BLANKENBERGE (Russia): The sound of infinite space
“Shoegaze itself is described generally as music with a large dream-like wall of sound. Something that feels like a cosmic wave of noise that you can ride and float along with, carrying you through nostalgia and memories of life both good and bad. It’s always felt like a dynamic balance between happiness and sadness. The group Blankenberge seems to have mastered this craft of striking those tonal emotions.
Hailing from Russia, they have spread their sound throughout the airwaves of the world. It brims with so much life that it can’t help but traverse across the lands. Guitars shimmer and seem to sparkle like a star shooting out of the ocean, while vocals soar like a bird gliding between the cusps of clouds, and a solid beat that helps carry and keep the dream grounded into a direction nothing but beauty.
Drawing from multiple sources of inspiration such as drone, ambient, and shoegaze, they seem to have perfectly melded all of them into one cohesive sound. Their LP Radiogaze, which was released in 2017, is one of the most endearing sonic journey’s that ones ear ultimately will seem destined to have heard. There is something that can be said about Radiogaze in terms of how pure it feels. Each track drips with a love for what is being reflected. The passion is undeniably audible and immediately pulls the listener in without a question. If there were ever a sound of music that makes me picture myself flying through a pink sky with a smile and tears flowing like a river of happiness, it would be Blankenberge’s.
Blankenberge have solidified themselves into the scene immediately and have made it obvious that their future is bright, loud, and beautiful. It’s bands like this that are helping keep the scene alive in such brilliant and refreshing ways. As much as they wear their influence on their sleeves, their sound is carved into their own niche and gives them a shining light that is begging for the worlds eyes to see.
Below you can read about how their recording process works and a little bit of background into who they are in this big old world. We’re lucky and honored to have them on Noise Artists. Do yourself a favor: lay down in bed, turn out the lights, put on Blankenberge’s Radiogaze, and maximize the volume. You will find yourself falling in love like when you were in high school for the first time. Also, I think they and Pinkshinyultrablast need to tour together, but that’s just my opinion. ”
Before anything else, a little taster:
BIOGRAPHY (by Peter Pires, Elusive Sound Records)
Blankenberge is a Shoegaze/Dream Pop band based in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation. The band consisting of Yana Guselnikova (vocals), Daniil Levshin (guitar, synth), Dmitriy Marakov (bass), Daian Aiziatov (guitar) and Sergey Vorontsov (drums), came together in 2015 to create dream-weaving and warm reverb-drenched, drone raging songs that swell into soaring ethereal harmonies.
The story of Blankenberge started in early 2015 in Barnaul, a small city in the south of Siberia. Daniil and Yana having returned from an inspiring trip around Europe, started composing several songs with some local friends some of which were later released on their first EP. They decided to name their band Blankenberge, in honour of a little town on the North Sea coast of Belgium which had really impressed them.
That very same year, Daniil and Yana decided to move to Saint Petersburg in search of more opportunities to develop their music. They not only found a beautiful and inspiring city but also the other three members of the band – Dmitriy, Daian and Sergey – who would help them evolve and refine their sound. Blankenberge performed regularly in Saint Petersburg and released their first self-titled EP on 12 March, 2016. The EP’s free-formed post-rock compositions with intensely melodic passages, heavy droning and a pure shoegaze sound, immediately drew in very enthusiastic reviews from shoegaze blogs from all around the world.
In July 2016, they were involved in a cover project «The Cure in other voices» where they presented a dark and noisy shoegaze version of «Pictures of you». Shows in Saint Petersburg and Moscow followed and the band immediately started composing new songs. The writing and recording process would take another year and a half. After unveiling a first single “We” on 12 March, 2017, Blankenberge finally released their debut full-length album “Radiogaze” digitally on 30 June, 2017. The album instantly won over the ears of shoegaze listeners worldwide with Yana’s swooning, soft vocals serenely ascending and sweeping the skies, unveiling an afterglow, lacing emotion through a blazing, hazy swirl of loud droning guitars that swell and subside in an all-embracing ocean of sound.
