Andrey Makarevich. Biography

Andrey Makarevich

Andrey Makarevich, 2013

Andrey Vadimovich Makarevich

- famous musician, poet, composer, singer, guitarist. Leader of the rock band "Time Machine". Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1991), People's Artist of Russia (1999), laureate of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (2013). He also proved himself as an artist, writer, TV presenter, actor, and producer.

[edit] Origin, childhood, youth and early life

Born on December 11, 1953 in Moscow.

The son of the architect Vadim Grigoryevich Makarevich (1924-1996) and the doctor, doctor of medical sciences, professor Nina Markovna Makarevich (nee Shmuilovich, 1926-1989).

Vadim Makarevich participated in the Great Patriotic War, where he lost his leg. Then he became a professional architect (before the war he studied at the Moscow Aviation Institute), focusing mainly on the arrangement of monuments and the design of Soviet pavilions at international exhibitions. His most famous work is the monument to Karl Marx in Moscow (1961, sculptor Lev Kerbel). Contrary to existing rumors and versions, he was neither the son nor any other relative of Gleb Makarevich, the chief architect of the capital in 1980-1987. Vadim Makarevich's parents, natives of Belarus, rural teachers Grigory Andreevich Makarevich and Lidiya Antonovna Makarevich (nee Ussakovskaya), moved to Moscow in 1915. Lydia Antonovna, who taught biology and headed the station for young naturalists (her son created the Young Naturalists pavilion at VDNKh), became the people's teacher of the USSR and received the Order of Lenin. Her ancestors belonged to the Polish nobility; It is interesting that Andrei Makarevich’s paternal great-grandfather Anthony Ussakovsky was a Catholic priest, while his maternal great-grandfather, also a native of Belarus, Moses Blyakhman, was a shochet (carver) in the Vitebsk synagogue.

In memory of Vladimir Vysotsky

Andrei Makarevich graduated in 1971 from a special school teaching a number of subjects in English No. 47. He also studied piano at a music school (later, as a guitarist, he played the piano during the recording of his famous song “While the Candle Burns” for the film “Start Over” ). Even as a child, I was fond of the songs of Bulat Okudzhava and Vladimir Vysotsky. At first he lived in a communal apartment in a two-story house on Volkhonka (the former mansion of the Volkonsky princes), where Vysotsky also lived for some time. This was reflected in the song in memory of Vysotsky, which was included in Makarevich’s first solo album. Subsequently, together with the ensemble “Creole Tango Orchestra,” he recorded a disc of Okudzhava’s songs (2005), and two years later, together with the same ensemble, he organized a concert dedicated to the 69th anniversary of Vysotsky’s birth (he sang “Song of Time” there).

Then Makarevich’s parents moved to a separate apartment on Komsomolsky Prospekt. Influenced by the film “The Last Inch,” he became interested in scuba diving and also learned to play the guitar, selecting chords for the hit song from this film. Many of the songs he sang at home and in the yard were included in the 1996 solo albums “Songs I Love” and “Pioneer Blatnye Songs” (the latter recorded together with Alexei Kozlov).

His passion for The Beatles began after his father, who loved music and even played the piano, transcribed the record Hard Day's Night taken from a neighbor onto a Philips reel-to-reel tape recorder he bought during a trip abroad. As Makarevich recalled, “there was a feeling that all my previous life I had been wearing cotton wool in my ears, and then suddenly it was taken out. I just physically felt how something inside me was tossing and turning, moving, changing irreversibly.”[2].

Makarevich already had a group “The Kids”, which consisted of him and another guitarist Mikhail Yashin (son of the poet and prose writer Alexander Yashin), as well as two soloists (Larisa Kashperko and Nina Baranova). The group performed English and American folk songs. The creation of “Time Machine,” according to him, was brewing after the appearance of new classmates—Beatlemaniac and future drummer Yuri Borzov, as well as Igor Mazaev, who played the guitar and sang Russian romances. The issue was finally resolved by the concert of the Atlanta group, among whose participants was Konstantin Nikolsky. The concert took place in a special school at an evening on the occasion of the coming year 1969.

