# Andrei Tropillo

Andrei Vladimirovich Tropillo (Russian: Андрей Владимирович Тропилло; 21 March 1951 – 28 April 2024) was a Soviet and Russian record producer, music publisher, sound engineer, founder of the label AnTrop ("АнТроп"), 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. He also organized concerts for several bands, including Mashina Vremeni, 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 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 and Mify (Russian: Мифы, lit. 'The Myths'). From 1979 to 1985, the albums of such groups as Mashina Vremeni, Aquarium, Zoopark, Kino, and Alisa 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. 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, before setting up a new AnTrop studio. The 1986 compilation album Red Wave, 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. 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, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Sonic Youth, 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, Karl Marx is replaced by the Russian Beatles fan Kolya Vasin 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

| Year | Role | Album | Artist |
| 1978 | Compiler | Den' rozhdeniya (Russian: "День рождения", lit. 'Birthday') | Mashina Vremeni |
| 1979 | Compiler | Malen'kii prints (Russian: "Маленький принц", lit. 'The little prince') | Mashina Vremeni |
| 1980 | Sound engineer | Proschai, chyornaya subbota (Russian: "Прощай, чёрная суббота" | Yuri Stepanov (keyboardist of Mify) |
| 1981 | Compiler | Moskva — Leningrad (Russian: "Москва — Ленинград", lit. 'Moscow — Leningrad') | Mashina Vremeni |
| 1981 | Sound engineer | Doroga domoi (Russian: "Дорога домой" , lit. 'The way home') | Mify (Russian: Мифы, lit. 'The Myths') |
| 1981 | Sound engineer | Sinii albom (Russian: "Синий альбом", lit. 'Blue Album') | Aquarium |
| 1981 | Studio sound engineer | Istoria Akvariuma. Tom II. Elektrichestvo (Russian: "История Аквариума. Том II. Электричество") | Aquarium |
| 1981 | Sound engineer, musician (flute, backing vocals) | Treugol'nik (Russian: "Треугольник", lit. 'The Triangle') | Aquarium |
| 1982 | Sound engineer | Nesostoyavshiisya kontsert (Russian: "Несостоявшийся концерт") | Andrey Makarevich |
| 1982 | Sound engineer | Dym (Russian: "Дым", lit. 'Smoke') | Piknik |
| 1982 | Sound engineer | Taboo (Russian: "Табу") | Aquarium |
| 1982 | Sound engineer | Istoria Akvariuma. Tom I. Akustika (Russian: "История Аквариума. Том I. Акустика") | Aquarium |
| 1982 | Sound engineer, musician (flute, backing vocals) | 45 | Kino |
| 1982 | Sound engineer, musician (flute, backing vocals) | Strasti po Innokentiyu (Russian: "Страсти по Иннокентию") | Olga Pershina |
| 1982 | Sound engineer for parts of the recording | Еxercises | Vladimir Chekasin, Sergey Kuryokhin, BG |
| 1983 | Sound engineer (mobile studio MCI) | Radio Africa (Russian: "Радио Африка") | Aquarium |
| 1983 | Sound engineer | Vchera i pozavchera v uezdnom gorode N (Russian: "Вчера и позавчера в уездном городе N") | Zoopark |
| 1983 | Sound engineer (mobile studio MCI) | Zal ozhidaniya (Russian: "Зал ожидания") | Manufaktura (Russian: Мануфактура, lit. 'Manufactory') |
| 1983 | Sound engineer for parts of songs (mobile studio MCI) | Metamorfozy (Russian: "Метаморфозы", lit. 'Metamorphoses') | Strannye Igry |
| 1983 | Sound engineer | Kolyosiko (Russian: "Колёсико", lit. 'The Little Wheel') (Note: the album was not distributed) | Vladimir Levy (leader of Tamburin) |
| 1984 | Sound engineer | Tanets volka (Russian: "Танец волка", lit. 'Wolf Dance') | Piknik |
| 1984 | Sound engineer | Den' Serebra (Russian: "День Серебра", lit. 'Day of the Silver') | Aquarium |
| 1984 | Sound engineer | MCI (compilation of songs recorded forTaboo but not included on the original album) | Aquarium |
| 1984 | Sound engineer, arrangements, musician (flute) | Belaya polosa (Russian: "Белая полоса") | Zoopark |
| 1984 | Sound engineer | Nachal'nik Kamchatki (Russian: "Начальник Камчатки") | Kino |
| 1985 | Sound engineer | Zhuk na rascheske (Russian: "Жук на расческе", lit. 'The Bug on the Comb') (Note: the album was not distributed) | Tamburin (Russian: Тамбурин, lit. 'Tambourine') |
| 1985 | Sound engineer | Ublyuzh'ya dolya (Russian: "Ублюжья доля", lit. 'A Bastard's Lot') | Oblachnyi krai (Russian: Облачный край, lit. 'Cloud Area') |
| 1985 | Sound engineer, musician (saxophone) | Shestvie ryb (Russian: "Шествие рыб") | Televizor |
| 1985 | Sound engineer, musician (flute, backing vocals), dramatization | Energiya (Russian: "Энергия", lit. 'Energy') | Alisa |
| 1986 | Sound engineer | Stremya i lyudi (Russian: "Стремя и люди", lit. 'The Stirrup & The People') | Oblachnyi krai |
| 1986 | Sound engineer, musician (backing vocals) | Deti Dekabrya (Russian: "Дети Декабря", lit. 'December Children') | Aquarium |
| 1986 | Sound engineer, musician (flute, backing vocals) | Noch' (Russian: "Ночь", lit. 'Night') | Kino |
| 1986 | Sound engineer, musician (backing vocals) | Smotri v oba (Russian: "Смотри в оба", lit. 'Look at both') | Strannye Igry |
| 1986 | Sound engineer | Muzyka drachyovykh napil'nikov (Russian: "Музыка драчёвых напильников") | Nol' (at the time of release, Nulevaya Gruppa) |
| 1987 | Sound engineer | BlokAda (Russian: "БлокАда", lit. 'Blockade') Recorded on Tropillo's 8-track and in the 24-track Melodiya mobile studio | Alisa |
| 1987 | Compiler | Ottepel' (Russian: "Оттепель") (Note: concert recording of the festival in Shushary, different from the studio album published in 1991) | DDT |
| 1987 | Sound engineer (mobile studio MCI) | Glasnost' (Russian: "Гласность") | Ob'ekt Nasmeshek (Russian: Объект насмешек, lit. 'The Object of Mockery') |
| 1987 | Sound engineer (mobile studio MCI) | Reagan Provocateur (Russian: "Рейган-провокатор") | Avtomaticheskie Udovletvoriteli |
| 1987 | Sound engineer (mobile studio MCI) | Muzyka dlya mertvykh (Russian: "Музыка для мертвых", lit. 'Music for the dead') | Televizor |
| 1987 | Sound engineer | Kamni Sankt-Peterburga (Russian: "Камни Санкт-Петербурга", lit. 'Stones of St. Petersburg') (Note: album finished at Andrei Sokolov’s home studio) | Nikolai Korzinin |
In addition to rock groups, Tropillo produced recordings of the following jazz musicians:
* Sergey Kuryokhin
* Vladimir Chekasin
* Valentina Ponomaryova
* the duo Vladislav Makarov and Aleksandr Kondrashkin (1984)