On September 12th, SUBWISE released the album of Ekaterinburg musician Anton Chebov a.k.a. Chebov, titled Lone Spirit. We talked with Anton about his musical preferences, collaborations, and breakdancing.
Hello, Anton! We have been following your work for a long time, and what stands out is your honest approach to what you do – you don't follow current trends, you don't try to generate fake interest around yourself on social media; you simply create good sound, and it seems you are content with that. Tell us, how did you get into music, and is it a hobby or something more meaningful to you?
Hey, Subwise!
I came to music relatively recently, but it has been with me for a long time; although, I didn't realize it back then. I had a dream since the 3rd grade – to become a DJ. I was already into breakdancing and wanted to create cool funk and old-school mixes for training. At the age of 22, I managed to buy turntables, but I didn't have many records, so I just scratched and added some instruments like saxophone or others to the beat. That's when I started thinking about creating my own tracks. I sold the turntables and bought Akai mpd26. But due to breakdancing, I didn't have much time for music, until I suffered a serious injury. I stayed at home for a month and got into music production, and it's been like that ever since.
And, in the end, it's a hobby for me – I already have a good job. This, on the other hand, is for the soul.
Your new album "Lone Spirit," as we understand it, starting from the cover and ending with some instrumental parts in certain compositions, is a kind of big collaboration with very interesting and distinctive artists who helped you. Is that why the release took so long?
Actually, this release was written in a short period. I was working on two projects simultaneously. Lone Spirit appeared spontaneously. I started making music in this style, but then I moved into a more instrumental direction with different drum sounds. Lone Spirit was born thanks to an experiment with I.V.A. I wanted to work with him for a long time, and then I got my hands on a recorded hang by Vitalik. I decided to try incorporating it into a hip-hop track because I found it interesting. And then the tracks just started flowing. It's like you sit down, and three hours later, you don't even remember how you did it – there's already a draft, and so on.
The cover was drawn by Andrey Glushchenko a.k.a. Bioniq. I sent him the tracks, and he sent back an extended cover; that's how we collaborated. It was a very interesting experience. We came up with a whole story! Lone Spirit is a journey from point A to point B while discovering your own self, taking on the role of a lone spirit. The answer is at the end of the journey. Everyone has their own.
This sound was scarce; I mean, I don't come across this kind of sound much nowadays, and I miss it.
Now it's already autumn, and according to the local mentality, it is considered the most fruitful season for creativity. Does your music have any seasonal or weather-related connections? For example, some artists can't work in the summer, but you can't get them out of the studio in winter.
The main thing is not to be lazy; I think many people relax during the summer. As for me, I love autumn and spring because they are transitional periods in nature when the leaves fall, and the days get shorter, and vice versa.
Is there any particular Russian musician you would single out from the crowd and even strongly recommend to the younger generation to listen to?
Long Arm is very inspiring! A living example of how you should approach what you do and an example of how it should be done. He rightfully made it to PROJECT MOONCIRCLE and more.
King Shi is the future. Excellent music, great guy! We'll hear more from him.
What about you? What are your plans for the future? Or perhaps you are already preparing something interesting?
I will continue making music. Now, I'm working on a second project – more "live," with minimal samples and live musicians. Everything is still in the process of writing. I won't make any predictions. In any case, something will happen...
Intriguing! We hope everything you have planned turns out to be the best it can be! Thank you for the conversation.
Stay tuned, as they say :)