So, what do you do when mentoring Russian artists, living there part of the year, attending loads of music events, encouraging and composing, only to find that the country is sanctioned, getting too Europe is now expensive and unpopular, concerts there are banned and recording studios are super expensive in Moscow and St.Petersburg?
You buy a remote village, half-way between Moscow and St.Petersburg, and renovate it to become an Artistic Retreat. Which is what I’ve done, with the help of my good friend Igor Balakirev, who I assist with various music products and co-compose with.
We’ve purchased, and are in the process of purchasing, several buildings in this village of just eight houses, and are well in the process of renovating them. The main house, build on the ruins of an old Manor House, has five bedrooms, two bathrooms and a large lounge area and patio, not to mention significant orchards and farmland. A rehearsal studio is being built on the ground floor – the old stones are an excellent base for tremendous recording acoustics. The recording studio will be upstairs.
Several other Dacha’s are being refurbished, many are over 100 years old. We’ve had to install water and electricity – we found a fresh spring about 30 meters deep which provides more than enough. Toilets have been installed, new fireplaces built, insulation provided (it can get down to -40 in the winter) and underfloor heating installed. Fortunately, electricity is cheap in Russia.
Apart from renovations, we are installing purpose built Dacha’s which can be assembled on the spot and also connected to the village facilities.
The area is remote with forests all around – this is Bear, Elk, Deer and Wolf country. With no light pollution, the evening skies are spectacular, and it is refreshingly quiet. There is no internet access, just a landline.
The aim is to provide a complete artistic retreat, for musicians, artists, poets, writers, as well as provide yoga, dance and other activities for those who want to get away from it all.
The target market is of course Russian artists, who are no longer welcome in Europe, and find it difficult to access European facilities. So, we’re providing a Russian one. With no internet, people can concentrate on being creative. There will also be workshops, including lectures on various courses, everything from songwriting to jam sessions. Food will be locally sourced – we have plenty of land – while the traditional Russian babushkas bake fresh bread, make jams, pelmeni and other delicacies. A large freshwater lake is nearby, teeming with Trout, Carp, Pike, Perch…
Recording will be overseen and engineered by Igor, although we can also bring in outside assistance. We will cater for all musical types, from classical to heavy metal and all genres in-between. Instruments are being sourced mainly from Russia and China, with ethnic instruments sourced from far and wide wherever we can find them – including sitar, tablas and so on.
We aim to be open by summer 2026, so still a lot of work to do. But we’re having a lot of fun building it…
