Pocas
bandas en la actualidad pueden alcanzar un estilo propio, más si abarcan un
género en particular, y que tuvo su apogeo a finales de los 70s y principios de
los 80s.
Estoy
de hablando de Human Tetris es una
banda oriunda de Moscú, Rusia. El cuarteto de se formó en el 2008 por Arvir
Kriger (voz y guitarra), Maxim
Keller (guitarra), Maxim Zaytsev
(bajo), y Sasha Kondyr (batería).
La
historia de la formación de la banda formula en amigos que se juntan para hacer
música, basando en una decisión principal en el hecho de no compartir intereses
musicales entre ellos, para no experimentar con los géneros.
Ruver Pt 1 (2016)
Uno se
da cuenta que Human Tetris suenan a Human Tetris, lejos de las
comparaciones, por las creaciones de sus piezas o por la voz parecida a los
pioneros del post- punk. Con el riesgo latente de caerse en la monotonía, pero
ellos han sabido mantenerse y colocar muchas canciones en la necesidad de las
exigencias que este estilo genera. Me gusta el sonido a viejo y a nuevo que
transmiten, atemporal, dándole el revival a esa complejidad de géneros oscuros
que dejaron de sonar a mediados de los 80s, no porque no era bueno, sino porque
no estábamos preparados, y los pocos que vivieron esa época, son nuestros
maestros que con añoranza nos relatan los pasajes mágicos.
“Human Tetris“
(2009),
y desde que la primera canción suena “People” entras en una atmosfera
diferente que cada banda te reserva, recorriendo las 5 canciones del EP
homónimo, descubres que el trance no se puede quedar a medias, que necesitas
vida en sus acordes, que necesitas hacer camino en cada letra de canción
construida. Parece una promesa que tal vez se cumpla, solo falta esperar el
siguiente material para confirmarlo. No tuvimos que esperar demasiado, en el
2010 “Soldiers”
un segundo EP salió a la luz otras 5 canciones con notoriedad de semblanza “Machine”,
“Kings & Queens”, “Soldiers” son temas que sobresalen y nos dicen
que Human Tetris va a dejar una
historia digna.
En el
2012 es un álbum de larga duración “Happy Way In The Maze Of Rebirth”
un disco memorable desde “Summer in Crimea”, tema que nos
remonta en la inspiración y la melodía pausada con destellos de relajación. “Cold
Wind” es otra canción que contiene emoción contenida, una pieza mental
digerible como telekinesis, puedes abandonar el cuerpo mientras tu mente viaja
entre los espacios más recónditos, lo mismo “Angel”, “Insanity” con
guitarras y batería aludiendo a tiempos paralelos que te dejan satisfecho y
sabes vivir entre los mundos que te generan sus canciones.
Ahora
esperamos la primera visita a España y la presentación del nuevo Ep “River Pt 1“. para no decir que eso fue todo. Human Tetris
por primera vez en España.
THE INTERVIEW
The songs
of Human Tetris sounds like an elegant Pop and Rock where I can detect Post
Punk and bit of New Wave. A mix of styles that results on the personal and
beautiful sound of your music. But, what are really your musical influences?
MAX: We've been listening to a whole lot of different pop music throughout the
years, and we stopped labeling it a long time ago. It might be a disappointing
answer, cause you were probably looking for some band namedropping with this
question, but we really just don’t
categorize music anymore. The only two things we're looking for in music now
are clear thought and originality, no matter the genre.
ARVID:
Cant say better. The only thing that we are looking for now is original thinking
in any genres.
Next year
will mark 10 years since you formed in 2008 and almost 8 from you edited your
first album named “Human
Tetris”. What is the difference between the music of Human
Tetris today and your music 10 years ago?
MAX: HT is the first band Arvid and I have ever played in, we hardly had any skills
playing our instruments back then, let alone writing songs and working with
sound. We were also highly entranced by post-punk back then, which resulted in
a kind of a simulated sound. It was a naive time, yet we were very honest with
our songs, they were all lived through, which is why a number of these songs
still resonate with us. This honesty started to fail us in time, which was one
of the main reasons we went on hiatus. Now we've matured a little, both
musically and personally, and found new ways to look at things, new ways to be
honest and enjoy ourselves while making music, which is the cornerstone in this
process to us. For better or worse, we’re way more deliberate now, than we were when we
started.
