FEDDY

Feddy Lavrov
”Daddy’s Old Drum” (first solo album) +
demo CD called “Somnambula” (the material for the upcoming full-length album)


When speaking of Feddy Lavrov & his latest incarnation Somnambula, words like eclectic genius & unsung alternative Russian superstar are easily bantered about. The former member of "Begemot" has drawn out a path of musical creative originality, that is utterly a stylistic journey of individualism that is rarely seen in todays post modern music circles.
From the opening chimes of the reverse gated backwards tape effects of "No Strangers" it's apparent that we are listening to a musical gem of eclectic pop melody. Songs such as "Name" & it's hook driven upbeat catchy rock, to "Fingers Crossed" with its effervescent funk/pop/rock chorus, show the strength & diversity of a gifted unique songwriter.
In "DaddysOldDrum" the alternative quirky Europop feel to "GypsiesSong" there is something going on with Feddy Lavrov that we can only call dynamic. Dare we say there are at times an almost Brit retro splash of influence throughout some of the work that is marked with a totally uncanny & singular originality that is focused in the sounds of Feddy Lavrov's work.
At times in songs like "SomethingSuper" we are treated to delightful mid tempo flowing chord structure & changes that are both inventive & vexing.
Tunes like "CryForJoy" with it's maudlin delivery & "Find Myself In You" & "Dunja'sComingHome" are experimentalism & alt-Popism that move in tangents of Feddy's directional impetus.
Some of the more mainstream selections such as "LaVictoria" with her rock/funk off-handedness to "OddessaDanceSillyPop" to "Smack The Taste" with its suspended 2nd's & 4th' are more hard edged.
"Seven Days In Summer" explores this area from the Somnambula material.
Then there are cuts such as "Left In The Past" which revert into a charming progressive pop overtone & the brooding & moody "BlownUpBalloons" alt-fuzz drone-pop. Couple these with songs like "Reflected At Fault" an alternative tinged pop/rock abstraction from the Somnambula project & "Dream On Demon" with its stark social prospectus & you have the works of a diverse craftsman of sonic proportions.
Other songs from the "Somnambula" selection are equally disarming, such as "Live In Love" with its private revelations & emo-alt industrial feel to "Peugeons" (Gotta Go Illegal) tribal techpost-grunge, show another side of Fedia Lavrov that keep mutating & evolving in varying musical directions & areas of impact to the listener & fellow participant.
Feddy Lavrov is a musical visionary who crosses through the boundaries of alternative pop & rock models whilst combining flashes of emo post punk industrial brilliance. To say that Fedia Lavrov is under rated is an understatement. A truly gifted songwriter & modern artist of uncanny creative powers & magnetic musical intrigue. Feddy Lavrov is a musical enigma of the 21st century. No one can feel that he is a stranger when listening to the singular vision & genius of Feddy Lavrov's music.


Leigh Silberg







- United Global Artists (Leigh Silberg)

1. You have a pretty varied list of influences-- I was wondering how much of an effect they have on your music?

On the list of my influences I only name those artists who have been influent on me and my music, I simply can not mention everyone I love. That's why the list looks so varied - from Bach to Prodigy. I learned harmonies from classics, I learned how to sing from classic opera (I never took lessons), I learned how to write good tunes from The Beatles, how to play guitar and organ from Deep Purple and ELP, how to rock - from Hard'N'Heavy bands, how to dress up to kill - from Glam, how to be free - from Punk, how to use computers and dance beats - from Electronic and Techno. It doesn't matter what you listen to, the more - the better. Only, please, don't take me for a collector - I hardly can tell the bands names, but I once I have heard some new melody, harmony or beat it is in my mind forever!

2. Do you write your own material or is it a band effort?

"Feddy" is a solo project. I write all stuff, then I record it in studio. I perform all instruments and record tracks alone. As for this album, I don't even have anyone to help me out to push the start button. Then I go to the guys from "feddyband" and we start rehearsing songs, firstly pretty close to the record, then making changes here and there. We are using computer with us, so I have to come back to studio after each practice and remix the backup music in accordance to what we have amended. Live performance must be different from what listeners may hear on CDs, what is the point to repeat songs note to note?

