“Nowadays it’s difficult to sing military songs”: Anita Tsoi about the new album, a tribute to veterans and self-isolation

- You dedicated a new album, literally, to the “nation of winners” ...

- You know, when I started talking about my album on social networks and revealed its name, a lot of people mixed up the word “nation” with the word “nationalism”. I would like to clarify here.

I am sure everyone knows that the victory in this great war was won by the multimillion, multinational army of the peoples of the Soviet Union. I poured all of them into one name - "The nation of winners is dedicated." For me, this nation of winners is one.

- And why did you decide to collect it from military songs?

- Firstly, a huge holiday is approaching - the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory. For a long time, since childhood, I love songs of the war years, but I was always afraid to touch the saint. You understand: you can just sing them with your friends, but performing professionally is already a pretty big risk, you need a lot of courage.

These songs were sung by the legendary artists of the time: Nina Urgant, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Mark Bernes, Leonid Utesov and many others. Of course, many of them knew about the war firsthand. Accordingly, the feelings that they put into these songs were genuine. Real. That is why in our time it is difficult to perform such songs: to feel the whole depth of what happened to people who visited the front and lived in the post-war period is very, very, very difficult.

Now the situation - the coronavirus pandemic - is somewhat similar to that wartime. We started writing the album at the beginning of the pandemic, when it went to other countries, and we finished writing already in self-isolation.

And many thanks to our guys from the Relic trio, with whom we wrote the album. This is a legendary group created back in Soviet times. The guys are still singing songs of the war years, singing Russian romances. Thanks to our sound producer Alexei Sakharov and colleagues from the cinema who selected the sound design for the album, that is, pulled the cinematic sounds of the war from the archives, libraries, documentary.

We all, in fact, emotionally walked to the brink. Every day the album was recorded, our emotions only intensified and intensified, as we were very worried about the relatives and friends who, now, during the pandemic, also came under attack. Of course, you can draw parallels between that time and this. That is why I decided that we can release this album.

It included 11 everyone’s favorite, well-known, most “diamond” hits, songs of the war years and songs of the 1960s, 1970s from such famous films as “Belorussky Train Station”, “Let's Live Until Monday” and others. I felt the emotional need for just such a time to release an emotional album from such wonderful songs about the war. After all, they gave strength to so many soldiers at the front to survive, to survive, to reach their loved ones, to see the radiance of their eyes. Now the same story is happening: we ourselves have forgotten what a real calm human love is, how we relate to each other. These songs tune in that way.

- You noted that you were afraid to take on such material.

- It's very scary.

- What specifically scared you? Were you afraid to put the wrong emotions into the songs, to be misunderstood?

- No, each creative person has the right to his own personality, of course. But since these songs are already sung in hearts, in souls, to perform them in their own way is a tremendous responsibility.

The most elementary example. We have heard a million times how people around us say: "I love you." This is one phrase, but everyone pronounces it in their own way. And so I wanted to convey these songs in my own way. It was scary - how can I tell you? - “distort” emotion. These songs are too expensive and close to everyone. Especially to veterans who also hopefully hear this album.

I decided to give two thousand copies to our veterans who are still alive. As recently as yesterday they sent the album to Volgograd, sent it to other cities. Albums have already left for Kazan. We are quietly looking for veterans. I really want them to hear these songs! Only they can give a real assessment of what we have done with our musicians. Of course, judge only them.

- How did you select the songs that will be on the album?

- I just took the songs that I have heard and love since childhood. Among them are “Dark Night”, and “We Need One Victory”, about our 10th Airborne Battalion, and “Cranes”, and “Oriole”. Which I love - they took it.

- And there were songs that you wanted to include in the album, but they were not included there for some reason?

- For example, I wrote the composition for the soundtrack for the four-part film about the Great Patriotic War “The Second”. It is called "Come back." I didn’t include it in this album, although I really wanted to (this is my song, the author’s one): I thought that it’s too early for my song to get up next to such amazing, well-deserved compositions as songs from the war years. I didn’t dare.

- How did you come up with the idea to supplement these songs with archived recordings?

- We had a record unique for today - we wrote in one double. She was preceded by dozens of hours of rehearsal, and it was a grueling job. Previously, in Soviet times, everyone wrote like that: even whole orchestras. Now there’s a completely different trend, everyone is spelled out, each instrument separately: you can take the best moments from a voice recording, glue it, and you get a common work.

But we really wanted everything to be lively, truly, that we got confused and began to write in one take. But when the recording was over, I realized that something else was missing, this real atmosphere, in which we want to immerse our listeners, is not enough. After all, each song is a small story, some episode from the life of a soldier who was at the front, was in a dugout, rested in a trench. For example, there was a rare respite when he read a letter to his beloved. And this is the song "Dark Night."

• © Photo courtesy of Anita Tsoi

Then the idea came to use a documentary film library. I am very grateful to our friends filmmakers who spent a lot of hours looking for these unique sounds. We can hear the sound of a sea military pier, that is, the whistles of military steamers. Can you imagine? We can hear the sound really recorded in the dugout, the sound of a fire, the fire from the stove-potbelly stove of those years. Or we can hear the sounds of battle with you. We can hear the sounds of military roads - a march of soldiers' boots.

