1.My Love
2.Моя Любовь
3.Without You
We present you the new single of HIRED.LIFE, which will take you to the atmosphere of a neon metropolis, where rain washes away the memories, where love and tragedy intertwine in a dance of emotions. From the first chords, you will find yourself in a mysterious world filled with bright lights and shadows of loss. You will see how love can blossom even in the darkest corners of the night city. Join us on this exciting journey to find out how HIRED.LIFE conveys the depth of human feelings and experiences in their new single. Every moment is a puzzle waiting to be solved. Don’t miss your chance to be part of this magical story of love, memories and tragedy.
The single “MY LOVE” includes both the original version of the song and the Russian-language one. Initially, both versions were positioned as material for the second and never released album of the DENERGIZED project, written by Sergey Vorobyov and Andrey Kuznetsov in 2008. The final composition “WITHOUT YOU” is the last dot over the “i” for the unfulfilled past.
music: Sergey Vorobyov, Andrey Kuznetsov, Sergey Dmitriev
vocals and lyrics: Sergey Vorobyov
BOIGRAPHY
Hired.Life is a dark electro/EBM/electro-industrial project from Kaliningrad, Russia. Formed in 2008, but its roots go back much further, to the electro-industrial/EBM project Denergized in 2004.
PART 1: Denergized (2004-2008)
Denergized was created in the winter of 2004 – initially by three members: Sergey Vorobyov (“Case”), Andrey Kuznetsov (“DS_”) and Roman Mashkin as a vocalist.
It all started when a friend of the band presented the members with an old and dusty analog synthesizer Vermona. Andrey began to restore the synthesizer, on which the first demo was eventually recorded, and Sergey wrote the first lyrics for the first song of the project – “Empty Cell”.
Soon Roman Mashkin left the group, and at the insistence of Andrey “DS_” Sergey, who had previously only written lyrics for other vocalists and did not want to sing himself, became the frontman. And thus the classic line-up of Denergized was formed as a duet: Sergey Vorobyov (“Case”) (vocals, programming, lyrics) and Andrey Kuznetsov (“DS_”) (keyboards, programming).
In their music, Denergized combined fragments of various styles of the electronic dark scene: techno-industrial, EBM, dark ambient, rhythmic noise, darkwave; the originality of both music and lyrics was very high, and the group was quickly noticed – first outside their native Kaliningrad in Russia, and then abroad.
By the way, in addition to Denergized, Sergey Vorobyov and Andrey Kuznetsov also participated in the cyberpunk ezine “Rusty Network”, which was distributed in archives.
Denergized’s debut release was a demo EP titled “404”, released in October 2005 on the Dead Channel netlabel, followed by a second promo EP, “VHS Recall”, released on the same label in June 2006.
At the same time, the members of the duo started their own solo projects to implement ideas that did not fit within the framework of Denergized: Ex.Delicto by Sergey Vorobyov and Load Runner by Andrey Kuznetsov. Both projects released their debut EPs in 2006: “Final Connection” (Ex.Delicto) and “Sketch Book” (Load Runner); both also on the Dead Channel online label.
And Denergized continued to gain new listeners and fans and receive positive reviews from critics – and the result was the release of their debut full-length album “VHS Recall” – on March 30, 2008 on the cult dark label Advoxya Records from Hungary. The album included songs recorded between 2005 and 2007.
The release received a lot of positive reviews from critics and listeners alike, and it was a new big step for the project.
Work began on the second full-length album, which was to be called “After The Happy-End”.
But, unfortunately, due to various reasons, Denergized ceased to exist in December 2008. But this also opened the beginning of the next chapter.
PART 2: Hired.Life – versions 1.1-1.3 (2008-2017)
After the unexpected cessation of Denergized, Sergey Vorobyov decides to continue his musical activity – and creates a new project called Hired.Life, which would be a logical continuation of the ideas of Denergized.
The lineup includes Sergey Vorobyov (vocals, programming) and Andrey Klyaus (keyboards, programming), and musically he expanded the sound, it became more diverse and less harsh, while the lyrics and atmosphere still refer to the aesthetics and melancholy of futuristic cyberpunk and the cold romanticism of human-machine relationships, the noir of “Blade Runner” and “Neuromancer”. But, unlike Denergized, the leitmotif of Hired.Life’s songs is the idea that there is a way out of this Night City, where it never stops raining and people are forced to lose those they love.
The name “Hired.Life” came to mind from the thoughts and conversations of two friends at the end of a workday at a diner in the city center. “Life is given to us on loan – how much longer will we live? Here and now, no yesterday or tomorrow – only the moment “between the past and the future” is valuable. Yes, someone lives in the past, dissolving in edited memories, someone – in the future, in fact constantly postponing his life to the “wonderful faraway place” that will never come. And how can we become free, daily renting out to someone these priceless moments of our real life? Life, given to us by the Universe for such a short time?”
The permanent logo of Hired.Life at that time was the emblem of pirate ships from the X-Universe (a series of space sims).
After the formation of a new group, Sergey Vorobyov’s solo project Ex.Delicto released its second release – a full-length album “Hostile”, written between 2006 and 2008 and released in February 2009 on the X-Line label.
But after that Sergey decides to implement the ideas and developments of Ex.Delicto already within the framework of Hired.Life.
In 2009 the debut self-titled demo “Hired.Life” is released – work on a full-length album begins.
In December 2010, the first video clip of Hired.Life was released – for the song “Hire Me”, which became a kind of iconic leitmotif of the project.
And on May 27, 2011, the band’s debut album, “End of Line”, was finally released on the Gravitator Records label.