In 1971, Makarevich entered the Moscow Architectural Institute, where his father taught. In 1974, he and Alexei Romanov were expelled - formally, according to Makarevich’s recollections, for “something like untimely leaving work at a vegetable base” [3]. Makarevich got a job as an architect at the State Institute for Design of Theaters and Entertainment Facilities, where he worked until 1979, when “Time Machine” became a professional ensemble. Makarevich was reinstated at the Moscow Architectural Institute a year later (in 1975, in the evening department) and graduated from the institute in 1977.

"Time Machine"

However, having received a certificate, at the insistence of his parents, in order to have a higher education and a decent profession, Andrei continued his studies at the Moscow Architectural Institute. Three years later he was expelled. The official version sounded like “untimely departure from the workplace at the vegetable base.” But unofficially this was a closed order of the party organization, which did not share Makarevich’s passion for rock music.

“Time Machine” still remained in first place for Andrey. Along the way, he began working at the Giprotheater (an organization that designed buildings for entertainment venues and theaters). He recovered at the institute, studied in the evening department, and in 1977 received a diploma in the specialty of “architect” and “graphic artist.”

And in 1979, “Time Machine” signed an official contract with the state concert and touring bureau “Soyuzconcert”, which gave it legal status. Finally, Andrei was able to leave the Giprotheater and be listed in his work book as a performer and musician.

The group was gaining rapid popularity in the country, their every new song became a classic of Soviet rock:

• "Circle of Clean Water";
• “There will be a day”;
• "From end to end";
• "Right";
• "Flag over the castle";
• "You or I";
• "Candle";
• "Puppets";
• “Oh, what a moon”;
• "Flying Dutchman";
• "Three windows";
• "Black and white color";
• "Turn";
• "Snow".

Recordings of “Time Machine” were distributed throughout the Soviet Union, the musicians became famous, and a great touring life began. In 1987, they traveled outside the USSR, concerts were held in Poland, Mozambique, Japan, Spain, Bulgaria, and the USA.

The compositions of “Time Machines” were heard in popular films:

• "Afonya";
• "Speed";
• "Double overtaking";
• “The bartender from the Golden Anchor”;
• "Dogs";
• "Glass Labyrinth";
• "Moscow Holidays";
• "The Arithmetic of Murder";
• "Schizophrenia";
• "Crossroads".

In 1992, the book “Everything is very simple” was published, where Andrei Makarevich talks about the life of the group. The band celebrated its 25th anniversary with a grand performance on Red Square in 1993. In 1998, in honor of the group’s 30th anniversary, all members of the group were awarded Orders of Honor.

In 2002, Andrey organized the Creole Tango Orchestra, which included the best Russian jazz musicians. Since that time, he has been going on tour with two groups - “Time Machine” and “Creole Tango Orchestra”.

In 2003, in honor of the 50th anniversary, President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin signed a Decree awarding Makarevich the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree.

[edit] Cinema, television and more

Pauses (fragment of the film “Start Over”)
In Alexander Stefanovich’s film “Soul” (1981, premiered in 1982), Makarevich played a small role as a musician in a rock band, and his songs were performed by Sofia Rotaru and Mikhail Boyarsky, who played the role of the group leader (the song “Everyone, right, he has the right” Makarevich and Boyarsky sang a duet). In Stefanovich's film "Start Over" (1985, premiered in 1986), he played the main role - the bard Nikolai Kovalev, and the music of the film was based on his bard songs. Then he starred in Stefanovich’s documentary “Two Hours with the Bards” (1988, premiered in 1989).

