"I have never forbidden Bravo to perform songs"
I always agreed to Bravo's invitations to joint concerts, and I was never moody, says Valery Syutkin. The country's top hustler will once again appear on the same stage with the band. The reunion will take place 31 years later on June 20 at the Afisha Picnic in Moscow. Bravo and Valery Syutkin are the headliners. Valery Syutkin told in an interview with Izvestia about why he left Bravo, how the meeting with Paul McCartney went, what condition Vlad Listov set, as well as how he became toastmaster at Nikolai Rastorguev's anniversary and sang to Yuri Nikulin in Tatar.
"We saw the future differently"
— For the first time in many years, the Bravo group will take the stage in the same line-up at the Afisha Picnic. What was the driver for the joint performance?
— Bravo and I have been working separately for a long time. Everyone, in my opinion, is successful. But the organizers of the Afisha Picnic suggested that we play together on the same stage. I called the guys, they didn't see any antagonisms in the offer. It will be a full-fledged hour-long set with the most striking songs. Now we are deciding which ones are best to perform, so that rock and roll fans can have a celebration. But the closer we work together, the better, I think.
— Will you be joining for a long time, or is this a one-time promotion?
— But we don't know. Let's do everything well, and then, if it's in demand, then why not? I always agreed to invitations from the Bravo group to joint concerts, and I never acted up. Because it's respect for that five-year plan, which helped me develop my own style. Bravo and I played our last concert 31 years ago. We had a serious break, so the performance at the Afisha Picnic is an event worthy of attention.
— What is the reason for your breakup?
— The main reason is fatigue. Besides that, we saw the future in different ways. I continued playing sunny, jazzy music, and the guys made some brilliant albums with a cooler sound, but everything is organic. Performing together is a good incentive for creativity.
— You left Bravo at the peak and immediately took off with a solo project. What helped you not to remain forever a "former Bravo member", but to become a great artist?
— Well, there's probably some luck in that. But I believe that the winner is the one who continues to work, never gives up. I just worked as if nothing had happened. And gradually everyone found their niche.
I have three projects now. "Valery Syutkin and the Rock&Roll Band", which is closest to "Bravo", because part of the repertoire is songs written during that period. There is also a purely jazz SOS project, which is named after the first letters of my musician friends — Savin, Okun, Syutkin. We play jazz interpretations not only of our own songs, but also of those that sing "The Moral Code", Lenya Agutin, Sergey Trofimov. And the third project is Light Jazz: a mix of classic rock'n'roll from 1950-1960 and Russian songs from the same period. I love this time very much, because humanity lived with hope for the best after a difficult war. So I'm playing with hope for the best. As Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin said: "We cheerfully take a log and cheerfully carry it." That's about our motto.
— Now we really need hope for the future.
— It seems to me that thanks to positivity and sunny optimism, this music is absolutely invulnerable.
"I gave Bravo the full right to dispose of the material"
— Some frontmen leave bands, leave groups and then prove their rights to perform hits in court. How did it happen with Bravo? Did you sign bonded contracts that you had to work out?
— We tried to treat each other with respect. If there was any jealousy, it was stimulating. You know, like white envy of new jobs. Songs are like children, how can they be divided? I have never forbidden Bravo to perform them. Moreover, he never demanded anything from them. The Russian Copyright Society does its job. I gave Bravo the full right to dispose of the material as they see fit.
— Now there is a wave of sincere love for retro music. Songs by Tatiana Bulanova, Nadezhda Kadysheva become viral hits. How do you perceive such comebacks?
— Well, if they discover Bravo and Valery Syutkin again, we will only be glad. I'm not analyzing whether it's nostalgia or if young people have heard interesting melodies. I just keep living and working because I like the process itself. Neither royalties nor autographs can match the opportunity to do what you love.
With my three projects, I give at least 30 box office concerts a year in Moscow and St. Petersburg alone. That's a lot. Unfortunately, journalists periodically attribute to me that I only perform at corporate events. What kind of corporate events? Everyone has few of them now. In general, it's bad for your health to keep track of what gossip is being spread about you.
