with covers for his albums, build a house, relax with friends.
By Andrei's own admission, his life has always been so eventful, from early childhood. “My dad and mom, apparently, set themselves the task of making me a super child, and from 6 to 14 years old I didn’t have any free time,” says the DJ. - Every day was scheduled by the minute. Since my parents are musicians (my father is a jazzman, he played in bands that are well known in my hometown of Perm, my mother is a professor of music, she teaches at the Perm Pedagogical University), the issue of studying at a music school was not even discussed. But besides studying solfeggio and playing the piano, I visited a chess club and sat there, despite my temperament, which was by no means a chess one, for an hour and a half several times a week.” In order to somehow escape from the endless chess lessons, Andrey resorted to a trick. “At the end of each lesson, a certain number of games had to be played. The games in chess are very long, but I knew: if I lose, they will immediately let me go home, so I quickly succumbed to my opponents and was free. But these tricks did not save, there was no more free time, because there were still classes in martial arts and, in the end, a school, but not a simple one, but with an in-depth study of English. “In general, I left the house at 7 in the morning, so I returned only at 9 in the evening. This went on until the age of 14, and then I went on a spree (well, on my scale, of course). By this age, I had already visited enough haunting places, and all thanks to my sister Katya, who was 10 years older than me, and although she didn’t smile at all to drag me to these places, my parents set a strict condition: “You won’t go for a walk without a brother! » So she had no choice but to take me with her.
It came to jokes when she went to the boy on a date and we agreed that at some point she would allegedly get angry with me and prohibit me in the bathroom, and in the meantime she would communicate with the guy. I honestly sat in the bathroom, but then I got tired of it, and I started yelling that I would tell my parents everything. Then she freed me, coaxed me in every possible way, and we went home.
Once, together with his sister, Andrey got into a real nightclub and realized: this is it! Since then, relatives saw him only in fits and starts - he spent all his free time in the club. Soon the guy was already playing his first DJ sets, at the same time his now famous pseudonym was born. “The administrator of the club calls me and says: “We are printing posters for the program, what is your name there?” "DJ Shearman," I say proudly. The answer to me was laughter and assurances that not a single person would go to a DJ with that name. “You have half an hour, think, otherwise I’ll come up with it myself!” And I didn’t smile at all about becoming some kind of DJ Poperlo (such a guy played with us, he found himself in a similar situation and got his “wonderful” name for life). I remembered that in tennis, which I then practiced, there is a stroke called "smash" ... "
At the age of 14, Andrei was already working with might and main in clubs. Most dads and moms would not have liked such an early acquaintance of their son with hot places, but Andrei's parents were calm. “They saw that I was a very purposeful boy, and at first I was not interested in any temptations at all, I worked and studied the club world from the inside. But then, of course, I began to pay attention to beautiful girls, I could never resist this. As for doping, he started drinking only at the age of 17, and even then very modestly. I quickly realized that drinking, no matter how pleasant it was, interferes with work and takes a lot of energy. But I, in addition to working at night in clubs, studied at school during the day.
By the way, Andrei almost left school at the age of 16. Already a very stormy life began for him, not before studying. “At that moment, I opened my own store, selling vinyl discs in it. All local DJs immediately became interested in my product. I also had earnings, not without it, I went to school with a mobile phone, while others had not yet seen it. It seemed to me that at that time I had achieved a lot, and at school they were trying to teach me something. At the age of 16, I had the feeling that I myself could teach anyone you want!” (Laughs.)
Andrey was already ready to say goodbye to education, but his father told him: “I’m taking you to another school now, if you don’t like it, I won’t pull you anymore.” “So be it,” Andrey decided and did not regret it. - My father brought me to one of the elite Perm schools, I didn’t even know about it, and there is beauty, a luxurious building, fashionable children, inside there are almost restaurants, they order lunch from the menu, everyone has their own locker in the locker room. How could I not go to such a school! So I finished my 11th grade.”
