Despite being together just a couple of years, the electro-pop trio Tesla Boy are already well known in Moscow’s vibrant club scene. Their popularity continues to grow throughout greater Russia—by way of Live Journal (Russia’s answer to the blogosphere) and a scattering of shows among the country’s plentiful time zones—and has now begun to creep west into Europe and beyond.
Their swift rise is not all that surprising though, as their music—and image in general—is extremely well-calculated. Tesla Boy’s brand of synth-pop draws heavily on groups like Soft Cell and Depeche Mode—the latter, a band that not only conjures fond memories for many Russians, but remains extremely popular here—as well as the resurgence of indie dance music throughout the US and Europe over the last few years. With saturated synths, sexually charged lyrics, and clothes and hairstyles ripped from 1982, Russia’s hipster youth no longer have to look to the West when they want to dance.
Donoschik talked to Tesla Boy’s frontman, Anton Sevidov, about making a living as musician and growing up under the sway of both Rachmaninov and David Bowie.
Donoschik: How did you get into music?
Anton Sevidov: Music was always playing at my parents’ home. I was born with it playing. My father had a huge collection of vinyl, and he regularly enriched it with the help of friends who had an opportunity to visit Europe. My grandpa often brought us brand-new music from abroad, too. He was a music addict, too, just like my father. I think the first time I realized that I wanted to become a musician was at a birthday party where my father’s friends—jazz musicians—were playing. I was sitting by a grand piano for several hours, astonished, and when I came home I told my parents that I wanted to be a musician. Later I sang in a choir, and still later, got my first synthesizer. That’s the story in short.
What was the music scene like in Russia when you were growing up?
Horrible, pathetic crap on TV. And as always an army of unknown talented musicians. It became more fun when an alternative club-scene appeared. Lots of local djs and electro-bands emerged, together with parties which people threw like they were end-of-the-world feasts, preparing and buying costumes a week prior. It became much better when stars from abroad began to tour to Russia.
How is the scene in Russia today?
The scene is quite big today. There’re a lot of talented guys who were sitting at home in suburbia writing their stuff in Fruity Loops [sampling software], and now have got the scene and audience at their service. The thing is that the Internet wasn’t well spread in Russia till the ’00s, and media wasn’t (and actually isn’t) that progressive. So with the Internet, these guys were given an opportunity to present their stuff to an audience on the web and then come out to the clubs.