On july 18, 2017, Blankenberge officially signed to Elusive Sound. “Blankenberge create warm reverb-drenched, drone-raging songs that swell into soaring ethereal harmonies. We are thrilled to announce that we will be releasing their wondrous full-length debut album “Radiogaze” on vinyl in 2018”.
On September 10, 2017, Blankenberge were invited to film and record Radiogaze Live in session at a converted Lutheran church called Melody Studio.
On March 14, 2018 Blankenberge announced a Spring Tour of 2018 which will see them play nine shows in nine different countries. The tour will kick off in their hometown of Saint-Petersburg and then cover most of Eastern Europe with an additional show in Vienna. This Spring Tour will end in Minsk on 20 April.
On April 10, 2019 the band released their sophomore album, ‘More’ a more gritty music, while staying into their pristine soundscapes.
In the summer 2019, they toured in Europe with one of Noise Artists’ favorite band, Life on Venus.
MUSIC WORK
Here are some of the songs we love to discover the band:
The band’s music work to date, released on the always tasteful Elusive Sound Records, is:
2016: Blankenberge, EP; Picture of you (Cure cover), single
2017: We, single; Radiogaze, LP
2019: Right now (single); More, LP
INTERVIEW
Where are you from? Where are you living now?
All our members come from different cities of Russia, but we all live now in St. Petersburg.
What did you study?
We all have technical educations. Only Yana has a music education.
What is your day job at present if any?
Daniil is an Engineer. Dima, Yana and Vova are working in programming and computers. Sergey works in the marketing sector.
Do you dream to live from your music or is it a passion you do not want to spend your full time on?
Daniil: I do music whenever I want and how much I want, and that's enough to make me happy.
Could you tell us more about your beginning?
Daniil: Our story began in 2015, when Yana and Daniil gathered a group in a small city in Siberia. After several months, the group moved to St. Petersburg and started again. Back in Barnaul, Yana and I recorded the demo songs “Seagulls” and “Feel alive” on iPAD and began searching for musicians in St. Petersburg.
Could you tell me how the band meet and decided to do music together?
Daniil: After moving to St. Petersburg in September 2015, I began searching for muses and quickly found guitarist Dayan and bass player Dima. We got to know each other around a common hobby: collecting guitar effects.
I met with Dayan at the concert of The Fall of Troy.
We held the first rehearsal in an old wagon. I did not know the city and therefore I found only this shady rehearsal place. As I remember, it was very cold and rainwater was dripping from the ceiling. But we had a good time. After the rehearsal, we did not want to pay as it was so bad.
The first time we played with electronic drums, as it was difficult to find a drummer. But about a month, we managed to find Sergey. This is a great step for us.
I had material for EP and we began to prepare for the record.
Sergey: When Danya invited me to the project, I first answered that I already have several bands. But then I listened to the recordings that he sent me, and thought it was good music and agreed to join.
Can you tell me the inspiration behind your band? You can detect the influences of shoegaze and indie rock. You took all these influences to make your own music, your own sound, which is not easy. Could you tell more?
I was influenced a lot by the Post-Rock scene from 1997 to 2005 with bands like Mogwai, This will destroy you, Sigur Ros and many others. I always liked the noise component and the approach to the structure of tracks and melodies. Later I got acquainted with Shoegaze and bands like MBV. I also discovered ambient and drone bands such as Nadja, Angellic Process, Star of the Lid. I liked to find melodies in the noise of the guitar that actually aren't necesarily there. These melodies were created by distortions. And I realized that this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to create musical canvases out of noise.
I composed the first track of Seagulls inspired by listening to EP Jesu - Silver.
Was there a vision of sorts or did you know what you wanted to do when you started up?
Daniil: Yes, there was a vision. Without it, it is difficult to start working on the tracks. But sometimes it turns out differently that what was planned.
I tried to compose energetic Dream Pop, but I always got only post-rock :-D
Do you have any other musical side projects apart from this band?
Daniil: I had several projects that I have abandoned. Currently Blankenberge is my main project. But I also have the project to put together a minimal duet with Vova. We play 40 minutes tracks over a drum machine.
Dima: In addition to Blankenberge, I play in a project called "Knight of Wild Apples". The genre is something between Twee Pop and Post-Punk.
Could you tell me more on the band composition? Do you have plans to add new members, or is there possible departure scheduled from existing band members?
Yana: This year our line-up has changed. Dayan, our guitarist moved to another country and we were forced to look for another guitarist. Our good friend,Vladimir Luchansky, joined us.
Daniil: We have known him for a long time as he is also from Siberia. He performed with us in Barnaul and Novosibirsk. He is a multi-instrumentalist and it is possible that new instruments will be in our new album.
I am not a fan of changing the group. Several years ago I played in a band where we had 17 bass players! This is very bad for the morale. And in the end, we froze the project. It was my main group at that time. Soon after I created Blankenberge.
Can you tell us more how you came to have the band’s name?
Yana: We don't like to make up names. We thought on how to name the group. The first option was Blankenberge, as it was a place we have very warm memories of, and then they tried to find something else without success . But in the end came back to this name.
Daniil: Some options were «Youth.Loud», «Spring Youth». But I thought that it was too snobbish. Blankenberge really makes our heart beat harder.
Who writes the song and the music and how do you get to the final song? Is it a community process, do you have leaders in composing or arranging music?
Daniil: I write most of the music at home improvising or during rehearsals. Often we record the improvisations on a dictaphone, and then I listen at home everything we played. I build on some parts, I cut some out or can add it. back later in a rehearsal. Everyone also add something of their own it turns into a new track!
Do you listen to the advice of your band mates? What would you do if they said a song was shit but you liked it?
Daniil: Yes, we are discussing the tracks. But I do not remember any songs that someone would strongly dislike. There was a track, ‘Out Loud’, that Yana didn’t like, but we managed to make it attractive.
Talking about the lyrics: who write them? Is there a common thread in them, a theme?
Daniil: All lyrics and vocal melodies are written by Yana. Yana can turn lifeless music into a live and aerial song. Often, after a vocal melody is created, something new appears in the music.
Yana: Texts about nature, dreams and freedom. I am very inspired by nature.
Do you have a message that you want to get across in your music? If so, what are some of the messages you want to spread?
Yana: No, we only create sounds.
Daniil: I don’t try to convey an idea through music. The best music will help convey someone else's idea, for example, as just a soundtrack. The only common idea in my music that I can think of is love. If I listen to my track and feel love, that means the track is ready. Love for everything, like Bolkonsky in ‘War and Peace’.
How is your recognition going in the US and Abroad? Is it growing? Are you happy with it?
Yana: We are very happy to have listeners all over the world. It really means a lot to us.
Daniil: When I go to the post office to send tapes or discs to another country - it is like a holiday for me. For me, this is still a fantastic story. I imagine how someone, for example, in New Zealand, picks up a package from the box office, and our music creates vibrations there - this is wonderful!.
Is it easy to find producers and studios where you lived for indie-rock?
Is it about Barnaul? There are several studios in Barnaul and there is no need to choose, just go and record in any, because nowhere better to do it.
In St. Petersburg, a lot of studios and the choice was difficult. But for RadioGaze, we quickly chose the studio Melody, because we had heard about it before and were impressed by its halls.
Your recorded sound is very good, which is not easy. Did you engineer the sound yourself, or did you have a sound engineer with you? If yes could you tell us more about him/her?
We do not have a sound engineer. Usually we ask for help in recording with people those recommended by our friends.
On the last album we worked with Mikhail Kurochkin - the recording and the mixing will remain with him, we unconditionally trust him with this process. Misha listened to all our previous works and also loves noisy music (even louder than ours), so the recording process goes very fast with him. He doesn't need to be explained anything, he knows everything.
We also had the pleasure worked with Vladimir Nosyrev, who previously did some work with Pinkshauliultrablast. Vladimir has a lot of experience recording musicians of various levels. When we were recording at his studio, we felt like we were on Ebi Road.
Daniil: I was completely easygoing about the quality of the recording. For me, the main task was to get the sound I needed from the guitar dynamics.
Was it a community work to try to have the best sounding music possible or mainly driven by the sound engineer or by the band?
During the recording, Vladimir Nosyrev was completely in charge of the recording process, and I can say that I really liked it. He did the feedback for all the guitar speakers.
