Eye-Catching Band Planning a "Discrete Encounter" with New Yorkers Written by Elias Stimac Opposite Photo: Taras Mashtalir, Stas Mashov and Natasha Romanova Photo Credit: Carrie Schechter

If you have not heard of Discrete Encounter, you soon will. And if you have not caught their live stage show, you are missing out. The band’s unique blend of rock ’n’ roll and electronica is about to be unleashed with their latest CD, "2B1," which will be released in early 2008. Hopefully a concert tour will follow soon after.
Discrete Encounter’s new album mixes elements of rock, dance, and alternative music. Founded by composer-performer Taras Mashtalir and lead vocalist-lyricist Natasha Romanova, the talented duo boasts the added hip quotient of playing live with both a deejay and a visual projectionist. New York Cool caught up with Romanova recently for a “discrete encounter” with the singer-songwriter.
Natasha Romanova is a veteran musician from Vinnitsa, Ukraine who currently calls New York City her home. Beginning at a young age, she was admitted to a musical school at six years of age where she studied classical piano. As a teen, she attended a musical college where she changed her major to classical singing and choir conduction. Her influences range from Edith Piaf to German minimal techno.

Stas Mashov, Natasha Romanova and Taras Mashtalir
Photo Credit: Carrie Schechter

She recalls her early years performing in Ukraine and Russia on national TV and radio. “I started writing songs at the age of 12, accompanying myself on the piano. My first album was released in Ukraine when I was 14 years old. It was called ‘It’s the Autumn.’ My parents, who were also executive producers of this very first project, hired a jazz composer to do arrangements for all the songs. In support of the release they took me to Moscow and Kiev to perform at some of the biggest entertainment TV shows. It was all very new to me, and at the same time very intriguing. Performing live on national TV, as well as in front of big audience, was a great experience.”

After moving to New York, Natasha founded Discrete Encounter with Taras Mashtalir. “Taras and I met here in New York, through some mutual friends in the art community. I had just left the band I was singing with at the time, and was looking for new artists and collaborators. Meanwhile, Taras had just finished an album with Russian poet/painter Dimitry Strizhov. It was a perfect match. We started creating songs together right away, first in Russian and then, as I slowly made a transition into writing in English, the concept of Discrete Encounter was born.”

Natasha Romanova Photo Credit: Carrie Schechter	DJ Plexus

The group’s latest CD, "2B1" is an eclectic mix of rock and electronica. “The main outline connecting all the songs is that of integration. It’s about the never-ending struggle ‘To be me, to be you, to be one’ (hence the title, 2B1), to find your own path. Some songs were inspired by human relationships, especially the difficulty of connecting, and the great sadness associated with the lack of understanding. To quote from our song ‘Pleasure and Pain’: I came to the door, it wasn’t me. Some of the other songs speak in a more philosophical, metaphorical language.

Thanks to the unique makeup of the group, their live shows are a sensory treat for the eyes and the ears. “Discrete Encounter is a four-piece band, but instead of having a bassist and a drummer, we have a DJ (currently it’s DJ Plexus) and a VJ named Stas.

“Stas is a new member of DE who has greatly affected our creative process. He uses lyrics almost like a script to visualize the poetry. This way he develops a visual outline for every song blending cinematic material with abstract effects. Meanwhile DJ Plexus brings additional live sound design, making transitions from song to song, and maintaining continuous flow essential to the dancing audience. Also he’s usually spinning his own DJ set after our performance, so that dancing and celebration never stop.

“Perhaps it reflects high-tech era we live in. While using the latest technology to create audio-visual experience for our audience, we still manage to retain raw rock-n-roll attitude.”

Poetry is an important part of Natasha’s life and her biggest inspiration as a songwriter. “I began writing as a child, before I became a musician. For me singing is an opportunity to share my thoughts, turning them into lyrics. As an artist, you can’t really explain how a poem is born -- it is as much a mystery to you as it is to all your listeners, as if it was some higher source speaking through you, you being an instrument, so the message could be translated and understood by others.”

Her songwriting partner Taras is an ideal collaborator. “I feel his music, he listens to my words, and then slowly some new texture takes shape and inevitably the balance is formed.”

Having lived in NYC for the past 11 years, Natasha feels she has adapted very well to life in the Big Apple. Dealing with being a new band in NYC, however, does present its share of challenges.

“We are self-managed and self-produced at the moment and deal directly with bookers and promoters. We are also involved and focused on building our audience. The easiest way to connect with our fans is via the Internet, and over the past couple of years we have developed a decent following. We believe that our music is universal. Weather we play at a rock venue or in a dance club, on stage we create our own universe and draw everyone in.”

Natasha’s final words of advice for other musicians trying to make it in New York?

“Go for it!”

MP3s available upon request. To purchase music or for more information: www.discreteencounter.com

Catch DE on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/discrete or Myspace at
http://myspace.com/discreteencountermusic

For booking inquiries, please contact the band directly by email: contact@discreteencounter.com.

(Elias Stimac is a freelance writer from New York currently catching rays in sunny Fort Lauderdale. Send feedback and article suggestions to him at backstagewriter@aol.com.)