— You are called the main intellectual of our stage.
— And I don't want to argue with that. Name it, please. (He smiles.)
— Scandal and outrage are components of show business. Is such a popularity creation tool close to you?
— Everyone chooses the life they want. Security guards, PR agents, and others— I don't have that. I really don't like this, as they say, a blizzard around my work. I'm basically not on social media.
I thought, why? We look ridiculous next to the young people who just live in their phone screens. That's why I only work on word of mouth. And yet, at every concert, I thank the audience for coming, and if they consider this concert not hopeless, for recommending it to friends. Everyone has their own strategy. Mine is not over—feeding, giving a lot of concerts. That's all. Or you can give one a year, but at the sports palace.
"Vlad Listov gave me a condition"
— Kylie Minogue's producer Peter Waterman, while promoting her, said that the goal was to create a sonic antidepressant. People should want to dance and smile to her songs. What was your goal when you started?
— To share with the audience the pleasure that I experience in the process of making music. That is, initially I just liked the process itself. I generally like to play guitar in my free time.
— You can play in the kitchen, but you chose the stage.
— And you go out, share with the audience, they are pleased, and you are doubly pleased. The main priority is to be useful, because the result of any person's life is to be remembered with a kind word. And if you are remembered with a kind word after a concert, it is enormously stimulating to continue making music. And that's what I'm focusing on. I don't go to the movies — the artists there are their own. But there is television, which is a hobby.
— At what stage did you develop this hobby?
— When Vlad Listov invited me to become the host of "Guess the Melody", setting the condition that it become his main profession. And participating in Bravo would be a hobby. But I chose Bravo and I don't regret it at all. After all, first of all I am a songwriter and performer of songs, and second of all I am a TV presenter, a showman, and so on.
— Vlad Listyev would have turned 70 on May 10.
— We remember more about March 1, 1995, when Vlad was killed.
— It was a shock for the whole country.
- yes. I was friends with all the guys from Vida. They helped us a lot, and I have to thank them again. They liked the Bravo songs, and by putting us on the Vzglyad program, they made us famous all over the country. But the first success could have been lost. My main motto is: if you prove yourself, fix it. I always say this to my young colleagues. If we hadn't had more than a dozen hits after the success of the song "Vasya", then Bravo would hardly have had such fame. We had a shock five-year plan. That's what it is — fixed.
Living on trains and planes saved us from financial ruin. One day, Zhenya Khavtan and I bought dollars, decided to trust our friend and, on his advice, invested in some kind of "pyramid". And the money was burned. Thank God it wasn't the last. Well, it's gone and gone. We realized that finance is not our thing, and we started working further. We always had enough to live on.
"There can be no folk style"
— Your friend Nikolai Rastorguev has the most famous listener, our President Vladimir Putin. And whose love and recognition do you consider your main victory?
— I am grateful to every spectator who comes to concerts, no matter who they are in real life. My goal for the evening is to please them. It's not difficult for me because I'm just sharing what I'm experiencing myself. And happiness is not "give", but "on".
I'm very happy for Kolya. He fully justifies the title of People's Artist. He has an absolute voice that the people love. And I'm an honored artist, and that's right. Because there can be no folk style. It's all on merit.
We met in 1984, when he came to "Hello, Song" from "Six Young People". During the same period, we also met with Igor Matvienko. And when Kolya celebrated his 50th birthday, he invited me as a toastmaster. Said: "I've known and loved you for so long that I want it to be you." It is a great honor for me.
I once asked him, "Nikolai, when you're sad, what melody comes to mind?" And a week before that, I asked myself this question. And Kolya and I named the same melody — The Long and Winding Road, written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. There's a lump in my throat: this is the farewell melody of The Beatles' entire work.
Well, how to explain it? Two people answered in the same way. So we lived in the same coordinate system.
— You grew up listening to the music of The Beatles, and then you were lucky enough to be backstage at a concert by Sir Paul McCartney. How does it feel to stand face to face with your idol? How did he surprise you?