When you listen to our album, willy-nilly you find yourself in a situation of the present. For me, this is a very significant work and, of course, I really want it to reach the listener, so that the most important feelings in our hearts shake. And maybe, even after this coronavirus, we will take something completely different from these songs. And we recall once again the Great Victory, of our veterans, those people who did not stand for life but for death stood for their native lands, for families. This is very important. And we will honor and remember them further.

- It was your idea, so to approach the creation of the album - to record everything in one take?

- It all started with one song. At first I wanted to record one song, and then I realized that either I had to take it and do it right, or not take it at all. Yes, that was my idea.

- How did your team react to this? Did not try to dissuade? Well, the challenge is very difficult.

- Imagine, I thought that they would look at me strangely, twist at my temple, say: “Anit, you spent four months on the songs of the war years, which everyone already knows well, who needs it?” Not a single person has told me that. People with great optimism took up this work and carried it out with a big heart. And I bow low-low - just a huge thank you!

- That is, you, as a result, are satisfied with the result?

- Highly. When I first put the record to my family, I saw tears in the eyes of our mothers. One mother 83, another 87. And they honestly told me: "Forgive me, they say, Anita, but these songs are better than the ones you sing." That is, "we understand this better, we like it more." Well, this is probably the highest rating. Of course, I was sad a little, but what can you do!

 - Such an ambiguous praise.

- You know, of course, I sent the album to our music critics and was looking forward to their feedback. When I handed them the material for listening, for review, I tried to explain: “So, such and such tasks were set, we wanted to sing this and that, and, in my opinion, we succeeded.” Then sarcasm notes were heard in their voice: “Well, come on, okay, let's listen” ...

But in the end, critics praised the album very highly and even apologized for the skepticism. They explained this by the fact that there was a lot of commercial music around, which, of course, they didn’t perceive, and they were used to the fact that such albums were rather passing. And here everything is highly appreciated.

- Did you have difficulties during work precisely because of coronavirus, restrictive measures?

- Of course. Firstly, our studio is located in the house of culture. This house of culture was closed when self-isolation began, and we urgently had to look for another studio of the same equipment. There are very few in Moscow, literally two or three. Hardly found.

Plus, one of our musicians is in the “risk zone” of people who may have serious consequences from the coronavirus. Of course, everyone was worried about him, I wanted to somehow save him. I am very grateful that the guys went out for the last time to work.

Now, of course, we have already relaxed, we are sitting at home on self-isolation. Thank God, everyone is fine with health, but we still worry about our loved ones, because in families, among loved ones, friends and acquaintances there are victims of coronavirus. I'd like, of course, that everything was normal.

- You already said that the albums went to Volgograd, to Kazan. And in what other cities will the war veterans receive such a gift?

- In different cities. Veterans live all over Russia, I know several people who are now abroad. And we even found those addresses! This is a very painstaking work, thanks a lot, first of all, to city municipal organizations and volunteers: they collected addresses, prepared for the 75th anniversary of the Victory, were going to deliver food, support veterans ...

- Do you plan commercial distribution of the album? Or is it an extremely limited edition for veterans?

- No, no, no, no, no, why! May 8 is the premiere of our album on all digital platforms. Maybe a little later we will release the discs (because there are fans who collect my albums). We have a big event ahead: on February 5-6, 2021, we are planning a big show for my anniversary - I will be 50 years old. To this date, we will also print a few albums.

- Did you plan to make a concert program with military songs after the pandemic?

- Honestly, we thought about the presentation, even outlined the place for the presentation. This is one place in the suburbs where the dugout has been preserved. We thought to hold a premiere there, invite veterans, sing for them. But coronavirus ruined our plans.

Of course, I have not thought about a big concert yet. But who knows! Now the most important thing is that we get out so that everyone can move normally and not be afraid to be next to each other, of course. Time will tell.

• © Photo courtesy of Anita Tsoi

- What does war mean to you personally? Did your loved ones share with you memories of life in those years?

- To be honest, every May 9, most of my life, I found myself in a strange situation. Nobody fought in my family and, you can imagine, when everyone dressed the St. George ribbons, when the Immortal regiment was walking, when each of the classes in which I studied told stories about my grandfathers and grandmothers, I had nothing to say!

In general, there were no one in Korean families whom we could be proud of and whose names would be publicly known. For a long time I did not understand why this is happening. But a few years ago I learned that, in Stalin's time, Koreans living in the Soviet Union, as well as Japanese and Chinese, were forbidden to go to the front. They were afraid of espionage and did not let anyone in. However, it is known for certain that 372 Koreans, under alien - Buryat, Yakut, even Russian - surnames fought on the fronts of World War II. All awarded. Among them are pilots, and foot soldiers, and sailors.

You can find a lot of interesting stories. So one of my namesake, Kim (I'm a girlhood Kim), under the name of Ivanov, worked in the team of Claudia Shulzhenko. She was a dancer. Together with Claudia Shulzhenko, she gave about 500 concerts in besieged Leningrad.

Recently, the “Memory Watch” campaign has begun across the country. And I planted a tree in my area (since I am now self-isolating) in honor of these 372 Koreans. I understood one thing: when a person was born and raised on his land, when he had his own family here, when his mother lives on this land - this is the homeland. It does not matter who you are by nationality, you go and defend your great Motherland. Memory to our wonderful veterans. And I am very happy and proud that the Koreans also defended, not sparing themselves, our Soviet land.