North Train by Todor Kobakov Remix by Small Sins
I don’t want to get too mushy here, because it’s not like I’ll never see Todor again, but the time has come that he is no longer in the band and has been replaced by another tall good-looking Eastern European guy, Jaan Kittask. So, let’s make this Song Of The Week a little love letter, shall we?
When I first met Todor, I immediately knew that I wanted to work with him. We met on the patio of The Diplomatico in Little Italy through mutual friends Dave Ogilvie (a great producer and former member of Skinny Puppy) and Lindy Vopnfjord (a great singer, and the tallest person I know). I think the two of them wanted to impress Dave for one reason or another, so we went back to Todor’s place around the corner to listen to the first tracks of what would later become Major Maker – a band for which I would later become the bass player. We listened loud while Lindy kept yelling, ‘Turn it up! Turn it up!’ And it sounded incredible, and impressed we were.
At the time, Todor had an extremely stripped-down studio set-up in his apartment. It was a very old version of Pro-Tools, with no outboard gear to speak of and maybe just a Shure SM58 as the only mic selection; yet, it sounded amazing. I couldn’t believe how much they were able to achieve sonically with almost no gear. For all you kids out there thinking that some piece of equipment is what’s standing between you and making good music: realize that you are delusional. The sound was achieved by raw talent and good ears, and that’s it. Just listen to that record.
We immediately got together again and recorded ‘She’s The Source’: to this day one of the strongest songs I think I’ve written. A short time after that, I asked Todor if he would join the band. Right off the bat he made it clear that he was happy to help until he became too busy, perhaps for a month or two – but wouldn’t you know it? We got signed to Astralwerks after the first show he ever played with us, and ended up touring for the next three years, literally playing hundreds of shows together.
Small Sins was formed on an album for which I played all the parts, and I would continue to be, for the most part, this ‘one-man band’ kind of guy for recordings. At the beginning I sort of expected that there would be a revolving cast of players, but it didn’t work out that way. The band that played that first show with Todor (incidentally also Brent’s first show) would maintain the same line-up until this day. We became very close, and I am still impressed by the level of commitment of every member of Small Sins. It’s a gig for which Todor was ridiculously over-qualified (did I mention that he also turned out to be the best piano player I’ve ever heard?), but he just kept going nonetheless, like everyone in the band, playing my childish little synth lines with conviction, and class.
He’s been too busy for us for ages, but held on. Finally though, everyone agreed that it was time for Todor to move on and do his own thing: soundtracks, string arrangements (oh yeah, he does amazing string arrangements as well; check out his remix of ‘Stay’) and jaw-dropping solo piano records. Yet the thing that impresses me most musically is his respect for pop music. Usually classically trained, ‘real musicians’ are either grumpy or indifferent towards pop music, but not Todor. You need only listen to ‘Roller Coaster’ by Major Maker to know that this is a man that respects the simplicity of pop music. You will hear about him over and over again in the coming years, I’m sure, but luckily we were able to make this latest album together. It couldn’t have happened without him, or all the other members of the band. Then we called it a day.
Here is a remix I did for one of those fabulous solo piano pieces. All of ‘Pop Music’ is so cinematic, I figured I would do a remix that retained that quality, except that this would be the soundtrack for a much weirder movie. Basically I took a few parts, made them backwards and started adding textures. Turned out….. Interestingly.
Anyway, it’s funny: Todor and I have become such good friends, I sort of can’t remember who I drank with before I knew him. Thank you for everything. It couldn’t have happened without you, we will miss you on the road, but I’ll see you at the bar in an hour.
