100 Tape Albums of Soviet Rock // Chapter 4: House of Young Technician (Pt. 1)

Moving on with our translation of Alexandr Kushnir’s book 100 Tapes of Soviet Rock (100 Магнитоальбомов Советского Рока). Archives can be found here.

Thanks to everyone supportive of this venture.

Give me good space and two microphones, and I’ll record anything you want

Alan Parsons

It took more than a year for Tropillo to find an appropriate place. While working at the University during the Fall of 1979, he ends up being employed by the House of Young Technician in Krasnogvardeysk district of Leningrad. Few could’ve predicted that in few years the four-story building of former women’s gymnasium at Okhta will turn into an analog of the famous British Abbey Road.

Tropillo-led section at the headquarters of Ohktinsk pioneering was officially titled “Club of Acoustics and Sound Recording”.  Passing through the ranks of this “school of life” were future musicians of Nol, Prepinaki, Opasnye Sosedi and Professor Lebedinsky, sound engineers Slava Egorov (Akvarium) and Aleksei Vishnya.

Andrei Vladimirovich was not only introducing the youths to nuances of sound recording, but also took time to teach them Spanish guitar. Etudes and pieces of the highest complexity performed by Tropillo were played with gusto matched by that of the conservatoria alums. Apparently he learned how to play guitar during one of the geological trips he was fond of taking every summer.

“During my time in high school I was involved in amateur movie making” – recalls Aleksei Vishnya. “One time the leader of House of Young Technician left and Tropillo showed up. His first words were – “cinema is BS, lets record sound!” We started recording radio shows and making radio newspapers. We quickly got into Russian rock and instead of Mashina Vremeni and Yuri Morozov we started listening to Akvarium and Zoopark. Safe to say, Tropillo wasn’t teaching us anything. He’s not teaching –  he’s merely working!”

TBC

Featured Album

Пикник – Танец Волка / Picnic – Dance of the Wolf (1984)