Where is Alexey Potekhin from “Hands Up” now, where does he live and what does he do?

Biography

In the late 1990s, the group “Hands Up!” gave fans youth hits one after another. Two charming guys quickly won the hearts of the Russian audience. In terms of the number of performances, the team even surpassed Tender May. Now ex-member of the group Alexey Potekhin continues to write music and releases compositions aimed at both former fans and modern youth.

Childhood and youth

Potekhin Alexey was born on April 15, 1972 in Novokuibyshevsk (Samara region), according to the zodiac sign Aries. His father worked as an engineer, and his mother was the head of the personnel department. Music was constantly playing in the house. Dad preferred to listen to pop melodies, and mom preferred to listen to symphonic works. Older brother Andrey Potekhin instilled in Alexey a love of hard rock, in particular such foreign performers as Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, The Cult, Metallica.

As a child, Potekhin earned a reputation as a bully. He drove school teachers to nervous breakdowns and often made fun of his classmates. He also did not excel in exemplary studies.

Published by Alexey Potekhin Monday, April 22, 2019

Musician Alexey Potekhin

To rein in their son, his parents sent him to the basketball section. There, the young man was not only instilled with a love of sports, but also taught discipline. Alexey also attended art school, where he learned to draw well. This skill was useful to him in secondary school. Teachers gave him final grades mainly because he designed wall newspapers.

After graduating from school, Alexey went to study in Samara, where he entered the river technical school. He remembers his training fondly. Young, interesting teachers worked at the educational institution. Alexey made many friends there. At the same time, he began to get interested in playing the guitar and worked part-time as a DJ at a disco.

Having received a diploma as a shipbuilding technician in 1991, the guy continued to gnaw on the granite of science already at the Samara Technical University. He graduated from it in 1996 with a degree in systems engineering. But, as time has shown, Alexey did not turn out to be a “techie.”

Potekhin, Alexey Evgenievich

Born on April 15, 1972, into a musical family: a tape recorder was constantly playing at home and listening to records. Mom liked symphonic music, and dad Evgeniy Potekhin liked pop music. His older brother Andrei Potekhin got him interested in foreign music. The boy had a lively and cocky character, but his parents insisted that he attend art school and the basketball section.

After graduating from school, Alexey went to study in the regional center, in Kuibyshev. He entered the Kuibyshev River Technical School, and now he remembers this time with warmth:

There were other teachers there who, despite their venerable age, joked around like young people. This period in my life was the best because I made great friends.

At home, fresh hits were regularly played, and Alexey began to perceive music with interest, at first he simply listened, and then bought a guitar and began composing himself, even managing to work part-time as a DJ at a disco. His tastes included Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Def Leppard, Foreigner, The Cult, Metallica and others in the same spirit. He is still a fan of Jimmy Page and Hendrix.

After graduating from technical school in 1991, he entered the Samara State Technical University - as Alexey himself recalls, “my mother influenced me.” He graduated from it in 1996 with a degree in systems engineering.

He worked at the radio station “Europe-plus” in Samara, hosted the program “Rhymes from Potekhin”. In Tolyatti he created the group “Uncle Ray and Company” together with Sergei Zhukov. This was the beginning of a great future called “Hands Up!” But so far these were only hopes that could not even bring income. To earn some money, the duo held a series of discos in Tbilisi.

Then they returned to Moscow and began working at the Pavian Records recording studio, creating arrangements for other groups for the right to simultaneously record songs for their own. By that time, a new name had been chosen - “Hands Up!”

With the involvement of a professional producer, the music business began to develop. The group became incredibly popular after the release of their first album, “Breathe Evenly,” and the musicians began touring around the country and abroad. Since then, countless concerts have been held and many songs have been written. “Hands” has received many awards.

“Everyone asks me why I left. I will answer you: because we have all become adults. But Sergei didn’t think so, he was comfortable. He is comfortable now. He always wanted fame, but I didn't. Are we communicating? Ask him. Although you are unlikely to get through to him. He's a VIP."
— [1]

After the group closed in 2006, Alexey began producing young performers such as Superboys, J Well (ex-member of the group Discomafia). During the period 2006-2008, 3 collections of dance music Potexinstyle were released, combining many young performers and hits of famous groups such as Demo, Turbomoda, Planka, etc. At the moment, Alexey is working on his new project TRACK&blues, to which he invited ex -vocalist gr. Turbomod Vladimir Luchnikov and ex-participant gr. Own Ruslana Achkinadze.

