Electric Resistance

I remember reviewing Electric Resistance's S - Boyeustoychvost a while ago. And, while not being too impressed with the release, I had a chat with Alexander HT Dmitriev about the project he's involved in. Come read about this Russian electronic heavy project.

Well, for starters, give all the readers on this site a fine and fair hello. Tell us a little about yourself.

Alexander - "Hello, very pleased to meet you! We are a techno - industrial project "Electric Resistance" from Kaliningrad, which is in Russia. The project began in 2011 and was, in fact, a one-man project. I was wondering how electronic dance music can be combined with the hard drive of metal - industrial music. Back then I just began to discover for myself such geniuses of the dark scene such as Combichrist, Hocico, followed by a further set of bands for a newbie industrialist. I made the first record and was able to come up with my own unique sound. When the first track was made, I received positive reviews and strong emotional support from both friends and listeners. Around the same time, I started to communicate closely with Pavel Grudnev. Pavel already had concert experience with a group called "Hired.Life". At first, Pavel was providing me with advice, but it wasn't long before he was playing at my concerts. Eventually he took over the entire management of the project. Today I am responsible for the music / lyrics and vocals, and Pavel plays keyboards / samples at concerts and looks after the management side of things."


I just want to get straight into your music. I know that at first you were signed to Artificial Sun, but are now signed to Insane Records, but both are owned by the same guy. Why did this occur?

Alexander - "Yes, that's right! Artificial Sun was initially created as a nonprofit label to help young projects establish themselves, particularly within the Russian market. The focus of the label was to seek out new talent and provide the support they need. Insane Records is a mature label, even though young, with the aim of exposing their artists to a much wider global audience. With global distribution and strong marketing they are able to support bands and provide them with resources to take them to the next level."

Is there any real difference working from Artificial Sun to Insane records?

Alexander - "Of course! At least the fact that I am talking with you right now. Since the time Electric Resistance began to work with Insane Records, my head has been spinning. We released our first full-length album digitally, which was a first for the publisher. Immediately following the release we were inundated with requests for interviews, partaking in compilations, proposals for the creation of remixes, rotation on European radio stations and much more. Of course, the album actually ended up being great and exceeded our expectations, but the greatest part of the experience was the support we received from the label. We are very fortunate to work with Yevgeny and the team at Insane Records and owe a lot of credit to them for our success."

Are you going to stay exclusively signed to Insane Records, or do you plan on getting signed to labels in different countries as well?

Alexander - "It's a very difficult question. Now I find it difficult to state anything, since I'm at the very beginning of my career and do not quite understand how it all works. If it was possible to work with Insane Records and other labels simultaneously in a way that mutually benefited all parties I would say "yes." For now the priority is solely on our current label. Insane Records have done a lot for us and continue to do so."

Have you had any feedback on your recent release? And was it positive or negative?

Alexander - "The response has been amazing. The first feedback we received was from friends and those who followed our work from the outset. It was very positive, and I 'm talking about people who would always say if something is wrong. They had a genuine appreciation for our work and we were very pleased to have met their expectations. Then, surprisingly, complete strangers started writing to us and their main review was that it was very cool for a good project to sing in Russian. It really flattered us. We have received some negative criticism but that is to be expected when reaching a wider audience. Of course we take on constructive feedback and will continue to evolve our sound. All up it has been a very successful release and we couldn't have been happier with the response."

What inspired you to create "Brave New Day"?

Alexander - "In my head a complete story was being created, so behind the scenes "Brave New Day" is a concept album. In the previous release (single S-Boeustoichivost) I was preparing the listener for what awaits them in the subsequent material. It was a world of dystopia and, on that basis, it is completely saturated with the classics of the genre, the likes of G. Orwell, A. Huxley and Y. Zamyatin. I wanted to create my own world ... and destroy it. I was inspired by realities of today's world. The album's underlying theme is "Dystopia - is now!". And this thought visited me when I realized that we are already in the world described by Orwell or Huxley ... it all depends in which part of the world we live. Each song on the album is a description of the history of various segments of the population of a fantasy world. Somewhere it is the youth that destroys itself with scientific forms of decadence, somewhere it is an animated machine, self-aware of all death resulting from failed prototypes and previous versions, and somewhere it's heroes, igniting the dying sun. To summarize, I'd say this: I was inspired by all that surrounds me, I just looked at it through the prism of science fiction."

Do you ever play live? And, if so, how do your performances go?

Alexander - "Playing live is a real passion of ours. It provides an outlet for us to produce powerful memorable experiences which allow our fans to embrace our music in a dynamic setting. Our music also features a stimulating visual accompaniment, enriching all senses and taking the listener on a journey into our world. In order to be able to present the listener with a taste of what our live performances are like, we have specially produced a promotional video named "Electric Resistance - City", that can be found on YouTube. It is a bright light show based on ultraviolet colors, strobes and our dynamic sound. Usually a full-fledged concert takes a lot of time to put together as you have to transform the vision that is in your mind and turn that into a reality. A listener who comes to the concert and sees the final product usually has no idea that the creation in front of them is the result of about 20 people buzzing around behind the scene, they merely see two guys performing on stage in a burst of energy. For only two people it's very difficult to cope with all this, but when you're faced with such tasks, it's nice to know that you are surrounded by very kind-hearted people willing to help with not only advice, but in making it happen."

Are you going to have CDs pressed of your latest album?

Alexander - "We do have such an idea! This album is going to be supplemented with exclusive material. And this exclusive stuff is a huge secret. The CD is likely to be distributed as a gift with any purchased merch."

Was this album just a teaser for a full length album, or no?

Alexander - "Though "Brave New Day" is a mini, it is a full-fledged album. Everything is said and the story is finished. Those ideas that we wanted to implement, have been implemented. However, the utopian world's main character goes smoothly into the second album, which is already being formed. Now we are embarking on a new era as we have the desire to make many new experiments that do not logically fit into the framework of this album. We will not deviate much from this album's style, but there will be many surprises, and it will contain more tracks."

And, finally, I've run out of questions to ask. Do you have anything you wish to add here?

Alexander - "Thank you so much for your interesting questions. It was a real pleasure to discuss them with you and your readers. I hope it's not the last time we meet!"