Nadya Dorofeeva: “Life without frames and brakes”

Finding a free hour for an interview in the busy schedule of the lead singer of the super-popular band “Time and Glass” Nadia Dorofeeva was not easy, so we met in one of the Kiev showrooms, where the singer was grooming herself before the evening performance. Dazzling with her famous smile, Nadia spoke with surprising sincerity and ease about her new musical hits and the opening of her own boutique. The whole world has long been trying to figure out Mona Lisa’s smile. What is the secret of Nadya Dorofeeva’s smile?

Yes, I have such a “problem”! I think that soon I will be covered in wrinkles, because I laugh a lot. Recently I even tried an experiment – a day of not smiling. It didn’t work for me! Even for half an hour I couldn’t help but smile. I am, of course, a copy of my mother even in this. There are stars, like Victoria Beckham, who don’t smile – they protect their face from wrinkles. It doesn’t work that way for me. I live with a smile every day and can’t get rid of it!

What could wipe the smile off your face?

I’m a very sensitive person –  I take everything to heart. My team and the people around me know that. And Potap, as a producer, understands what kind of approach I need to take to  : he feels where he needs to support me and where he can criticize me. . Sometimes I can get upset over a little thing, but I always get over it quickly. And if it doesn’t work out, I change my attitude to  situations”

So it turns out that the positive person in the group is more you than Alexei?

When people get to know Leshu better, they understand why he is a Positive. Because he lives, even if not with a smile like mine, but with a positive, relaxing mood. I’m often nervous, I worry a lot, and he lives a relaxed life. And I’m learning it from him. It was Positive that inspired me to get the Relax and Take it easy tattoos on my arms. They are like a reminder to me.

You have experience both in a girl’s group and in a duet with a man. Who is more comfortable to work with?

Morally, it is much easier to work with a boy, because there is no girlie competition, when someone sings more lines, someone prettier, someone has a better costume. When I started working with Positive, I even gave up my solo project in Moscow.  In  group each of us  satisfies absolutely all my ambitions. We have a great team! I knew I wanted to work with Potap from the first second I met him. Unlike the screen image,  Potap is  a very responsive, kind and intelligent person.

In the finale of “The Voice of the country” Potap suggested that the organizers invite his band Vremya i Steklo as coaches of “Voice. Children”. As in how do you feel about this prospect?

It would be very interesting for me to be a part of such a project, because I’ve already been a mentor in the Little Giants project, . It was very challenging. Before the band Vremya i Steklo, I went through so many musical contests and castings. But I know how necessary it is to get on the big stage. Because that’s where you grow stronger, find your stage “tricks”, learn everything that will come in handy on stage later. This is where you go to real practical school. So I know everything that the children-competitors feel, I know what to advise them and how to support them.

Would you like your children to follow in their parents’ footsteps?

I would have done like my parents, who put me in all kinds of clubs.  Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been singing and jumping in front of the mirror. And they assumed I would be dancing. I remember a serious conversation with my mother when they were deciding what I should be. She asked me, “You can sing and you can dance. What are we going to do?” And then she added: “How about being a lawyer?” Yeah, I was good at law in school. And we were already ready to develop in this area. But then, when I won the Black Sea Games, my mother said: “Well, that makes sense – we’ll sing!” But even after that, we calculated different options. I ended up getting a music and jazz education so that if I didn’t get on the big stage I could be a vocal coach.

But you’ve got it all worked out. And last year you even launched your own clothing line, Its My DoDo. Tell us why you decided to become a fashion designer?

Indeed, just over a year my brand exists. And I was prompted to create the collection by fans who wrote me, “Nadia, we love the way you dress so much!”, “Where can I buy a T-shirt like yours?” and so on. And I realized that I had to do something of my own.  I’m not aiming at men’s fashion yet, it’s an area I need to get to grips with. But women’s fashion is my story! I am constantly learning from my designer friends. I created my first collection in collaboration with Nika Medisan, watching how it’s all done.  Now we have a good team of fitters and seamstresses, and we do everything with quality –  this is one of the main features of “It’s My DoDo” brand

Doesn’t it interfere with your core business?