3. I had seen you have releases in Russia, any word on when they will be in the States as well or if it ever will?

This month Feddy released first EP called "Ts'u'n'me & Tsunami" in Russia. The same EP, with a bit different track order was released on The Orchard and is available from iTunes, eMusic, Napster and others in many countries around the world, the USA is in the list. For some reason they do not sell CDs on internet i Russia... I guess it won't take long as they will...

4. Have you done any extensive touring yet? And if so, what was that like?

Feddy is a brand new band, we have not done any touring yet. We are looking forward to doing it after I have the album completed. Speaking about other bands I have played in - I have never been outside Russia with them. Mostly because our managers who were unable to look straight in the future and were only making pocket money. My ex-band "Begemot" was quite famous and influent. It still is influent since so many indie bands appeared these days around here, they all grew up on listening to us. Just imagine that we recorded four full length albums and some singles and have never been signed! The albums were selling very well, our fan base was growing up and we still were staying absolutely independent. And then our russian currency crashed and the entire showbiz in this country ruined in dust in 1998. Labels disappeared, people got poor for the next two years, nobody was buying music and going to gigs... Well, we played for thousands and never toured.

5. Speaking of touring, are there any bands you would love to tour with?

I won't mind to warm up for any band of a similar style, but I hardly could name you one. I would imagine Feddy touring with some punk, electro, grunge and indie bands. I can't see me on one stage with death metallers, nor hiphop or R'n'B, that's for sure...

6. What is the music scene like in Russia?

It's a zoo! Every animal has its cage. There is two levels in the scene - national and alternative. If you want to play music you like, be yourself and stand for Rock - it doesn't matter how good and famous you are in your town you will reach your ceiling and will never get popular in the entire Russia. The rest of this huge country will be eating what they are allowed by music bosses from Moscow - sweetest pop, euro dance, one or two pop-rock bands and countless number of similar and unidentifiable singers of both sexes, singing what seems the same song million times a day. Who could resist this sound attack from radio and TV? A simple Russian who has been a slave just few decades ago and still believes that all democrats are gays? Hey, this is a topic for another interview, I could tell you more about it, if you are interested. We call it Music Mafia and this is not too far from reality.

7. So far in the music business what has been your highest acheivement?

"Begemot" was the best new act by the FUZZ music magazine in the 1997, everyone knew us. We were playing for thousands. Girls were singing along our songs and weeping. We were on TV almost every day. And we did not earn a single cent! Isn't it an achievement? This is Russia, "the country of fearless idiots" as we call it.
Oh no! I know what is my highest achievement, perhaps not in the music business, but in music. I can play guitar with one finger missed on my left hand! I lost the middle finger in an saw accident and then forced myself to learn guitar. And I am no left-hander!

8. What would a Feddy show be like for a first time?

A three-piece rocking band onstage plus backup music from our fourth member - computer. There is nothing new about using computers onstage. I hate huge samplers, we have to keep mobile, that's why we are three, it is easy! This is the very beginning and all we have to do is make our sounds clear and friendly for every ear. We will keep it loud and heavy, as well as crazy and danceable without doubt. When we are onstage we give away all till the very end. That's why I always hated all those girls that come up to you after show when you are exhausted. They are cute however...

9. Who would you say have been your biggest supporters in this career you chose?

The Love Of My Life, without her I would die from hunger. She always believed in me. Graham Sclater (Tabitha Music ltd), my UK publisher, who has been not only a good friend but a great supporter. Leigh Silberg from LA, he died already, he was a very nice person who used to support me when I started the solo career. Sylvan Mason, she used to hit english top charts in the 60's, she offered me few of her wonderful lyrics to co-write songs, I love her and the songs we have done! My english mate, original punk back from the 77, Mick Wilson, without him I would die of loneliness few years ago!

10. How much are you bothered by what critics say?

I always read them, because what they say might be read by those who could like us. But speaking frankly, I don't think the critics might affect on the music I am doing. It is always appreciated however, I always ask people what they think about my music. I like to hear that they think different. So any critics is welcome.

11. You play so many instruments? How old were you when you started learning to play?

I was 11 when I told my mum that I wanna play drums, it was very late! She actually had seen me a future designer just like her, but she was clever enough to understand that this was my choice. I was singing all the time but was too shy to come up in front, so I chose drums. I studied drums and music at school, then my mum bought me my drum kit. Piano was in our house all the time (my sis was studying it), then some of my friends brought in an electric guitar and this is when this the whole thing had started! Then I cut the finger and concentrated on the guitar and vocals.

