From behind the iron curtain of Russia comes PROXY. Sit back and enjoy the interview with one of the most prolific electro star where he talks about his music and inspiration, his new album and just what life is like in the country.
Thanks for your time, we’re super excited to have you on Stoney! So what’s up?
All good man. I’m waiting for my album that comes in 2 parts. The first part will be out on Nov 6th. It took some time, I’ve been trying to finish this album for maybe 2 years. I ended up making too much tracks so we decided to split it into 2 parts. The second (Music From The Eastblock Jungles pt. 2) will be out on 12th of February next year.
It’s still so warm in Amsterdam by the way. In my country it’s already f*****g freezing there.
If it’s nice and warm wouldn’t you have made chillwave instead?
*laughs* Yes i think that’s why my music sounds cold. Well, not really cold, more like ominous I think. Powerful.
In fact that’s why the album is called Music From The Eastblock Jungles. I mean, it’s the place where I live. And the music on the album kind of tell you about the place where Proxy comes from.
And also where Tesla Boy comes from.
You know Tesla Boy? We’re actually good friends and I’m planning on remixing one of their tracks!
You guys make a totally different kind of music. What do you listen to?
Man, it doesn’t matter what kind of music you make – it’s like, if you have a car and you want to listen to something while you drive. And you know, my music isn’t so good in the car. And you can’t keep listening to this style forever. Sometimes, I even listen to disco. You have to release your brain sometimes – in order to be able to make your own music, you also need to listen to different kinds of music.
Any guilty pleasure? Top 40, Katy Perry, or Swedish House Mafia? Be honest.
No *laughs* No SHM.
You know when I was around 16-17 I used to listen to Chemical Brothers and Prodigy, and all that rave stuff which wasn’t really famous at that time. After all this time, Prodigy is still No. 1 for me. I really understand their style. You just can’t go to the studio to make tracks as you want. Like, OK, today I’m gonna make something which sounds like what David Guetta makes – it’s not working. You can only make your own music which is in your head.
I listen to drum and bass as well. I listen to hip hop. I listen to dubstep from the beginning but now, you know, things around dubstep are really, I dont know how to say it, cheesy? It’s going to somewhere but it’s getting too comercial. I really used to listen to dubstep in the car. And in my “kind of iPod”. I dont have an iPod but yeah I used to listen to in planes and over here *laughs*.
How does it feel to be touring the US?
I think this will be my fourth time in the US. US is always like, I dont know how to say it – they have a different atmosphere and different kind of understanding of dance music in the clubs, maybe? So yeah.
And you’re going to show them real music from Soviet Russia?
*laughs* Exactly. I prefer to call myself post-Soviet musician. Because when it was still called Soviet Union, I was only 8 years old, I don’t remember anything. When I was about 16-17 and started thinking about myself it wasn’t Soviet Union anymore. It was the time of rebuilding and I just listen to music, you know.
Soviet time was crazy. My father used to be a DJ in a local club and he told me lots of stories about that time. Borders were closed. And they were selling music like it’s drugs! It was illegal. My father sold some music on the Red Square too, and that wasn’t about the business – people just wanted to listen to foreign music.
Now I can see the effect of that time on my country – the people are a bit late in discovering new music. In Russia, people listens to the local pop musicians, not Proxy or any other electronic act. I’m really open to give my music to people who really want to listen to my music, but they are mostly from outside, and not from Russia. At some point I want the people to discover electronic music, just like people in the US or Europe.
Audio 15 is a total banger by the way.
Audio 15 is an experiment. I’m bored making tracks like Raven, you know. I want to make music which has soul, and in Audio 15 I can feel the soul of the track. The main thing about Audio 15 was the soul of rave from the 1990s. I was too young back then and I wanted to touch that era.
Last question, what will be your future sound?
You’ll hear different kind of music in the album. Each track will have that Proxy style, yet sounds different. Recently I finished a track for the 2nd part of album which is called 9000 and it continues the story of 8000.
Im not gonna make tracks that’s only suited for clubs. I don’t think of myself as a DJ, I’m more of a producer. So sometimes I think my job is to make music, not play in clubs. When I play, I always do it live and only play my own tracks. I think I really enjoy sitting in the studio and just make music. I really enjoy experimenting.
Thanks for your time Proxy! Readers, brace yourselves for the total destruction that is Music From The Eastblock Jungles Part 2 On February next year.
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