No.  I learned that you can’t set yourself limits –   you have the whole world in front of you, and you shouldn’t be afraid to try something new. That’s why I decided to develop further, and soon  I will open a store.

Tell us more about it! What will the store be called?

I won’t say yet, we’re still thinking about the name. Now the room is being decorated. I  open it  not alone, but with my partner Lera Borodina. She and I are very good friends, and when I came up with the idea for the store, Lera offered me cooperation. I was happy with that offer, because she is a business goddess to me. This boutique, of course, will be radically different from my online store “It’s My DoDo”, there will definitely be a rebranding. The new store  will feature not only my collections, but also things from other brands.

You are under 30, and you have already achieved a lot: a successful singer in a super-popular group, beloved wife, fashion designer, and now even a businesswoman. But surely you won’t stop there?

Of course not! My YouTube video blog recently came out. This is my new hobby, I’ve been wanting to do for a long time! I’m shooting.  everything that happens to me, but I bet on fashion, style: What I wear, how I pick up images. This is a blog for girls! Well, and for the boys who really, really like me! (smiles) And on top of that I show the life of Time and Glass offstage: what happens behind the scenes of the performances, our rider, our adventures, my friends, my home and my second family MOZGI Entertainment. The main rule in video blogging is to be honest with your viewer.  If you start playing in front of the camera , you’ll never get many subscribers. And I had 100,000 views and 27,000 subscribers in the first three days alone. I love it!

How did your husband Vladimir Dantes feel about it?

Fine. He’s supporting me very much ! In the first issue, for example,  we play sports together and fool around

What does it mean to you to be  #NaStyle?

The hashtag #NaStyle has been on my social networks for a long time now. For me “to be #NaStyle”  – you don’t have to have expensive clothes and accessories in your closet. However, valuable and iconic were  birthday gifts for me: this year Potap gave me a Louis Vuitton bag  , and last year  I received a Prada handbag from Ira Gorova.  I  would never in my life allow myself to buy such expensive things. For myself, I always feel sorry.

You often mention your producer Potap. Is there a dictatorship in the MOZGI Entertainment production center?

We don’t have a dictatorship(laughs). Potap and Ira are very cool – they’re our friends, not just producers.   And we do all the parties together, and we work and relax together, too. And we’re even planning to go on vacation together in January to write songs there. I, for example, write songs quite slowly. I need no one around, so I sit down at the synthesizer, play something, and then take a long time to come up with lyrics. Potap does it with lightning speed: he goes outside for five minutes and comes back with a verse. How does he do that?! But Potap inspires me a lot with this one! I generally like all the people I work with.

You are quite an experienced performer and have been singing in the band “Vremya i Steklo” for six years. Does it feel like you’ve “grown out” of this project?

Positive and I have changed a lot over the period of the band’s existence. Both of us have grown up, and our music has changed. It’s very evident in our new song, which is scheduled for release in the fall. This is my favorite song! She is fashionable and serious at the same time. The phrase that we have two solo projects in the band is true, because we all give each other the freedom we need and are happy about it. For example, today after our interview I’m going to sing solo with jazz musicians, and Positiv is touring the country with the band MOZGI at this time. On May 19 in Stereo Plaza  we gave  our first big solo concert in Kiev as a part of the all-Ukrainian tour “On Style”.  It was so cool: a live show on the M1 music channel and a full house!”

So it could be that a year from now we’ll see you performing jazz?

Given how fast music changes, I think anything is possible. We don’t put any frames on ourselves. We realized that we had to make music that was fashionable, cool, free, that we liked. When we adjusted to the format, nothing worked. It was a lesson for all of us. You can’t fool people! .Thanks to the Internet, everyone in the world can listen to what they like  Now we make music from the heart, and it is becoming popular. Because this kind of music gets us going!

The turning point was the song “Name 505”?

