Childhood and family of Igor Rasteryaev
Igor Rasteryaev was born into a family of artists. The artist’s mother is a native of St. Petersburg. The father is from the village of Rakovka, Volgograd region, he is a hereditary Don Cossack, according to Igor.
Igor Rasteryaev
It was in his father’s homeland that the future artist spent his childhood. In Rakovka he made friends who, like Igor, came to the village on vacation to visit their relatives. And one of his friends, Alexey Lyakhov, played an important role in Rasteryaev’s development as a singer: he became his producer and concert director. Igor Rasteryaev - Song about childhood In Rakovka, the folk singer learned to play the guitar, began to write original songs, and later mastered the harmonica. As Igor himself says that he has two homelands - St. Petersburg and Rakovka, he is molded from two parts of the opposite worlds of the city and the rural outback.
Childhood
Igor Rasteryaev spent every summer in his father’s homeland, in the village of Rakovka. Songs, folk dances and local landscapes all had a strong influence on the boy. It was there that he learned to play the harmonica and guitar.
Igorek considered Rakovka his second homeland. With the onset of summer, he wanted to quickly leave the noisy city in order to go to a quiet and calm rural outback.
In 1987, Igorek went to first grade. First he studied at school No. 189, and then at school No. 558. The boy rarely received bad grades. And he tried to fix them quickly. The future artist read a lot and watched feature films. All this provided him with comprehensive development.
His favorite subject at school was life safety. And all because the teacher regularly organized cultural and entertainment trips for his students. One day, Igor and his classmates had the opportunity to visit the training ground (in Aspen Grove) and shoot at targets. Of course, the guys were under the control of experienced instructors.
Who did Igor Rasteryaev want to become? His biography says that in high school he became seriously interested in journalism. After a theater direction appeared within the walls of the institution, its plans changed. Our hero, together with other guys, took part in productions, including those in English.
Study of Igor Rasteryaev
Igor Rasteryaev began his education at a regular St. Petersburg school No. 189, and graduated at school No. 558. Since childhood, the future singer of the people dreamed of becoming Peter Pan, a bell ringer, or catching pickpockets.
Igor Rasteryaev - singer from the people
A little later, the future artist wanted to become a journalist. But having matured, Igor did not choose any of the directions and entered the St. Petersburg State Academy of Theater Arts, which he graduated in 2003 with honors.
And despite a successful career as a musician and songwriter, the artist does not have a musical education.
Career of Igor Rasteryaev
After graduating from the institute, Igor Rasteryaev went to work at the St. Petersburg Buff Theater. Within its walls, the artist played many roles, both dramatic and comedic. As the actor himself says, most often he played alcoholics.
Igor Rasteryaev is an actor by profession.
Igor Rasteryaev was not spared by domestic cinema either; he managed to star in several famous films: “Secrets of the Investigation-6”, “The Dog is Missing” and “June 22. Fatal decisions" along with famous artists, including Anna Kovalchuk, Ville Haapasalo and Alexander Lykov.
Igor Rasteryaev himself claims that he never wanted to be a “star,” but fate decreed otherwise. The folk singer's real popularity was brought to him by his original song about combine operators. A childhood friend, Alexey Lyakhov, recorded a video of the performance of the future hit on his mobile phone and posted it on YouTube; in three months the video received more than a million views and entered the top ten most popular videos on RuTube.
Igor Rasteryaev - Combiners Igor is sure that the video for the song “Combiners” captivated the audience with its sincerity and simplicity, because the filming location was a simple kitchen with an ordinary setting.
In 2012, the artist became one of the contenders for participation in Eurovision from Russia, but much to the regret of his fans, Igor Rasteryaev refused this offer.
Theater
And then he ended up at the Buff Theater. Here, at first, his roles were also small, he played mostly drunks, soldiers, lackeys.
But over time, more notable characters appeared in his repertoire:
- Vosmibratov in the play “The Same Forest”.
- Gregoire in "The Adventuress".
- Butch in "Divas".
- Clerk in the production of Casanova in Russia.
- Corporal Zakhar Kosykh in the play “Zhenya, Zhenechka and Katyusha.”
- Konstantin in "Passion at the Fountain".
