What do you know about the Music Lovers Club?

You've likely heard their music. You might have even formed an opinion about it. But if you don't know the guys from the club personally – you probably know nothing about it. In a new interview, the KLIK editorial team spoke with Danya, Denis, Dima, and Kirill about their creative work and their new album. Now they're not so mysterious anymore (but definitely not less cool for it).

About the club

– How did the Music Lovers Club come about?

Kirill: It was 2019. Dimа and I were sitting at my place, I made a beat in 5 minutes, and Dima just freestyled the lyrics. That's how the club's very first track, "Twist," came about. I was heavily inspired by BROCKHAMPTON at the time and told Dima, like, call some people, let's write rap. He called Danya, who had never rapped before at all. That's how it all started. By the way, Danya's first verse is on the track "Pocket."

After that, things developed very quickly in the club. We put together our first album, got a lot of feedback from listeners, and even signed a contract with Sony Music. We immediately realized that people liked this music much more than what we had written before. Later, we met Denis, and pretty soon he became part of the club.

Denis: Important clarification – we met over a bottle of beer and fish pâté with bread. Another important clarification – we were introduced by DJ Pozhar.

Dima: There was really very little money back then. I'd go into "HIT" (a low-price store in Belarus), grab some cheap cookies, a liter of Babushkina Krynka drinking yogurt, and come to Kirill's to write music.

Kirill: Poverty is a whole other topic, of course, but it was cool. If only because it's over.

– What can you say about each other as people and as musicians?

Dima: Good guys. We're like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, except we haven't chosen who's who yet.

From the editor:

When asked who holds what position in the group, we learned that Denis holds the "position of sex." It's tough work, but he tries. Otherwise, the guys rotate duties. One day one person raps a verse, the next day someone else does the chorus, the day after someone writes the guitar. The guys even take turns running the social media accounts.

Kirill: We have a vision – how we see the music. Right now, the club is going through an important new phase. Our new album rejects everything that came before. This is the club we always wanted to see. We no longer systematically manage social media or make convenient pop – now everything is honest and real.

Dima: We can be whoever we want to be.

Kirill: A lot has happened over these six years – we haven't been together in Minsk all the time. It only happened in stretches. First, Dima went into the army, then Denis flew abroad, then Dima and Danila moved to Georgia, and later to St. Petersburg.

So here we are, this close-knit group, we write music together, but at the same time, we could go a year or two without seeing each other. We even wrote a couple of albums remotely. But this August, we lived together 24/7 for a month and wrote the album we set out to make 6 years ago.

– Why isn't there any information about the club on the internet?

Dima: It's a conscious choice. We were these mysterious boys – that was the gimmick.

Denis: Plus, we have absolutely no idea how to be public figures or how to deal with any of that.

Danya: I also think the reason is when we started making music. 2019-20 – the coronavirus era. Before that time, an artist's publicity wasn't even so much about social media, but about them traveling a lot to perform at various festivals, including outside Belarus. And we just skipped that stage.

– What changes did the club go through?

Kirill: We took several breaks. One of them happened right when Dima came back from the army.

Dima: Yeah, I came back hyped up like never before in my life. And they're like, "Well, Dima, looks like we need to take a break from music."

Kirill: Well, basically, I burned out after the release of the mini-album "Nights" in 2021. We wrote it remotely, and I just decided to temporarily shut down the club. In 2023, we just got in touch somehow and, again while apart, wrote "Everything in Its Own Time."

– Can it be said that you're driven by a sincere desire to make music, not commerce?

Denis: It's hard to answer this question honestly. The guys and I decided to think less and do more. Just work until it works out. And for what reason and why – I don't know. Most likely, we just can't not make music.

From the editor:

The Music Lovers Club is not a band in the usual sense of the word. Essentially, it's four independent musicians with their own solo projects. Dima nicely noted that the collective could be described as a "creative union" and the "Minsk Beatles."

About the new album

– In August, you rented a house to record the album there. Tell us how that went.

Dima: The idea to rent a house came from Kirill. We were sitting in a café after a concert at the "Molodoy" bar in Minsk. We just thought it would be cool to get together again and write something, like old times. And I realized I was ready to quit my job for it. I hadn't been able to come to Minsk for a long time in a while. Danila also supported the idea.

It was very hard to find a house. No one wanted to rent us one for any amount of money. In the end, we had to pretend to be IT guys and lie that we were working on our own project. Maybe that's the only reason we succeeded.

