Grinding, heavy beats, psych and space pop keys, groovy, soul-inspired samples, sensual vocals, and even some funky guitar licks on singles like “Boat” are proof positive that DIY Russian artist, MITYA (pronounced ‘MIT-yah’ with emphasis on MIT), is ready to be heard in the States.
The 20-something, Mitya Burmistrov, captain of Russia’s beatbox team is a programmer, composer, songwriter and vocalist. He obviously has a range of musical talents, having also served Russia in other electronic/beats oriented roles, including OneBeat fellow, RBMA bass camp fellow, and Universiade Ambassador worldwide for Russia.
As far as we can tell, this is his first premiere in the U.S.. His debut release, Crest, dropped officially on June 10th.
MITYA has amassed over 40K Likes on his Facebook page in less than a year. That’s 40,000! It’s not easy to get 40K Likes in less than a year without some publicity and ‘music love’.
The organic, semi-viral online love for MITYA is not surprising after listening to his spins. In fact, we’re already streaming the full release for a third time, and that’s a really good sign when you besieged by hundreds of releases every month.
Burmistrov lists his top musical influences as Supertramp, Damon Albarn, and The Beatles.
That’s an interesting selection.
We would have expected Prince to be in that list considering how ‘Prince-like’ MITYA’s hooks and grooves are.
The single, “Spontanka,” adds to the fascination of MITYA’s sensual and tantalizing sounds; he’s not just laying down beats, he’s doing a lot of experimentation with percussions and samples, straddling the boundaries of hip hop and electronic music.
“Boat“ – MITYA from Crest
“Spontanka“ – MITYA from Crest