After school, DJ Smash entered the Perm Institute of Art and Culture, but in his second year he suddenly clearly realized that he was cramped in Perm: “I had nowhere to grow, as a DJ I had already reached a certain level and began to do other things, gradually moving away from music all further. I traded advertising space in the city, was engaged in some other business, and I understood: a little more, and the musician Andrey Shirman would be gone, there would be Andrey Shirman, a businessman, and I didn’t like that at all. And I decided to move to Moscow.”
While still at school, DJ Smash, along with his father, often visited the capital and during these visits he was active - he delivered his demos to recording companies. And by the time when the decision to move to Moscow finally matured, Andrey's compositions were published with might and main on dance collections and he already had some name. So Andrei did not experience any ordeals and hardships that could be told in his memoirs in his old age. Moreover, unlike many other representatives of show business, for whom Moscow becomes the pinnacle of their career, DJ Smash did not stop there, soon conquering the world's club capital - the city of London. For several years he was a resident of the London club Movida, that is, he constantly played in this institution, which was in first place in all club ratings. “It really was a cool club at that time, literally all the stars that the world tabloids write about - athletes, actors, musicians, well, literally everything from David Beckham to George Clooney. And they all danced to my music.”
Andrei assures that he can capture the attention of any dance floor, whether it be Hollywood stars or the public in a provincial Russian city. “Here it is important to be a good psychologist and to determine the mood of the public and its tastes with one quick glance. If a DJ is an extra-class professional, he can control the audience without her noticing it. For example, I can keep people on the dance floor for 20 minutes, then send them to the bar for 10 minutes, and then put them back on the dance floor. And they won’t even understand why right now they were drawn to drink soft drinks, and after 20 minutes they were drawn to dance again. I know for sure that when I play in a club, the revenue in the bars is greater, and this is not just an accident.
Andrei also rests with taste and in a big way. Favorite winter holiday destination is the famous French resort of Courchevel. “There is a lot of fun! There are a lot of our compatriots there, and I like to relax with my people, to see familiar faces, to understand that everyone is glad to see me. Everything is there - both shopping and restaurants, you want Michelin stars, you want authentic village ones. This year, for example, we had a great rest with Timati and a few other friends. We rented a beautiful house, every morning we went to the mountain to ride, in the evenings we played “mafia”, we had parties.”
Like most of his friends in Courchevel, Andrey chose the same well-known place of residence for himself - a few years ago he bought a house on Rublyovka. “When I was 23, I came to visit my friend. He bought the former dacha of Maxim Gorky in this area - a huge luxurious house in a stunningly beautiful place, and I realized that I also want to live like that.
As soon as I realized my dream, my life changed a little. I began to understand what stekloizol*, how much does asphalt cost and how to order "KamAZ" gravel. I began to solve questions about how to deliver several pine trees 10 meters high to the site and protect them from the bark beetle.
*Note to the reader: stekloizol is the latest roofing material, which is distinguished by its special quality and is based on fiberglass: high water resistance; stability; ease of use. Stekloizol is used in industrial buildings. As a rule, he is assigned the role of the lower layer of the roof. He gained particular popularity among gardeners. The Tiko + plant (tikoizol.ru) offers glass isol at a more than affordable price.
In general, I recognized myself from an unexpected side: I, it turns out, is a homely guy! And my husband, by the way, will turn out great from me, I know for sure. There is only one problem - I still have no one to start a family with, although it seems that at the age of 27 I am already ready for this. Attempts to establish a serious relationship were repeatedly. With one girl, her name is Olya, we lived together for four years, I met her back in Perm, moved to Moscow, and at my suggestion she began to sing in the Propaganda group. Everything was fine, but at some point the relationship reached an impasse, it was necessary either to get married and have children (and I was 23 years old), or to disperse. We chose the second. And after a while I fell in love without memory, and also with Olya. She was a model, however, despite the fact that she was pretty, I could not remember her. We were introduced to each other five times, and each time I seriously got to know her again. But when I remembered, I fell in love. I even wanted to marry her, but somehow she did not understand this.
