Stepan Ledkov parted ways. PMIBar art director Katya Klein: biography, family and interesting facts

The Marseille group was created in 2005. Then students of St. Petersburg State University Culture and Arts (SPbGUKI) Mitya Blinov and Zhenya Babenko gathered a team to participate in one of the student song competitions. The day before, Mitya almost walked past the notice posted near the dean’s office. I came back and decided that I needed to gather my friends and try.

The guys invited their classmate, a student of the “non-musical” faculty - directing and production - Styopa Ledkov, to play the role of vocalist. And all because Styopa had already managed to earn local fame among his dorm neighbors, singing his own songs in the smoking room with a guitar. For the competition, the guys made arrangements for two compositions, one of which - “To the South” - would later appear on the soundtrack of the hit film “We are from the Future” (2008).

"We didn't choose musical style. At first, we only went out on the basis that Styopa behaved very fiery on stage. Everything began to take shape into some kind of musical style much later. And even then, our choice was not rational. We never discussed that we would play this and that. We just did what we liked. They did it from the heart. “We did what we truly enjoyed,”- Zhenya Babenko, group “Marseille” (music, keyboards, music production).

“We immediately started playing our songs. We didn’t cover anything, we didn’t practice anything. We liked it so much that we wanted to share this mood with others. So we deliberately opened the window in our rehearsal room in the dorm so that we could be heard as much as possible. more people» , - Styopa Ledkov, group “Marseille” (vocals, lyrics).

The name of the group was invented almost according to the same scheme. No one gave rational arguments in favor of this or that “name”. So for Styopa, “Marseille” became an excerpt from beautiful phrase“farewell Marcel”, which he wanted to insert into one of his songs. Following this, they remembered that Marseille is the second city in France after Paris, where there is that special mix of cultures, styles, lifestyles, characters that are also present in the group’s music. Someone mentioned Marcel Proust, whose book "Under the Shadow of Girls in Bloom" is one of the greatest examples romantic prose. It turned out that “Marseille” easily turns into an abbreviation of the first letters of the names of the members of the first line-up of the group plus the obligatory letter “L” - “live”.

"Presentation" competitive program The group took place in the student cafe "Anna", and the next day the guys already took the stage in front of the "grand jury" at the Rossi club. And the very first competition brought the boys their first success. The management of the club, where the noisy student session took place, invited Marseille to perform in one of concert programs. And immediately on completely professional terms. St. Petersburg's promoters immediately realized that the guys could do much more with their music than with any other musical activity. They asked only one thing - play. They played. And at student parties, and in chic clubs in St. Petersburg.

“We’ve never had to ask for something: let us come to your club to play. No, they called us themselves. We didn’t distribute flyers, didn’t put up posters, and didn’t sell tickets to our own performances. We only did what we liked, what we sincerely loved and what was truly interesting to us: we played and came up with music, wrote songs,”- Mitya Blinov, group “Marseille” (music, saxophone).

In 2007, the group "Marseille" performed at All-Russian competition“Live the Music!”, the jury of which was headed by famous musician and producer Sergei Zhukov. He was so impressed by the guys’ victory that he not only gave them a prize - a cooler bag with plates, which Styopa still keeps at home - but also offered to work together. The festival organizers promised the winners to also finance the recording of the album and the shooting of the video. But according to Russian tradition, at the last moment it turned out that there was no money. It’s good that Zhukov stayed.

It was at the instigation of Sergei Zhukov that the Marseille group performed in the finals of the Five Stars competition under the patronage of Channel One in Sochi. But Marseille participated in the selection on a general basis. Moreover, until the very last moment It was not clear whether “Marseille” would be accepted into the competition or whether their place would be taken by artists more experienced in behind-the-scenes intrigue. Joseph Davydovich Kobzon himself, the president of the festival, and Larisa Dolina, Honored Artist of Russia, stood up for the guys. It was for the sake of “Marseille” that the administration of the competition took an unprecedented step: the number of participants in the final was increased.

