Valery Mikhailovich Didula (Belarusian: Валерій Міхайловіч Дзідзюля — Romanized: Valeriy Mikhaylovich Dzidzyulya), better known by his stage name, DiDuLa, is a Soviet-Belarusian guitarist, bouzoukist, composer and producer. He is known as the founder of the Belarusian-Russian instrumental folk band, DiDuLa.
Didula grew up in Grodno, Belarus, and was fascinated by music from a young age. He learned how to play the guitar at the age of five, and wrote his first compositions at 16 years old. In 1989, Didula was recruited into a dance ensemble known as the Scarlet Dawns. He learned a lot about music production from his mentor Nikolai Khitrik, composer of the Scarlet Dawns.
After the Scarlet Dawns' disbandment in 1991, Didula was recruited into the White Dews, another dance ensemble with influences from mostly Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian and Gypsy folk music and dance. As part of this ensemble, Didula first went on tour in Europe, visiting countries such as Spain, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, France, Germany. In Spain, he became acquainted with the flamenco genre.
After the disbandment of the White Dews, DiDuLa went on to work on his solo career. Having created instrumental hits such as "Flamenco," "Isadora," "Arabica," "Leila," and "Flight to Mercury," he gained a huge fanbase. In August 2002, DiDuLa formed the band named after his surname, and went on to create hits such as "Legend", "The Path Home", "Cave Town of Inkerman", "Train to Barcelona" and "Colorful Dreams".
Early life (1970–1989)
Childhood Didula was born on 24 January 1970, in Grodno, Belarus, to Mikhail and Galina Didula, both connoisseurs of music. His father, Mikhail, was a highly skilled mechanic, and his mother, Galina, was an accountant. At the age of five, Galina gifted Didula his first guitar as a birthday present, and he was hooked on it from then on. Like any child, Didula had all sorts of record players as a child, which also had a strong influence on him. His first guitar also marked the beginning of his experiments with sound. He attached a pickup to the guitar, used homemade amplifiers, and devised all sorts of devices.
"When I was five, my mother gave me a guitar. My first impressions, of course, were very memorable: a big, beautiful toy, shiny, with taut strings." Didula states in an interview, "Later, as an adult, I realized it was a wonderful instrument, capable of bringing both joy and sorrow. You need to talk to a guitar, and it will tell you a lot. Today, the guitar is a whole world for me. Music defies words; it's difficult to talk about. It's a way of self-expression, my alter ego, an instrument with its own character, its own surprises, its own pros and cons. Between me and the guitar lies a small, but incredibly interesting life."https://web.archive.org/web/20080620045512/http://www.mkset.ru/news/culture/5989/ Adolescense Around the age of 14 or 15 his passion for the guitar grew into a conscious need, and the instrument became an integral part of his life. At 16, he wrote his first compositions. Didula began his guitar lessons, the teacher taught him different chords and the various playing styles and techniques. This was the beginning, the first steps in mastering the guitar. Didula and his friends, all guitar enthusiasts, constantly competed with each other, which continually pushed them to improve their skills. Didula and his friends also attended concerts and weddings to see guitarists play. He later got employed for a job at the Radiopribor plant the same year.
Career
The Scarlet Dawns and the White Dews Didyulya's professional guitar career began around 1989, when he played as the third guitarist in the vocal and dance ensemble, the Scarlet Dawns. The Scarlet Dawns performed on state farms, collective farms, and concert halls. Nikolai Khitrik, the composer of the Scarlet Dawns, described by Didula as his "mentor", provided him with much experience with music production. During the process, several people quit, after which the performances continued at a local cooperative restaurant. It was an incredible experience, six hours of playing every evening, seven days a week, and having breaks were rare. A wide variety of music was played throughout the process. Didula also earned his first paychecks, which he was very proud of, as earning money doing what he loves is everyone's dream.
After the disbandment of the Scarlet Dawns in 1991, Didulya joined the White Dews, another dance ensemble in Belarus. The ensemble was large and flexible, and Didula worked as a sound engineer. The composer of the White Dews, Yevgeny Alexandrovich Shtop, taught Didula a lot about how to produce sound, the sound of different instruments, and how the audience perceives a particular number. Didula toured with the White Dews throughout Europe, visiting countries such as Spain, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, France, Germany. He was fascinated by the diversity and music of these different European cultures, he especially claims to have been "infected" with flamenco, the traditional Spanish genre of music. "Who knows what style I would be working in now if I hadn't once been fortunate enough to visit Spain. The sound of a classical Spanish nylon-string instrument and the amazing sound of wood was mesmerizing." Didula stated in an interview, "My blood boiled and my pulse quickened when I heard Spanish music. It was this music that opened its passionate embrace to me, captivated me with its freedom-loving nature, and infected me with the rhythm of flamenco. This style is my now calling card today."