What's your
inspiration when making your songs?
ARVID: Inspiration comes from everything and long before you can filter it into
something. I remember a lot of good and bad things that inspired me somehow but
I don’t
remember moments when I wrote songs that were inspired by those events.
MAX: It’s
more of an Arvid question, but as for me, it’s about
active reflection and ceaseless work. However, there’s always an
element of spontaneity in arranging a song, like, we never examine too many
options of an instrumental part before we pick one, if a melody works to us, it
works. We never go all analytical there.
Are you
completed your expectations with your last album “River
Pt1”? What do you expect from this album?
MAX: We love the new songs, obviously, otherwise we wouldn’t have
released them. We found a very organic way for HT sound to evolve, and there
are no expectations regarding it really, we just feel happy every time we play
them live, and we are very grateful for an opportunity to do so regularly.
Also, we are really looking forward to start working on the second part of the
album, because lately we haven’t
had an opportunity to plunge into this work.
ARVID: I don’t
think we really expected that much to happen. Sometimes spontaneous things work
out good.
What do we
will see and enjoy in your live concerts?
MAX: We came to really enjoy playing live just recently, so we hope it's gonna be
great. Expect a crazy lazer show, a gospel choir and a dozen go-go dancers.
ARVID: Amen!
This is not
your first time in Spain. What do you think about the Spanish crowd? What do
expect from them, this time?
MAX: This is actually our first time playing in Spain. We've visited your country a
couple of times though, and there's a lot to love in terms of youth culture,
the way you guys are open to intercommunication, and food, of course. We're
looking forward to a warm, energetic show!
ARVID: Well I expect a lot of fun and nice weather.
What are
your plans for next year 2017? We assume that you will touring around clubs and
festivals. Can you advance anything to us? Any important event?
MAX: We have a lot of tour plans for 2017, but the biggest plan of all is to get
River Pt. 2 done. We have a very good feeling about it.
Do you
think the digital world will end with music as we know it today? What do you
think is the future of music?
MAX: The access to making and distributing music is getting easier every day, which
is a two-sided thing, where there is an opportunity to find some real gems in a
huge pile of garbage. I think music world will keep getting more and more
scattered, strutified, as smaller groups of people will keep gathering around
particular artists that suit their tastes perfectly. I believe the era of huge
bands, like U2 or Coldplay, will be over pretty soon.
ARVID: For sure! No more rock stars or shit like this. Things getting easier with
internet that is what matters! We are not living in the future, we are living
now and I am fully satisfied.
What is
your best memory about music?
MAX: Listening to Kino for the first time at the age of five.
ARVID: Watching Queen – Breakthru
video for the first time.
How is a
normal day in the life of a member of Human Tetris?
MAX: It varies from member to member — some of us have a day job, some don't, some
are busy raising kids, some are crazy good at Tinder game, some work out, some
shoot heroin in parks. We're a pretty mixed group of people.
What do you
think about the current economic and social situation in Spain, Europe and in
the World in general?
MAX: Wow, that's a big question! Don't know much about it, to be honest, but
president Trump seems like a very perilous omen to me. Ignorance is taking
control on a global scale.
ARVID: I feel like I'm getting used, robbed spiritually, controlled… Shit is
driving me crazy. That's a huge question and a really sad situation.
HUMAN TETRIS
Last forever (2016)
MISCELLANY
(let's do it in a form of quick answers)
Could you
tell us about...
... A
book?:
MAX: Slaughterhouse
5 by Kurt Vonnegut
ARVID: Flowers
for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
... A movie?:
MAX: Du
levande by Roy Andersson
ARVID: 5
Centimeters Per Second by Makoto
Shinkai
... A song?:
MAX: Champagne
Coast by Blood Orange
Arvid: Real
Estate–Darling
... An album?:
MAX: Doolittle
by Pixies
ARVID: «Как я стал предателем»
by АукцЫон
... A group
or soloist?:
MAX: Milk Music
ARVID: Morrissey
... A
hobby?:
MAX: Shooting
heroin in parks
ARVID: «Hot» water
drink lifting
Thank you
very much. Best wishes from Spain, and congratulations for your music.
MAX & ARVID: Thank you very much for an amazing
interview, Josechu!
un grupazo increible, deseando que vengan a tocar
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