Genre: Experimental / World Music / Folk / Trip-Hop / Ethno


THEODOR BASTARD. Live in Dobrolet studio. Saint-Petersburg (March, 2013)

THEODOR BASTARD:

Yana Veva - vocal, spring drum, shaker
Fedor Svolotch - guitar, sampler, drum
Kusas - percussion, marimba, kalimba
Andy Vladych - drums
Alia Sagitova - keyboards
Vasil Davletshin - bass
Philipp Barskiy - harp, сimbalom
Vladimir Belov - cello

Video team:

Maxim Napalkov - camera operator
Alexander Zatona - camera operator
Vitaliy Gorshenko - camera operator
Taras Frolov - editing

Dobrolet team:

Andrei Aliakrinskiy - mixing
Alexander Dokshin - sound engineer


(p)&(c) 2013 Theodor Bastard




 THEODOR BASTARD is one of the most unusual contemporary Russian world-music collectives. The history of the band goes from the late 1990’s. The band works between genres that can be defined as world music, darkwave and trip-hop. The trademark of the band is the unique voice of Yana Veva and unimprovable sound-producing by Fedor Svolotch.
 
 THEODOR BASTARD band consists of 5 musicians, turning their performances into a magic act that sends the audience both to Eastern musical tradition and to Balkan and Russian folk. The musicians use a lot of electronic devices and ethnic percussion – darbuka, ashiko, congas, jambeys, dafs and even such instruments that are few combined with each other as violoncello, didgeridoo, saz and gusli. And all this mystical diversity is crowned by the beautiful voice of Yana Veva, which can be compared with the sad voice of Undine – boundless, endless, filled with the lightest air.
 
 The band performed at major festivals in Europe – Fusion, Wave Gotik Treffen and others; сollaborated with many interesting Artists from Martin Atkins (Pigface), Peter Christopherson (Coil) to Stephan Hertrich (SHIVA IN EXILE, Darkseed, Betray My Secrets). Also cooperation with Fun-Da-Mental and Julien Jacob - the unique singer of African descent – are among the new collaborations of THEODOR BASTARD.
 
 In June 2011 the band successfully performed at the largest German festival WGT in Leipzig. The concert took place on one of the main stages of the festival, in Central Theater of Leipzig. Also, during the tour, the band gave solo concerts in Poland and Lithuania.
 
 In November 2011 the release of "Remixed" on CD - the collection of remixes of THEODOR BASTARD’s songs - has taken place. Such artists from all over Europe as Neotropic, Animals on Wheels, Up,Bustle&Out (all three of them has signed on the label Ninja Tune), Scanner, State of Bengal, Geomatic, Flint Glass, and others took part in the work on the collection.
 
 During all the fall and winter of 2011 THEODOR BASTARD are occupied with the recording of the new album which, as the musicians themselves admit, has become the most complicated and tedious in their career. The musicians had recorded the material in several studios at the same time. Many invited guests took part in the recording. On the album one can hear such instruments as udo, mbira, marimba, reco-reco, caxixi, ashiko, and spring drum. Fedor also used the instruments that he had invented and contrived with his own hand of improvised material such as coconuts, door springs, empty bottles, and plastic. The album will be the most lively and diverse in its contents in the entire history of the band. Also famous British band Fun-Da-Mental (in the collaboration with the Africans The Mighty Zulu Nation) and unique French singer Julien Jacob took part in the recording of the compositions for the album.
 
 In February 2012 the main representatives of world music in Russia THEODOR BASTARD, after a break that lasted a year and a half, have returned on stage with the presentations of the new album “Oikoumene” in Russia and abroad. Concerts in Moscow and Saint Petersburg were sold out.
 
 In May 2015, THEODOR BASTARD recorded a new album "Vetvi", which is the latest album at the moment. THEODOR BASTARD release their albums not so often, working for months in various recording studios in several cities and countries, searching for the best sound and arrangements. Work on this album took three years with plenty of musicians taking part in it. Among them are the famous buryat singer Namgar Lhasaranova, multi instrumentalist Phillip Barsky. talented Olga Glazova, who plays the world’s largest gusli. Lead singer Yana Veva has reached new heights with her unique vocal technique. Continuing the theme of wanderings, which was the basic idea of the previous album "Oikoumene", THEODOR BASTARD take their listeners from hot south to the fairy northern lights. 
 
 "We travel Russian north every year," – says the band leader Fedor Svolotch. – "Now it's time for us to turn to our culture, our country and our roots. There are our places of power, the places where stones and winds are talking to us. New album is a song of the northern harsh nature". 
 
 A peculiar combination of the archaic percussions and folk instruments was used during the recording. Playing unusual ethnic instruments is still the important part of THEODOR BASTARD creative process. Russian horn, traditional Mongol violin morin khuur, tibetian ritual horn dunchen, ancient Russian gusli, cajon, vargan, dulcimer (string instrument like citra) – this is just a short list of musical miracles on the album. Tens of musicians were engaged in creating of sound kaleidoscope. That was a serious and laborious work. String instruments bring deep melodism and dramatism. There are morin khuur by Yana Veva, violin by Gulya Naumova and cello by Natalia Nazarova. They harmoniously strung on ritual rhythms of drums and percussions by Kirill Serov. Choir «Lauda» adds ancient masculinity to the album sound, as well as an outstanding vocalist Alexander Platonov (Ensemble of ancient peasant music).
 
 Magic sound of gusli by Olga Glazova, harps and cymbals by multi-instrumentalist Philip Barsky decorate some songs, and great vocals by Buryat singer Namgar give a special atmosphere of northern dawn to one of the songs on the album.
 
 Management and booking:
 
[LINKS]

 THEODOR BASTARD in the Internet: 
http://www.theodorbastard.com

 Here:- a short film about the new album "Vetvi". Interviews with band members. The story about the new album.

 Here live-videos:

 Music-videos THEODOR BASTARD:
(Pustota)
(Selva)
(Mir)
(Vetvi)