— With Paul McCartney, I just stood close and said, "Thank you for the music." I don't even have a photo together. I think it's not necessary to get acquainted with an idol. I'm not subscribed to The Rolling Stones, McCartney or anyone else on social media. I'm not interested in other people's lives at all. Their music is enough for me.
But it was thanks to Paul McCartney that I got into music. The program "Through the Lens of America" was shown on TV, hosted by Valentin Zorin. And off-screen, I heard Can't buy me love. It gave me goosebumps. It was this song that I first picked up on the guitar. By that time, The Beatles had already broken up. But I got a boost and became interested in music.
"I am proud that I sang to Yuri Nikulin in Tatar"
— You were one of the members of the White Parrot club, a humorous program aired on the REN TV channel. Its permanent host was Yuri Nikulin. Do you remember that period?
— Someone told Yuri Nikulin that Syutkin is not hopeless, he can tell jokes. And he invited me to the White Parrot. Yuri Vladimirovich is such a lump. A storyteller of top-class jokes. It's a special talent. Grigory Leps poisons jokes very well, by the way. He tells it with gusto and pleasure. And he laughs like a child after that. But not all of them can be played on the air.
I am very proud that I sang the song "Wait, steam train" in Tatar to Yuri Nikulin. We were on tour in Kazan, where they broadcast the dubbed film "Operation Y and other adventures of Shurik." I asked the concert organizers to write the text in Tatar. I sang Nikulin, he was so touched. We laughed together. Such moments are remembered for a lifetime.
When Yuri Vladimirovich died, Alexander Shirvindt began hosting the White Parrot. One day, he and I went on a trip for a week. And I came back from there absolutely fascinated by him. Alexander Anatolyevich was the greatest ironist. How he swore, if you only knew. This is some kind of poetry! He knew how to put in a strong word that made you fall down laughing. When Galina Borisovna Volchek's 80th birthday was celebrated, he came on stage and said: "Do you remember, Galya, if the taxi driver asked how we were going? — and I saw understanding in the passenger's eyes, then I put the magnet under the meter, and the numbers ran slower. So, Galya, you can't put such a magnet under it." And everyone, including Galina Borisovna, fell down laughing. Because he knew how to be bold and direct. In this he had no equal and no equal. It's good when a person can't be replaced. Then you understand — he's a great artist.
— There is another piece of wisdom in your piggy bank — you think that if a singer wants to be remembered, he should write his own songs. But how can you do it if you don't know how?
— Even if you can't, sit down and write. This is your independence. You become the emitter yourself. My first song, more or less noticeable, is "Shanghai Blues" for Zhenya Margulis. She convinced me that it turns out I can do it. And literally a year later, or even less, I wrote: "I'm the right person." I've already suggested this song to Bravo.
But when I first joined the group, Zhenya Khavtan said, "But no one goes to us." Then the soloist Zhanna Aguzarova left them. A new story was needed. I said I couldn't be as shocking as Jeanne. Proposed: "Let's marry American rock and roll with Russian pop music of the same period. Who writes your songs?" Sometimes poet Vadik Stepantsov, leader of the band "Bakhyt-Kompot". He and Khavtan are the authors of the hits "King Orange Summer", "Good evening, Moscow".
— And you decided to try your hand at writing?
— I also got smart and gave out poems for Bravo.: "Love, girls", "Moscow beat", "Orange tie". Zhenya Khavtan wrote the music. And then I got some songs that I'm not ashamed of: "Night Messenger", "On the Edge of Sunset". Well, it's true, I had a good collaborator, the composer Sergei Patrushev, who helped me decorate poetic beauties. Unfortunately, he left us in the mid-noughties.
Even a very strong and talented artist finds it difficult to find his own song. Re—sing - for the second time. This is handled by the Golos program. We need to move beyond interpretation. Otherwise— it's the end. That's why we don't see many Golos graduates in the future. Because they're careless, they can't express themselves. That's why I'm saying: try writing. Maybe you have that spark. You just have to believe.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
