In 2020 a t.A.T.u. fan named Gustavo Pérez emailed t.A.T.u. Media about his communication with Valeriy Polienko, the author of some of t.A.Tu.’s best songs. In 2012 Gustavo was collaborating with the Mexican t.A.T.u. website tatu.com.mx and had contacted Valeriy Polienko with a list of questions, which Valeriy was kind enough to answer:
Hello! Your message accidentally ended up in my spam, so I was not able to answer you right away. Thank you for the kind works and the assessment of my literary and musical creativity.
Unfortunately, I have not been to Mexico, but dream of going there sometime. Unfortunately, I have not read a lot by Mexican authors, but I love the works of Jaime Sabines and Octavio Paz.
I will try to answer your questions.
At what age did you start writing?
I began to write songs when I was 15. I stopped after a year. After ten years, when I graduated from my cinematography institute I began to do it again.
What inspires you to write? How do you get inspired?
Inspiration is oxygen. The wind of inspiration is always sudden, so to get inspired you need to look at the surrounding world carefully as well as in yourself. Listen to the world carefully. Feel the planet.
What singers/bands do you listen to?
I listen to a lot of different music and I will not single out anyone in particular. Right now I really like the vocals of Lil Green.
Do you play any instruments?
I play the guitar well and create melodies on it. Sometimes I publish them here:
How did you get involved in the t.A.T.u. project?
I ended up in t.A.T.u. by chance. My education and career is being a film director and I used to shoot commercials. Ivan Shapovalov also shot commercials. This is how we met.
Do you still have contact with Ivan Shapovalov?
Ivan and I talk and hang out, but not as often as before.
Were you involved in other functions in addition to writing songs for the band?
Except for the work I did for the concept and the lyrics I also provided consultation on the production of t.A.T.u.’s music videos and created videos for their concerts. I was also the director for the this video for the Eurovision competition:
Why did you participate with only one song in their last album “Waste Management”?
For the “Waste Management” album I wrote the music and words for “220“. I don’t know why, but the band’s poor management decided that there were enough of my songs on the album.
Would you work with t.A.T.u. or the girls again if they asked you to?
Lena Katina asked me again to work with her, but I did not like the music material. The music was standard and not interesting.
Have you listened to any of the girls’ solo songs? If yes, what’s your opinion?
I have heard the songs and seen the music videos by the girls from their solo projects after their fallout. I do not think they have honesty and sincerity. So that is why it’s not art, but fast food.
The best Russian band now is “Pussy Riot”. I used their creative work in this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYdDbmjopsM&feature=plcp (the video is no longer available)
Can you tell us what is “Vsya Moya Lyubov” about?
The song “Vsya Moya Lyubov‘” is about how breaking up is very, very, very painful. In here, perhaps, are all the answers.
For the biggest fans of the song “Vsya Moya Lubov‘” I recommend to watch this:
For what other artists have you worked?
After t.A.T.u. I produced the project “Yojik” with a female vocalist.
“Vse Proigrali”/”Everything Has Been Lost”:
“Black Confetti”:
I gift my Mexican friends this video: