Andrei Tropillo

Andrei Vladimirovich Tropillo (Russian: Андре́й Влади́мирович Тропи́лло; March 5, 1951, Leningrad) is a Soviet and Russian record producer, music publisher, sound engineer, founder of the label AnTrop (Russian: «АнТроп»), and rock musician.

Andrei Tropillo
Андрей Тропилло
Background information
Born (1951-03-21) March 21, 1951
Leningrad, RSFSR, USSR
Occupation(s)musician, sound engineer, producer, publisher

Biography

Tropillo first became involved in the Soviet rock scene in the 1970s. In 1976, he initially attempted to set up a small record factory in a room rented from his then-employer, the Geophysics department of Leningrad University. He also organized concerts for several bands, including Mashina Vremeni, and used the income to buy technical equipment for sound recording.[1] Tropillo later started working part-time at the House of Pioneers in the Krasnogvardeysky District of Leningrad, teaching members of the Young Pioneers about sound recording and giving guitar lessons.[2] This position afforded him better access to sound equipment and allowed him to develop a studio.[1]

Tropillo began to invite local rock bands to record in the House of Pioneers, starting with Aquarium and Mify (Russian: Мифы, lit. 'The Myths').[1] From 1979 to 1985, the albums of such groups as Mashina Vremeni, Aquarium, Zoopark, Kino, and Alisa were recorded in his unofficial studio, AnTrop. From 1980 to 1986, Tropillo and Aquarium worked together to record ten albums.[2] Albums were initially distributed as magnitizdat.[2] Tropillo would distribute master copies to recording cooperatives on reel-to-reel tapes, which were then re-copied and distributed to other cooperatives across the country.[1]

In 1985, Tropillo was dismissed from his role at the House of Pioneers and his studio was closed. He temporarily stored his equipment at the Leningrad Rock Club, before setting up a new AnTrop studio. The 1986 compilation album Red Wave, released in the USA, was composed of tracks recorded in Tropillo's studio, although Tropillo was not credited by name.[2]

In 1987, Tropillo started working at Melodiya.[1] He brought over several of the master tapes recorded in his old studio and made them available to the label, sometimes without the permission of the musicians involved.[2] In his position at Melodiya, Tropillo was able to officially release some of his previously made recordings as LPs.[1] In 1989, he became the director of the Leningrad branch of Melodiya.[2]

In 1991, the St. Petersburg Evangelical-Lutheran Church became the new home of the AnTrop label.[1] From here, Tropillo released copies of albums by Western rock bands such as The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Sonic Youth, taking advantage of gaps in the Russian intellectual property laws at the time.[1][3] He would make alterations to the record covers to circumvent copyright laws. On the sleeve of the AnTrop release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Karl Marx is replaced by the Russian Beatles fan Kolya Vasin and Tropillo's face is inserted in the top row.[4] In his interview for the BBC Storyville documentary How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin, Tropillo stated: "I support not copyright but copyleft. Because I'm sure that in Russia we should support musical piracy, because musical piracy was the key to have freedom in Russia, to have free information."[5]

Discography
Year Role Album Artist
1978 Compiler Den' rozhdeniya (Russian: «День рождения», lit. 'Birthday') Mashina Vremeni
1979 Compiler Malen'kii prints (Russian: «Маленький принц», lit. 'The little prince') Mashina Vremeni
1980 Sound engineer Proschai, chyornaya subbota (Russian: «Прощай, чёрная суббота» Yuri Stepanov (keyboardist of Mify)
1981 Compiler Moskva — Leningrad (Russian: «Москва — Ленинград», lit. 'Moscow — Leningrad') Mashina Vremeni
1981 Sound engineer Doroga domoi (Russian: «Дорога домой» , lit. 'The way home') Mify (Russian: Мифы, lit. 'The Myths')
1981 Sound engineer Sinii albom (Russian: «Синий альбом», lit. 'Blue Album') Aquarium
1981 Studio sound engineer Istoria Akvariuma. Tom II. Elektrichestvo (Russian: «История Аквариума. Том II. Электричество») Aquarium
1981 Sound engineer, musician (flute, backing vocals) Treugol'nik (Russian: «Треугольник», lit. 'The Triangle') Aquarium
1982 Sound engineer Nesostoyavshiisya kontsert (Russian: «Несостоявшийся концерт») Andrey Makarevich
1982 Sound engineer Dym (Russian: «Дым», lit. 'Smoke') Piknik
1982 Sound engineer Taboo (Russian: «Табу») Aquarium
1982 Sound engineer Istoria Akvariuma. Tom I. Akustika (Russian: «История Аквариума. Том I. Акустика») Aquarium
1982 Sound engineer, musician (flute, backing vocals) 45 Kino
1982 Sound engineer, musician (flute, backing vocals) Strasti po Innokentiyu (Russian: «Страсти по Иннокентию») Olga Pershina
1982 Sound engineer for parts of the recording Еxercises Vladimir Chekasin, Sergey Kuryokhin, BG
1983 Sound engineer (mobile studio MCI) Radio Africa (Russian: «Радио Африка») Aquarium
1983 Sound engineer Vchera i pozavchera v uezdnom gorode N (Russian: «Вчера и позавчера в уездном городе N») Zoopark
1983 Sound engineer (mobile studio MCI) Zal ozhidaniya (Russian: «Зал ожидания») Manufaktura (Russian: Мануфактура, lit. 'Manufactory')
1983 Sound engineer for parts of songs (mobile studio MCI) Metamorfozy (Russian: «Метаморфозы», lit. 'Metamorphoses') Strannye Igry
1983 Sound engineer Kolyosiko (Russian: «Колёсико», lit. 'The Little Wheel')

