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DJ Smash. The best of the East
Интервью · 02.03.2006
By 44100Hz
A mass of rumours surrounds this man. About DJ Smash, all that is reliably known is that he is the best DJ of the year according to the Nightlife Awards, that he is young, good-looking and has a very cheerful temperament. It was precisely this temperament and his musical professionalism that made him a cult figure in the shortest time, and his tracks can be heard in the most fashionable clubs from Courchevel to Vladivostok. We decided to introduce the country to our hero up close.
Tell us about the new club Dyagilev Project, where you'll surely be playing often. Will the musical policy be the same as at Osen and L'eto, or will there be changes?
The club's musical policy is fast and fun. That's exactly why we often play as a pair, to keep it fast, and we have a blast at the decks, to keep it fun. And about the club I can say that there's never been anything like it, it's a masterpiece!
You know, NTV aired a story about Russia's gilded youth. Well, they light up to your tracks.
I know. By the way, I was shown in that story too. But I don't like clubbing in London. Although the city itself is very beautiful. Strolling in a park there during the day - that's where the real romance is. A fairy tale come to life. But as for the clubs, I can't say London is some dominant city in that respect. Maybe this culture was born there once upon a time, but the kind of fun that's happening in Moscow now, I haven't seen anywhere. For example, I wanted a drink in a London bar after 3 a.m. and said: "Pour me a vodka!" And they told me: "Not allowed, that's the rule..." Aaah, nightmare!
And is there a division there into Russian and English clubs?
No. I go to play at the club Bavida - it's the best VIP club in London. But both Russian and English youth relax there. And the English are in the majority.
You often play at away parties for the Russian crowd - which of them stuck in your memory the most, and why?
It was a lot of fun in Saint-Tropez last summer! In principle all our parties are good, and the away ones, and the out-of-town ones... ah!
Right now you play in Courchevel, Saint-Tropez, London again - and when you were just starting your DJ career, did you think about this?
Of course, why wouldn't I have thought about it?
And how did you start?
I grew up and went straight to the clubs, they had only just appeared. I was 14 then...
Well, look, I go out too, but I'm not about to become a DJ. Why did you decide to become a DJ?
I knew I'd be very good at it. Just give me the chance, and I'll play you exactly what you want to hear right now!
Did you start by mixing, or...
No... Actually I started writing music earlier. I got a computer at 11, I put some programs on it. It all began with elementary trackers. Though I never wrote music on really primitive programs like Dance Machine and the like. I tried to creatively assemble tracks from various ready-made samples. Then to come up with and make everything myself from start to finish.
And how did you end up at Shambala?
At Shambala? Well, somehow I ended up there (smirks), in 2003 I met Alexey Gorobiy, told him: "I'm such-and-such a musician..." By that time I already had a disc released by Housemusic.
Characters like Pasha Face-Control and Petr Listerman gained nationwide fame with the help of your tracks. Who's next?
Next? Any cult figure from the scene, for example V.V. Putin.
How soon do you think your tracks will get into radio rotation?
Some remixes are in rotation, but I'd like more, and that's what I'm working on now.
Lots of ideas, right now I'm working on bringing them to life.
Another rumour. They say your remix of Valery Leontiev's song "Margarita" pleased Leontiev himself so much that he's going to release it, practically on vinyl. Is that true?
The truth is that people tear their shirts off to this track and DJs play it five times a set.
Are your discs put out by audio pirates?
Oh, of course. Here's a disc that appeared a few months ago, called Leto Limited Edition. Take a look. (Shows a disc done in the traditional Leto Project design, but inside there's a photo of a strange black man at the decks). That's not my photo.
Who does this?
This? I don't know. Here are more novelties from the pirate market. Look, a disc "DJ Smash Shambala" with Buddha-Bar's design, on which my old remixes are recorded. Another very interesting disc, where someone else's tracks and an ad for DJ Pimenov are released under my name.