12. Have you had the chance to meet any of your idols or influences and if you have-- what was that like?

I met Ian Gillan when Deep Purple, the true love of my childhood came to our country the very first time in the 1998. I was standing in front of the stage, crying my eyes out just like hundreds of other grey headed guys and singing along "Highway Star" and "Smoke On The Water". Then we went mad enough to go to the Astoria Hotel to try our chances and meet our idols. Roger Glover (whose loose hippie blouse I once made my mum to copy for me), Ian Paice (whose drums solos were my scores) and Steve Morse went out, calmed down their bodyguards and were very nice to come up to us and have a chat, sign posters and shake hands. It was amazing! But then we heard that Ian Gillan passed by to the bar to have a drink with the stage crew. And here I saw my vocal trainer, my only idol of the very youth, the person whose voice still made my back shiver after oh so many years... and, of course, I was frustrated!

I once had a friend musician who played flute in Aquarium (a famous Russian band), he said he hadn't found strength to come up to Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) and decided to left his dream a dream and his idol an idol! Dusha was smarter than me!
- silver metal

Interview Questions for: Feddy
1. You have been a part of the music scene for a few years now, how did you get your start in music? – I told my mum that I want to study drums when I was too old to start learning music, I was 11! (She saw my future as a designer like her). She had been clever and free minded enough to buy me my first drum kit when I was 13, then I started jamming and recording everything we were playing right in my room. I joined my first band at school, it was such a common way, I was no exclusion. I kept on recording every band I was playing with, using any cassette or tape recorder I could have had under hand.
2. How do you feel about being part of Rock N Rave Music Scene? – Well, as for yet I don’t feel a part of anything but everything. Music is only music, but it is all I know, I mean all I want to know, whether it is Rock or Rave, I am all in it! Rock N Rave sounds futuristic, I like feeling I am a part of something brand new!
3. What do you think are the benefits are of being part of this scene? – I always loved different styles of music. Everything from classic to rock, from ancient music to techno is in my collection. I have been playing rock since the very beginning. Then it was “punk rock”, when I started. My true love beside opera is Punk Rock. But modern world has led us to the choice we have to make between the live and the electronic music if we want to keep the genres clean, OR – we have to find the new ways in music if we want to go further. Music can not stand at one place, I still believe it can change the world!
4. What do you think you offer than other bands that are part of this scene don’t have? – Well, we are not a rock band PLUS some DJ, nor we are an electronic project PLUS live drums and guitars. I do not arrange songs trying to make them sound this way or that. I intentionally write them IN STYLE, I know exactly the way they must sound like, I record them myself right from the beginning and then we just rehearse them and perform. There is nothing new in using computer onstage. There is only one difference that has always been between bands – some write good songs, others produce great sounds. I hope we are in the middle!
5. Where do you hope to see Feddy in the next 10 years? Good question, since I announced I live in the future! Hahaha! Well, who in the showbiz knows for sure? I have never recorded two similar albums, so I guess once I release this one that I am working on I am going to look further on and on. There is a musical I have started up… There is a band I want to take up to the global Top Charts… All I really want (deep in my heart) is my songs to change someone’s life into better…
6. How would you describe the style and sound of your music? – The Beatles meets Sex Pistols meets Prodigy, in other words – indie/alt/electro/punk/rock, Rock N Rave is a good name!
7. Of all the musicians and entertainers out there, which would you say is the most influential on the music that you play and perform and that influences you the most on the music that you write? – The mentioned above Beatles were the band that overturned my world when I was 10, just think – in The USSR, where there were NONE of their albums selling in music stores, they were still FORBIDDEN! Then I adored Deep Purple, Led Zep and Uriah Heep, but Sex Pistols and The Clash fell down on me like a brain washing rain! Glam metal and then Pearl Jam and Nirvana, you might ask me for how long I have lived, but I only investigated this world chronologically! Add to this classic opera – I was working at The Kirov (Mariinsky) Opera once. And don’t forget classics – Bach, Mozart, Russian composers, Japanese and Indian traditional music… to name but a few… I learned harmony from them… I learned instruments from them bands… I wanted to be like them… still sitting in Russia, poor little dreamer!
8. What role do your fans play in the music that you play and the performances that you give? – Fans are the most influent part for bands, this is obvious that we make music for those who love us. It is wonderful that still in this world there are things that people can do for free in the name of their love! I am just like this!