By the way, the name of the album and its track of the same name “End of Line” comes from the final track “05:02 A.M. (End Of Line)” from the debut EP “Final Connection” of Sergey Vorobyov’s solo project Ex.Delicto. And the track “M.I.A. (Hired.Life Edit)” is a reworked version of one of the last tracks of Denergized “M.I.A.”, originally released in June 2008 on the compilation “On The Parallel Front” of the X-Line label.
The album receives a very warm reception from various publications and listeners, and active work on new material begins.
In the same 2011, a third member joins Hired.Life – Pavel Grudnev, who previously took part in Korvius and Club La Porte de L’Enfer, and later became a member of Electric Resistance, Jhonny Box, HXN and other projects.
Pavel was responsible for keyboards and programming, and the collaboration with him became very productive, such tracks as “Respite”, “Home Signal” and “A.S.A.P.” were written together – but, unfortunately, soon in the same 2011 Pavel left the project.
Some time later, in 2012, a new third member joined Hired.Life – Alisa Smykova, previously a member of various bands, from Nar Mattaru to Ephemerality (later Anorilor and Auswit) – as a keyboardist, composer and second vocalist. Work began on the second full-length album, with the then working title “Homing Signal”.
In December 2012, a new single “Amnesic Anaesthetic” is released, characterized by a more rigid sound. But later in 2013, Alisa Smykova leaves the group, and Hired.Life becomes a duet again.
Work on a new album continues, the future name is changed to “The Hive”.
In February 2014, a new compilation “We Don’t Promise You A Rose Garden” is released, which is planned as a kind of “bridge” between the first album “End of Line” and the planned “The Hive”.
The compilation includes previously unreleased tracks, recorded including with former members Pavel Grudnev and Alisa Smykova, as well as remixes and covers of Hired.Life songs from friendly projects Electric Resistance, Code:Isae, Salusa Secundus, REACTORS® and Fon Krauz. The release also includes exclusive demo tracks from the first promo disc of the same name “Hired.Life”.
But work on the second album has been going on for a very long time, since 2012, and in the end the band makes a radical decision – and on June 16, 2015, “Terminus” is released – a completely instrumental album, which included all the compositions from the time of work on the never-released “The Hive”.
The release, primarily due to the lack of vocals, is characterized by a more atmospheric and melancholic sound, and most of it was recorded in 2012 by the lineup: Sergey Vorobyov, Andrey Klyaus, Alisa Smykova.
After that, the project’s activity noticeably slows down, the band periodically gives concerts and performs at festivals, but work on new material is minimal.
As a result, in 2017, one of the two founders of the project, Andrey Klyaus, leaves Hired.Life.
For some time, the previous member Alisa Smykova returns to the group to replace Andrey, but leaves the project again in the same 2017.
PART 3: Hired.Life – versions 2.1-2.2 (2018-2022)
A new chapter of Hired.Life begins when Pavel Blagov (programming, guitar), who has his own projects – Terra Sapiens, Dolbania, Tears of Lilith, Karga and others, joins the band in 2018.
During this period, one of the most personal compositions of the project was created – and the first Russian-language song of the group – “Your Demoversion”.
Rehearsals resume in October 2019 and full-fledged experiments with guitar and writing new arrangements begin. Due to the guitar, the sound changes and becomes different – and is characterized by the band as “noir electro rock”.
The first track in the new sound was released in the spring of 2020, it was a cover version of the song “Android” for the Nexus VI project tribute.
In May 2020, the single “Your Demoversion” was released with the band’s first Russian-language song.
Also in 2020, Daria Revizonskaya (keyboards, programming), who participated in joint projects Tears of Lilith and Karga with Pavel Blagov, joined Hired.Life as a third member.
Active work on the new album began, which was already fully recorded by the end of November 2020.
In January 2021, a video for the song “Your Demoversion” was released in support of the future album, and in February, the next video “Goodnight” was released.
On May 2, 2021, the third album “Her Demoversion” was finally released – on the Hungarian label Advoxya Records.
“Her Demoversion” became a special release – not only because of the new sound, but also because the album combines lyrics in English and Russian, contain completely new compositions and material from previous years – reworked from scratch. In particular, “Farewell (2020 Edit)” is a reworked version of the composition of the same name from the debut album of the project, and “Empty Cell (Morgue)” and “Empty Cell (Alive)” are new versions of the very first song of the project Denergized, written in 2004.
By the way, even the album cover of “Her Demoversion” refers to the second promo EP Denergized “VHS Recall”.
Hired.Life continues to actively perform at concerts and festivals, but towards the end of 2021, Pavel Blagov and Daria Revizonskaya leave the project.
At the beginning of 2022, at Hired.Life concerts, Sergey Vorobyov is supported by the former member of the band, Pavel Grudnev.
But soon a new chapter begins…
PART 4: Hired.Life – versions 3.1-3.2 (2022-2025)
In mid-2022, Sergey Vorobyov joins forces with Sergey Dmitriev (guitar, programming), who has played in many bands, from The Sundial to Adfail, also known for his own project Demon Tage Inn Correct.
At the beginning, Pavel Grudnev continues to help at concerts together with Sergey Vorobyov and Sergey Dmitriev, but by the end of 2022, Elena Kabsburg, the leader of the St. Petersburg project “Kabsburg”, who had previously also joined Sergey Dmitriev’s project, which became known as Electrica Demon Tage Inn Correct, joins the project.
Work on a new Hired.Life album begins, the band gives concerts both in their native Kaliningrad and beyond.
In mid-2024, Elena Kabsburg leaves the project, and Sergey Kuznetsov (INSPIRA) provides support at concerts instead of her.
In 2025, Sergey Dmitriev leaves the group, and Sergey Vorobyov remains the only member of Hired.Life.
The single “My Love” is the final part of this stage of Hired.Life – to start a new chapter of the project.
Ahead – Hired.Life – version 4.1.
***
Prepared by Anton Chirtsov.