Do you fight this somehow?
And how - maybe you can suggest? I don't know who does it or how to fight it.
Do you have favourite spots in Moscow where you relax?
I work in the best clubs in the country, and that's where I relax.
So the best city for you is...
Moscow, of course!
What do you plan to please your fans with in the near future?
I'm giving up touring in favour of Dyagilev Project, I want to play there every day. And I'll keep pleasing you, pleasing you, pleasing you!
You know, NTV aired a story about Russia's gilded youth. Well, they light up to your tracks.
I know. By the way, I was shown in that story too. But I don't like clubbing in London. Although the city itself is very beautiful. Strolling in a park there during the day - that's where the real romance is. A fairy tale come to life. But as for the clubs, I can't say London is some dominant city in that respect. Maybe this culture was born there once upon a time, but the kind of fun that's happening in Moscow now, I haven't seen anywhere. For example, I wanted a drink in a London bar after 3 a.m. and said: "Pour me a vodka!" And they told me: "Not allowed, that's the rule..." Aaah, nightmare!
And is there a division there into Russian and English clubs?
No. I go to play at the club Bavida - it's the best VIP club in London. But both Russian and English youth relax there. And the English are in the majority.
You often play at away parties for the Russian crowd - which of them stuck in your memory the most, and why?
It was a lot of fun in Saint-Tropez last summer! In principle all our parties are good, and the away ones, and the out-of-town ones... ah!
Right now you play in Courchevel, Saint-Tropez, London again - and when you were just starting your DJ career, did you think about this?
Of course, why wouldn't I have thought about it?
And how did you start?
I grew up and went straight to the clubs, they had only just appeared. I was 14 then...
Well, look, I go out too, but I'm not about to become a DJ. Why did you decide to become a DJ?
I knew I'd be very good at it. Just give me the chance, and I'll play you exactly what you want to hear right now!
Did you start by mixing, or...
No... Actually I started writing music earlier. I got a computer at 11, I put some programs on it. It all began with elementary trackers. Though I never wrote music on really primitive programs like Dance Machine and the like. I tried to creatively assemble tracks from various ready-made samples. Then to come up with and make everything myself from start to finish.
And how did you end up at Shambala?
At Shambala? Well, somehow I ended up there (smirks), in 2003 I met Alexey Gorobiy, told him: "I'm such-and-such a musician..." By that time I already had a disc released by Housemusic.
Characters like Pasha Face-Control and Petr Listerman gained nationwide fame with the help of your tracks. Who's next?
Next? Any cult figure from the scene, for example V.V. Putin.
How soon do you think your tracks will get into radio rotation?
Some remixes are in rotation, but I'd like more, and that's what I'm working on now.
Lots of ideas, right now I'm working on bringing them to life.
Another rumour. They say your remix of Valery Leontiev's song "Margarita" pleased Leontiev himself so much that he's going to release it, practically on vinyl. Is that true?
The truth is that people tear their shirts off to this track and DJs play it five times a set.
Are your discs put out by audio pirates?
Oh, of course. Here's a disc that appeared a few months ago, called Leto Limited Edition. Take a look. (Shows a disc done in the traditional Leto Project design, but inside there's a photo of a strange black man at the decks). That's not my photo.
Who does this?
This? I don't know. Here are more novelties from the pirate market. Look, a disc "DJ Smash Shambala" with Buddha-Bar's design, on which my old remixes are recorded. Another very interesting disc, where someone else's tracks and an ad for DJ Pimenov are released under my name.
Do you fight this somehow?
And how - maybe you can suggest? I don't know who does it or how to fight it.
Do you have favourite spots in Moscow where you relax?
I work in the best clubs in the country, and that's where I relax.
So the best city for you is...
Moscow, of course!
What do you plan to please your fans with in the near future?
I'm giving up touring in favour of Dyagilev Project, I want to play there every day. And I'll keep pleasing you, pleasing you, pleasing you!