Al Slavik's and Slava Grigoryan new album 'Continental Shift' is the first release on Australias new label Which Way Music. Together they wrote and produced Slava's critically acclaimed crossover CD Another night in London. 'Continental Shift' is ostensibly a duo collaboration between Slava and Al. With original compositions by both, the mixture of instrumentals and songs highlight not only their individual artistry, but also a combined voice of sheer beauty. 'Continental Shift' features local and international musicians including Phil Gould, drummer with the legendary UK band Level 42. SLAVA GRIGORYAN AND AL SLAVIK Interview by Jesse Shrock The best music in the world - the kind that touches places in us we didn't even know we had - is genreless. Ask anyone. The only problem is, most of this timeless and truly unique music usually comes from artists that have already honed their skills in a very specific genre, and thus is often only appreciated by established fans of the artist. That's why I want to use this space to stress that Continental Shift, the latest work of Slava Grigoryan with collaborator Al Slavik, is a triumph of unrestricted musical inspiration, potentially a lot wider in appeal than Slava's distinguished classical back catalogue. And that's a catalogue that has been expanding very rapidly of late -within a few short months prior to Continental Shift's release, Slava was a part of Saffire's album Nostalgica and the subsequent tour, and released his own rendition of Shaun Rigney's music in Afterimage. "In the last couple of years, there's been a lot happening, as far as recording." he says. "I was with Sony for a long time, and the philosophy was very different back then. I was recording an album about every 2 years. When I went to ABC, things were a bit more flexible. I knew I had so many projects that I wanted to get on with... the collaborative things were very important to me. There's actually a few other albums in the can at the moment that will come out later this year some time... after that I think I'll take a break for a while." A well-deserved one I'm sure. While Slava's reputation in Australia (and in some parts of Europe) as a classical virtuoso is well-established, Vienna-born Al Slavik has earned some amount of notoriety around Europe (mainly in Britain) as a hired gun bassist. "My background is very different to Slava's," Al says. "I'm coming from the band and rock pop scene... Back in England I was working with many different musicians... also touring with a couple of guys, like this sync-pop band called Alphaville, a German band that had some hits in the 80's." Slava's first vision of Al was in a club in London, where "he was predominately playing the Chapman stick. (An instrument comprising five bass strings and five guitar strings) There was this Austrian drummer that is really big now called Thomas Lang there as well... And the two of them would have this duel, with these full-on drums and the Chapman stick, at a huge volume. They would just fight out this issue they had that they didn't talk about. And to be quite honest," Slava admits, "I was a little bit intimidated at the time." Judging by these first impressions, it might seem hard to see how these two established common musical ground... But when Al starts talking about his biggest inspirations (Peter Gabriel is mentioned several times in our conversation) and his other collaborations (working with one of Seal's co-writers Gus Isidore) the pieces start falling into place... as they did for Slava and Al when they became housemates for awhile in London. "With the two of us meeting - it's just like day and night." Al says. "Back nine years ago when we lived together and worked together, it was just incredible... I remember spending (up to) seventeen hours playing each other CDs that we grew up with. When I came over to Australia, and we started playing as a duo, I think we both weren't really sure... Somehow we knew we had to do it, it just felt quite strange... With the success of Another Night in London, the picture is much more clear. Now it makes absolute sense to do this." To ensure the full realisation their vision, Slava and Al have chosen to release Continental Shift independently. Al explains why this was a necessary move: "Music has to be divided, which is a shame - you have classical music, rock music, world music, whatever... But we're actually not thinking in those terms." Indeed, something like Continental Shift can only be conceived in a state of mind that is uninhibited, unassuming... genreless. SONGS IN THE KEY OF MATESHIP`... It seems fitting that Slava Grigoryan and Al Slavik met in a London live-musicvenue at a Jam run by a guitarist called Sagat Guirey. That was about 10 years ago.Guirey had worked with violinist Nigel Kennedy-the Menuhinprotege whose street cred helped poularise the classics-as well as with rock´nroll bands. Grigoryan,the Australian guitar virtuoso who has made classical recordings and Slavik,an Austrian-born bassguitarist/singer/songwriter whose backround is in pop,became close friends. Their subsequent musical collaborations have culminated in a new CD,Continental Shift. the album is released in april 05 and follows the phenomenal success of their 1999 CD collaboration,Another Night in London. Their music is neither pop nor classical.Slavik calls it songbased instrumental music with a pop sensibility`. Grigoryan baulks at the label`crossover-music`. `Where are we crossing from and where are we going?`he asks. `This is just music we write and play,in a way that`s influenced by so many different things`. Elizabeth Fortescue - The Daily Telegraph-Sydney LIVE-REVIEW of the Concert @Chapel off Chapel (9th of April 2005,Melbourne) The third partner in Slava and Al's new label Which Way Music, Ruben Zlyberszpic, introduced Slava as the 'Rudolph Nureyev' (he's a famous ballet dancer, in case that isn't your thing) of guitar and Al Slavik as the 'Arnie Schwarzenegger' (he's the muscle-bound governor of California, in case you've been living under a rock) of bass guitar. If by this he meant that they are, respectively, graceful and robust in their playing, he was damn right. (Then again, he may have also been referring to Al's Austrian origins and intimidating build) Slava and Al had solo pieces at the start of each set, and while Slava's was a dazzling piece of classical fingerstyle that gratified the (largely conservative) audience's expectations, Al's funk-flavoured piece, with it's aggressive string slaps and crossover double-handed tapping, promptly smashed them, providing an arresting introduction to the other half of this musical equation. But together, Al's firm but delicate touch on the bass provided a gently rocking background to Slava's lyrical and at times whimsical guitar lines, weaving the magic of Cruising before going more up-tempo for 2am. Next were vocal ballad selections (sung by Al) Another Night in London and Time of my Life. (No, not the song from Dirty Dancing!!!) I was a bit baffled when someone behind me described Al's voice as being a bit like Phil Collins... perhaps he was getting confused with the more progressive Genesis alumni, Peter Gabriel. For the second set, the duo was made a trio by the inclusion of Bobby Singh, who played tabla drums, and brought a more global flavour to the otherwise staunchly European Goodbye Vienna. They then showcased some jazz improvisation for Freefall, followed by the blues riffs in a classical guise that is Gusovitsch. The obvious encore choice was Farewell - appropriate not only by name, but also by the way it cannot fail to enshroud the listener in it's mysterious and strangely hypnotic melody, leaving them floating on air for long after they have walked out the exit. This evening was the musical equivalent of sipping a fine liqueur - Consumed in a small quantity, (around 80 minutes) rich in flavour, smooth going down, and savoured to the last drop. Jesse Shrock