Solo career
1991–1998 After the disbandment of the White Dews, Didula went on to work on his solo career, working with his former band members Vladimir Zakharov (guitarist) and Dmitry Kurakulov (choreographer). Some time later, Didula heard about a music competition on Belarusian television that invited young musicians. He decided to give it a try. If a musician made it through the qualifying round, a future was in store. Didula, Kurakulov, and Zakharov took their equipment and traveled to Gdańsk, Poland, where the competition was being held. After passing the qualifying round, the trio went on to pass through the next round, eventually performing at the gala concert. This was Didula's first major success, his dream of reaching a large audience came true. There, he met professional directors and editors who assisted him, shared their experiences, and offered advice on his aspirations and direction. It was on this day that Didula met his other mentor, honored Belarusian composer Oleg Eliseenkov, who played a crucial role in his advancement in the competition.
Thanks to his resounding success, Didula became a professional solo guitarist. Didula later moved to Minsk, where he found a job as a sales consultant at entrepreneur and pianist Igor Bruskin's music store. His acquaintance with Bruskin allowed Didula to gain significant experience interacting and collaborating with recording studios, concert halls, and other musical organizations. Later on, a program for the 1998 Slavic Bazaar festival in Vitbesk invited all the musicians who had passed in the competition Didula competed in. The festival performance at the Slavic Bazaar was broadcast on television throughout the CIS, the Baltic countries, Poland, and Bulgaria. The festival inspired Didula to pursue a solo career. After the Slavic Bazaar festival, Didula bid farewell to Igor Bruskin and moved to Moscow, Russia that same year. Didula was intimidated how culturally different Russia was from Belarus. Nevertheless, he believed in success and overcoming difficulties. Didula staged street performances on Arbat Street of his own free will.
1999–2001 Didula met Sergey Kulishenko, who worked a well-paid commercial job. Kulishenko wanted to learn to play the guitar, and Didula taught his first student. Kulishenko also showed interest in Didula's studies, helped with housing and instruments, and booked his first professional recording at guitarist Mei Lian's studio. This high-quality recording studio determined the direction of Didula's future work. Eight compositions were recorded at Mei Lian's studio, all of them were to be included on Didula's new album. Didula clearly remembers working with Mei Lian—a talented guitarist and composer, a good teacher, and a respected friend. Together with Kulishenko, Didula began exploring the possibility of creating his own home recording studio and researched the music equipment market.
Didula's team met Sergey Migachev, a sound producer working for Samara musician and singer, Arkady Motov, who was well-versed in music, analog technology, and modern computers. After a year of intense collaboration, with the support of Kulishenko and Migachev, Didula recorded and released their debut album, Flamenco. When Didula tried to sign with major Russian record labels, they all turned him down, claiming that the instrumental genre was "uninteresting" for Russia. The lack of financial resources to widely distribute Didula's music left Didula's company in a bind and undermined the band's morale. At one of his club concerts, Didula met Sergey Baldin, who suggested that Didula and his team arrange a meeting with representatives working for Monolit Records to discuss collaboration. After listening to the material, Monolit's management, after much deliberation, declined. In spite of the failure of his collaboration with Monolit, Baldin's faith inspired Didula to continue playing and focus on club performances. By performing and analyzing what the audience liked best, Didula was able to improve his album and create new, interesting sounds on the guitar. At one of his concerts, employees of Global Music met with Didula and invited him to a meeting. Global Music expressed interest in the project and agreed to collaborate. A first contract was signed with Didula, but for unknown reasons, the company remained inactive. The project reached a dead end, and Didula terminated his contract with Global Music.
Despite the failure of his collaboration with Monolit and Global, six months of collaboration bore fruit. Didula met his current concert director, Timur Salikhov, with whom he works with to this day. Some time later, Didula received a call from the Russian Studio, offering to include one of his compositions in a compilation. At the office where the meeting was scheduled, Didula spoke with Iosif Prigozhin, a specialist at the Russian Studio. Prigozhin explained that he was creating a new label, NOX Music, was interested in new projects, and would like to collaborate with Didula. Didula immediately agreed, and a new contract was signed with NOX. Didula finally re-released Flamenco in July 2000, which was promoted by NOX. A music video for the song "Isadora" was filmed and directed by Guria Atneva, with Ruslana Gerasemenkova serving as the camera operator. Another music video for the song "Flamenco" was filmed with Alla Dukhova, and her ballet group Todes dancing in the video. Didula's music videos began airing on television, and he himself appeared on Dmitry Dibrov's TV show Anthropology, where he performed, chatted, and presented the album to viewers. Afterward, album sales soared. Didula began a joint club concert tour with Migachev's boss, Samara musician and singer Arkady Motov. "Spanish music has had a huge influence on my work," Didula explained, "as I lived in Spain for quite a while and observed firsthand how local musicians worked in pubs, bars, and restaurants. Now I incorporate some of this into my performances."
2002–2006