In the seventies and eighties of the last century, rock was forbidden music. A significant contribution to its development was made by Andrey Tropillo, who can be called one of the first music producers of the country. It was he who worked on a number of albums "Cinema", "DDT" and the group "Alice". However, Andrei Vladimirovich is best known for working with the Aquarium and Time Machine groups.
Biography
Little is known about the youth of the future producer. He was born in Leningrad in 1951. There he met representatives of the Leningrad rock club. With one of them, Boris Grebenshchikov, he was familiar from school. It was then that the future producer had the idea of creating a recording studio that would publish banned performers.
It was a tough job. Sound engineering is a profession that requires training, and Andrei independently studied this craft. To do this, he used all the books that he came across. One of the first was the work of the director of the Air Force television channel “Sound and Image in Television”. In the early eighties, Tropillo studied a more complete sound recording guide of a Czech specialist.
House of Pioneers
In the Leningrad House of Pioneers, Andrei Tropillo created a real recording studio. She could only exist thanks to the efforts of musicians from different groups. Together they made repairs and raised film money through underground concerts.
In the mid-eighties, the premises had to be abandoned. A new KGB curator came, and the director of the House of Pioneers had to stop the prohibited activities. Later, the recording of rock bands was helped by a new work, the sound engineer began to release records at the company "Melody", where he became director. He managed to release records of almost all Leningrad rockers of that time, but as a result he lost his job.
"Antrop"
Almost at the very beginning of his career, Andrei had his own brand name. On all the cassettes and records released with its help, the letters "Antrop" appeared. Most often, these letters can be seen on the records of the Aquarium group. To get a clear sound, the musicians had to perform one song and its individual parts several times.
Speaking as a sound engineer, Andrei Tropillo used only the method of overlaying tracks. This allowed us to make the sound better and clearer. Now this method is forgotten, and the compositions are recorded by mixing individual fragments. Sometimes groups don’t even need to be able to play the instruments, as a piece of music can be composed of individual chords.
Russian music producers are now promoting their players in different venues and in rotation. Tropillo for the Leningrad rock club did almost the same thing. He organized performances and recorded records. However, in the early nineties, some groups expressed their complaints to the producer - they demanded their fees and were worried about copyright.
Pirate records
In the early nineties, Andrei Tropillo began producing audio tapes with Western rock music. Then they were in great demand, since the ban on the distribution of such products was finally lifted. However, domestic pop stars and journalists attacked the producer. He was accused of stealing intellectual property.
Tropillo replied to all the attacks that he only released music albums written before 1972. This year, the international law on related rights began to operate , and everything that was written in the sixties remained free to use. The only thing that had to be changed was the covers; Tropillo redrawed them. There are legends that it was thanks to Andrei that the first licenses appeared on cassettes and later on disks. In 1999, the producer became a music publisher, he acquired a factory for the production of discs and cassettes.
Opinion about modern music
Tropillo Andrey Vladimirovich in the music industry, the figure is quite significant. His opinion is often listened to. After all, he dealt only with gifted musicians who liked a large number of people. The producer does not perceive music the first time. In order to determine the quality of the composition, he listens to it about eight times.
From modern rock music Tropillo singles out only "Aquarium". In 2012, the compositions of this group became very similar to those that were recorded in an underground studio in the eighties. The remaining groups, according to the producer, have only a couple of strong songs, and the rest are not worthy of attention. Andrei Vladimirovich has a definite attitude to the pop genre - he does not deserve attention.
Creative plans
In the near future, Tropillo is restoring the Zoo group. He has already prepared a concert in memory of Mike Naumenko. For him, the ready-made musical material of the group was used, and a new, more modern one was created. With this concert program it is planned to conduct a tour of Siberia and visit major rock festivals.
The purpose of this trip is to restore the memory of the group from long-time fans, as well as to attract the attention of young people - those who have never heard Naumenko's songs.
In parallel with this project, the producer is collaborating with Boris Grebenshchikov and several promising groups. He actively promotes them on thematic radio stations and organizes concerts. He often argues that contemporary performers need to take an example from Western rock, which is now still able to surprise. Now the producer gravitates to indie rock, in his plans to find a standing group working in this genre.