We’re nearing the end of our series of interviews with the winners of the LA Music Critic Awards for the first half of 2016. Today’s interview is special for us because we have been friends with this artist since 2001 when she first moved to Los Angeles from Illinois. We knew she was special then and over the past 15 years the world has also learned of her unique talent. She has toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe and the UK, as well as playing to large crowds in her native Moscow. We are talking, of course, of the amazing Russian singer-songwriter named Marina V, who took home the prize for Best Video (live) with a stirring performance of her song, “Beautiful Forever.”
Grab a glass of your favorite wine, put on your favorite tunes, and sit back and learn things about the incredible talent known as Marina V. As you would expect from our history, this is a long one.
IVB: How long have you been performing?
MV: I’ve been performing for only 17 years, but I’ve been writing songs as long as I can remember and singing before I was talking, according to my mom. I was very shy for many years and wouldn’t perform until I met Nick (my husband), who encouraged me to share my songs with people. I was attending Illinois College, where they had a talent competition. I entered and sang my song before the entire campus and won first prize. But more importantly, people came up to me afterwards and told me how much they loved my song and wanted to get it. One girl even cried because the song meant as much to her as it did to me. That statement made an impact with my soul because I realized that my music could affect others just like it affected me. My music could bring pleasure to others and not just be therapy to me. That was my catalyst to start performing. I met you in 2001 at a Songsalive showcase at the old Club Lingerie in Hollywood
IVB: Who are your influences?
MV: For anyone that knows me, my primary influence has always been The Beatles, who always inspired me when I was young. I am also a huge fan of Russian folk music. Later I began following Jewel and Tori Amos, and discovered my true love for females in music. Tori is a genius. Of course, Paul McCartney is one of the greatest influences of all time, and Lennon and McCartney were the most amazing collaboration of all time.
IVB: What made you decide to DIY?
MV: It was not a conscious decision. I realized I wanted to perform and didn’t know what to do, so I went online and searched out singer songwriters who were performing to try to find out what to do next. It was support from my fellow students that led to my first record. I learned a valuable lesson about crowd-funding and used email to send to all the students and faculty to pre-order my first CD. I raised enough to sell 1,000 copies at $10 each. After I finished that first record, I started sending it to labels and booking agents, but didn’t get much of a response. I still had the passion and determination so I decided to just do it myself. My goal was to reach people with my music and maybe reach someone at a label so I wouldn’t have to do it all by myself. I moved to LA after college because I understood that LA was to be the place to be.
IVB: Are you seeking to be a mainstream artist?
MV: Yes. My dream and my goal has always been to reach as many people as possible with my music. I need the machine and marketing that you can’t really do on your own unless you have the resources of a label. My music is pop rock, and my song “You Make me Beautiful” was a top 40 hit in Brazil where I’m right there on the charts with Beyonce and Katy Perry. On my own I can’t do everything I envision, but I’m doing all that I can at the moment. That is my true dream and vision.
IVB: What are your future plans?
MV: No fucking idea! I honestly don’t know. I just keep doing what I’m doing. I just finished a wonderful and very successful tour in Europe, and I’m very proud of that. I’ve been working on my “2 Songs a Month Club” through Patreon, and am actively pursuing getting my songs on television and in commercials. I’m working to get to play more and more places in an effort to reach more fans. I want to do vinyl print of my album Superhero. I keep talking to various publishers to get the help I need to make it to the next level. In the mean time, I’m really living life, travelling, working for myself and getting to love it all. I think I’m definitely working very hard to move on up. I think I’m at the top of what an indie artist can do by themselves, and am very hopeful for the future.
IVB: Any good stories from touring/recording/performing?
MV: I got a really sweet deal from a local dealership who sponsored us with the car we used for our C to Shining Sea tour. I also once had a fan give me $10,000 to work on an album. I was doing crowd funding before that was a word. I love inventing new ways to find support for my music. All of it brings me closer to my fans and brings me great joy because I get to be a part of my fans’ joy. Without the support of my fans I would be nowhere.
I’m currently doing dinner concerts where I cook them a gourmet meal and then play their requests. Another time we had a fan that offered us support, which included fixing some appliances in our home and helping us build a fence around our house. He never charged us for his labor although we did split the materials cost. That’s what fan interaction is all about. I’m also working on editing a video of our tour from Europe. We did the same thing for our C to Shining Sea tour.
IVB: How can your fans find out more about you?
MV: The best place is my website. They can also check out my Facebook page, join my Komrades group on Facebook, follow me on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to my YouTube channel.
If they can’t make it out to see me live, I’m doing an online residency on Ampli.fy during the month of September.