Maybe for the better? But I am ready to create a family, and it seems to me that my way of life, contrary to popular belief, will not interfere with family life at all. I don't have a lot of tours, and the schedule is very convenient now. And even despite the crisis, there is enough work. Because Friday in Moscow is stronger than any crisis!”
Andrey Shirman or DJ Smash is a popular Russian DJ and successful music producer.
Andrey's career as a musician begins in 2003 at the Shambhala club, where he was spotted by the notorious club promoter Alexei Gorobiy. It was DJ Smash who created a new format of music in Russian. Until that moment, she did not sound in nightclubs as dance hits.
DJ Smash has received numerous awards and accolades:
- the Night Life Awards;
- Golden Gramophone Award;
- MUZ TV award; "Debut of the Year";
- "Best Dance Album" and others.
Many fans of DJ Smash wonder where their idol lives. Consider Andrew's house.
House of DJ Smash in the village of Znamenskoye
The DJ Smash mansion is located in the elite village of Znamenskoye on Rublevo-Uspenskoye Highway. It is there that the artist lives at the moment. Andrey loves to fry meat, so there is a large brazier in the backyard of the house with a nearby gazebo. According to the artist, he compares his mansion with a dacha.
A tour of the house of DJ Smash begins with the kitchen, where there is a large vase, in which Andrey puts bottle caps that he collects. There is a dining area next to the kitchen. Not far from it is a stand, which contains all the diplomas, awards and prizes for all the creative activity of the artist. On the ground floor of the house, a digital piano has found its place. In the living room, a huge plasma TV, a fireplace and a DJ turntable with the presence of natural gold are striking.
On the second tier of the mansion, Andrey's office is located exactly there, he is engaged in the creation of new tracks and hits. There is also a rack with a collection of vinyl records. As the artist explains, this is just a small part, in fact it is much more. The rack stores all the hits starting from the year 2000.
Andrey's bedroom, which is also located on the second floor, has an original modern armchair and an antique chest of drawers in the style of the English flag.
Andrey's bathroom is no less original than the previous rooms. It also contains a rather large plasma. As DJ Smash explains, he likes to take a relaxing bath after a hard tour and watch TV.
The acquisition of such a mansion in the village of "Znamenskoye" could cost Andrei Shirman approximately 50 million Russian rubles.
Acquaintance with music in the biography of DJ Smash began with a visit to a music school, where Andrey learned to play the piano. In 1996, the usual passion for electronic music grew into a fruitful work. So a year later the first album of DJ Smash was released.
After the release of the second album in 1999, DJ Smash's tracks became already widely known in his hometown, and Andrey himself gained the first, albeit small, popularity. A further creative stage in the biography of DJ Smash is associated with the creation of remixes for Russian songs. Such compositions were a novelty for nightclubs of those times, since the Russian format was not widely used.
For this innovation, DJ Smash received the title of best DJ and the Night Life Awards (2006). Remixes of famous Russian songs turned out to be so successful that they soon became famous even outside their homeland (for example, “The Flying Walk”, “Pasha Face Control”).
Soon after performances in the best clubs in Moscow, in the biography of DJ Smash, a period of performances in foreign clubs (London, Paris, Monte Carlo) began. In 2008, the fame and fame of DJ Smash grew even more after writing the compositions "Moscow Never Sleeps", "My Moscow" (together with Timati). In 2008, DJ Smash took 15th place among a hundred DJs in Russia.
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Andrey Shirman, better known to the public under his stage name DJ Smash, is an outstanding musician who is well known not only to Russian but also to European listeners. His music literally "explodes" the dance floors of the Old World, his compositions are always at the highest positions in all sorts of charts and ratings of the "very very".He is talented and successful, and therefore the conversation about him, for sure, will turn out to be interesting. In our today's article, we will try to talk about what kind of person is hiding under the pseudonym DJ Smash. What way he came to the big stage. And how his career developed at different stages of formation.