Song about hope (fragment from the film “Schizophrenia”)

Together with Alexander Kutikov and the keyboard player of “Time Machine” in 1982-1990, Alexander Zaitsev was the composer of Dmitry Svetozarov’s films “Speed” (1983), “Breakthrough” (1986), “Without a Uniform” (1988), “Dogs” (1989) , “The Arithmetic of Murder” (1991, premiered in 1992), together with Viktor Babushkin - the film “Glass Labyrinth” (1988, premiered in 1989), where the whole group starred, one in Alla Surikova’s film “Moscow Holidays” (1995), the film Viktor Sergeev’s “Schizophrenia” (1997), Dmitry Astrakhan’s film “Crossroads” (1998, premiered in 1999), as well as the films “Bartender from the Golden Anchor” (1986) and Angels in Paradise (1992, premiered in 1993) . Alexander Abdulov’s film “The Town Musicians of Bremen and Co” (2000) ends with Makarevich’s song “The Night Will Be Short.”

Andrei Makarevich played Dr. Barkov in the film “Crazy Love” (1992), a forester in Eldar Ryazanov’s film “Quiet Whirlpools” (2000), a member of the duet of the non-commercial song “Two Against the Wind” in the film “Election Day” (2007), a musician in the transition in the film by Alexander Abdulov and Vladimir Fatyanov “Loser” (2007, premiered in 2008), himself in the film “What Men Talk About” (2010), as well as episodic roles (“Genius” by Viktor Sergeev, 1991, premiered in 1992; “ 8 1/2 dollars", 1999; "Showcase", 2000; "Three Colors of Love" by Dmitry Svetozarov, 2003, premiere - 2005). He was one of the producers of Svetozarov’s film “Dancer” (2003, premiered in 2004). He starred in the documentaries “Six Letters about Beat” (1977), “Rock and Fortune” (1989), “Andrei Makarevich. Traffic Rules" (2008), "Russian Rock" (2008, from the series "Living History"), "Leonid Yarmolnik" (2008, from the series "Man in the Frame").

He was the creator and first presenter (1993-2005) of the culinary television show “Smak”, created the program “Lampshade” (1998-1999), which was closed due to financial difficulties, which was dedicated to conversations with stars. Starting in 1994, together with Maxim Leonidov, he co-hosted the “Oh, Roads” program dedicated to travel, which then also closed. He also hosted the musical program “Macarena,” which was part of Dmitry Dibrov’s “Night Shift.” In 2004-2006, he participated in the creation of the documentary television series “The Underwater World of Andrei Makarevich,” where he was the host, co-writer and one of the producers.

Since 1970 he has been involved in graphics; As a student, he drew for the magazine “Technology of Youth”. His father was also a graphic artist, but took part in only one exhibition. The first exhibition of Andrei Makarevich was held in 1990 in Moscow. Since then there have been many exhibitions, including foreign ones. He organized joint exhibitions in St. Petersburg and Moscow with the St. Petersburg artist Andrei Belle.

Author of the books of memoirs “Everything is very simple” (1991) and “The Sheep Himself” (2001), as well as the books “Relish. Meetings in the kitchen" (1998), "Entertaining drug addiction" (2005), "Men's cooking: conversations about food and more" (2008), "Our delicious movie" (2011). In 2011, he turned to fiction for the first time, releasing the book “Evin’s Apple,” consisting of a story of the same name and several short stories. He co-authored with Yuri Belsky the books “What is diving, or scuba gear for everyone” (1999), “What is diving, or scuba gear for everyone-2” (2003), and co-authored with Mark Garber - “Men’s drinks, or Entertaining Narcology-2" (2010). He published collections of his songs and poems.

He took part in the recording of Alexander Gradsky’s rock operas “Stadium” (1985, Priest), “The Master and Margarita” (2009, barman Sokov). He produced Yuz Aleshkovsky's album "Butt" (1995), where he played guitars and bass guitar, and also selected other musicians for recording. In 2005, together with Gennady Ni-Li, he recorded an album of his songs, which he produced together with Alexander Kutikov.

[edit] Political views

Although Makarevich supported Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, his lines from the opening song of the “Time Machine” album “Cars Don’t Park” (2009) “The holiday begins now” (“You have been cheated again / Those who lead you”) showed deep disappointment. In October 2011, he said on Radio Liberty: “I don’t really like everything that’s happening today. We have already been told who our president will be. But the point is not Putin, the point is that there is a feeling that we are being deprived of the remnants of the right to choose. That's all".