In 2007, Alessandro Materazzo, a former participant in the TV show Dom-2, was invited to join the TREK&blues group, who toured with them in the summer of 2008 in the south of Russia.

He tours Russia with a group he calls “Raise Your Hands Up.”[1]

Personal life

First wife (from April 13, 2002 to 2004[2]) - Irina Tomilova - dancer of the group “Hands Up!”
Second wife (since September 12, 2009) - Elena Potekhina - is a veterinarian, but works as a stylist.[3][4] Daughter - Maria Potekhina (born March 15, 2010)[3]

Alexey has a hobby: he loves old, antique things. He loves the book “The Twelve Chairs” and is ready to re-read it endlessly. Alexey admits that he has always been a joker by nature and loves humor and practical jokes.

Alexey Potekhin has an older brother, Andrey Potekhin, a former member of the gr. Turbo fashion, Boys, Revolvers. Today Andrey Potekhin is the manager and organizer of performances of Alexey's new project TREC&blues. Alexey invited many Samara musicians to produce.

Personal life

In the program “Popular Truth” (2011), Potekhin said that in his biography there was a situation when he and his best friend Sergei Zhukov fell in love with the same girl. At that time, the guys’ priorities were friendship and creativity, and neither one nor the other thought about organizing their personal lives. The comrades agreed that not one of them would care for the beauty. This story formed the basis of the “Student” video.

It is reliably known that Potekhin was married twice. He met his first wife, Irina Tomilova, as part of the “Hands Up!” team. The girl worked in the group as a dancer and backing vocalist. Charismatic Ira won the heart of the romantic, and in April 2002 the young people legalized their relationship.

For two years the couple tried unsuccessfully to have a child. There were rumors that Irina had a miscarriage while married to Alexei. After this, doctors reported that she would no longer be able to have children. Potekhin and Tomilova denied this information. At some point, the couple went to different apartments for a while. They explained this by saying that they needed a short break from each other. But the pause dragged on, and in 2004 the couple separated.

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A post shared by Alexey Potekhin (@potekhinalex) on Jan 6, 2020 at 1:42pm PST

Alexey Potekhin, his wife Elena Potekhin and daughter Maria Potekhin
On September 12, 2009, Potekhin married for the second time. Elena became Alexei's chosen one. The girl has nothing to do with show business. Before meeting the singer, she worked as a veterinarian. Despite the fact that the couple did not intend to hide their wedding, this event was not covered in the press. On the wedding day of Alexei and Elena, Evgeni Plushenko and Yana Rudkovskaya also got married. Therefore, the attention of all media was focused on the union of the eminent figure skater and music producer.

In March 2010, the artist shared the news with fans that he had become a dad. The wife gave birth to a daughter, Maria Potekhina. During the birth, the musician was in Moscow and took his wife to the hospital himself.

Despite the fact that Elena left her career as a veterinarian for the sake of her family, she does not sit idle. The woman has mastered the profession of a makeup artist and often takes part in professional photo shoots.

In May 2020, a second child was born into the Potekhin family. Alexey reported this on his Instagram page. He posted two photos, but did not comment on them or reveal the gender of the baby. Judging by the color of the envelope in which the child is wrapped, one can assume that it is a girl. The couple was planning to fly to America for the birth, but plans were changed by COVID-19.

Alexey Potekhin, wife

In 2009, Potekhin married a second time, and in March 2010 his daughter was born. Alexey’s new wife’s name is Elena and, according to her husband, she worked in the “field of veterinary medicine.” The lovers dated for two years before they decided to get married, and are absolutely happy that they have a child. For the sake of her daughter, Elena parted with her work, devoting all her attention to her. The girl was named Masha and Potekhina is very pleased with the sound of her name and her middle name - Maria Alekseevna.

During the birth, the musician was in Moscow and himself took his wife to the Family Planning Center. Irina danced and “sang along” to the duet to the soundtrack, creating a decorative background during the performance, and completely satisfied the audience. In April 2002, she and Alexei got married, but this information was hidden among the audience: only initiates and those who found information knew about the wives of the main performers: fans should not be disappointed. This marriage lasted two years and there is no exact information about why it broke up. They said that Irina was expecting a child, then rumors appeared that it could not be saved.

Potekhin himself admitted in an interview that he and his wife continue to communicate, but do not live together, and any girl who can make him a father can become a candidate for the role of his wife. However, information that his ex-wife is now married and has a child refutes the version of Irina’s infertility. Potekhin married twice in his life and his first marriage was directly related to the “Hands Up!” group. At the very peak of their popularity, two singers: Zhukov and Potekhin, were so busy with their creative careers that their personal lives had no development: due to the lack of wives or more or less permanent girlfriends, they were even suspected of having a penchant for unconventional love interests.

