Andrei Vladimirovich Tropillo (; 21 March 1951 – 28 April 2024) was a Soviet and Russian record producer, music publisher,

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...

, founder of the label AnTrop (""), and rock musician.

Biography

Tropillo first became involved in the Soviet rock scene in the 1970s. In 1976, he initially attempted to set up a small record factory in a room rented from his then-employer, the Geophysics department of

Leningrad University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public university, public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the uni ...

. He also organized concerts for several bands, including

Mashina Vremeni Mashina Vremeni () is a Russian rock band founded in 1969. Mashina Vremeni was a pioneer of Soviet rock music and remains one of the oldest still-active rock bands in Russia. The band's music incorporates elements of classic rock, blues, and b ...

, and used the income to buy technical equipment for sound recording. Tropillo later started working part-time at the House of Pioneers in the

Krasnogvardeysky District Krasnogvardeysky District may refer to: * Krasnogvardeysky District, Russia, several districts in Russia *Krasnohvardiiske Raion (''Krasnogvardeysky District''), a district in Crimea *Krasnohvardiiskyi District (''Krasnogvardeysky District''), until ...

of Leningrad, teaching members of the Young Pioneers about sound recording and giving guitar lessons. This position afforded him better access to sound equipment and allowed him to develop a studio. Tropillo began to invite local rock bands to record in the House of Pioneers, starting with

Aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

and

Mify Mify () are a Rock music, rock band formed in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad in 1966. History 1966-1967: The Red Roosters The history of the group began in September 1966, when Sergey Danilov and Gennadiy Barikhnovskiy were both eighth-graders ...

(). From 1979 to 1985, the albums of such groups as

Zoopark Zoopark may refer to: * Zoopark-1, the truck-mounted Russian radar system * Zoopark (band) Zoopark () was one of the founding rock groups which began the golden era of rock music in Russia. The group was founded in 1981.Kino, and

Alisa Alisa is a female given name, a version of Alice used in Russia, Ukraine, Finland, Estonia and other countries. Notable people with the names Alisa and Alissa include: Alisa People * Alisa Agafonova (born 1991), Ukrainian former competitive ice ...

were recorded in his unofficial studio, AnTrop. From 1980 to 1986, Tropillo and Aquarium worked together to record ten albums. Albums were initially distributed as ''

magnitizdat ''Magnitizdat'' () was the process of copying and distributing audio tape recordings that were not commercially available in the Soviet Union. It is analogous to ''samizdat'', the method of disseminating written works that could not be officiall ...

.'' Tropillo would distribute master copies to recording cooperatives on reel-to-reel tapes, which were then re-copied and distributed to other cooperatives across the country. In 1985, Tropillo was dismissed from his role at the House of Pioneers and his studio was closed. He temporarily stored his equipment at the

Leningrad Rock Club The Leningrad Rock Club () was a historic music venue of the 1980s in Leningrad, situated on Rubinstein street (Saint Petersburg), Rubinstein Street in the city centre. Opened in 1981 and overseen by Komsomol and KGB, it became the first legal roc ...

, before setting up a new AnTrop studio. The 1986 compilation album ''

Red Wave ''Red Wave: 4 Underground Bands from the USSR'' was a split double album released in 1986 and featuring Russian rock bands Aquarium, Kino, Alisa, and Strannye Igry (Strange Games), all from Leningrad. It was the first release of Russian rock ...

'', released in the USA, was composed of tracks recorded in Tropillo's studio, although Tropillo was not credited by name. In 1987, Tropillo started working at

Melodiya Melodiya () is a Russian record label. It was the state-owned major record company of the Soviet Union. History Melodiya was established in 1964 as the "All-Union Gramophone Record Firm of the USSR Ministry of Culture Melodiya" in accordance wi ...

. He brought over several of the master tapes recorded in his old studio and made them available to the label, sometimes without the permission of the musicians involved. In his position at Melodiya, Tropillo was able to officially release some of his previously made recordings as LPs. In 1989, he became the director of the Leningrad branch of Melodiya. In 1991, the St. Petersburg Evangelical-Lutheran Church became the new home of the AnTrop label. From here, Tropillo released copies of albums by Western rock bands such as

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

, and

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

, taking advantage of gaps in the Russian intellectual property laws at the time. He would make alterations to the record covers to circumvent copyright laws. On the sleeve of the AnTrop release of ''

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (often referred to simply as ''Sgt. Pepper'') is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept ...

'',

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

is replaced by the Russian Beatles fan

Kolya Vasin Nikolai Ivanovich "Kolya" Vasin (, 24 August 1945 – 29 August 2018) was a Russian music historian, writer, one of the main popularizers of the Beatles' creative work inside the USSR and Russia, collector who became prominent in the Soviet Union ...

and Tropillo's face is inserted in the top row. In his interview for the BBC Storyville documentary ''How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin'', Tropillo stated: "I support not copyright but copyleft. Because I'm sure that in Russia we should support musical piracy, because musical piracy was the key to have freedom in Russia, to have free information." Tropillo died on 28 April 2024 in Finland, at the age of 73. He had moved to Finland two years earlier.

Discography

In addition to rock groups, Tropillo produced recordings of the following jazz musicians: *

Sergey Kuryokhin Sergey Anatolyevich Kuryokhin (16 June 19549 July 1996, nicknamed The Captain) was a Russian composer, pianist, music director, experimental artist, film actor and writer, based in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was an influential fig ...

* Vladimir Chekasin *

Valentina Ponomaryova Valentina Leonidovna Ponomaryova (; []; 18 September 1933 – 8 November 2023), was a Soviet Russian cosmonaut, pilot and scientist. Biography Ponomaryova left the school for girls No. 156 in Moscow with a gold medal in 1951. She graduated f ...

* the duo Vladislav Makarov and Aleksandr Kondrashkin (1984)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tropillo, Andrei 1951 births 2024 deaths Music publishers (people) Soviet record producers Russian record producers Russian audio engineers People from Saint Petersburg Russian expatriates in Finland