Initially, we wanted a house outside the city, near a forest, out in the nature. But at the last moment, an option came up in a private residential area in Minsk. And it was the house of our dreams. When we walked in, we immediately knew – this is ours, it's real. Just the gazebo with the grill alone was worth it. So many shish kebabs were grilled there…

– What did your day look like?

Dima: We'd get up in the morning, I'd cook some oatmeal, we'd eat, Denis would do exercises. We'd mentally prepare for work. By noon, we'd sit down to work. And everything happened so naturally: in one track, we sampled Denis's voice as a joke, in another, a fan fell during recording, and we decided to leave that in the track. And we'd work like that for about 5-6 hours. In the evening, we'd go play computer games.

It wasn't really work – we were constantly hanging out, walking around, driving around, meeting up with friends. That's how we wrote the album in a month (and even a little more).

– And what's the deal with the French language in the new album?

Kirill: There's a French film called "La Haine" (Hatred). The first promo video for the album features a monologue from that film. There are things in that film that resonate with all of us. For example, the visual style. The album cover is a reference to that film's poster.

In several of our tracks, there's the phrase "All characters are fictitious, any resemblance to real persons is coincidental. All actions take place on Peace Street" – we recorded that right away in Russian, and then a friend's relatives living in France recorded a French translation for us. It happened completely by chance, like many other ways of self-expression in the club.

About working with Sony Music

– You said that the KLM's music used to be something "simple" and "pop." Why was that?

Kirill: That's how it used to be. Mostly, people listened to our music for the chorus, which sang something like "I love you, let's fly." I was even jokingly told that if you swapped the rappers on the verses and choruses, no one would notice the difference. The verses were essentially fillers. But in the new album, we broke that concept. Now the verses and choruses are equally weighty and independent. And I'm very happy to finally show everyone that if you remove anyone from the club – there is no club.

– Tell us about your experience working with Sony Music.

Kirill: I sent the track "Fool" to their distribution manager. He wrote back saying the track was crap and they wouldn't take it. Now the track has over a million streams. I don't know if I can say anything about Sony Music. I'll just say that major labels are scary. It was just a huge disappointment.

About a concert in Belarus

– Do you position yourselves as Belarusian musicians?

Danya: In the new album, we answered that question very clearly – we highlight it in almost every track.

an unobvious call to listen to the album

– At the end of October, you're going to Moscow and St. Petersburg to present the new album. Why did you decide not to do a concert in Minsk?

Kirill: Definitely not because we don't want to. The only reason is that we don't have a music industry or suitable venues.

Denis: In Belarus, you're either nkeeei and you perform at Prime Hall, or you're an underground shithead who performs at Beer&Wine. Finding a venue for 200-300 people is very difficult.

About musical tastes and inspiration

– What do you listen to yourselves? What inspires you?

Denis: Radiohead, I like fakemink lately. I can listen to anything, any genre. And lyrics are important. Actually, all of us in the club absolutely love Frank Ocean's album "Blonde."

– Can it be said that this album inspired the club's music?

Denis: Of course not. A fly on the wall inspired us more than someone else's music.

Danya: The band postoyanno – top 1. Recently I came across a guy – mts zhestkoe ogranichenie. I recommend them too. There's also a cool guy – avenuepluggg. Favorite album, probably, Basta, GUF – "2010".

Dima: Winter is coming soon, and in winter I always listen to ATL, Mnogoznaal, and all the early albums of Thomas Mraz. In general, I like all sorts of text-centric rap. I also like the band ‘Sisters’.

Then Dima shared a heartfelt story with us about how he was serving in the army and constantly played the music of Sisters in his head. There was no opportunity to just listen to the songs – whatever you remembered, you'd be nostalgic for civilian life to that. And after Dima's service, the guys performed at the FLEUR festival in Moscow. Sisters also performed there, and during the song "Lights," Dima was finally filled with every possible feeling. Let someone just try to say that rappers have no heart.

BLITZ

– Main achievement of the club?

– We didn't die.

– Who from the Belarusian scene do you follow?

– Triki. laughing

postoyanno, Lightmyfire Orchestra Service, SOYUZ, Max Korzh.

– Who would you like to collaborate with?

– Skryptonite, SOYUZ, and Saluki.

– How is the new album different from the old ones?

– The sound, the punches, the production. It's sincerity, the truth. The way we wanted to see the club.