Q&A: Privet Earth
Since Privet Earth’s Ivan Smirnov relocated to LA from Russia in the mid-noughties he found himself homeless and living in an abandoned garage. As irony would have it, the band’s latest release, the genre-defying Breaking The Ice, was recorded on the very same street as his vagabond haunt.
TMN chats to Smirnov about the dizzying genre he created, his time recording with Grammy-nominated producer Robb Vallier (McCartney, Bon Jovi, Eurythmics) and what he’s learned from a career which dances in the space between global ubiquity (two of his tracks entered the 2011 Grammy ballot) and core identity.
You’ve created your own genre with Privet Earth, what is ‘blitz-rock’ exactly?
Blitz-rock is a combination of three musical extremes: Classical, Punk and EDM.Together, those three elements merge into a new kind of Pop, the more outrageous version of it. The words can’t fully describe the music… You gotta hear it!
The band previously played and recorded under your surname, Smirnov, what sparked the decision to rebrand as the title of your debut album, Privet Earth?
I wasn’t very happy about too many similarities with the famous vodka brand, so I decided to make this change in the early 2013. ‘Privet’ means ‘Hello’ in Russian. It’s like I’m a friendly Alien saying, ‘Hello Earth, I’m here!’
Tell us about your views of Breaking The Ice now that it’s out; are you in a transitional period creatively?
I always feel like I am in a transitional period! This album is very important to me, because this is where Blitz-rock truly came to life. I can talk a lot about its instrumentation, vocals and lyrics, but I will let the listeners discover it and decide if they want to have a touch of Blitz on their playlists.
What’s the story that you wanted to tell with Breaking The Ice?
Breaking the Ice is about breaking the rules, creating something new and fresh, and showing the struggle it faces in the world! But it always wins. This album is dedicated to my little son Aleksandr, who just turned 4-years-old. (He’s featured singing in one of the songs!). The miracle of birth is the most powerful thing that can ever happen on this planet, and I guess, this is ultimately the main message in the album.
You’ve recorded with Grammy-nominated producer Robb Vallier (McCartney, Bon Jovi, Eurythmics) in the past, what was your time like in the studio this time around?
Recording in the studio with Robb and my band is always a magical experience for me. As a penniless student in Russia, recording an album in Los Angeles was beyond my wildest dreams… And now, this is my second LP made in LA. And it doesn’t hurt when a Grammy-nominated engineer gives you full creative control in the studio! Making Breaking The Ice was a lot of kool fun (kool with the “K”!). I have created a very special “ice” sound and even got to play some quirky instruments I have never played before in my life.
Your career as an artist has been colorful to say the least; you found yourself homeless in LA shortly after you relocated from Russia. How much of that time of your life has appeared on record?
My first year in Hollywood was a lot of struggle, yet the whole experience was very inspiring and exciting. I wrote a lot of material, while being homeless and some of those ideas landed on Breaking The Ice. Strangely enough, even the studio we recorded at, was located on the same street in Los Angeles where I once spent a whole month living in an old garage… But I think, the real struggle in my life was when I lost my mother to cancer. I was only 12 years old then, going through emotional hardships, dealing with a cold-hearted stepmother, who wouldn’t let me play music in the house. I kept myself afloat with my ‘secret songwriting’, and eventually, the ideas I’ve written down as a child, had become the musical base for Breaking The Ice.