“No one could tell us for sure whether we would go to the finals in Sochi. Every week Zhukov called us and said “we passed”, after a few days - “we didn’t pass”. This went on for a very long time, we decided that nothing would happen, the guys went home, and only I remained in St. Petersburg. As I remember now: St. Petersburg, three o’clock in the morning, my friends and I were hanging out on the open veranda of one of the clubs, and Zhukov called me. “What the hell?” - I thought. And Zhukov just shouts into the phone: “Styopa! Just believe me! This time everything is accurate. You've passed!- Styopa Ledkov.

Unfortunately, the guys did not manage to perform with five points as part of the Five Stars festival. Almost the entire festival they walked in a group of leaders. But on the third day of the competition, when the participants had to perform a cover version of Sofia Rotaru’s song, the vocalist of “Marseille” Stepa Ledkov simply... turned off the ear monitor. And since the concert was held in live Channel One, there was no time to remove the overlay. Stepa had to sing, focusing solely on the echo that was returning from the hall. The performance turned out to be crumpled, and the Marseille group received the minimum points from the jury, moving from among the favorites of the competition to the category of outsiders.

Fortunately, no one made a tragedy out of it. The guys continued to play, continued to write and record music, opened their own website, started an official group on a popular social network site, writes./../.. “Marseille” began its first tour. Moreover, without any radio broadcasts or powerful support in the press and on television. The guys found all the contacts of regional promoters themselves, negotiated themselves, worked on their own tour schedule.

“We, of course, were upset by what happened at the competition... We even fell into depression for a short time and stood still for about six months. Then they started working again. We recorded, posted tracks online, and worked on the group. By the way, only thanks to this group we traveled to a bunch of cities in our country. We didn’t have any radio broadcasts or a video yet, but we were already invited to concerts.”, - Mitya Blinov.

In 2008, director Andrei Malyukov invited Styopa Ledkov to play the cameo role of Private Yelin in the film “We are from the Future.” The director not only featured the vocalist of the group “Marseille” in his film, but also invited the guys to write the title song for the opening credits of the film. The producers of the film were going to give this honorable right to another group, but Andrei insisted on the candidacy of the Marseille group. As a result, literally in two days Styopa, Zhenya and Mitya wrote a song, “Better We Are Not Here,” which is completely uncharacteristic of the group’s work. When the song began to be recorded in the studio, Andrei Malyukov took an active part in the recording, playing the role of a creative producer of the composition: he helped Stepa get into the mood and rhythm of the movie picture as accurately as possible. In addition to “We’re No Better Here,” the film also featured the song “To the South.”

“Andrey Malyukov always believed in me. And so much so that when a conflict arose over who would sing in the film, Andrei insisted on our candidacy. He simply gave the producers an ultimatum: either the group “Marseille” sings in the cinema, or you remove my name from the credits. So thank him very much!”- Styopa Ledkov.

The guys shot their first video with their own money. It turned out that Pasha Sidorov, an old acquaintance of Styopa Ledkov from university, began working with St. Petersburg rap artists as a director. And when the guys met on the set of KaZhe Oboyma’s video, Styopa invited Pasha to shoot a video for the song “How Much ...” for the group “Marseille”. The money necessary for filming was earned in two concerts, and the extras in the video were recruited with the help of official group In contact with. The director of the video was Pasha’s wife and his assistant, Maria Unzhakova. It's funny what main character played in the video ex-girlfriend Stepa Legkova, with whom they broke up before the video was released.

“It often happens that they try to decide for us: who is right for us and why we should be together... The same story happened in my life. Late in the evening I was walking along the embankment of the Griboedov Canal and the lines were born in my head: “No matter how much people say: “Why?”, We will still continue to live,” going into a cafe, I sat down and immediately wrote a song. I want to say with this song that we must learn to listen only to our hearts. Don’t be afraid to love!”- Styopa Ledkov.

In 2009, the Marseille group won new victory. Having registered in the first creative network “I am Talent”, they almost immediately pulled out happy ticket. Literally a couple of weeks after registration, they received a call and were offered to sign a contract. So it began new page in the history of the group.