(Note: the album was not distributed)

 Vladimir Levy (leader of Tamburin)
1984 Sound engineer Tanets volka (Russian: «Танец волка», lit. 'Wolf Dance') Piknik
1984 Sound engineer Den' Serebra (Russian: «День Серебра», lit. 'Day of the Silver') Aquarium
1984 Sound engineer MCI (compilation of songs recorded forTaboo but not included on the original album)[6] Aquarium
1984 Sound engineer, arrangements, musician (flute) Belaya polosa (Russian: «Белая полоса») Zoopark
1984 Sound engineer Nachal'nik Kamchatki (Russian: «Начальник Камчатки») Kino
1985 Sound engineer Zhuk na rascheske (Russian: «Жук на расческе», lit. 'The Bug on the Comb')

(Note: the album was not distributed)

 Tamburin (Russian: Тамбурин, lit. 'Tambourine')
1985 Sound engineer Ublyuzh'ya dolya (Russian: «Ублюжья доля», lit. 'A Bastard's Lot') Oblachnyi krai (Russian: Облачный край, lit. 'Cloud Area')
1985 Sound engineer, musician (saxophone) Shestvie ryb (Russian: «Шествие рыб») Televizor
1985 Sound engineer, musician (flute, backing vocals), dramatization Energiya (Russian: «Энергия», lit. 'Energy') Alisa
1986 Sound engineer Stremya i lyudi (Russian: «Стремя и люди», lit. 'The Stirrup & The People') Oblachnyi krai
1986 Sound engineer, musician (backing vocals) Deti Dekabrya (Russian: «Дети Декабря», lit. 'December Children') Aquarium
1986 Sound engineer, musician (flute, backing vocals) Noch' (Russian: «Ночь», lit. 'Night') Kino
1986 Sound engineer, musician (backing vocals) Smotri v oba (Russian: «Смотри в оба», lit. 'Look at both') Strannye Igry
1986 Sound engineer Muzyka drachyovykh napil'nikov (Russian: «Музыка драчёвых напильников») Nol' (at the time of release, Nulevaya Gruppa)
1987 Sound engineer BlokAda (Russian: «БлокАда», lit. 'Blockade')

Recorded on Tropillo's 8-track and in the 24-track Melodiya mobile studio[6]

 Alisa
1987 Compiler Ottepel' (Russian: «Оттепель»)

(Note: concert recording of the festival in Shushary, different from the studio album published in 1991)

 DDT
1987 Sound engineer (mobile studio MCI) Glasnost' (Russian: «Гласность») Ob'ekt Nasmeshek (Russian: Объект насмешек, lit. 'The Object of Mockery')
1987 Sound engineer (mobile studio MCI) Reagan Provocateur (Russian: «Рейган-провокатор») Avtomaticheskie Udovletvoriteli
1987 Sound engineer (mobile studio MCI) Muzyka dlya mertvykh (Russian: «Музыка для мертвых», lit. 'Music for the dead') Televizor
1987 Sound engineer Kamni Sankt-Peterburga (Russian: «Камни Санкт-Петербурга», lit. 'Stones of St. Petersburg')

(Note: album finished at Andrei Sokolov’s home studio)

 Nikolai Korzinin


In addition to rock groups, Tropillo produced recordings of the following jazz musicians:

gollark: I don't think that is actually what the legal system thinks.
gollark: In practice the information is available *anyway*, but if someone gets it from a specific place they might be inclined to go "something must be done!!!!!" and blame that.
gollark: No, I mean Discord and the admins of this server would get blamed/sued/whatever.
gollark: Probably not styro, more like... Discord and/or the server's admins?
gollark: I assume it's to avoid being blamed in case some stupid person explodes things.

References
  1. Steinholt, Yngvar Bordewich (2005). Rock in the reservation : songs from Leningrad Rock Club 1981-86. Mass Media Music Scholars' Press. ISBN 978-0-9701684-3-6.
  2. McMichael, Polly (2009-07-01). "Prehistories and Afterlives: The Packaging and Re-packaging of Soviet Rock". Popular Music and Society. 32 (3): 331–350. doi:10.1080/03007760902985791. ISSN 0300-7766.
  3. Bohlen, Celestine (1993-07-02). "No Headline". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  4. "Битлз - Оркестр клуба одиноких сердец сержанта Пеппера. Револьвер (Antrop П91 00117)". www.beatlesvinyl.com.ua. 2015-02-01. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  5. Woodhead, Leslie (2009-11-08). "How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin". Storyville. 40:54 minutes in. BBC.
  6. Troitsky, Artemy (1988). Back in the USSR : the true story of rock in Russia. The Archive of Contemporary Music. Boston: Faber and Faber. pp. 147–148. ISBN 9780571129973.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
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