Introducing Todor Kobakov, a Toronto based composer-musician-producer who has one foot planted at the centre of Canada’s alternative music scene, and the other placed deep within the world of classical music. Given his rather unique vantage point, it’s no wonder that Pop Music, Kobakov’s solo piano debut, might best be described as a classical album with indie cred. To understand how Pop Music came to be, it’s best to start at the beginning.
Music is quite literally in Todor’s blood. Born in Bulgaria in to a family of classical musicians, training at the piano bench began at home at just four years old. At age six Kobakov was accepted in to the prestigious Sofia School of Music, a full time day school for musically and academically gifted children, where he studied for eleven years. The first half of Todor’s life existed on or around the piano. “I practiced for 6 hours every day” remembers Kobakov, “before school, after school, and after dinner. Then we would play just for fun! It sounds a bit heavy, but it’s quite normal in Eastern Europe…music is just part of the culture.”
When Todor was sixteen, with the political and economic climate in Bulgaria deteriorating, his family made the difficult decision to emigrate to Canada. His mother made the equally heart wrenching decision to remain in Bulgaria, where she lives to this day. “That was a hard time” Todor recalls, “I was a teenager in a new country, I spoke little English, and I really missed my mom.”
Luckily for us, the language of music is universal. Todor’s talents were quickly recognized by Professor William Aide of The University of Toronto, who recruited Todor in to the Music Studies program at U of T even though he was just sixteen years old. “Professor Aide is an amazing teacher and a beautiful person” says Kobakov, “he was never satisfied with my work and rarely handed out compliments. I think he did that to keep my ego in check, which was quite smart. I was admittedly a tad cocky back then.” Ego in check, Todor emerged from university four years later with a Degree in Performance Piano and a much better grasp of the English language. “I still have my daily ESL moment” he muses, “it’s a constant source of amusement for my friends”.
Degree in hand and with no homework for the first time in his life, Kobakov began to edge his own musical palette towards Toronto’s burgeoning underground music scene. As fate would have it, Todor befriended a freakishly talented lot of then unknown musicians whose various bands, including the likes of Broken Social Scene, Stars, and Metric, would soon ignite a Canadian indie-rock renaissance with world-wide implications. Kobakov remembers that time fondly. “That was liberating for me. I came from a background of strict classical form, and here were all these bands creating music with really loose structures and melding all sorts of influences and it all sounded amazing.”
It wasn’t long before these same artists discovered that Todor had considerable musical talents of his own. In 2004, indie-pop darlings Stars invited him to compose string arrangements on their sophomore release Set Yourself on Fire. The album was an international breakthrough while Kobakov’s string arrangements (Your Ex Lover is Dead, Set Yourself on Fire; One More Night) received glowing praise.
Todor’s string arrangements have since been commissioned by Sarah Slean, Emily Haines, Fields, Small Sins, Jason Collett, Lindy, Sammy Goldberg (BSS), and John Critchley to name just a few. In 2008, Todor’s haunting string remix of Radiohead’s “Nude” (submitted in Radioheads ‘Nude Remix’ contest) received an honorable mention in Rolling Stone.
Todor’s touring resume includes keyboard duties for Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton, Small Sins, Sarah Slean, Luke Doucet, and Major Maker (the indie-rock group he co-founded in 2006 with Lindy Vopnfjord). Fittingly, in 2007 Kobakov was named Toronto’s Best Keyboardist by Now Weekly which noted that he was “practically a piano prodigy”.
The idea for Pop Music was born a short time later over a pint of Guinness. Todor and his manager were brainstorming ideas for Kobakov’s debut solo recording project. Having spent the last two years either zig-zagging the continent on tour, or scoring commercial and film projects, it suddenly occurred to Todor that what he truly longed for, deep down, was a return to his roots. “It just hit me” he says, “I felt the need to re-connect with the first half of my life. Just me and the piano. The idea was very comforting”. With this in mind, Kobakov announced to his manager that his next project would be, quite obviously, a classical piano album.
From there, the artistic vision for Pop Music quickly took shape. “The intention” Kobakov explains, “was to make a classical album that combined both worlds…my life as an Eastern European and my life as a Canadian. The classical elements pay homage to my life in Bulgaria and more importantly, to my mother. The modern elements are a reflection of my time in Canada.”
As for the title, Todor points out that it’s intended to be taken tongue and cheek. “It’ll throw some people off” he admits, “obviously this is not a pop album in the modern sense of the word..however, I did take a pop approach to the music in that all the pieces are under 5 minutes long, there’s a real focus on melody and recurring themes and there are guest vocalists.”
The guests vocalists that Kobakov quietly alludes to are Emily Haines and Tunde Adebimpe, lead singers ofMetric and TV On The Radio, who also happen to be two of the biggest acts in indie-rock today. “I have a ton of respect for Emily and Tunde” says Todor, “they were the only voices I envisioned on the album. I wrote the pieces for them and I’m very grateful for their contributions.”
Kobakov is well aware that the addition of indie-rock royalty will shed some extra light on the project. “That’s the goal” he explains, “to bring the music to an audience that might otherwise not give it a chance, and to do it in a way that’s fresh.” He adds, “A big reason Tunde agreed to collaborate was because he liked the idea of trying something new on the classical tip. He was really supportive…when I sent him the first few songs he called them ‘intensely beautiful’ which inspired me to keep writing.”
Keep writing he did. Composed over a period of six months and recorded on a 1948 Steinway Model L Piano Todor picked up “for a bargain” off of Craigslist, Pop Music showcases Kobakov’s craftsmanship as composer and musician. Each piece was inspired by Todor’s own life experiences and interests, and as such, they cover the gamut from happiness to sadness – often within the same song. “That’s just life” states Kobakov matter of factly, “sometimes it’s great and sometimes it’s not. There are the hopeful and the hopeless. Some dreams come true but more often they don’t….I try to reflect that honestly in my music.” Pop Music will be released October 13 in Canada on 88Calibre/Cuto/EMI.