12.16.19 | t.A.T.u. "HAPPY SMILES" LYRICS
Last month t.A.T.u.'s official VK page made a post about new lyrics from the instrumental track "Happy Smiles" showing up on Apple Music:
"A strange easter egg was found in Apple Music. The album "Veselyie Ulibki" has an instrumental track which, it turns out, has lyrics attached to it.
The unrecognized lyrics are as follows:
Упади, расскажи / Fall, tell me
Надорви и молись / Tear and pray
Они здесь / They are here
Мы не там, где хотим / We are not there where we want to be
Но мы есть / But we are
Да, это не кошмар / Yes, it is not a nightmare
Да, это реальность / Yes, it is reality
Вместо лиц - их оскал / Instead of faces - their grin
Вместо песен - тупая банальность / Instead of songs - stupid banality
Загорелся прожектор / The projector lit up
Заиграла фанера / Playback plays
Запустился реактор / The reactor has started
Белым чёрным и белым / White black and white
Натянули улыбки / Smiles were pulled on
Пусть будет всем весело / Let everyone be happy
Толпа превращается / The crowd transforms
В весёлое месиво / Into a happy mixture
Отойди, посмотри / Move over, look
И пойми, и узнай / And understand, and find out
кто они, Нет, не мы / Who they are, no, not us
Звуки их - замирай / Their sounds - fade away
Да, это не кошмар / Yes, it is not a nightmare
Да, это реальность / Yes, it is reality
Вместо лиц - их оскал / Instead of faces - their grin
Вместо песен - тупая банальность / Instead of songs - stupid banality
Загорелся прожектор / The projector lit up
Заиграла фанера / Playback plays
Запустился реактор / The reactor has started
Белым чёрным и белым / White black and white
Натянули улыбки / Smiles were pulled on
Пусть будет всем весело / Let everyone be happy
Толпа превращается / The crowd transforms
В весёлое месиво / Into a happy mixture
Details are being confirmed."
Some are speculating that the lyrics are fan-made.
11.01.19 | PREMIER: LENA KATINA - "NIKOGDA"
Listen to Lena Katina's new song "Nikogda"/"Never" here: https://backl.ink/84223713
Сердце в белом пластыре больше не болит / Heart in white plaster no longer hurts
Все слова напрасны, лучше без обид / All words are in vain, better without pain
Разлетимся в стороны — это идеально / Fly apart in different directions - that is ideal
Ты играешь втемную, я моргаю дальним / You are playing blindly, I am blinking with what’s distant
Никогда, никогда, никогда, никогда / Never, never, never, never
Наши птицы на запястье не сложатся в стаи / Our birds on the wrist will not form into a flock
Никогда, никогда, никогда, никогда / Never, never, never, never
Вот оно счастье, давай доиграем / Here is happiness, let’s finish the game
Разболтай мне самые, ни к чему хранить / Shake up the most for me, no need to preserve them
Сдавят поясами, но оборвется нить / Squeezed with a belt, but the thread will break
Догорай закатами, разжигай костры / Burn out through sunsets, kindle bonfires
И просто будем краткими, длинные гудки / And we will just be brief, long phone beeps
10.05.19 |LENA KATINA'S FAN MEETNG
Recording the new songs for Mono:
The sound was a little unusual for me and it was a little unusual to sing them. My voice is low…I said, “It feels as if I am not the one singing them”. I was listening to them, but it felt as if it was not me. I go used to it, I liked that it was something new and different. The song “Blihze” was very emotional. When I was talking about having trouble recording because of the feeling in my throat, I was talking about “Blizhe”. It is so personal to me regarding the situation and all.
Selecting people for Lena’s team:
Everything is with people I know. I continue to work with Olga Rudenko, she is my manager. Ivan joined our team recently…he is the PR manager. Alex is the sound director, we have Kristina who is my makeup artist, my stylist Dora, my concert director Artem, and my musicians…we try to have performances with a full band, and even with two guitar players, those who invite me to perform want just me on stage.
