Sergey had been a member of Aria, Kipelov, Chorny Kofe, Metallachord and Nazad v Budusheye, and founded a band 'Mavrik' (not to be confused with Maverick), though it is considered Mavrin's solo project since its latest albums are released with "Sergey Mavrin", not "Mavrik" title on the covers.
Since 2000, Sergey has his own radio show Iron Curtain on 'Yunost' radio channel. It is dedicated to rock music.
Early life
Sergey was born in Kazan and has been a fan of rock music since his childhood. He mentions Led Zeppelin, Nazareth and Deep Purple as his early favorites. Mavrin studied to play piano and electric guitar, though he never received formal music education. After military service, in 1985 Sergey participated in 'Chornoye Cofe' (Black Coffee), one of the first Soviet metal bands, and then joined 'Metallachord'.
In Aria
After the breakup of Aria's original lineup in 1987, Mavrin was invited to replace Andrej Bolshakov. He participated in three of the band's albums: Geroy Asfalta, Igra s Ogn'om and Krov za Krov, which are considered Aria's 'classical era'. Though Sergey wrote a very few songs for Aria, his guitar solos were one of band's dignities.
After a tour of Germany the band nearly broke up when their vocalist Valery Kipelov tried to quit (Kipelov had to return because of his contract with Moroz Records, though). Protesting against it, Mavrin moved on to record an album with Alexey Bulgakov on vocals and left the band. He was replaced by Sergey Terentyev. Mavrin and Kipelov tried to start a band 'Nazad v Budusheye' (Back to the Future), but this project remained active only for two months. So as not to remain jobless, in 1996 Sergey played in concert troup of pop artist Dmitry Malikov.
Foundation of Mavrik
In 1997, Sergey offered to Kipelov (who was back in Aria) to record together the combined album, which might include their songs which were refused by Aria or did not fit into Aria's style. In 1997 they released the LP entitled Kipelov and Mavrin - Smutnoye Vremia (Time of Troubles), which included 10 tracks.
Songs from this album became the main concert material for Sergey's new project: a band he started in 1998, which was entitled "Mavrik" due to his familiar nickname. Arthur Berkut (ex-Autograph) joined "Mavrik" as vocalist on its first album Skitaletz (Wanderer), where Mavrin played guitars, bass and keyboards. The genre of the album was progressive/heavy metal. Vladimir Holstinin was a guest guitarist on 'Skitaletz'. Shortly after the album's release and subsequent touring, Berkut left the band, to be replaced by classically trained vocalist Stas Vytart.
In 2000, the band released Neformat-1, which took the hard rock sound of Skitaletz in a more experimental direction, while displaying some hints of heavier guitar sound on tracks such as "Staya" ("The Pack"), "Hey Chelovek" ("Hey Man"), and "V Dikom Pole" ("In the Wild Field"). However, Vytart's stage presence did not seem to fit with Mavrin's concept of the band's live show, and shortly after the album's release he was replaced by Berkut, who returned to the band and played assorted shows in support of the album.
During the recording of the third album, Himichesky Son (Chemical Sleep, 2001), Artur Berkut often failed to show up in studio, and finally, Sergey had to fire him. When Berkut once was asked why did he left Mavrik, he replied: "You'd better ask Lena Mavrina about it" (meaning Sergey's wife). Artem Styrov was hired as the new vocalist. The album displayed a much heavier, guitar-oriented sound that was firmly within the heavy metal genre. Some of the songs are still live staples of Mavrin's set as of this writing. Since Chemical Sleep, all following albums are released as by artist 'Sergey Mavrin', not 'Mavrik'. This was done after consulting the IronD record label, which recommended them to take a more serious title.
In Kipelov
After the 'Judgement Day' breakup of Aria in 2002, Valery Kipelov, Sergey Terentyev and Alexander Maniakin formed the band 'Kipelov' and Sergey decided to join it. Mavrik's bassist Alexey Harkov also merged into the new band. Mavrin participated in Kipelov's tour and in recording the 'Put Naverh' live album and then the 'Babylon' single. But seeing Kipelov not hurrying up to record a new album, he departed in the summer of 2004. A song 'Prorok' (Prophet) by Mavrin was included to Kipelov's "Rivers of Time" and Kipelov was given a permission to play some of Mavrin's songs.