- Bochar in The Magnificent Cuckold.
- Tishka in “Krechinsky’s Wedding.”
- A waiter in the production “The circus has left, the clowns remain.”
- Emelyan Chernozemny in “Squaring the Circle.”
Igor worked at the theater for twelve years and left the troupe in November 2020.
And also starred in episodic roles in films:
- "The Princess and the Pauper."
- "Secrets of investigation-6".
- "Version".
- "Special Purpose Agent."
- "22nd of June. Fatal decisions."
Personal life of Igor Rasteryaev
Igor Rasteryaev is one of the most mysterious artists of our time. Absolutely nothing is known about his personal life and family.
Igor Rasteryaev does not talk about his personal life
Moreover, every journalist in an interview asks questions about girls, to which Igor laughs it off and answers that sometimes he has time for a serious relationship, and then tries to change the topic. Apparently, with this tactic the artist is trying to separate work and family.
Personal life
The musician keeps the details of his personal life secret, although when asked about his marital status he answers that he does not have a wife or children yet. There are quite a few photos of Igor with girl fans on the Internet, but it is impossible to guess whether the lady of his heart is in them.
Igor Rasteryaev with a fan
In an interview, he was asked how he sees his future chosen one. He said that he values universal human qualities in girls. It is also important for him that she is easy-going and “not crazy.” She categorically does not accept stupidity and arrogance in a girl, or in any other person.
Igor Rasteryaev today
In 2020, Igor Rasteryaev celebrated the fifth anniversary of his career on stage. After gaining popularity, the singer from the people traveled all over Russia, visited Ukraine, Belarus and Poland. But, as Igor himself says, he does not hold more than three concerts a month and still participates in productions of the St. Petersburg Buff Theater.
Igor Rasteryaev at “Invasion”
Igor is loved not only for his unstoppable drive at his concerts, but also for performing cover versions of hits by famous performers: “Leningrad”, “King and the Jester”, “Gas Sector”, “Disco Accident”, “DDT” and others. Rasteryaev also does not lose the opportunity to communicate with his fans using notes from the audience.
It is known that Igor became a Laureate of the All-Russian Variety Artists Competition in 2006.
During his popularity, the performer had something to tell admirers of his work, and he wrote the book “Volgograd Faces” for them. Its presentation took place in December 2012. The book is completely unique of its kind, Igor included stories about his small homeland Rakovka, about Volgograd nature, about village friends, the author supplemented life stories with drawings in the “Rasteryaev style” with a simple helium pen, thereby making the book very sincere.
Igor Rasteryaev is working on new songs.
Igor Rasteryaev has already established himself as a singer from the people. Such artists should be on the stage; they are the ones who introduce us to the lives of strangers and bring us closer to each other. Rasteryaev is not like fashionable and stereotyped performers; it is very pleasing that throughout his entire career he remained true to his style.
Music and creativity
Igor’s further biography developed quite predictably. His parents wanted their son to become a journalist, and he himself thought about studying journalism, but in the end he chose theater, enrolling in St. Petersburg State Technical University in 1997. According to Rasteryaev, at the journalism department you would have to work hard and learn English, but at the theater academy, “it was enough to just pretend to be talented.”
Igor Rasteryaev in the film “Version”
However, the actor has plenty of talent and charisma. Igor Rasteryaev’s filmography includes only 7 films, including “Special Purpose Agent”, “Secrets of the Investigation”, “Version”. And the roles are mostly episodic.
But in the St. Petersburg Buff Theater, where he worked since graduating from the academy, he was considered one of the best young artists. Here he was involved in many productions: “The Magnificent Cuckold”, “Casanova in Russia”, “The Circus Left, the Clowns Remained”, “Adventurer” and others.
Actor Igor Rasteryaev
True, in November 2020 he left the theater. As Igor himself says, he simply grew out of the repertoire, although he does not regret the years he spent on stage. The Buff Theater is a real storehouse of talent; over the years it has produced such conversational artists as Yuri Galtsev, Gennady Vetrov, Elena Vorobey.
Surprisingly, professional actor Rasteryaev seriously admitted that at first he was afraid of the stage. Over time, this has passed, but he still does not dream of leading roles and simply enjoys the creative process.