The young guys simply did not immediately cope with the all-Russian success and adoration that fell on their heads, therefore, they devoted themselves entirely to the stage. Then the state of affairs changed: having strengthened themselves in their glory and got used to it, they became simpler and more reasonable: life went on. Zhukov was the first to get married in 2000, and in 2002 his stage partner decided to join the army of “married men”.

Moreover, he had no need to go far: Alexey was dating a girl from the group’s backup dancer, Irina Tomilova. In addition to gossip, there was also a message in Express Newspaper that, having heard about the construction of a luxurious mansion in a reserved resort town on the Curonian Spit near Kaliningrad, allegedly started by Alexei Potekhin, meticulous journalists asked him for details. Alexey suggested that this building might signify “Ira’s dad,” his ex-wife, who lives in Kaliningrad. A person, presumably, not poor and influential enough to afford such a luxury.

Potekhin himself, according to him, does not have that kind of money. In light of these circumstances, Alexei’s divorce from Irina could have other reasons.

Goodness!

"Hands up!"

In 1993, Sergei Zhukov and Alexey Potekhin worked together at the Europe Plus radio station (Samara). The first hosted the music show “Hit-hour”, and the second hosted the humorous program “Rhymes from Potekhin”.

The fame of radio hosts did not satisfy the ambitions of young people. Then they decided to reach a new level - they moved to Togliatti and created the group “Uncle Ray and Company” in honor of the lead singer of 2 Unlimited. The duo preferred the rap direction and even gained some popularity among narrow circles of fans.

In 1994, at a rap festival in Moscow, where the guys ended up by chance, their performance was recognized as the best, but from a commercial point of view the project was unsuccessful. Fame came to the musicians only when they moved to the capital in 1995.

Former member of the duet “Hands Up!”
Alexey Potekhin told why the group actually broke up. The artist talked about how he lives and what he does: https://bit.ly/2tFjzEF Published by Woman.ru Tuesday, July 4, 2020

Alexey Potekhin and Sergey Zhukov
Producer Andrey Malikov, who had previously worked with Mikhail Muromov, the groups “Technology” and “Van-Moo”, helped Zhukov and Potekhin rise to the heights of the musical Olympus. The guys met him in 1996 at the Baboon Records studio. First of all, Malikov recommended that the guys change the long and incomprehensible name to the capacious and sonorous “Hands Up!” He also convinced the JSP record company to invest in filming the first videos and releasing the band's debut album.

The first hits of the group “Hands Up!” became “Kid” and “Student”. They “blew up” the radio airwaves and entered the top ten of the Russian Radio hit parade. Videos were shot for the composition, which were regularly broadcast by TV channels. The songs quickly gained popularity and became favorite disco hits. In 1997, inspired by their own success, the creative team released their debut album, “Breathe Evenly.”

The group began a tour of Russian cities. Tickets for the concerts were sold out long before the band arrived, and the performances were sold out every time.

Right now on MUZ-TV: half an hour of clips from the winners of yesterday's Battle of Fanclubs - the group Ruki Verkh.
Get involved! Published by MUZ-TV Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Alexey Potekhin in his youth and the group “Hands Up!”
In 1999, “Hands Up!” released their second album “Without Brakes”. It was also a runaway success with the public. The number of concerts grew, the fees increased, but Zhukov and Potekhin practically did not see them. Most of the money ended up in the producer's pockets.

When the project began to generate serious income, Zhukov and Potekhin left Malikov. In 2000, they created their own production company (B-Funky Productions), where they began promoting the groups “Turbomoda”, “Revolers”, “Shark”. A long-term conflict broke out between the JSP company, Andrei Malikov and the participants of “Hands Up!” for the rights to the name of the group and songs created by Zhukov and Potekhin. Having failed to defend his interests, Malikov tried to promote other artists. In 2002, he created the sensational “Rat-Jealousy” with the then little-known Grigory Leps, but to repeat the success of the group “Hands Up!” I couldn't anymore.

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A post shared by Alexey Potekhin (@potekhinalex) on Apr 22, 2019 at 10:50am PDT

Alexey Potekhin and Andrey Aleksin
The team recorded several more albums, and in 2006 they broke up. This news shocked fans of “Hands Up!” in shock. Fans were worried about why Alexey Potekhin left the group. The official reason for the collapse is increasing competition with other popular artists and lack of mutual understanding in the team. The once best friends could no longer exist harmoniously within the same project. Their views on the music product being released began to diverge.

