On October 31, 2020, the album “Lost Paradise” from the young Moscow metal band “ANATOMY of MELANCHOLY”was released .
The official date of birth of the band is considered to be the day of the first solo concert – October 31, 2019, but the band’s history dates back to the 2000s. In 2003, when it wasn’t even a question of conquering the music industry, the future founders became friends: Konstantin Sonin and Alexey Shipulin. Only after a long time they decided to create a common band, and “ANATOMY of MELANCHOLY” was born, playing melodic rock with heavy and expressive riffs. Currently, the band consists of five members: Alexey Shipulin (vocals), Konstantin Sonin (lead guitar), Vadim Tuktarov (rhythm guitar), Vera Mecha (bass guitar and backing vocals), Sergey Kuznetsov (drums). The producer is Maxim samosvat, a former member of the power metal band Epidemic and the rock band Mechanical Poet.
“ANATOMY of MELANCHOLY” has its own tricks – it’s an atmospheric sound, lyrical and emotional lyrics and soulful male vocals.
The lyrics in our songs are personal stories with deep meaning, and our songs themselves are the world in which our thoughts, our feelings, our dreams, our memories and, of course, our secrets live…
As the musicians admit, revealing the meaning of the title: “Melancholy for us is not despondency and sadness-it is a conscious, deep view of the world and what is happening around us, devoid of false illusions.” On its first birthday, ANATOMY of MELANCHOLY released the long-awaited album Paradise Lost, consisting of 11 tracks, each of which is a small and vivid story. The sound of the songs will pleasantly surprise those who like a variety of arrangements and experiments with instruments.
We talked to one of the band’s founders and vocalist, Alexey Shipulin, about the album’s recording, creativity, and future plans.
— How long have you been recording the album and what is the most difficult part for you during the recording process: writing lyrics, music, choosing an arrangement, recording or mixing?
— We started working on our debut album at the end of March last year. This was our first experience, and due to our innate perfectionism, we approached each stage with maximum concentration, achieving the best result.
— You have a very interesting combination: heavy-sounding music and lyrics with deep meaning. Why did you choose this particular collaboration?
— We really love heavy music, it is from our point of view that it fully conveys the right energy through which we would like to convey creativity to our listeners. But at the same time, we do not confine ourselves to one genre, but we want to consciously and consistently expand the boundaries of heavy music perception among our listeners.
— The album is produced by Maxim samosvat, which immediately catches your eye. How did you find him, or did he find you?
— My vocal teacher Ekaterina Belobrova introduced me to Maxim. She brought up most of the modern Russian rock vocalists. Maxim, among other things, was her student when he was a vocalist of the band “Epidemic”. We met, shared our vision for the creativity and development of the group, and after a short time Maxim agreed to work together.
— It’s hard not to notice the very bright and conceptual album cover, the style of photos. Who created such beauty for you?
– The cover is made by the wonderful American artist Lauren marks. As for visual images: we pay a lot of attention to them, along with our creativity. There are really creative people in our team who bring this to life.
— The last track “Path” contains the words: “and I may burn, but there will be light.” The composition fits perfectly into the end of the record. Do you, as musicians, as a separate creative unit “ANATOMY of MELANCHOLY”, also want to leave your light in the musical world?
— Without false guile – it really is.
— The name of your group “ANATOMY of MELANCHOLY” determines the direction of creativity-the significance of lyrics with deep meaning?
“No doubt about it. We borrowed the name itself from Robert burns, or rather from his work of the same name – “the Anatomy of Melancholy”. It fully reflects the creativity of our group.
— How are the songs of “ANATOMY of MELANCHOLY” born: do you write tracks together, together?
– The main generator of musical ideas is Konstantin Sonin, he is a born melodist, and this cannot be taken away from him. Both texts and music are created completely independently of each other – we don’t write lyrics to music, or Vice versa. When we think of an album and understand what we want to convey to our listeners with this album: we take ready-made melodies, combine them with the lyrics, and our songs are born. The final sound of our songs is acquired in the process of arrangement, and this is a collective work, in which our music producer Maxim samosvat acts as the main conductor.
— What is important to you in music and what are you looking for in it at the moment?
— In music, first of all, we are looking for creative self-realization. Perhaps this is the most important reason why we are engaged in this creative activity.
— Did the quarantine affect the group and its activities positively or negatively?
“The quarantine allowed us to concentrate on making an album and two separate singles: “Tanks” and “Striped flag”, which we presented to our listeners in December 2020.
— Everyone has their own likes and preferences, so we still ask: what is the favorite song from the album for each of the band members?
— We discussed this issue within the group and realized that no one has any one favorite song, everyone has three or even four top songs. This choice lies in the emotional perception of the participants, and it is not so easy to explain in words.
— Is music a hobby or a job for you?
– Creativity at the present time is not our whole life and certainly not a source of income, but certainly not a hobby. This is an integral part of our life. We do this with great pleasure and enthusiasm and want to leave a significant mark on the musical history. Ambitious, but honest.
— How does music affect a person’s everyday life and is it necessary?
– Music makes a person’s life emotionally richer and more diverse. Whether to live with music or not is everyone’s choice.
— Do you need to follow the needs of the audience, or should you compete for attention by playing in your favorite direction?
— We are a band that counts on a wide audience, so, of course, when creating arrangements of songs, we take into account modern trends in music, but at the same time we do not go beyond the heavy sound, trying to find our uniqueness within this style. It always seems that the next lane is going faster, but in fact the road will be mastered by the one who is walking.
— What are your plans for the future: recording new songs, concerts, music videos?
— The new EP “Our CINEMA” was released recently, on January 26. It is very important for us, as it will open a new page in our creativity. We plan to release three or four more mini-albums this year. We have more than enough ideas and materials for this, and we are already fully immersed in the work. Live performances are also an integral part of the creative process. on 31.01.2021, we performed in the semifinals of the Emergenza competition in Moscow. The final is coming up, and on February 7 we performed in St. Petersburg (AURORA CONCERT HALL). We don’t have to make other plans yet, for obvious reasons.
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