Early years, childhood and DJ Smash family
The future famous DJ was born in the city of Perm on May 23, 1982 and from an early age was very closely associated with music. The thing is that his parents were both musicians. Andrei's father has been a jazz musician all his life, and at an older age he began teaching and working as a leader of youth groups.The mother of our today's hero, who was a music professor and choirmaster, also worked in this area. Moreover, the title of Honored Worker of Culture was the subject of undisguised pride of this woman. Being brought up in such an environment, Andrey Shirman, probably, could not choose a fate for himself that was not connected with the world of art.
One way or another, he began to study music at the age of six. During this period, he began to attend music school and learn to play the piano. In this field, he made good progress, and therefore it soon became clear that the young musician would have great popularity in the future.
At the age of eight, he began to compose his first compositions with might and main, and at fourteen, with the support of his parents and friends, he already managed to record his first album. The cassette was called "Get funky" and soon became quite popular in Perm and its environs. The total circulation of the album was 500 copies.
One of them, by a happy coincidence, once ended up on the table of the director of the Perm club "Apocalypse". He invited Andrey to his place and very soon the young musician began performing on the stage of the best club in his city. It is noteworthy that already during this period, our today's hero began to appear on stage under the name DJ Smash. Since then, this name has become something of a personal talisman for a talented showman.
At the age of sixteen, the future idol of millions recorded his first real hit - the song "Between Heaven and Earth". This single was a huge success, and therefore very soon Andrey Shirman began to receive invitations from representatives of the best clubs in Moscow. However, the young guy did not immediately decide on such a decisive step. For another two years, he stayed in Perm, and only after coming of age, he finally moved to Moscow.
DJ Smash - "Wave"
In the Russian capital, the musician began working as an arranger at the Depo recording studio. During this period, DJ Smash began to gradually master the world of show business. He had serious connections, the necessary experience and knowledge. It was thanks to them that our today's hero in 2004 managed to break into the fashionable club project Zima Project.
Star Trek DJ Smash: from "Moscow" to "Moscow"
In 2004, DJ Smash began to rapidly conquer the capital's dance floors. During this period, his main "trick" was the modern processing of old retro compositions. This approach brought great success to the performer, and already in 2006, the prestigious Night Life Awards, presented to the best DJ of the year, appeared in the musician's personal collection. It is noteworthy that 23-year-old Andrei Shirman is still the youngest recipient of this prestigious award to this day.The year 2007 was also bright and successful in the career of a musician. During this period, our today's hero recorded his first real radio hit "Moscow Never Sleeps", which very soon got into active rotation of all radio stations in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Latvia.
DJ Smash
This composition became the basis for the musician's first solo album - "IDDQD", which appeared on the shelves in 2008 and immediately brought Andrei Shirman two MTV Russia Music Awards, as well as the Golden Gramophone award.
Following the first hit, new bright compositions follow. The musician's compositions get into all the hit parades of the CIS, however, during this period, DJ Smash disappears for a short time from the musical expanses of the post-Soviet space and begins to actively perform in London and Saint-Tropez. During this period, an adapted English version of the old hit "Moscow Never Sleeps" appeared in Europe.
In 2011, the disc "23" was released in Russia and Europe, which brought new success to its author. During this period, DJ Smash returns to Russia again and records several successful compositions there with Russian performers and musicians from the CIS countries.
The year 2012 becomes a new triumph in the life of our today's hero. During this period, he opens his restaurant "Boom Boom Room" in Moscow, creates his own band "SMASH LIVE", and also presents to the public his third studio album "New World". The main hits of that year were the songs "Love at a Distance" (a duet with Vera Brezhneva) and "New World", recorded together with Natalia Podolskaya for the film "12 Months". It is noteworthy that Andrey Shirman also took part in the work on this film as an actor.
In parallel with this, the musician is recording the song "Moscow" together with the Russian group "Vintage". The composition becomes a super hit and brings the musician a whole bunch of new awards. MUZ-TV Award, TOP HIT Music Award, the title of the best DJ according to the VKLYBE.TV portal, and many, many others.
The musician is still at the peak of his popularity. So, new bright compositions, for sure, will appear very soon.