“At first we were quite skeptical about this cooperation. We have been offered some kind of contracts more than once. But each time they were somehow one-sided. It felt like everyone was just waiting for us to do something meaningful. And then what we will do is somehow use it to our advantage. Therefore, the contract is a happy exception. For the first time they started helping us. And now only one thing is needed from us - write music and make good songs» , - Mitya Blinov.

WINNERS OF THE GOLDEN GRAMOPHONE PRIZE 2009, 2010

“No matter how much,” “Where” and “This Song is for You” made it into the top 100 most played songs in Russia.

The clip “How Much” and “Where Where” are in rotation on the channels MTV, RuTV, Muz-TV and many others.

Listen to the Marcel group on: Love Radio, HitFm, Russian Radio, Dfm, Record, Mayak, Humor FM, Kino FM, Fresh Radio, First Popular, Europe Plus, Metro.... And also more than 100 stations in Russia and the CIS.

Styopa Ledkov (vocals, lyrics)

Born on September 23, 1986 on Kolguev Island (Barents Sea, Arctic Ocean) in a reindeer herding village. A hereditary reindeer herder who first picked up a weapon at the age of six. At the age of seven he moved with his mother to the city of Naryan-Mar. In the ninth grade, he formed his first school group, “Uncle Styopa,” which played cover versions of Western hits, superimposing Russian lyrics on them. After school, following the example of a friend, I went to enter the St. Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts. In his life, he managed to work on the radio, play in KVN, act in several films ("Brezhnev", "Stormy Gates", "We are from the Future"), work as a designer and even as a high-rise installer and welder.

Zhenya Babenko (music, keyboards, music production)

Born April 2, 1985. Plays the guitar, keyboards, and works with music programs. He is interested in extreme tourism, and even took part in competitions. He moved to St. Petersburg from Norilsk, where he played in the nu-metal band “Root of Mandrake”, whose sound was guided by such examples of the genre as Slipknot, Koyan, etc. After moving to St. Petersburg, he became one of the founders of the indie rock band Like A Virgin, whose the music was inspired by the material of "The Mars Volta". Worked with the rap project “Assai”. Even in my first team I began to study musical programms, worked with sound and arrangements. He says that it is in music that he is 100% realized and nothing else particularly interests him. I came to Marseille at the invitation of Mitya Blinov, with whom I studied on the same course.

Mitya Blinov (music, saxophone)

Born on May 7, 1985 in Perm. From the age of 11 he played in the children's vocal and instrumental ensemble "Antares", then there was a local orchestra music school, one-time concerts in clubs and restaurants in the city. After graduating from college, he left for St. Petersburg. Mitya chose the saxophone as his main instrument at the age of seven, when they had their first enrollment in a music club at school. Parents were puzzled by this choice. Fortunately, through friends we managed to find a used saxophone - and Mitya went to music school. It was Mitya who initiated the creation of the Marseille group and the group’s first studio experiments. For a long time Mitya also served as the group administrator and responsible for the team’s web resources. The only graduate student of the St. Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts as part of “Marseille”.

“We have never been a project. Yes, we got together and tried our hand at the competition. But we never did anything by calculation - people should like this, but not this. We have always done what interests us. We wanted to make music with love, so that we ourselves would like it and could listen to it ourselves. This is probably why we formed a friendly team so quickly. It's a group, not a "project", - Mitya Blinov.

Contact with the group and organization of concerts:
http://vkontakte.ru/mityablinov
[email protected]
[email protected]

Official (updated) biography on./../..
Official website: http://www.marselband.ru/
Official page of the Marcel group on VKontakte: http://vkontakte.ru/club20697
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/TIK/265321800156070
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/STEPAMARSEL
Mail.ru blog: no.
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/marselband
Livejournal community: no.
Marcel group in Odnoklassniki (official group): no.
MySpace: no.
Google+ account: no.
Photo on FLICKR: none.

Materials used to create the biography:
1. Official website of the Marseille group.
2. Ru.Wikipedia
3. Media.
4. Photo from personal archive on the group's official website.

