#cvpellv

Born in Armenia and raised in Russia, Tapecut takes tired old genres and turns them into something completely original. From the warped trap of his recent Biaoji EP to the utter gorgeousness of ‘Time To Go’, a downtempo torch song featuring vocals from L.A.’s Vada, the only thing you can expect from Tapecut is that whatever he produces will be far from formulaic. Check out our interview below.

Tell us about your artist name…

Hello there, my name is Alik. I was born in Armenia but my parents decided to move to Saint-Petersburg when I was one year old, and they took me with them. I make multi-genre music and my goal is to create something really new. Why tapecut? Because I used to cut samples from old vinyl records. TAPE – like some record.

What sort of music did you listen to growing up?

I was listening to a lot of bass music like Mr. Carmack, Ta-ku, etc.

When did you start making your own music and what was it like?

I started to make my own music when I was about 13 years old. First time I met my first DAW FL Studio in 2008, and then I started to try to make some beats, and all that became bigger than a hobby since that moment.

What equipment do you use now?

I use Macbook and Sony MDR EX15LP Earphones.

Where would be the perfect place to listen to your music?

Hm, I think SoundCloud is the best place for it.

What fuels your creativity?

Actually, always different things can inspire me. It can be some specific sounds and some good or bad mood.

‘Time To Go’ is a beautiful track. Can you tell us a bit about it, and how the collaboration with Vada came about?

Thank you, yes, sure. It’s a long story. I met my love in Minsk (Belarus) and I spent with her about a few months and it was time to go back home for a few weeks, she was at the hospital at that moment, and I was thinking about coming home to Saint-Petersburg. I didn’t want to go there, but it was time to go. I can tell you this is a track where you can see the history. You felt in love, everything’s cool, and you have to go, that’s why I used sounds of a train in the track, and then a short сhime. At that moment you understand that it was just a dream, and you woke up and everything’s good again.

I like Vada’s vocals, she sounds really lovely, she suits perfect with this track though.

What do you think the future of music is going to be like?

I really don’t know. There are a lot of genres that appear every day. So I can not say anything about it. I do what I do and each day I try to get better.

Can you send us a photo of the view from your window?

🇦🇲 🇷🇺 Born in Armenia and raised in Russia, @tapecut brings us this #ViewFromMyWindow, check whole interview 👉🏻 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #tapecut #Trap #Electronic #HipHop #stpetersburg #russia #armenia #downtempo #soundcloud #producer #downbeat #vocals

A post shared by MusicMap (@musicmapglobal) on Apr 7, 2017 at 7:45am PDT

Who’s your biggest local musical influence, past and/or present?

I think it can be BMB Spacekid and CVPELLV.

What are the top things you’d suggest visitors to St Petersburg should go and see/do?

I’d suggest to read more about Saint-Petersburg, because it’s called a ‘museum under the open sky’.

What are the best music venues and record shops in the city?

Unfortunately, our city is not developed well enough to have so.

What’s the biggest challenge facing musicians in Russia right now?

A lack of good managers and promoters. We do have talents, but they can’t express themselves.

Where in the world would you most like to perform?

I’d like to perform in LA, because I dreamt to go there since I as a kid.

What’s your favourite album of all time?

My fav album is Schoolboy Q – Blank Face.

What’s your favourite track of 2017 so far?