What associations does Russia evoke among US residents? Matryoshka, bears, vodka and … Regina Spektr is a famous American singer of Russian origin, author of music and lyrics. This girl became an anti-folk icon for just a few years. The singer has received over 40 million views on her official YouTube channel.
Biography of Regina Specter
Regina Spektor was born on February 18, 1980 in Moscow into a Jewish musical family. Her father, Igor Spektr, is a professional violinist and photographer, and her mother, Bella Spektr, is a music teacher.
Regina Spektr performs her songs accompanied by guitar or piano. Unlike many modern stars, she does not stand out in the crowd: an ordinary dark-haired girl in a simple but elegant dress. The only thing that makes her stand out is her bright and lively blue eyes. Regina Spectrum is admired for her childlike spontaneity and charm. And while performing on stage, she makes various sounds and overtones, which makes it seem that she is just having fun with all this, like a small child.
Childhood
Regina's childhood was spent in Moscow, in the Vykhino district. And in the summer, the Spektr family went on vacation to Pärnu, Estonia.
The life of their family has always been filled with music: the whole family went to concerts of classical music, opera and ballet, listened to records from classical foreign music.
When Regina was 9 years old, her family moved to New York and settled in the Bronx. In the new place of residence, the Spectrum family enthusiastically listened to the music of the Beatles and Queen.
Little Regina quickly mastered the piano and could play for several hours in a row, choosing the melody by ear. Her family recalls that Regina, as a child, could compose songs on the go. She composed her first serious song at the age of 16.
Education
The future famous singer and songwriter first graduated from the Salanter Akiva Riverdale Akademi Jewish High School in the Bronx, and then she attended the Frisch Jewish Religious School, located in Paramus, New Jersey, and Fer Lone Public School.
At the age of 19, Regina entered the conservatory at Perchase College and graduated in 2001 as an external student.
Personal life
On December 16, 2011 Regina Specter got married. The famous American singer, actor, producer and director Jack Dishel became her husband. His real name is Evgeny Leonidovich Dishel, and he, like his wife, was born in Russia. Before marriage, Jack and Regina dated for about 6 years.
In March 2014, the couple had a son.
Regina's husband takes an active part in her work: he often performs with his wife and participates in the recording of her albums.
Regina Spectrum's career
Regina recorded her first album 11:11 as a college student in 2000. The recording took place in Patcher's College studio, along with fellow students: bassist Chris Kafner and producer Richie Castellano. The co-producer was Regina Spektr herself.
The album was released in limited edition. Then its creators could not imagine that after a few years, almost every music lover would dream of purchasing this disc for his collection.
A year later, Regina Spectrum released another album, "Songs". Then the singer was not as famous, so she distributed all the albums among her friends and club visitors.
In 2003, the singer's third album, Soviet Kitsch, was released. The co-producers were Regina herself and Alan Bezosi. In the same year, the singer was invited by the famous rock band The Strokes on a tour of North America, where she played as an opening act. Regina then went on a European tour with another famous band, Kings of Leon. It was during the collaboration with these two groups that her third album began to be actively sold, and Regina herself began to gain popularity.
In 2004 the well-known company Sire Records signed a contract with Regina Spektr. Sire took the new album Soviet Kitsch and became its distributor. It is noteworthy that the singer's younger brother, Ber Spektr, took part in the recording of one of the tracks on this album.
After these events of Regina's carter, the spectrum only gained momentum. With each new single released, the singer seemed to show that she would remain in music seriously and for a long time.
Many fans of Regina Spektr, especially Russian-speaking ones, believe that the best song of the singer is the song Apres Moi. It was in it that listeners for the first time were able to hear how the famous singer performs a song in Russian. Moreover, this song is based on an excerpt from a poem by the greatest poet and writer of the 20th century, Boris Pasternak.
The fifth disc, Far, was released in 2009, and, according to critics, it was even more talented than the previous fourth disc, containing rather strong compositions. In the same year, the melodrama "500 Days of Summer" was released, the soundtrack to which was Regina's non-album song "The Hero".
Achievements
Regina Speck has made significant contributions to musical genres such as anti-folk, indie pop and jazz fusion. In 2006, she took the top spot of the famous Billboard magazine, becoming the first singer of Soviet origin to win such an award. Later, she took the 20th line of the more prestigious Billboard 200 chart, which is considered to be quite a high position.
In November 207, her fourth album, Begin to Hope, went gold in the US, which means that it has sold over 500,000 copies.
In December 2013, her song You've Got Time was nominated for a Grammy, and in 2014 her song Us was included in the list of "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", ranking 398th.
Album list
- 2001 - 11:11 (Regina Spektor)
- 2002 - Songs (Regina Spektor)
- 2004 - Soviet Kitsch (Regina Spektor / Shoplifter / Sire)
- 2006 - Begin to Hope (Sire)
- 2009 - Far
- 2012 - What We Saw from the Cheap Seats
- 2016 - Remember Us to Life