Can you tell us how the recording process was?
The process of recording Radiogaze was quite complicated and lengthy. We started recording the album in November 2016. We recorded drums for half the tracks.
Then the process slowed down due to personal problems. We went back recording after the new year, in January.
In February I had to leave for work in Moscow and the recording process stopped again. When I returned to St. Petersburg, we had big sessions. Then I left again, and there was a other pause in the record. We managed to record all the material only in April.
Then there was a very difficult stage of mixing. Every evening for two months I listened to the results of the recording. Overall, the recording of the album was very difficult. But I was pleased with the result.
Dima: We unfortunately do not have any cool stories related to the recording of the album. Everything was pretty standard. At the studio where we recorded, there was a good guitar and bass equipment, but the guys still dragged something of their own and this is very cool.
Could you let us know some important technical tricks you learnt during the process that could help other musicians not as experienced?
I am not an expert in this matter, but I discovered some things.
There is not too much reverb, delay, fuzz, or length on some part, and it is never too loud or quiet. If the heart requires you to make it louder or something, then you need to do it and not think about anything else.
If there is a track ready and you can hear that there is a place in which it seems to be possible to do better, no need to redo it. It is better to write a new track in which there will be a similar place, which will be changed, as needed. If you go back on the past all the time, development stops. You need to see the finished result to move on.
Any interesting anecdotes on some recording session you would like to share?
Dayan: Several times, when we recorded a song, we accidentally turned on two rovers simultaneously - Cosmos and the Big Sky. We did not immediately notice that something was wrong. In the end, a few doubles recorded with a huge amount of reverb. We liked it and in some places we left these doubles.
Did getting the live experience across on record create any pressure for your selves in the recording process?
Each new concert gives us more of experience.
Instruments: are you mainly a Fender band? Could you tell me what inspire you to use fenders rather than other brands?
Dima: I have four basses at the moment. It is not necessary, but this is kind of my hobby.
Oddly enough, but for the records, I dreamed about the Rickenbacker 4003 sound for a very long time and this was my first serious bass,. I went on tour with the Fender AVRI 62 Jazz Bass, for several reasons. It is lighter, it is less whimsical in maintenance, and it always fits perfectly into the mix, so we could really be called the "Fender band", considering that Daniil played on the Fender Telecaster, and Dayan on the Fender Jazzmaster Thurston Moore. Now it's completely different, I play with a Gibson RD Artist bass, and Daniil got himself a Gibson Midtown Custom, so now we have a little Gibson band.
Daniil: For a long time I played on the television broadcaster, which my great-grandmother gave me. I will never part with it. Now I got a Gibson Midtown bush and I, too, am satisfied.
A question for a future paper I have in mind: if you use often a Fender Jaguar, could you tell me more about what makes it good to play (sound, neck, …). I find there are lot of noise artists that are using this guitar and I am interested to know why.
Dima: I was the owner of the Fender AVRI 62 Jaguar for a long time and I can say that it was a lead guitar. First of all, I would like to say that the Jaguar / Jazzmaster Floating tremolo is the best tremolo that you could think of. Yes, it is capricious for setting, but it performs its function with 10/10. The Jaguar is very convenient due to its size 24.75 and I am madly in love with its sound, especially on some pickup setupa.
Daniil: I once had a Japanese Jaguar. It was one of the best guitars.
Do you have one favorite instrument or do you change often?
Dima: I do not have a favorite instrument. All the instruments that I have at this moment are cool in their own way, I can not give someone preference. This is both bad and good at the same time.
Daniil: Telecaster is my favorite tool. Was, is and will be.
Tell us what you are looking when trying to achieve your sounds? Do you experiment a lot or have a clear idea of what you want?
As I said, I love to create canvases of sounds. I like to keep rehearsals on a recorder. My voice recorder has a sound of poor quality and basically I hear only noise. But this noise helps me create tracks. Also, often I hear sounds on the street or in the subway from the ambient noise that give me ideas for a new track.
Who is the more knowledgeable with pedals? You use them a lot, to great effect.
Dima: I'm even afraid to imagine how many pedals we had through the years. Dayan one time led the list, I remember that the count has long passed for 100, then I no longer followed this list. Daney and I met, exchanging pedals. As I remember, we exchanged the Boss RE-20 with a Supa Puss.
