ToneGym Hero: Alexey Melikhov

Guitarist, lawyer, and lifelong music obsessive with a soft spot for loud, unpolished underground rock, Alexey Melikhov never finished a single lesson at his childhood piano school, just a friend's burned CDs of bands nobody played on TV, nights in a borrowed rehearsal space learning to write instead of reproduce, and a 15-year law career built alongside a band that's still going, before discovering that the ear, like anything else, can be trained. Alexey Melikhov is this month's ToneGym Hero!

How did you first find your way into making music?

When I was a very young child, I loved dancing and singing along to the popular music that was always playing at home. I still remember enthusiastically dancing to songs by ABBA, Dschinghis Khan, and Modern Talking. Seeing my interest in music, my parents enrolled me in a music school, where I began taking piano lessons.

At that age, I was far too young to understand what music education was really about. The curriculum was based entirely on classical music, and it simply didn't resonate with me. Outside the classroom, the world was filled with exciting contemporary music, catchy songs, colorful music videos, charismatic artists, and constantly changing trends. Yet at school I was expected to listen to and perform works written by composers who had lived two centuries earlier.

Most of our teachers were over fifty, and, at least from my perspective as a child, many of them showed little genuine interest in their students. I found myself caught between two completely different musical worlds. On one side was the modern music I heard on television, the radio, and in stores, the music that reflected the world around me and that I genuinely loved. On the other side was classical music, presented as if it were the only thing that mattered, despite feeling completely disconnected from my everyday life.

Although both belonged to the same art form, they felt like two parallel universes that never intersected.
The lessons themselves were painfully dull, and I couldn't connect with either the material or the teachers. As time went on, I actually began to fear some of my instructors. Physical punishment was considered acceptable, they would hit students' fingers with wooden rulers or even prick their wrists with needles to force the "correct" hand position at the piano. Looking back, it's difficult to describe those lessons as anything other than frightening and deeply discouraging.

To make the experience at least a little more bearable, I started rewriting the lyrics of serious songs into something funny, childish, or completely absurd. I joked around during lessons, trying to bring some life into an atmosphere that felt overwhelmingly oppressive. To be fair, many of my classmates laughed at my antics, but the teachers certainly did not appreciate them.

As I mentioned, the environment was far from healthy. I vividly remember individual piano lessons where children who struggled with the program were publicly humiliated, struck on the hands with rulers, shouted at, and told things that could easily leave lasting psychological scars, but certainly would never inspire a love of music. I experienced all of that myself.

Eventually, I simply couldn't take it anymore. I no longer wanted to go to a place that I neither understood nor loved, a place that filled me with fear instead of joy or fulfillment. First I started skipping lessons, and eventually I quit music school altogether.

My passion for music, however, never disappeared. I spent countless hours watching MTV and other music channels, discovering the incredible variety of popular music and its many genres. Those broadcasts became my escape. But because of the trauma I associated with my music teachers, I stopped touching the piano entirely, and eventually my parents sold it.

Today, when I think back to those teachers, I don't feel anger anymore, I feel pity. Looking back, they seemed like deeply unhappy people who projected their own frustration, pain, and dissatisfaction with life onto their students.
Everything changed when my family moved to another city.

By that time, I had developed a broad taste in music. I listened to alternative rock, classic rock, industrial, hip-hop, pretty much everything that was popular on TV and the radio. At my new school, I met many people who shared the same interests. They followed the music scene, discovered new bands, and were genuinely passionate about music. For the first time, I felt like I had found my people.

My family wasn't well off financially. At a time when almost everyone my age already had a computer, I didn't even own one. One of my classmates, Vadim Cherny, changed that for me in more ways than he probably realized. He had a great computer with Internet access, spoke English, and had an incredible taste in music. He introduced me to an entirely new world of bands whose music videos were never shown on television but could be discovered online.
Today, with streaming services and social media, it's hard to imagine how exciting that felt. But twenty-three years ago, discovering bands like Mastodon, Converge, Killswitch Engage, and many others was a life-changing experience. Their sound was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It opened my ears to an entirely different side of music.

Seeing how fascinated I was, Vadim took pity on me and started burning CDs filled with new albums so I could listen to them at home on my CD player. Those discs became my window into a much bigger musical world.
Before long, we began going to concerts together, and those shows left an unforgettable impression on me. Seeing musicians perform live made music feel real and attainable rather than something distant that only existed on television.

Some of my new friends and classmates were already skilled musicians and even played in bands. Inspired by them, I eventually decided to buy my own guitar and start taking private lessons. I wasn't very good at first, but that didn't matter.

One day, my friend Vladimir Teterin, who was learning to play drums, invited me to join him and play guitar in a band. That invitation changed everything.

