Electronic Pop with elements of Hip Hop and Rock

10 MP3 Songs
POP: with Electronic Production, ELECTRONIC: Pop Crossover



Details:
Slava Balasanov, Pop Terror's founder and leader was born in Moscow, Russia in 1981. After the move to the US in 1993 he started playing guitar and by 1997 performed regularly with a free-jazz/rock group Hotbox the Space Shuttle (later to be renamed Gigantic Titanic Rides Again), sharing the stage with the Royal Space Force and the Neo-Futurists at the 2nd Annual Awkward Festival in the summer of 1998 and performing numerous shows on the campus of the University of Chicago. In the summer of 1999 Slava was invited to join Exoskeleton, a noise band featuring Weasel Walter (of the Flying Luttenbachers) on saxophone and performed with them at the Nervous Center and on a roof-top of some factory in south loop, opening for The Ruins. By 2000 however, Slava was tired of the free-jazz noise scene and decided to dedicate his time to playing standard jazz. After attending numerous jam sessions and playing reception gigs, he went on to form Stas, a jazz quartet dedicated to performing original jazz compositions along with covers of contemporary pop tunes, performing at venues such as The Velvet Lounge, Hot House, Elbow Room and the Underground Lounge. In 2003, Slava became deeply interested in the art of music productions and quit playing jazz in order to focus his energy on recording pop music. The result was the album "Pop Terror ...she is" (to be released on Heka Records in March of 2005), in which Slava utilizes his knowledge of musical theory acquired through jazz to compose songs in a variety of musical genres. The album, in essence, is a deconstruction of electronic pop (or indietronica as some may call it) which examines the musical styles that comprise or have influenced this newly emerging genre of music. Because of the nature of this solo project, Slava has had to find new ways in which to approach live performance. This was achieved with the help of a Korg Electribe sampler, which is similar to a simple MPC but much more interactive in a live setting. In this manner Slava remixes many of the tracks from the "...she is" album live, and performs new compositions that feature guest musicians and vocalists. So far Slava has been a resident DJ at the "Dungeon of Lust" (an underground club on the west side of Chicago) and has performed at numerous parties throughout the city.