Yes, it was that song that changed everything. The turning point was when we were writing it:  we had a fight and went our separate ways, and then in half an hour we wrote a song that turned our lives upside down.  We did what we liked, outside of the frameworks and formats.  Yes, we were popular before that song, there were concerts, but we weren’t the first. And now it’s different, nobody has yet surpassed the popularity of our music video. The song “Melting Ice” hasn’t overtaken us in terms of views yet (laughs). “The 505 name is our calling card. And now we’re making a summer hit! They’ve already shot a beautiful music video that the new director worked on.

Many people were very moved by your lyrical song for the groom Vladimir Dantes at his wedding. Didn’t you want to let a little lyricism into the band’s repertoire?

Lyrical songs have long been expected of us,  but they’re not really the band’s style right now. People come to the concerts of Vremya i Steklo to dance, rock out to the inflammatory songs, and get charged with positive emotions. But our new track, which will come out in the fall, will be more lyrical, but it’s also  insanely cool and daringly rocking.

At the beginning of your career in the project “Time and Glass,” you had an image of a cute girl, a “cutie”, now it has changed to a more daring, hooligan image. Is this a production move?

At first it was a production move. Positive and I were set up with a song that was written before I even joined the band. At the time, the band’s press release said “a romantic duet of a redheaded beastie and…”, I don’t remember anymore. We were, in fact, Potap and Ira Gorova’s first project as producers. It is now that we have come to the point where you cannot impose and invent an image artificially on an artist. Today we all approve plans together, make decisions together. When everyone acts together, everything works out.

You are now a married woman. Is there enough time for your family in all your busy life?

Just before our wedding, Vova became the host of “Food, I Love You!” and he is away from home much more often than I am. And when he arrives, I can leave. That’s why we don’t see each other very often. And it’s all very hard. But we’re hanging in there, we’re doing great!

How did your parents feel about the fact that your chosen one was an artist?

When Vova came to us to visit, mom  dressed up, put on makeup and was very worried. Constantly saying: “That’s Vladimir Dantes!” She was so shy that I didn’t recognize her (laughs).”

This despite the fact that her daughter is also a star!

At that time, Vova was the winner of the “Star Factory,” was still actively singing and was much more popular than I was. And my mom greeted him like Philip Kirkorov. More I was worried that  Vova would leave me and  cheat with groupies, but my mom on the contrary reassured me… She is always protective of him, they have been friends since the first day they met.  I have Vova – just a holy man, there is no such thing! (laughs).  Everyone says to me, “Nadia, what a man you have!  “Yes, yes, don’t jinx it and don’t tell anyone,” I answered.

How is your relationship with his parents?

Also beautiful! I’m friends with his mom. Our moms are alike: both cool, with a good sense of humor, poking fun at us all the time.

Not many pop musicians at your level do volunteer work. What drove you to this activity?

I’ve always been partial to such things, but only recently have I decided to take real action in this direction.   At  Dima Komarov in  Facebook  I saw a post about a girl Kira who was injured in a fire, and I became very involved in this story.  After that Dima and I accidentally met at the airport and got to talking, and that’s when I offered my help. The concert of “Time and Glass” was just in Dnepr, where Kira lives. It turned out that the girl is  fan of the band, so we decided to surprise her! On the eve of the concert  I met Kira and her parents, we  chatted and took pictures.  After the meeting, we made a Facebook post about raising money for the treatment, , and to our mutual joy we raised the necessary amount of money in 3 days!    On April 22, Kira flew to Israel for surgery. Dima and I realized how we could be useful and decided to do volunteer work together. After a while, Stasik, a boy with a brain tumor, needed help. The operation required an insane amount of $110,000. I didn’t believe it was possible to raise that much money. And Dima said everything would work out. But when we raised the amount we needed in 3 days with one post, I was just shocked! Dima and I realized what wonderful and responsive people we have at      Stasik already had a third of his tumor removed, but it turned out that   is malignant, and now he is undergoing chemotherapy. I believe that his child’s body will endure and everything will be fine. I can safely say that being able to help others makes me happy!

Who is a successful woman to you? 

Of course, for me the example of such women have always been popular artists, singers. But lately I’ve become more inspired by  people who are close to me – my friends Ira Gorovaya and Lera Borodina. And today  I can already call myself a successful and happy woman.

Ekaterina Sadykova