• WINNERS OF THE GOLDEN GRAMOPHONE PRIZE 2009, 2010
• “No matter how much,” “Where” and “This Song is for You” made it into the top 100 most played songs in Russia.
• The clip “How Much” and “Where Where” are in rotation on the channels MTV, RuTV, Muz-TV and many others.
• Listen to us on: Love Radio, HitFm, Russian Radio, Dfm, Record, Mayak, Humor FM, Kino FM, Fresh Radio, First Popular, Europe Plus, Metro.... And also more than 100 stations in Russia and the CIS.

In 2005, students of the St. Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts (SPbGUKI) Mitya Blinov and Zhenya Babenko gathered a team to participate in one of the student song competitions. The day before, Mitya almost walked past the notice posted near the dean’s office. I came back and decided that I needed to gather my friends and try.
The guys invited their classmate, a student of the “non-musical” faculty - directing and production - Styopa Ledkov, to play the role of vocalist. And all because Styopa had already managed to earn local fame among his dorm neighbors, singing his own songs in the smoking room with a guitar. For the competition, the guys made arrangements for two compositions, one of which - “To the South” - would later appear on the soundtrack of the hit film “We are from the Future” (2008).
The “presentation” of the group’s competition program took place in the Anna cafe, and the next day the guys already appeared on stage in front of the “grand jury” at the Rossi club. And the very first competition brought success to the boys.
The club's management invited Marseille to perform in one of the concert programs. And immediately on professional terms. The promoters immediately realized that the guys could do more with their music than with any other musical activity. They asked only one thing - play. They played. Both at student parties and in clubs in St. Petersburg.

In 2007, the Marseille group performed at the Live the Music! competition, the jury of which was headed by the famous musician and producer Sergei Zhukov.
He was so impressed by the guys’ victory that he not only gave them a prize - a cooler bag with plates, which Styopa still keeps at home - but also offered to work together. The festival organizers promised the winners to also finance the recording of the album and the shooting of the video. But according to Russian tradition, at the last moment it turned out that there was no money.

The group "Marseille" performed in the finals of the "Five Stars" competition.
But Marseille participated in the selection on a general basis. Moreover, until the very last moment it was not clear whether “Marseille” would be accepted into the competition or whether their place would be taken by artists more experienced in behind-the-scenes intrigue. Joseph Kobzon and Larisa Dolina stood up for the guys.
On the page of the official website of Vipartist you can familiarize yourself with the history of the creation of the Marseille group, watch photos and new video clips, and use the specified contact numbers to invite the St. Petersburg group Marseille with a concert to your event. You can order a performance by the Marseille group for a holiday or other celebration.

Video group MARSEILLE (Stepan Ledkov)

Today with Erudite there are such young and successful parents! Stepan Ledkov is the vocalist of the group Marseille, winner of two Golden Gramophones, an aspiring director and producer, Katya Klein is Stepan’s charming wife and director of the St. Petersburg club “RukiVverh Bar”. However major success The young couple is son Danya and daughter Adrian.

Let's start with what is closest to you - music. Since our magazine is for parents, we are primarily interested in questions about the influence of the family on the formation of the views and interests of a growing child. Tell me, how did your parents feel about your choice of musical direction?

Katya: When I was very little, I chose the music that my mom and dad listened to. She ran around the apartment with the player and hummed songs. My parents never tried to protect me from what I liked, quite the opposite. For this I am very grateful to them.

Stepan: About classical education: I wouldn't say it's very important. In general, studying music is very useful, but using modern techniques, so that the child really enjoys it, so that he wants to go to classes again and again, so that the classes are held as a kind of game, at least when the child is still very small.

In general, being creative is very useful. Even if your child painted the wallpaper or drew a scrawl on the sofa, don’t scold him too much, because he did it as a creative unit, don’t ruin his talent.

Besides you, how musical is your family? Did you get the traditional musical education? If necessary modern child music education in its classical form?

Katya: I believe that a priori music education cannot give anything bad. Music develops, and in life, even if a child chooses a profession not related to music, it will not be superfluous.

