TAXI.com

Hello. The "Read This, Newbies" post suggests that we introduce ourselves, so... here I go!

I'm Jeanine, and I manage (well, baby-sit is more like it) a pair of musicians from Siberia. No joke. Long story short: I met one of them in Siberia a long time ago, back when it was still part of the Soviet Union. I was utterly dazzled by his music. Letters were mailed, years passed, people went their own ways... then one day I typed his name into Facebook on a whim and bammo... there he was. A professional musician in his country, now living in Moscow (did you know that's the largest city in Europe? I didn't), and although he'd been a virtuoso when I heard him the first time, he'd been practicing ever since.

So, when he said he'd like to get his music heard in America, I said, "Gee, how hard can that be? Sure, I'll help you guys out!"

Yeah. The past year has been one gigantic education, lemme tell ya! I've never done anything in the music business. I tried to learn to play the piano once, and was truly dismal at it. And I do buy music, and listen to it on the radio... But that's pretty much the sum of my qualifications. Well, that and I'm incredibly patient, hugely detail oriented, and relentlessly persistent. Which I think counts for something.

Somehow I found my way to Broadjam. We entered a few "tip sheets" and got some weak responses--several "we'll put this in our library and if we ever use it, we'll pay you something," but no flat-out sales. I got a little put off, even, with one who "selected" us but never sent a contract, even after they got the music (fortunately Broadjam came galloping to my aid, to get that sorted out). Finally, against all my cheapskate instincts, I bit the bullet and entered one of their songs into that 2011 International Songwriting Competition (literally minutes before the deadline), in the Instrumental category.

It won 1st Place.

I was SO FRIGGING PROUD. I can't help but think that a REAL manager would somehow use that fact to generate interest in their music out among, say, record companies, or TV/movie soundtrack people, or something. Unfortunately, I'm just a housewife from Oregon, so I have no idea what to do.

One of the prizes was a year membership to Taxi, so here I am. A total noob, in charge of a band that is arguably one of the finest in the world (not just based on my humble opinion, but on that whole "1st place" thing I mentioned earlier). I barely speak Russian and they barely speak English, but we make it work (although ask me the Bidet Story sometime, it'll leave you in stitches). We're kind of the Three Stooges, except that if you can look past the bumbling and naivete, there's some brilliant music there.

If any of you folks who've been around the block a few times would like to offer suggestions, I'd love to hear them. And thanks for reading.

Cheers,
Jeanine

PS: Here's the guys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivEkmF_Y5hw

Wow! That was a heck of a video!

Those guys (if the video is representative of what they usually do) are so unique that I think it'll be "interesting" to see what listings come up that would be a good fit to the music. Every once in a while something like "Jazz Fusion" comes up as well as some more "open" listings where a record label is looking for unique music. Anyway, it's a free membership so what the heck?

The forum here can really be valuable and the forum members are super nice. Every once in a while there's some disfunction but today all is clear!

Welcome to you and the guys. Awesome music!

Jeanine! Thanks for that link. The guuitar player is astounding! His fingers were like a spider going up and down its' web, eating up all the notes available. Welcome to TAXI! Ott
p.s. for the historical record, my parents were from Estonia, which is no longer a part of the Soviet Union. Siberia, however, still is. And still very cold.

Very nice!

Hi Jeanine,

Wow, I have not ever seen anyone shred a violin quite like that! Holy stuff.

I sooo want to write something for a guy who can play like that!

My suggestion would be to translate some listings that are close to their style and ask them to write what they think would fit and just see what happens.

Are there more instruments? I noticed a drum set on the stage.... if so it would be cool to hear other stuff. If not, you might consider looking for a cloaborator with Dubstep or Electronica. That would be cool. I am not sure who those folks are but I am sure there are some here somewhere.

As Dave mentioned, this is just a single song sample but it is very unique for a majority of the listings. However, these guys can do anything, so I would try and push them out of the comfort zone to use that talent to try out various styles. They kick *ss for sure.

Thanks, everyone!

Shredding: Imagine that violin action happening on the banks of a river in Russia in the sunset, being performed by a 16 year old kid. That's why I never forgot him. Most of their songs have at least one good shred in them, but Svyatki is one of the most intense from end to end.

BTW, I love the description of Yuriy's fingers like a spider on the guitar--it's perfect! Someday I hope I can translate that for him. But the last time I tried to translate something in Russian that involved animals, I ended up telling people that I needed to go put some fleas on my cat.

Musicians: It's just the two of them. No drums, no vocals. They've played with other people sometimes. Michael Brecker played sax on one of their songs. But it's funny, adding more instruments has never improved their sound, at least IMHO. It's like there's not enough room for anything else. And they both make solo tunes, too, that I just never find as magical as the stuff they do together. Something about all those long dark winters in Siberia--they just bonded over music and together they're WAY more than the sum of their parts. It's kind of eerie, even.

Genres: Yeah. I have no idea what to call their music. Russian bossa nova is the best I've come up with so far. I first heard about Taxi over a year ago, and I asked if they ever have requests for ethnic Russian music. The gal said maybe once or twice a year they'll get one, but that wasn't worth the $300 membership fee (her words, not mine). So getting the free membership really was exciting--I know that when that One Perfect Opportunity comes up, man, I'll be on it like flies on doo-doo!

Assuming I notice it when it finally rumbles by...

Without wanting to post too much music on the wrong board, this is the song that won the ISC, "6/8:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr3uJeqxqmE

Currently that one is in 1st place at the Broadjam Top 10 list...for Classical Music. I think of this as "guitar driven rock" myself. Shades of Jimi Hendrix, IMHO. But we all know I'm a noob. I have no idea how to pitch this music, or to whom. I just know it's REALLY EFFING GOOD.

/rant. I do go on, don't I? Anyway, thanks for all the kind words of welcome!

Holy Freakin cow I love these guys.. Great wailing on the fiddle and guitar .. Post all the songs you have of these guys .. Do it on the "Peer to peer" section.. This is great stuff..
Tom

BTW Welcome to Taxi... I love you already..

Welcome to the forum, Jeanine! There was a country act from Russia (maybe Soviet Georgia, but who's counting?) that managed to make some inroads in Nashville, a few years back; maybe their management would have some useful insights for you. I'll see if I can't track them down.

*edit* I don't have their management, but this is them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McTPYSMr ... 007642AC6C

I'd probably look for listings that say "eclectic" or "hard to classify". I'm fairly certain their music is marketable, if not mainstream, and the quality is really high.

Hi Jeanine,

Welcome to the community.

Allen

Welcome Jeanie!

Great music and musicianship!

There is definitely a market for this, but IMHO it's not the mass market. Music that defies classification usually has a hard time getting exposure thru the traditional music business channels. In other words, there is no pre-existing "demand" for this music since it really isn't like anything else.

I think the way to work these guys internationally would be through an extensive youtube/social media campaign.
It's exciting music and if enough people are exposed to it, I believe a substantial global fanbase could be built...

matto