The story

Interview with composer/producer Vitaly Zolotarev

How long have you been composing and when did you start?

This is a funny story. In the early nineties, I desperately wanted to be a recording engineer. At that moment I was living in a small town without any recording studio, so I built my own and used it to record my musician friends. The irony was that by the time the studio was ready for recording, all my friends had disappeared for one reason or another—someone got married, another left the town, a third decided to go for a 'real' career, and so on. So one day, I found myself sitting in the studio and thinking: 'Hm-m, I have no artists to record. Hold on... what would happen if I put three fingers on that keyboard? Maybe I can write a song? May be I can be an artist?' ...and in one year my new band released an album. Since then, I have been constantly writing music. I have traveled around the world writing for various artists—I even managed to get a few awards. Now, when I look back I feel grateful for that turn in my life.

What made you decide to do a solo album?

I always wanted to write instrumental electronic music. Since my childhood, I was crazy about Jean Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Space, Vangelis and many others. But just recently, I have reached the point where I can spend some time to myself and use the experience I have gained on my journey for something new. Finally, I can do what I have wanted to do all my life.
What is the main idea behind Looking at the Stars?
A couple of years ago, I was sitting outside my house looking up at the dark sky full of stars, and I felt this presence—life, flowing in towards me. I thought to myself, 'Who is out there? What do they look like? What kind of noises do they produce when they speak? Well, if they speak...Do they really know English like they do in almost every sci-fi movie around (smiling)?' And so on. Soon afterwards, I wrote a story about two people living in an ultra-modern world, dominated by machinery and electronics. Although they have robots doing all their work, they are still unhappy. The story is about this couple's search for happiness and meaning in the confusing and meaningless modern world. That's the story. Later, I came up with idea of writing an electronic 'opera' on it. I didn't want it to be a 'standard' album i.e. bunch of tracks with a 2 second gap in between. I wanted it to flow. That is why you hear lots of different transitions between songs.

Did you collaborate with anyone?

Yes, a friend of mine, DJ CXL, features on Alien Party. It was the last 'touch' the track needed and he did a great job.
What is more important to you—songwriting or production?
Songwriting. These days, it is so easy to get lost in all these toys a computer gives you for producing sounds and weird noises that one can easily forget the purpose of all this stuff, which is improving the production of songs—there's no substitute for great songwriting. So to me, the tune always comes first. Yes, I can get excited by a new sound and develop it into a new track, as happened with Alien Party. But no song will ever be a demo-of-my-equipment type of song.

What are you working on now?

Currently, I am building my own software instruments and effects, which I am planning to use on my new album. I am not a hard-core programmer really, but I know how to get what I want from software. First I get an idea, then I develop an algorithm on paper and implement it in a software program, and finally I tune it. The last part is probably the most time-consuming. Of course, I keep writing new songs. Plus, I do lots of stuff for other artists – producing, mixing, etc.

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