Stepan: There are no musicians in my family and never have been, I became a musician partly by accident: one day in class, probably in the ninth, I went out for a walk in my city of Naryan-Mar and met my friend Igor Ruzhnikov on the street, he was walking with guitar somewhere in the evening. I asked where he was going, and he replied that in their cultural and sports complex one guy was organizing a group, and he was invited to play guitar there. I asked to go with him, and when I arrived, I saw that the drummer, bassist, and keyboard player had already gathered there, and only the vocalist had not come. I was offered to sing, and that’s how I ended up in my first group. They called the group “Uncle Styopa”.

In general, my education is as a show program director. I never studied or studied music anywhere.

Musicians often admit that at concerts they often perform the music that listeners like, but when alone they prefer to listen to completely different music. Are you taking a break from your music? What kind of music do you like?

Stepan: Of course, you shouldn’t listen to your music all the time. It’s important that you don’t get bored with your own material; if you don’t get bored with it years later, it means it’s really good music. If you listen to your own every day, then you can stop putting your soul into songs at concerts, but you really want the audience who come to the concerts to receive one hundred percent of what they should receive.

Are there any traditions and values ​​that were instilled in you by your parents that you instill in your children today?

Stepan: My grandmother almost never scolded me, and if she scolded me, it was only for the sake of it, and I try to treat my children in the same way: show love, devote a lot of time to them, play together.

Therefore, we try to celebrate all holidays with family, however, with my profession it is very difficult to do this. But, despite this rhythm of life, we try to spend every free minute together. On the weekend, for example, we were in Peterhof, although not for long: everyone was very cold.

Do you think that children should be given a diverse education: dancing, music, sports, etc., or is it better to focus on one area?

Katya: Definitely for a diverse education! I myself have been interested since childhood different things: choreography, swimming, knitting, embroidery, music, dancing, learned to cook with my mother.

Now I understand that this has been very useful to me in my life! I think this is generally a very important part of education: giving a child the opportunity to try himself in everything and choose what he likes, without imposing one thing.

Stepan: I believe that there is no need to force a child to do anything. You need to make sure that he likes it himself. If he doesn’t want to go to football, there’s no need to force him. Nothing good will come of this: you will only become tense, nervous, this is very bad. And if he shows a craving for something, then, on the contrary, you need to support him.

Ekaterina, how do you pamper your children and husband at home, what do you cook for them, in in social networks we saw photos of your dishes. How long have you been interested in cooking?

Katya: I love cooking! I'm just a fan of this process! I love the feeling of being able to experiment, coming up with something new every time. I indulge in everything: baking, Italian cuisine... I share photos and recipes with my subscribers, since a lot of moms read me.

Katya, this is not your first day as a mother. What advice do you have for those who will return from the maternity hospital tomorrow with a baby in their arms?

Do not treat your navel with brilliant green! (laughs). All hands will be green and so will the baby’s tummy!

I became a mother for the first time when I was 18. This is quite young age. Many are afraid, and it seems that it will not work out: great responsibility, lack of information, fear, panic. The realization that you are a “mother” does not come immediately. And when it comes, when these little hands reach out to you, and you understand that for this little one you are a huge planet, the most important person, incomparable happiness comes. Don't be afraid, learn, make mistakes, learn again. This is normal, this is cyclical and this is correct.

Thank you very much for the interesting conversation. Any wishes for our readers?

Make friends with your little ones, love them, look at the world through their eyes! Children are our mirror. Remember that only we ourselves can make our children either happy or unhappy. Everything passes. And our children always stay with us!

The leader of the "Marseille" group manages to raise children with his wife Ekaterina Klein, manage restaurant business and actively tour with concerts throughout Russia. The musician spoke in our interview about how Vladivostok turned into our Hong Kong and why the most soulful songs are written in St. Petersburg.

I'm an internet addict! Absolutely dependent ( laughs). I am talking to you through a gadget, in my other hand there is a second gadget. Yes, I'm always online. If I'm suddenly not online, consider me dead. ( laughs)

Don't you get bored?