He opposed the Kremlin’s policy towards Ukraine, for which he began to be persecuted in his homeland; in particular, several concerts with his participation were cancelled. But he performed with great success in Ukraine.

In July 2021, Makarevich, touching on this topic, condemned those who do stupid things on both sides. He added: “They and I are eerily similar. Because we lived in the same country for many years.”

In October of the same year, after Putin’s rather strange statement that in the event of a nuclear war all the inhabitants of Russia would go to heaven as martyrs, Makarevich composed and recorded a sharp, caustic “Song about Paradise” in the bard style.

[edit] Interesting facts

Makarevich lived for quite a long time in a one-room apartment with his grandmother Lidia Antonovna, and after her death he lived alone (until his marriage).
It is not surprising, therefore, that the literary and musical composition “Time Machine” “The Little Prince” (1980) included Arseny Tarkovsky’s poem “Portrait” (it is not on the 2000 CD): There is no one with me. There is a portrait hanging on the wall. Flies, flies, across the old woman's blind eyes . Is it good, I say, Under your glass in paradise? A fly crawls down my cheek, The old woman answers me: Is it good for you alone in your house

When he lived on Leninsky Prospekt. An elderly geography teacher lived on the floor below Makarevich. As soon as there was noise or any movement in his apartment, she called the police. After the premiere of the film “Soul,” only “stars” gathered at Andrey’s house to celebrate. And suddenly at three o'clock in the morning there was a call. Mikhail Boyarsky went to open the door. I was just taken aback when I saw the police patrol. The patrol was also stunned, especially when Sofia Rotaru, Rolan Bykov and other celebrities came into the hallway. The incident was settled, but the struggle of the “giants” continued. Andrei once confessed to me: “You know, I just want to go to school, to the class where she works, and say: “Children, your teacher is terrorizing me. Do something". But I’m not that evil...” It all ended by itself. When Makarevich began to be shown on TV and good articles were written about him in newspapers, all the neighbor’s complaints disappeared somewhere...

— Stories about people from “The Time Machine”

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There is a plaque hanging on Leonid Yarmolnik’s house: “In this house in the spring of 1999, the great Belarusian poet and composer Andrei Makarevich was hiding from renovation.”

Interior decoration

The artist's house has interesting architecture. The house is equipped with a terrace and is supported by snow-white columns. The windows are made in porthole and classical form. Glass and concrete complement each other. The area around the house is designed in avant-garde design style.

Each room of the home has its own unique themed style. There is room for a music studio. The artist’s favorite musical instruments are placed there. There is a storage room with expensive wines. There is a study room decorated with photos and portraits of loved ones.

There is a room in the house for the singer's numerous awards . There is a business office and a room with a billiard table. The last room is especially loved by Andrei, since he often meets with friends there and is distracted from important matters.

Article on the topic: “Cheap and beautiful”: How to decorate an apartment without investment

The interior of the house is complemented by collectible and unique items. Makarevich is a famous collector of antiques. He has been collecting eighteenth- and nineteenth-century pottery, dolls, bells, instruments, monastery keys and beads for many years. Therefore, in each artist’s room there are interesting objects.

The artist’s separate room was created for his beloved pet, Brünnhilde the boa constrictor. The pet is fed with mice, hares and toads brought from nature reserves.

One of the unusual exhibits that are in the artist’s house is a huge crown located on the balcony. In addition to a densely planted yard with trees and a cleanly mowed lawn, this is the main decoration of the house. The man received such an unusual item after taking part in a charity evening. Makarevich appreciated this event and supplied a sample of a cow from that event.

The central room of the house, the kitchen, was not neglected. It contains a stove with a smokehouse. There is a rack with matte shelves where the artist stores antique collectible vases and teapots. Andrey Makarevich loves to cook and constantly treats guests with original dishes of his own preparation. Therefore, a man’s kitchen has its own unique style. It is also the largest room in the house.

It is worth pointing out that the Pavlovsky village, which is located on Novorizhskoye Highway, is the most prestigious. The price of an average plot of 30 acres is $5,000,000.

Andrey Makarevich showed his huge country house (1 video)