This "interview" was conducted with Mechanical Apfelsine on 22-Aug-2010 Thanks Mechanical Apfelsine
From which country / town do you come from?
We’re from Russia, Nizhny Novgorod City.
Could you briefly summarize Mechanical Apfelsine and what you guys are about?
We play classic synthy-pop with elements of future-pop. They’re three musicians in our band, Sergei Dubrovin, Alexander Bulban, Edward Tabakov. We really enjoy what we do.
How's the start of 2010 been for you thus far?
The start of 2010 was like a rollercoaster for us, but now everything is alright we work under our new album.
Other incoming projects?
In 2009 we released our first album Space Without End on label Shadowplay Records. Now we’re going to release a split with our compatriots from band Purple For Side.
If people don't know what you and your music are about, where have they been? How would you describe yourself?
Our music presents a modern view of synthy-pop, based on up-to-date arrangements with typical for this genre deep, heartfelt male vocal.
If you could play a show anywhere in the world where would it be?
On Mars. To be serious, we’d like to play concerts in different cities around Europe, where we’ve never been before.
What day jobs did you guys have while you were putting the band together?
Main occupation of our musicians is daily work, unfortunately, it's not concerned with music, that’s why we devote to music only our spare time.
What is your music background? Who are you and your bandmembers? Tell your story
Originally our band was formed in 1998 in Nizhny Novgorod. We played in different musical styles until 2003, when we focused on synthy-pop. The group's actual line-up consists of Sergei Dubrovin (lead vocals), Alexander Bulban (music, arrangements), Edward Tabakov (keyboards).
Back to your roots, how did you first come to music?
Each of us from his early childhood was interested in music, as time went by this hobby grew into a wish to create something by ourselves. Our musical tastes constantly developed, transformed and then we got Mechanical Apfelsine.)
What are your top ten favorite electro/industrial Club Songs of all time?
1. Project Pitchfork “Timekiller”
2. And One “Sometimes”
3. Erasure “Am I Right?”
4. Nine Inch Nails “Closer”
5. VNV Nation “Solitaire”
6. Grendel “The Judged Ones”
7. The Cure “Disintegration”
8. Depeche Mode “The Landscape Is Changing”
9. Front 242 “ Headhunter”
10. Rammstein “ Ich will”.
Who is your favorite band at the moment?
Each of us has his own list of favorite bands of different genres, therefor we can’t name one or a couple of favorite bands. The main thing that we agree in opinion, music that we listen to should be qualitative and has it’s singularity.
What band or bands would you like to tour with and why?
We’d like to tour with And One, they have really exciting show and impressive leader, he brings a lot of energy and positivity. Also Project Pitchfork, because they are mysterious and their front man is very charismatic, just like a dark prince.
Is touring a pleasure or a necessary evil?
For us touring it’s a great pleasure, it give us opportunity to visit many cities, to meet interesting, attractive people. We always bring with us to home a lot of good impressions.
And that's how you came up with the name of the band? How did you come up with the name
Mechanical Apfelsine?
It was Alexander who created the band’s name in 1996 under the impression of the book by Anthony Burgess “A Clockwork Orange”. We changed the name slightly and got needed word combination.
How did you come up with the title "Space Without End" (Mechanical Apfelsine latest CD)
The album title "Space Without End" was taken from the same named song, which oddly enough, was not included in the album. It will be released in the next album (not titled yet), along with other good songs such as You Can, Poison and Pop Monster.
How do you feel to hold the finished cd in your hands?
We feel complete satisfaction from the work done, just as the writer feels, holding a book published.
What are you currently listening to on your mp3 player?
Mechanical Apfelsine.
What artists have you been listening to these days?
We listened to a great amount of music from Chillout to Dark Electro, it’s hard to mark out something.
Do you spend a lot of time on remixing other artists tracks or is it something you do when you have some time over?
We make remixes of other artist’s tracks only when we have free time.
Is your family pretty impressed with what you've done?
They are in shock still .
Have you recorded any previous cd`s or posted any audio files on the Internet? What type of recording process did you use? Who produced your recording?
Until 2009 we posted music in mp3 files on the internet in demo-quality. A producer of the album is our label Shadowplay Records.
What new music inspires you when you are writing? Tell me about lyrical compositions what you can tell about the done work? How does your music creation process work? How do you create a song?
You can be inspired by any music even one that plays in the mall. The main thing is not to lose inspiration, until you reach the house and take a musical instrument. Usually we are inspired by what we listen to. The lyrics in this album “Space Without End” touches themes of love, space and meaning of human life. We believe that we have made a good album that can compete with others synthy-pop artist’s albums. Firstly we think up the melody, then record a vocals and after that work under the arrangement. Our friends Michael Makarychev and Tatiana Prohodenko write texts for our songs. How they do it, it remains a mystery for us.
How did you sell your CD?s/Audio Files? (Consignment? Live sales? My space, iTunes,Distributor?) Since the music industry is more open now to purely electronic music has this made things easier for you?
Most of our CDs are sold through the internet-shops, a small part in the music stores. We are also presenting them for free at the concerts as a bonus. In Eastern Europe there is a serious problem with CDs sales, because a lot of people usually download it from the internet completely for free, that makes the music business unprofitable.
So what are their main influences as a band at the moment?
Negative factors that happen in our country.
Do you see the Internet as a benefit for bands like Mechanical Apfelsine? Does the growing possibility of someone downloading your material, rather than buying it, worry you?
On the one hand Internet is very useful since many people have the opportunity to get acquainted with our band, on the other, unfortunately, we can’t get almost any financial gain from sales of CDs. Yes it worry us, because many musicians can’t get a legitimate profit from sales of CDs. And that profit could be used to purchase new instruments and music technologies.
How do you see the future of download / Copyright in area of goth-electro/industrial music ? What are the best ways to develop it in your mind?
In our opinion free downloads from Internet will be constantly growing, because the society of consumption is growing from year to year. We think, the company which provides Internet services should pay for information traffic to authors. Let it be just a token amount.
What about all the big festivals? Summer Darkness in The Netherlands? Mera Luna in Germany familientreffen in Germany and Wave Gothic Treffen in Germany and many more?
We’d enjoy playing a show at one of these festivals, and also at any other European festival.
If there was one thing you want people to know about your band what would that be?
We’re the best in our genre.
Please let us know about your upcoming plans, some new releases you like to confirm here.
As we wrote before, we’re going to release a split with Purple Fog Side and closer to the end of the year our new album.
It has been a pleasure to interview you on your musical activity, any last words to your ebm-industrial fans?
Enjoy listening to our music. We love you, see you at our concerts!
This page,and all contents,are © 2003 / 2010 permission by ebm-industrial.nl
