DJ Smash & Artik & Asti put carbon dioxide on the charts

Seville (Artik & Asti): “Guys are cloudier, this is not for me”

“I’m waiting for you at the bottom, I like the muddier guys,” Seville, the new soloist of Artik & Asti, loudly declares, and in combination with a cheeky beat and dancing on the table amid the neon madness of the video, a frivolous musical picture is obtained in a summery way.

“Everything in this track, from the text to my makeup in the video, is an experiment for me,” Seville says in an interview with ZD. — Style, sound, general mood are different from the previous works of Artik & Asti. So it was exciting and reckless, but at every stage I got a pure buzz.

The singer calls “CO2” not a very pop song, primarily in relation to the lyrics. And it must be admitted that its author Natalya Grishkovets really came up with lines in which vice is covered with a kind of fog, which, of course, contributes to intrigue.

“When I first saw the text, it seemed to me that there were a lot of strange words in it: gills, iron, baubles – some kind of fishing story. Usually songs use more rational words. But as a vocalist, I tried to get used to all this as much as possible. And also “loves the guys more obscure” … Now everyone is asking if this applies to me personally. I hope no. I love strange people, but the guys are more obscure – this is more for my heroine.

The position of vocalist in Atrik & Asti for Sevil became the embodiment of a childhood dream of a stage. The future singer was born in Uzbekistan, grew up on the Black Sea coast, did not receive formal musical education, and all her skills are a combination of classes with teachers and a purposeful character. The prospects that gave a red diploma from an industrial-pedagogical institute did not cool off the desire of the graduate to make a career in music, and Sevil quite brightly lit up at a variety of competitions: from X-Factor and Superstar to Voice and New Wave. However, the proposal of Artem Umrikhin, the same Artik from Artik & Asti, to record several songs of the group was worth the most rated airs.

“In an interview, Artem said that in parallel with me, four more girls participated in the casting. Thanks to him for the fact that I didn’t know anything, this would cause additional tension, ”recalls the singer. – After I sang the song “Feelings”, Artem invited me to meet, it was stupid to refuse. We were in no hurry, the decision-making process dragged on for two months. I won’t say that I was shaking and worried “they won’t choose”, the very experience of recording these songs would be very useful. Of course, to be in such a group is very cool. I have always had an active lifestyle. But now there is a completely different scale, involvement and recognition, and a different degree of responsibility. And I like this rhythm, I love to come home tired.

DJ Smash: “Since my set starts, the club sells more liquor”

DJ Smash doesn’t have much time to talk this summer. His armor-piercing dance sets have always been in demand, and after the pandemic restrictions were lifted, the artist is in great demand.

In terms of collaborations, Andrey has an enviable reputation. He is one of those who can turn into gold and launch into space both an energetic dance number and sentimental pop music. It is noteworthy that Artik & Asti succeed in approximately the same, and we can say that in this case, two hitmakers piled on one song at once. This does not always mean success, but everything seems to be working out with CO2. The track was released less than two weeks ago and has already gained more than three million views. Probably, some labor pains in this case gave a positive effect.

“CO2 has a long history in general, we tried many different artists,” says DJ Smash. – I almost gave the track to another singer, I won’t say which one, but at the last moment I seemed to feel: after all, something was not right. And showed the song to Artem. He listened and offered to do it together. Seville sang great, almost from the first time, and we realized that now everything is in its place.

-You have a lot of collaborations with different artists, and there are many hits among them. Were there moments when the track did not justify the expectations placed on it at all?

-Of course, there was such a thing, but I try to erase such failures from memory. But in general, even the coolest and most successful producers have material that for some reason did not work. And this is about a third of what is recorded. A lot of factors play for or against the song, sometimes not related to the music at all.

-It’s even harder for songs to break through now. Too many of them hit the web every day …

-Competition always creates quality. A really huge number of tracks are uploaded to social networks every day. And it is surprising that out of thousands of songs you can still hear a real diamond that becomes a super hit. And people themselves find such a track, distribute it and move it to all the charts. I am for natural selection, and it is possible only now.

– Many of your colleagues are very angry that many artists from the charts do not even know the notes and play music like roulette …

-It doesn’t anger me at all, I even do all sorts of collaborations with such artists. With bloggers, rappers, beginners and not so much. I believe that talent develops in different directions. Someone can write music and produce, and someone can catch the trend of the minute, offer something that people will like, this is also very important. I have been making music for a long time and often see super talented people around me, but magic does not happen. Now it is necessary not only to write music, but also to sell it correctly.

-You started as a DJ in an era when they were required to be able to mix music well on a variety of media. Now there are quite a few people who call themselves DJs who mix nothing and use literally two phones. How do you feel about this simplification of this kind of occupation?

-If they have an audience and someone likes it, then everything is fine. Here Morgenstern often put a track from the phone and performed under the plus. Everyone liked it. There would be a hit that the audience reacts to, and how to present it … I play really cool on anything, but my main plus is that I have a lot of material and I have a feeling of the audience. When I first started playing in Moscow clubs, their owners told me that with the beginning of my set, more alcohol was sold.

-Summer is a good time for dance music. Your schedule is probably obscenely tight?

-This summer is really very lively. I am not in Moscow now. Almost every day something happens, and weekends are always busy. Before the pandemic, my schedule at that time included Nikos, Ibiza, Saint-Tropez, Forte dei Marmi, Sardinia, and now Petersburg, Sochi, Yekaterinburg and other Russian cities.

-You had a moment in your career when you were a resident in British and Italian clubs, played at big international festivals and recorded with western artists. Given what is happening now, is such cosmopolitanism completely impossible, or are there any contacts and plans left?

– There are requests. In August, they invite me to play at a big party in Sardinia, but I don’t get there, because the day before I play in Sochi, which I agreed on earlier. Among my friends in Russia there are many electronic musicians who write international material, perform abroad, and for them almost nothing has changed. I probably decided in 2017 that I was too carried away with English-language content, and tried to concentrate on the Russian market. Since then I have made probably ten singles in Russian, and half of them have been successful. For me, Russia is my native country, where everything is clear, and I always liked to play for my compatriots. There was a moment when we were very fond of English-language music, it hit the radio cool, people accepted it. But now is the time for Russian-speaking culture, it needs to be promoted, and I, for my part, actively participate in the process.

The music economy has changed recently. What is more profitable for you personally now: streaming, digital distribution, live concerts?

-It’s not clear yet, the changes happened quite recently. Your income will probably fall. I think that I will have to do everything: upload tracks, offer them in TV shows and advertising, and, of course, perform on stage. Now there are zero foreign artists here, in connection with which the Russian ones have a chance to perform at their home venues.

-I can assume that this summer the opportunity to spend an evening in an armchair with a glass is an impossible dream for you. Or sometimes it works?

– Well, life is one, so you need to allocate time for yourself. I try to do this every day. I like to watch TV shows, I really appreciate red wine, I fly with my family on vacation. Why else sit in the studio for days and nights if it does not give you the opportunity to please yourself and your loved ones.