He had access to a heated rehearsal space where we could play loud music all year round without bothering anyone. It was there that I truly began writing my own music and discovering my creativity. For the first time, music wasn't something I was forced to reproduce, it became something I could create myself. Alongside our original material, we also played covers of the bands we loved, learning from the music that had inspired us in the first place.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the people who had such a positive influence on my life and inspired me to create music through their own example: Vadim Cherny, Vladimir Teterin, the Frolov brothers, Demid Grishko, Ivan Garbuz, Artem Davydov, Egor Gordeichev, Alexey Medvedev, and everyone else I may have forgotten to mention.

I'm convinced that if I hadn't met these people, my musical journey would have taken a completely different path. Thank you to everyone who inspired me, encouraged me through your own passion, and brought something genuinely good into this world. Without you, I would never have become the person I am today.

What’s something you're surprisingly good at that has nothing to do with music?

Music is not my primary profession; in my view, I am quite good at law, as it has been my main job for the past 15 years. Surprisingly, a person with such a boring profession can afford to get passionate about music!

If you could play or create with any artist, who would it be and why?

That is a very difficult question for me, because there are so many musicians I like, and each has their own unique style. But if I were to dream and pick just one, I think I would love to collaborate with Lou Reed (rest in peace), because his approach resonates with me, it’s distinctive, bold, and at the same time honest. Plus, he always worked with wonderful musicians, and his singing style, more of a recitative, blends harmoniously with the music. And on top of that, he is always a pleasure to listen to; his work inspires admiration and truly speaks to me. As for modern musicians, I really like what Ty Segall and John Dwyer (Osees) are doing. I enjoy how their work evolves over time, as well as their approach and musicality. I would love to collaborate with them, or at least get some advice!

But to be honest, I could list about a hundred musicians playing in various styles with whom I’d love to collaborate!

What musical instrument do you love the most, and what makes it irreplaceable for you?

The electric guitar. Probably because I enjoy playing it, I like the sensations it provides, and I enjoy constantly refining my technique. Besides, it is a fairly versatile instrument that can be used in practically any musical style. Plus, I like that you can record the electric guitar directly via line input without worrying about unwanted noise.

What daily or weekly habits do you have in place to keep you creating?

There is a rule about dedicating minimum 30 minutes a day to something you love, even if it doesn't generate income, as long as it brings you pleasure, or sweet pain (yes, music it’s not easy sometimes). I believe that everyone should do what they enjoy in this world; to me, that is the key to a happy life. Although, to be honest, sometimes you have to push yourself, but that’s just part of the journey. 

What keeps you motivated to continue making music?

My wife believes in me, and that alone provides a huge amount of support and motivation! I believe that music improves a person's life and, like any form of art, can have a profound impact on them. Back in my school days, I was something of an outcast, but music helped me get through it and realize I wasn't alone, and as I said, music helped me find a friends. Moreover, I am convinced that music brings people together and makes their lives richer and more diverse. Music makes me happy and keeps me deeply engaged in the creative process; that is precisely why I continue to pursue it to this day.

It is a childhood dream, in the best sense of the word, that music has the power to change lives for the better, just as my musical heroes once changed my life and filled it with meaning!

What song would you choose as the soundtrack of your life?

That is also a very complex question, one day I might listen to one band or composer, the next to another, and they can differ vastly in terms of style, sound, and approach to music.  At the same time, I sometimes enjoy being without music, listening to the sounds of the street, the wind, the rain, or passing traffic, and finding beauty in that. I can only name the soundtrack for today: Rory Gallagher’s "Shadow Play."

I’d like to add that I remain open to new things and continue to discover new musicians, both from the past and the present. The main criterion for me is that the artist resonates with me. Technical skill or performance style matters little to me; I enjoy everything from popular music to underground or lo-fi acts.

What's your favorite feature on ToneGym, and how has it helped you in your musical journey?

My favorite feature is the interval (Intervalius, Departurer, Lander) and chord recognition (Chordelius, Inversionist) training. It has significantly improved my relative pitch and made it much easier to learn songs by ear, transcribe music, and make better decisions during recording and mixing. I also recommend it to my students because it's an effective and motivating way to develop musical hearing. 

What’s something exciting you're working on or looking forward to?

Right now, my friend Aleksei Pakhomov and I are working on releasing our full-length album of our band ABCDraft. It’s not easy when you have so many other responsibilities, but the music is a powerful force, so we keep going; we’re making progress, however slowly! And showing it to the world is something I’m really looking forward to.

 

You can follow Alexey on Instagram, and listen to his music on Apple Music, YouTube, and Spotify!

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