Shooting a video for “Blihze” and rejecting the idea of “veasers”:
A lot of people asked for a video. We also got an idea for a plot line which we liked, so we want to shoot a full video. Also, “veasers” are not shown on TV.
English songs:
We have two songs in English already and will continue to record more. There are also performances planned in Europe, in Sweden, Norway, Madrid, a lot of festivals during next year, we have a schedule. So of course I want to record something else in English.
Songs dedicated to Julia:
The only song that was dedicated to Julia was “Never Forget” and the second song that I dedicated to not Julia but to t.A.T.u. and that life was “Posle Nas”. The rest of the songs have nothing to do with Julia.
Outfits and costumes:
My outfits depend on my mood. For a certain performances I wanted leather pants. For the “Lift Me Up” video I sat with magazines and picked out my looks. The video was my idea. I spent hours looking for the clothes. I sat there and cut out exactly what I wanted from magazines, the pants, the shirt. I walked around stores with them and asked them to help me find the clothes. So the same thing goes for other looks. I called Olga and said, “I want a leather vest…I want leather pants and a leather vest”.
“Who I Am” music video:
This is the most embarrassing thing I have done in my entire life. Because I had one idea, but we had a small budget and my idea got trashed. They said that we are going to shoot something else and shot something that was not at all what I wanted…I wanted—I am not going to say, what if still want to do it. I told Olga about my idea and she said that maybe we will shoot it.
New songs:
There is a new song that me and Olga are arguing about. I said it is horrible, but she said that it is cool. We accepted it, so we will see. I did not like the song “Startrek” at first. Then I recorded it and listened to it and liked it. It is also good to perform live. There are song which are great to record and listen to, but performing them is not fun...For example, “Here I Go Again” is a great song to listen to, but not to perform. “Wake Up Call” is fun to perform.
Not being played on the radio.
It is hard to separate yourself from a band. A lot of times I hear, “Well, everything has passed for her already”. Radio stations want to see a future. Some radio stations said that because of my age I do not belong on those stations. I think we have proven that we re moving forward and are not planning to stop. I think the new material, at a minimum, will not be worse than what we have already released.
Duets:
I am planning duets. The song that Olga and I are arguing about is a duet. It has not been recorded yet. It is still being planned and created…the song “Nepravilnaya Lubov / Incorrect Love” is the Russian version of “Stay The Same”. We have not recorded it yet, but we have written the lyrics. We kind of forgot about it, to be honest. There were so many songs that had to be recorded and finished that we forgot about that one.
Unfinished songs and the fist album having around 20 songs recorded, but not released.
We did not have time to finish them. I have a folder in DropBox that has more than 20 songs, probably around 40. Olga and I are planning to listen to them again and decide if we want to get something from there and refresh if to make, make it more modern. All of them are demos, there are no final versions.
Reconciling with Julia:
I love you guys a lot, but Julia and I had an irreconcilable conflict. I made a decision for myself. I think it is better for everyone. I am moving in my own direction and want to do solo work. I think I am doing a good job and one time I already tried to come back and start collaborative work. Nothing good happened between us. We just cannot work together. Unfortunately this is how it is. You should not wait.
Photos that Julia was cut out that Katya, Julia’s manager, saw at Lena’s home:
Of course. I have nothing better to do with my life than to print out photos of me and Julia and then cut out them up. Katya has never been to my home. I don’t know how to comment on this, but if Julia wants to believe it then please. Let’s not believe in words, but in actions.
09.15.19 | JULIA VOLKOVA'S FAN MEETNG
Regarding not performing Davai Zakrutim Zemlyu:
“It is a good song for club performances. When you are on other types of stages it is hard to put all this together and connect it into a set. I have a lot of songs recorded, but it’s hard to put them all together.”
Regarding solo songs that are not released:
“I am not ready to release them for some reason. I have recorded a lot during this time. I don’t want to release them. I want something new.”