Mavrin: "There were artistic differences. This is normally, a common situation for any band, here or in other countries. We were misunderstanding each other. I couldn't understand what he wants, he couldn't understnand why do I compose the songs, what I do. Artistic differences reached the boiling point and led personal relations to a dead end. We could have just been touring and still playing Aria's songs, taking care to nothing. But I longed for creativity. I wished it had been changed anyway. But it happened as it had to happen."
Back to Mavrik
In 2004 Sergey Mavrin reunited his own band. Artem Styrov decided to come back, though Harkov stood with Kipelov. Alexander Shwetz from Russian band Nephilim became the new bass player. The same year Zapreshennaya Realnost (Forbidden Reality) was released, which became the most commercially successful album for Mavrin. The band started touring all over Russia with the new material. In 2005 Styrov was dimissed due to his health problems - he struggled to sing the long 2-hour gigs. His successor was 18-year-old Andrey Lefler. Mavrin and his band participated in Aria's twentieth anniversary gig and the bands toured together in Ukraine in the winter of 2005. After it, Mavrin released a new album Otkrovenie (Revelation).
Свет. Тьма
Сергей Маврин Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Бел наряд ушедшего от нас
Что есть свет и где здесь тьма?
Не ответит и сама судьба
Нет черней души, воспевшей лесть
Свят сложивший оду в твою честь
Что есть свет и где здесь тьма?
Словно ночь чернеет время войн
Свят рожденный боем сверхгерой
Что есть свет и где здесь тьма?
Не ответит и сама судьба
Стали сестрами любовь и боль
Друг клинок заносит за спиной
И спасать слишком поздно
Мир, где платит за воздух люд
Краски смешаны, где смех, где стон
Где калечат на глазах Мадонн
Где за ложь восхваляют
А за правду, проклиная, бьют
The lyrics of Сергей Маврин's song Свет. Тьма explore the dualities of light and darkness, love and pain, and truth and lies that exist in our world. The first two lines of the song describe a world where death has closed off the eyes of the departed and only a white garment is left behind. The singer questions the nature of light and darkness and wonders if fate itself can answer his query.
The next stanza contrasts the darkness with the light of a saint who has composed an ode in honor of the person whom the song is addressed to. The singer repeats his earlier question, but the answer only eludes him once again. The third stanza continues the theme of darkness, describing a time of war when heroes are born to fight. The question of light and darkness remains unanswered, and the singer seems to suggest that even fate cannot provide a clear answer.
The final stanza of the song talks about the merging of love and pain, and how a friend's sword can suddenly turn against you. The world is depicted as a place where truth is persecuted, and lies are praised. The overall theme of the song seems to suggest that in our world, there are no clear answers to life's questions, only a mixture of light and darkness, love and pain, truth and lies.
Line by Line Meaning
Черен мир закрытых смертью глаз
The world is dark, filled with death and despair
Бел наряд ушедшего от нас
Gone is the one who wore a white dress, vanished from our lives
Что есть свет и где здесь тьма?
What is light and where is darkness?
Не ответит и сама судьба
Fate itself does not know the answer
Нет черней души, воспевшей лесть
There is no darker soul, who sings praise
Свят сложивший оду в твою честь
Holy one, who has composed an ode to your honor
Словно ночь чернеет время войн
As if the night darkens the time of wars
Свят рожденный боем сверхгерой
Holy one, born a superhero of battle
Стало сестрами любовь и боль
Love and pain have become sisters
Друг клинок заносит за спиной
A friend's sword strikes behind one's back
И спасать слишком поздно
It is too late to save
Мир, где платит за воздух люд
A world where people pay for the air they breathe
Краски смешаны, где смех, где стон
Colors are mixed, where there is laughter and moaning
Где калечат на глазах Мадонн
Where they maim in front of Madonna's eyes
Где за ложь восхваляют
Where lies are praised
А за правду, проклиная, бьют
And for truth, they curse and strike
Contributed by Cole I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.