Igor Rasteryaev in the village
They say that the boy began singing songs at the age of six, performing them in front of his grandmothers from Rakovka, and over time, Igor’s numerous talents only developed and multiplied. Since childhood, he had a penchant for painting and singing, although the singer did not receive any musical education.
The singer learned to play the harmonica and guitar in the same Rakovka, and there he began composing original songs. The song “Combiners,” which made Igor famous, would still be listened to today only by residents of Rakovka and surrounding villages, if not for his childhood friend Alexei Lyakhov. It was he who came up with the bright idea of filming a video with a song performed by Igor on his phone and posting it on YouTube.
The first hit of Igor Rasteryaev
At first, the public reacted sluggishly; within a few months, the “clip” received only three hundred views. However, then he ended up on the website of Dmitry Puchkov (Goblin). The popularity of the song skyrocketed, and it entered the top ten videos on the Runet. From that moment on, Igor began recording new songs on video and posting clips on the Internet.
Traditionally, his friend and colleague Alexey Lyakhov is the cameraman and director of his videos. In 2020, Rasteryaev recorded the song “A Month” with the young and talented singer Elena Gvritishvili. This is not their first duet; they previously performed the compositions “Ringer” and “Kurgan” together. The girl has the purest soprano, her voice perfectly complements Igor’s non-academic vocals. The video for the song “A Month” stars popular actor Anton Shagin, known to viewers from the films “Hipsters,” “Walking Through the Torments,” and “Dovlatov.”
Igor Rasteryaev
Most of the songs loved by millions (“Russian Road”, “Daisies”, “Cossack Song”, “St. George’s Ribbon”) were written by Igor himself, a number of others were written by his father’s friend, Vasily Mokhov (“Rakovka”, “About the Glinishche Farm”, “Blizzard” in Rakovka", "Bear", "Walk around the city", "Winter and night outside"). Surprisingly, at first the whole country learned and listened to Rasteryaev’s songs and videos on the Internet, and only then did he begin to give full-fledged concerts.
The first concert took place in September 2010 in Moscow, the second in St. Petersburg a couple of months later. Here, on the stage of “Griboyedov”, Igor introduced his co-author and senior comrade Vasily Mokhov to his fans, performing a duet with him on songs of his compositions.
Igor Rasteryaev - actor and singer
The singer's discography and productivity are impressive, considering the period of creativity with which the general public is familiar. Over the past eight years, Igor Rasteryaev has released five music albums.
The musician continues to create, constantly trying new performance options and improvising. His performance at the “Invasion” festival in 2011 brought him considerable popularity among rock and rollers. It was followed by other festivals and concerts, including a performance in Nizhny Novgorod to the ringing of church bells.
Igor collaborates with other artists, regardless of their rank and performance style. There are recordings of his performances with Alexander F. Sklyar, Anna Kudryashova, and other singers and musicians on the Internet.
Artist Igor Rasteryaev
He gives concerts in Russia and Poland, Ukraine and Belarus, performs covers of songs by the groups “DDT”, “King and Jester”, “Disco Accident”, “Leningrad”, sings Cossack, folk and his own songs. Even Vika Tsyganova expressed a desire to sing a duet with Igor, but they have not yet had any joint projects.
Rasteryaev is beyond politics and fame, he simply loves to sing about people and for people, about his homeland, its vast expanses and the mysterious Russian soul. In his lyrics it is difficult to separate irony from seriousness, satire from a simple statement of facts, they are truthful and touch the soul, just like the simple, but so familiar melodies.
Sings Igor Rasteryaev
As a child, Igor dreamed of becoming a bell ringer, a boy from a fairy tale who never grows up, but never a singer and musician. Songs are part of his nature, character, and he himself is a charming, simple and pleasant person to talk to, and at the same time extremely talented.
In 2012, Rasteryaev published the book “Volgograd Faces” - a collection of short stories and drawings that Igor drew when he was 19 years old. Before this, the book was published in Germany, but now it’s the turn of Russia.
Igor's main passion, besides music, is fishing. On his Instagram, photos of his catch appear as often as posters for his upcoming performances.