Daniil: we all love new devices. But I have the same pedals - the boss dd20 and bigskay.
How many concerts a year would you do on average and what would be the size of the venue?
Last year we gave a few concerts. The spring tour was a serious test for us, and we did loads of performances.
Daniil: Each performance is a release of energy and often I experience a lot of stress, after which the body requires recovery. Therefore, now we are planning concerts only if we have prepared new material and want to show it to the audience.
Would you mind sharing some good anecdotes from your concerts/touring?
Dima: One case comes to mind, it was at a concert in Vienna. We played with very cool guys from the Snow Crystal band. And here in the dressing room one guy talked to me, already quite cheerfully, because we had a beer fridge in the dressing room and asked: "Dmitry, what style do you play?"
Of course, I quite seriously answer him: “We are playing Shoegaze".
And here he is: "Uuuuuuuu, is it not supposed to be such garbage?"
I knew from his expression that it was necessary to find an easier description.
And I say: "Rock, we play Rock!".
He immediately rejoiced, patted me on the shoulder and said: "Daaaaaa, Dmitry rock is cool. ROCK!"
Then we often recalled this funny story with the band, parodying that guy a little.
What are some places around the world that you hope to take your band? Do you have any plans at present to tour in other countries?
Dima: I dream to go and play in Japan one day.
Daniil: I dream to perform in Iceland.
Is there any reason in particular that you want to go to these places? Is there something about dream pop/shoegaze in those places that makes you want to go there?
Dima: First of all, I am very attracted to the culture of Japan and its dissimilarity to everything that we are used to in Russia or Europe.
Daniil: Iceland was for me one of the inspiring countries. Our music is inspired by the Northern seas and the atmosphere of the North inspires me.
Russian Shoegazing is not very well known internationally. Could you tell us more about it?
Dima: In Russia, this genre is not very popular, although now more and more musicians try Shoegaze and I must say quite successfully.
Of course, everyone knows Pinkshinyultrablast and Aerofall. Besides them, there are still a lot of cool bands, of my favorites, probably Life on Venus and My friends Polymers (Editor’s: our favourtie too with Blankenberge. See our collaborations with the bands in the links and also our Russian Shoegaze, Dream & Noise pop guide volume 1 and volume 2).
Is it easy for a Russian indie bands to be known internationally? Do you have any example?
Dima: I think that now with this as it is easier. Streaming platforms, Spotify, etc., which make selections based on your tastes, are very developed. I used to use LastFM a lot to find out about some unknown groups that are similar to my current idols.
Although the persistence and hard work for becoming famous is the equally true for a band from any country.
From the example I do not think that Pinkshinyultrablast, woke up one day already famous.
Has the scene changed since you began, and if so how?
Dima: Yes, it has changed and definitely for the better. I like that now we have no problems with the fact that a new band can make their first concert easily, I think this is very important in order not to lose heart and not spend all their time in rehearsals playing by ourselves.
What is the next album due?
In the new album, we tried to do what we didn’t have time to do in Radiogaze, developed things that we wanted to do before.
Any other project (ie movies soundtrack, …) or plans
Dima: I play the Twee Pop / Post-Punk project “Knight of the Wild Apples”, these are simple, kind and naive songs.
Do you plan to continue music for a long time or are you tired of it?
We plan to continue the music while there are ideas. In any case, we can always play music in the form of pedal trading and become sofa musicians: D
THE BAND IN THE (SOCIAL) MEDIA
Some good videos
There some nice video on the web in addition the one posted on the band’s YouTube Channel.
First from the Radiogaze session (on their channel). It was recorded and filmed in a large empty classic building. It is a perfect fit with their sound, vast and pristine. There are other songs from the same session on YouTube.
A 30 minutes live session
From their 2019 summer tour
And an outdoor acoustic session
Where to find their music
Their social media:
OUTRO
A big thank you to Corey Philpot from Outward (Somewherecold Records) for the interview and Peter from Elusive Sound Records for his help all the way. And of course a million thank you to the band for their kindness confidence and patience.