9. Do you have an album out or are you working on one, and if so where can we find it or when can we expect it? – I am finishing up an album I have been working on for two or three years already – I just can’t remember when I started it up. Doing everything SOLO takes so much time, you know! It’s worth it, because in the end you have exactly what you want. Some singles from it are released on The Orchard and are available via iTunes, eMusic, Napster. Just type in “Feddy”, click “go” and you will see the EP called “Ts’u’n’me & Tsunami”. This EP is also released in Moscow this month with a bit different songs order and few bonus video tracks.
10. What has been the craziest experience you have had happen since you started in the band?’ – ugh.. the craziest! It depends of what you mean crazy. I used to be practicing with a very cool funk-metal band to finally debut in an only rock venue being open then in our town and to be told that we would never ever play up there because of a lot of solo guitar! I would tell you I was shocked when with my ex-band Begemot we came to Belarus, where we have never been, never sold a record and all the girls in front of us were singing our songs all along! It is true that dictators make rockers heroes! No, I think the craziest experience I had when I was making money for a journey back home by singing songs in Paris Metro!
11. Did your family play a role in the music that you have chosen as your career? – Yes, the main role, without them I’d be nothing.
12. Do you have any regrets that you wish you could take away that involve your career and the music that you create? – Oh yes, the managers I hired! Hahaha! I am crap in selling myself out. I always needed someone reliable and always made the wrong choice…
13. Where do you come up with the ideas for the songs and albums that you create? – This is a secret! Not from you – from me! This is a mystery!
14. Of all your experiences, do you have one that is always on top of your list for inspiring you? -
15. Do you think that living in Russia limits your ability to perform or create music or does it create a desire to be a performer even more? – Yes and again Yes. It does limits and does create. First of all they don’t like to hear songs sung in English. You have no chances if you try! You will limit your fan base in Russia; they won’t simply understand you. And you will limit your international potential if you sing in Russian on the other hand. So living in Russia still is difficult from both sides. Beside the language barrier there is a huge gap between Russian and Western cultures, tastes in music, ability to perceive and therefore create something new.
16. how has Russia helped you achieve the success that you have received and the talent that you have? – In no way. I won’t tell that the lack of musical information could help anyone anywhere in the world to achieve anything from talent to success.
17. how did you decide on Rock and Rave as the style of music you were going to perform? – I can’t recall… I just found out that the music I know does not response to my dreams of what I want to hear. I think this was the moment when I decided to write this album and form a new band.
18. If you could only chose one place to perform for the rest of your time as a performer where would it be and why? – London, Trafalgar Square… Why? Because Paul McCartney wanted to perform on the red Square in Moscow!
19. You have some of the most dedicated fans out there, what do you think draws them to your music? – I don’t really know, I don’t even care what it is. I only wonder how various range of fans I have. From teenage girls to rockers, from crazy ravers to egg-headed intellectuals who are million times smarter than me, what do they all find in me? I wonder..
20. How do you feel about the music scene and industry today compared to when you first started in the business? Do you feel that it has improved or has lost what it once had? – I always greet everything that is new. Internet has changed our world crucially! It opened so many borders, it is just amazing! All I have achieved as “Feddy” is because I started widely using Internet. But still all you have to do is write good songs… You still have to know what you want and be able to perform it professionally, whatever your instrument is.
21. Explain the sound of your music for those who have never heard of it or are not aware that you are creating the style of music that you are creating? – This is heavy, but melodic. Scary, but attractive. Aggressive, but romantic. Funny. Punky. Three-piece-rocking-band does its work fine. Computer does the rest.
22. Where can fans find your music and keep informed of the upcoming events for your music and your touring? – “feddymusic” on Myspace, Geosities, ClubYeah, Glasswerk, Sonicbid, Tzome, Realmusic.ru, so many other places on the Internet.
23. You are a major part of Club Yeah! And Myspace, do you think these websites have affected your music and your popularity as a musician at all? – I have told that the Internet does it all for bands these days. None of the websites affected my music, but they greatly incredibly increased my fan base in the world outside Russia, that’s for sure!


- rock And Hard Place