Regarding Julia’s voice:
“Everything with my voice is just as it was. I will have one more operation for my voice in Korea. It’s going to be light just to clean it up. I have learned to live with it.”
Julia does not want to do any music collaborations right now.
Julia wants to release a single before the new year and to shoot a video. She also wants to release an EP that is 5-6 songs, maybe t.A.T.u. ones recorded in a new style.
When asked about Julia’s website that no longer works Julia said it is not needed because everything is now on social media.
Julia changed her tattoos that had to do with another religion. “I did not want to connect them, I just wanted to change them.” She has a new wolf tattoo on her back as well as roses.
Julia admitted that she had an English-speaking boyfriend from America. When asked if it was true that she had a fling with Sean Paul, Julia said, “I do not remember”.
About the recent meeting with Martin Kierszenbaum:
“It was both a friendly get-together and a work related one. We talked about the possibility of doing something new. We talked about creative work with Lena and creative solo work. Right now it is just discussions and ideas. He also said there are a lot of requests regarding t.A.T.u. and I told him the problem is not with me.”
Regarding performing t.A.T.u. songs:
Julia said it is impossible not to perform those songs, people ask for them. She wants to re-record t.A.T.u. songs with new arrangements.
Regarding private event requests for t.A.T.u. to perform:
“Yes, there are a lot of them, but Lena rejects them.”
There are no t.A.T.u. songs/demos that were recorded but not released that fans do not know about. “Even what was recorded during Podnebesnaya has already appeared online…we never had an English version of Robot. The German version of Not Gonna Get Us was never recorded and whatever we had with Rammstein was not recorded either.”
When t.A.T.u. were recording their English album in England they went to Trevor Horne’s house where they played tennis and rode horses.
Julia stated several times during the meeting that she has no issues reuniting t.A.T.u. “I want to, the question is with the second member. I am in a positive frame of mind. We were never enemies and never will be. The fact that we got into a fight and had a conflict, well we’ve had conflicts when we worked together - there were arguments and misunderstandings. This wasn’t a categorical conflict, I am ready to communicate. There are many requests from different countries, many people reach out. We tried to connect with Lena’s director and through her PR people, but she is not interested in talking about this topic. It’s too bad because the problem is not about us, but about people who love and know us and want to see us together. I see no reasons to say ‘No’. I think for the 20th anniversary of t.A.T.u. we could have had something awesome, had a concert. I have many ideas and there are many people in Moscow, directors and Channel 1, who are ready to do it. I don’t know how to speak to Lena and come to an agreement. My director tried to speak with her director, but Lena refuses to talk about this topic. If you want to somehow influence Lena you can do so. I tried, but it did not work out for me. I don’t want to knock on an empty door, I do not want to force her. I have a wish to do it. It is interesting for me because it is such a huge past and there are so many people who are waiting for us, so why not do it? It is absurd to avoid it and to refuse it. Why do people have to suffer and keep asking questions?”
“My manager, Katya, was at Lena’s house a few years ago…either to discuss the Olympics or a performance in Moscow. She came back with such shock. She said she did not even know how to tell me. She said, ‘There are photos in her house which you were cut out of.’ I did not see it myself, I promise, but she said, ‘For instance, the photo of Eminem, you, and her - you were cut out of it. David Junk, from Interscope, you were cut out it and its just her and him. Photos with Ivan too.’ .”
Regarding the Neposedy 25th Anniversary concert where Julia and Lena did not interact not stage:
“The performance was strange. She did not even say hello. She was in a different dressing room and honestly I did not have time for her. There was Vlad Topalov, Sergey Lazarev, and Elena Pindzhoyan who I wanted to talk to, but she did not say hi to me, as if I was not even there.”
Julia has not heard Lena’s new album.
Julia said it would be interesting to sit and talk with Lena. She recently spoke with Boris and Ivan, so she would like to connect with Lena too.