Honestly, no. All my work is based on the Internet. Not only music, but also our establishments with Katya. I remember when we opened Hands Up Bar, Katya came up with mobile chats with all the employees. Gradually, we switched to such mini-dialogues: one with staff, another with co-founders, and a third with sponsors. And this turned out to be much more convenient than all these long email correspondences, with a bunch of copies, replays and other things. You just hold your iPhone in your hand, and you have all the necessary chats; you ask a question and instantly receive an answer. The whole world moves around us at such an unreal speed that it simplifies the process of work.

And who brought whom to the Internet - you your spouse or she you?

It's even hard to remember. Katya was the first on VKontakte, and I was the first on Twitter. I didn’t even have a gadget then, and I posted on Twitter from a desktop computer!

You tour extensively and actively within the country. Tell us about the most impressive places in our Motherland.

Just recently we discussed with friends that in Russia there are so many beautiful places, which can give a head start abroad. You will laugh, but our recent tour in Vladivostok made an impression. Another world, absolutely. The city seems to be a couple of years ahead of St. Petersburg and even Moscow. Such an absolute future. I think the reason for this is the proximity with China, that’s why it’s like that there a large number of technology, electronics, the whole city sparkles in LEDs, which I have not seen either in Moscow or in St. Petersburg. At night, Vladivostok is Hong Kong! There are practically no Russian cars there, imagine. What's the matter? Imagine how much it costs to bring a domestic car to Vladivostok.

Are they all right-hand drive?

There's even one there folk sign: a person’s well-being is judged not by the make of his car, but by the location of the steering wheel. If you have a left-hand drive, you are most likely wealthy and have driven your car.

Or the Russian North, where I come from, also makes an impression. About five or six years ago, a group and I visited my hometown Naryan-Mar. Imagine, when you fly over the tundra, from an airplane it looks like absolute Mars: swamps and deserts, the whole earth is cut by lakes and rivers. It feels like you're landing on a shuttle. I remember later I arranged for my friends a trip to the tundra, when you realize that for many kilometers away there is nothing but endless expanses. This is what really blows your mind.

The south of our country is a completely different story. Probably few people have not been there, but the south of Russia is not only Sochi, Anapa, Gelendzhik with beach traders who offer to buy boiled corn. If possible, you need to explore the mountains and look at the landscape.

What about Moscow and St. Petersburg?

I am an ardent fan of St. Petersburg. I have always said and say: no matter how much my wife, who was born in Leningrad, persuaded us to move to Moscow because of the opportunities, I love St. Petersburg. I have a calm attitude towards Moscow, I love it, but I go there to work. I'm not ready to live in it, the main reason is the atmosphere. It’s not there, the atmosphere necessary for creativity, no songs are born in my soul there. Just look at how cold the creativity of most Moscow artists is. All the soulful songs that are remembered for centuries, they were all written in St. Petersburg.

As for the fans, in Moscow they are very lively and open. By the way, we noticed it a long time ago - when we were still performing with “Assai” in Moscow. We then came to the famous but now defunct club “Ikra” for the first time, and I was literally amazed by the difference in fans in Moscow. Apparently, the city has more and less chances to meet this person on the street: people open up, behave detachedly, they don’t care about anyone and they have a blast with all their hearts.

With such an active touring schedule as you described, how do you manage to stay in touch with your family and loved ones?

We cope with such separations absolutely normally - the phone helps. We are already accustomed to calling or texting friends and relatives. This year the Marseille group turns 10 years old! By the way, on October 2, we will play an anniversary concert on stage A2 - it will be live in every sense: both musically and emotionally.

At this moment, Stepan interrupts the conversation and asks to wait a little. Can be heard in the background child's voice and Styopa’s clear answer: “Hold the phone and call your mom!” You already know how to do it."

Styopa, now I can’t help but ask, are your children connected to the Internet?

Honestly? Yes. Danya is generally big, I wouldn’t let him go to school without a phone, although I’m still trying to go see him off, despite the safe area. Katya and I are generally democratic parents, and we understand that gadgets are already a necessity.