Naberezhnye Chelny born music producer Pavel Khvaleev. In 2004 he founded the music project Moonbeam with his brother Vitaly. Moonbeam quickly came to be recognised as a quality international act in the worldwide electronic dance scene. In 2000 they entered the DJ Magazine’s annual list of the world’s best DJs TOP 100! Besides sharing the production and DJ duties, Pavel directed all 40 official Moonbeam music videos.
Following their 2016 disbanding, Pavel Khvaleev continued solo and for his second solo album “Sonder”, he worked with a couple of international singers/bands and also gained quite great achievements, such as holding the No 1 position on the Belgium iTunes electronic chart for 24 weeks and overall Top 10 positions in Russia, on iTunes.
What are your earliest memories of parties and DJing?
I will never forget the first parties in St. Petersburg legendary “Tunnel club”, in the mid-1990s. It was a different world, a universe hidden in the place that originally used to be a bomb shelter. It was the place where I heard the tracks from Laurent Garnier and Jeff Mills for the first time in my life. They had a great impact on my music. I still have their vinyl of that period.
What are your favourite tools for producing music?
Speaking about DAW, I should say that I’ve been using Cubase by Steinberg for 15 years. Also, I’m a big fan of Dave Smith’s analogue synthesizers. As for the latest software, I appreciate Pigments by Arturia, it provides the opportunity for experiments and with this, I can produce unique sounds.
Where do you go when looking for new music?
I receive a lot of promo materials from labels every week. Besides, I like the radio show called “Adventures in sound and music” hosted by Daisy Hyde.
What is the most memorable response you’ve had to your music?
Some of my fans say, they once had their first kiss with their future wives and husbands! 🙂 There can’t be anything better than this. Love is the most important thing in life.
Please list some of the most influential albums on your creative outlook and output:
Back in the 90s, I used to be a big fan of Underworld, Aphex Twin and Bjork. Later I discovered James Holden “The Idiots Are Winning”, Lulu Rouge “Bless You” and Royksopp “Melody A.M.”, and these artists influenced me and my perception of music. Now I have discovered new very talented artists, such as HVOB “Silk”, Maceo Plex “Solar” and Tale of Us “Endless”. They do only what they want to do and they are not afraid of experiments.
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be?
For the last 6 years, I’ve been living in two parallel worlds, which are music and cinematography. As a film director, I debuted in 2014 with a feature horror film “III – The Ritual”, that took part in more than 25 film festivals all around the world. And after I signed my 5-year contract with Netflix to release the movie, I realized I have to develop myself in this way too.
Tell us about what your upcoming releases or projects?
On January 17th I’m releasing a new music video for the single “Everything” featuring Avis Vox on Black Hole Recordings. This music video is an allegory of the reality that exists in many countries now, as well as a reference to the great George Orwell and his novel 1984. The world is as if in darkness and people are blindly swimming with the flow, long ago ceasing to understand and to analyse something. Obedience to the state was the only way not to attract attention, and therefore to continue its presence in this world. The scene in which the heroes cry demonstrates that people are still human, but deeply unhappy, while a comet approaching the earth changes their inner attitude. They do not accept the end of the world as inevitable death but as salvation. This light is so needed by the world, in which the action takes place that people perceive the collision with the Earth with grace and joy, without doubt, and fear. Before meeting their death, the characters forgive sins, making their own souls clean before the travel.
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