«The last thing I want to do, is to record my own music»

A master class by the renowned sound engineer Haydn Bendall was given at the techno-park Digital October to the students of «Music Business and Entertainment Industry Management» RMA program. During the class, speaker Bendall, whose extensive portfolio of collaborations includes such celebrities as Paul McCartney, Freddy Mercury, Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, talked to the students about his professional philosophy, favorite music genres, and shared his view on the Russian pop music market and its commercial prospects in the West.

«The Russian speaking music, in my opinion, is unlikely to become very popular around the world, – pointed out Haydn Bendall. – The two presently largest music markets in the world, namely the American and the British one, just do not have such need. There, it will simply not be understood, in the same way the average Englishman would not understand a Russian joke and vis a versa. So music, in many ways is just like the sense of humor – it is a unique substance of strongly-national origins. And every nation reflects its own peculiar individualism.

I would also like to add, that it is entirely unnecessary for you to strive for the fame and recognition in the West. You shouldn't have to play and abide by the foreign rules. You have your own music market, which is both interesting and has serious potential. And that is what you should be concentrating on, that is – trying to create something of your own substance. I remember having recently met this guy at the local bar, Sergey.. what's his last name... Ga-la-nin, am I saying his name right? The one who's got long hair, tinted glasses... Anyways, so he goes: «Hi, I am – a rock-musician». I reply to him «You don't mean it?! That's great!» And so we lapsed into a brief conversation, during which he lamented to me, that almost his entire professional life he was trying to adhere to the «Western Standard», but after all these years, by his own admission, he could still never fully replicate it. And all the while I was listening to him, I thought to myself: «And why in the world would you even want to copy it in the first place? That must be so profoundly boring!» – summarized Haydn Bendall.