Zhukov was tired of being a hostage to the image of “the guy singing about Alyosha.” He wanted to develop further and conquer new heights, but alone.

Each of the participants went their own way. Potekhin left the stage and began producing young performers, and Sergei took up a solo career, continuing in his work to use the popular name of the group and the musical style loved by fans.

Alexey Potekhin and the group “Hands Up!” - “I’m already 18”

According to Zhukov, an agreement was concluded with Potekhin, according to which the rights to “Hands Up!”, previously owned by both members of the group, became the sole possession of Zhukov. In an interview, Alexey claimed that he was a victim of deception: he signed the documents without looking and even planned to sue his former colleague, but it never came to the point of lawsuits and noisy proceedings.

During its existence, the “Hands Up!” team released 14 official albums. Each new song of the group became a hit. “My baby”, “He kisses you”, “Ataman”, “I’m already 18”, “Alyoshka”, “Territory”, “Tears are falling” - this is not a complete list of tracks that fans still know by heart.

Also, the group has repeatedly become a prize-winner and laureate of prestigious music festivals, hit parades and awards: “Album of the Year”, “Golden Gramophone”, “Song of the Year”, “Russian Radio Hit”.

Alexey Potekhin, wife

However, information that his ex-wife is now married and has a child refutes the version of Irina’s infertility. Potekhin married twice in his life and his first marriage was directly related to the “Hands Up!” group. At the very peak of their popularity, two singers: Zhukov and Potekhin, were so busy with their creative careers that their personal lives had no development: due to the lack of wives or more or less permanent girlfriends, they were even suspected of having a penchant for unconventional love interests. The young guys simply did not immediately cope with the all-Russian success and adoration that fell on their heads, therefore, they devoted themselves entirely to the stage. Then the state of affairs changed: having strengthened themselves in their glory and got used to it, they became simpler and more reasonable: life went on.

Zhukov was the first to get married in 2000, and in 2002 his stage partner decided to join the army of “married men.” Moreover, he had no need to go far: Alexey was dating a girl from the group’s backup dancer, Irina Tomilova. In addition to gossip, there was also a message in Express Newspaper that, having heard about the construction of a luxurious mansion in a reserved resort town on the Curonian Spit near Kaliningrad, allegedly started by Alexei Potekhin, meticulous journalists asked him for details.

Alexey suggested that this building might signify “Ira’s dad,” his ex-wife, who lives in Kaliningrad. A person, presumably, not poor and influential enough to afford such a luxury. Potekhin himself, according to him, does not have that kind of money.

In light of these circumstances, Alexei’s divorce from Irina could have other reasons.

Solo career

After the collapse of “Hands Up!” Alexey Potekhin has released three collections of dance music Potexinstyle. They included hits of the groups “Turbomoda”, “Demo”, “Planka”, as well as songs of young artists.

The man created the “Track & Blues” project, to which he invited ex-vocalist of “Turbomoda” Vladimir Luchnikov and former member of the “Svoi” team Ruslan Achkinadze. In 2007, Alessandro Materazzo, who had retired from the television project Dom-2, was invited to join the team. Together they toured in the summer of 2008 in the south of Russia. But, despite their soulfulness, the group “Track & Blues” did not find popularity among young people. Collaboration with the notorious participant in the reality show “Dom-2” did not bring success either.

In 2010, the group “Hands Up!” appeared in its former composition in Andrei Malakhov’s program “Let Them Talk.” It was a benefit performance for the team. But, contrary to fans' expectations, the duo's reunion did not take place.

Musical project “Potehin band / Potekhin band / Raise your Hands Up!”
in Ryazan at one of our New Year’s corporate parties... Published by Showtime Ryazan Sunday, January 26, 2020

Alexey Potekhin and Sergey Bogdanov
In 2013, Alexey Potekhin and his wife presented a new track “Summer-Winter”. The event took place within the framework of the Russian internet television (PeoplestarTV) project. A year later, the Arena Moscow club hosted a presentation of the singer’s debut solo album entitled “I Can’t Do Otherwise.”

Alexey Potekhin, together with his friend Sergei Bogdanov, founded the group “Raise Your Hands Up” (the second name is “Potekhin Bend”).

In 2020, Alexey began collaborating with a company producing textile products. On his VKontakte page, the artist told fans the news that now everyone can order a T-shirt with his image.