Yury Usachyov

Yury Alexeyevich Usachyov (; born 19 April 1974) is a Russian composer, arranger, disc jockey, record producer and multi-instrumentalist. He co-founded the pop group Guests from the Future and the folk-electronic project Zventa Sventana.

Usachyov's work connected the Saint Petersburg electronic underground of the 1990s with mainstream Russian dance-pop. In Guests from the Future, he adapted techniques associated with ambient music, jungle and drum and bass to Russian-language pop songwriting. He later applied a related production approach to archival Russian folk songs, jazz, orchestral music and contemporary classical composition in Zventa Sventana. The Institute of Music Initiatives has described him as one of the innovators of the Russian club scene.

Guests from the Future

In 1996, Usachyov began working with Saint Petersburg musician Yevgeny Arsentyev. An improvised ambient session recorded by the pair became the basis for Cherez sotni let… , the first Guests from the Future album, released in 1997. The musicians invited Eva Polna to record the female vocal parts, and she subsequently became a permanent member of the group. The album attracted the support of Russian musician DJ Groove, but its experimental sound did not bring the group a broad audience. The title song and the singles that followed established Guests from the Future as one of the most prominent Russian dance-pop acts of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Following the success of Begi ot menya, the group moved to Moscow and toured extensively. Usachyov was responsible for its music, arrangements, programming and studio sound, while Polna was its principal lyricist and vocalist.

Other electronic projects

During the 2000s, Usachyov continued to perform as a club musician and DJ. In the ArtHouse project, he worked with the Saint Petersburg DJs Andrey Timoshenko, known as DJ Tisha, and Alexey Ulrikh, known as Alex Ylёch. The project focused on house, electro and progressive electronic music. In 2008, he also formed the My-Ti project with Tina Kuznetsova.

Usachyov produced remixes and arrangements for other musicians. In 2014, he appeared on Bi-2's recording of "Robot". In 2015, Bi-2 released his remix of "Zabrali v armiyu" (, "Taken into the Army"). He also participated in "Okhota na kuznechikov" (, "Hunting Grasshoppers"), the debut single by the collective Kurtki Kobaina, alongside Diana Arbenina, Bi-2, Vitaly Dubinin and Petr Mamonov.

Zventa Sventana and later work

Usachyov and singer Tina Kuznetsova founded Zventa Sventana in 2005. Folk singer Alyona Romanova was also part of the original line-up. Their debut album, Stradaniya (, "Sufferings"), was presented in 2006. It combined traditional songs with electronic production, jazz and contemporary popular music, with Usachyov serving as composer, arranger and producer.

Artistry and significance

Usachyov's early production relied on tape loops, synthesisers and sequencers. He later adapted those techniques to the compact structure of the pop song, using electronic timbres and rhythms without abandoning conventional melody and verse–chorus form.

Alexander Nurabayev wrote that Muzha doma netu demonstrated that Russian folk song could function convincingly in a club setting.

Selected discography

With Guests from the Future

1997 — Cherez sotni let… . He is married to singer Tina Kuznetsova, with whom he founded Zventa Sventana. They have a son, Gabriel.