Synth Pop Duo Omnimar Talk Latest Album ‘Darkpop’

March 26, 2021

For those who don’t know, the Russian music project OMNIMAR has been making music since 2012. Maria Mar and Alex VRT are the creative masterminds behind it. After three full-length albums and several EP’s and singles, not even the pandemic could keep them from completing their fourth, Darkpop, which released February 12, 2021, by their longtime label darkTunes Music. It quickly rose up the charts around the world, debuting at number one in Switzerland, number two in Austria, number four in Ireland, as well as charted in France, the U.K., Spain, and several other countries. Their music isn’t easy to classify, maybe an eclectic mixture of darkwave and synthpop, either way they continue to push themselves into different directions while still keeping true to not only what their fans enjoy, but to themselves.

The difficulties of trying to finish and release an album during the time of COVID has proven to be challenging for many musicians, including OMNIMAR. Maria explains, “The pandemic didn’t affect me personally in terms of music, but Alex fell ill with COVID during the final mixing and mastering days of the album. We felt really sorry for him, because he was already upset, but we didn’t have time to wait any longer. With his hearing worsening those days, it made the final work just crazy, but we switched off our perfectionist mode and eventually everything turned out good!” With concert venues being shut down, the idea of touring was out of the question, but never really a concern. Alex elaborates, “We’ve never depended on live performances. We’re primarily a studio project. For us, live shows are not about promotion, but about traveling, new friends and having fun. We miss that experience very much.”

Darkpop is an interesting title, one that lends itself to interpretation, but it doesn’t necessarily have to have a deeper meaning. Maria relates the idea, “The title was born within a second after the entire album was ready. I appreciated the minimalism and clarity of it.” She continues, ”I wasn’t too sure about it at first, actually. I just asked Alex and couple more important people when it came to my mind, and I received positive feedback immediately. So, I’m glad the title is self-explanatory and perfectly describes what the project sounds like today.”

One of the great things about the music of OMNIMAR is just how diverse their music their music can be. What’s even more interesting is how Maria and Alex can have two different perspectives but when they work together, those differing perspectives combine to create some brilliant tracks. “The way I see it, the sound of Darkpop is the sound of OMNIMAR. Most people seem to know us from the song ‘Out Of My Life’ (from the 2017 album Poison), and that song was a true experiment for us. There were guitars, acoustic instruments, and a choir. Comparing it to that, Darkpop is more like classic OMNIMAR,” Alex describes. Maria has a slightly different take, “We’ve always been about experimenting between neighboring genres, sometimes it can be a bit surprising. For example, this time it’s trap music, but I hope people got used to the idea we are not about repeating ourselves. We love what we do, even if it doesn’t match the tastes or others or follow the rules of the industry. Emotions that represent this moment of our lives is so important. As we’re changing, so is our music. We’re happy if it connects with people, if not then at least we’re happy with our personal musical progress.”

The music videos that accompany their singles are just as important as the songs themselves. Most of the videos have been directed by Maria and have amassed huge numbers on YouTube totaling over fifteen million views combined. “Videos are the main promotional weapon for an artist today, so we try to do it regularly and honestly. I love being video producer. When the song is born, I already know if we will do a video or not. I draw a plan in my head, work out a story or a sequence of bright images, storyboard, then send the detailed script/plan to several people from my crew.” Maria continues to describe her process, “From there, it’s days of Googling for the perfect locations. Later I’ll drive to check them all out, especially if it’s outdoors, then buy or rent suitable costumes, and then we will have at least two shooting days. I do full post production, only working with just a few people on a consistent basis so I keep control of the process.”

Their latest video for the track “Feels Like Velvet” is a perfect example of not only what OMNIMAR is, but for those who have followed them over the years, but what they’ve evolved into. It’s unique as well as familiar so Alex shares his perspective, ”We both listen to music that’s quite different from our own sound. Sometimes when people find references or influences in our music, they miss the mark. For example, ‘Feels Like Velvet’ was mostly influenced by our own song ‘Reason’ (from the 2015 album Start). Almost every song from the new album has a doppelganger from our earlier releases. If you listen to our discography carefully, you might be able to find them.” Maria elaborates, “It’s almost like we wanted to take Lady Gaga’s vocals, a Depeche Mode chorus that’s catchy and pair it with some retro vibes. I honestly never try to think of other artists or songs when writing, it must be something new. I call this song a ‘business plan’, because first, it was the song to shoot a certain video for. It was planned in advance as a solid piece. And second, unlike what we normally do, I added more repetitions in the lyrics. And finally, we got not only amazing streaming results, but we received a more personal satisfaction from this song than expected.”

“We have such big hopes for the future. We don’t really expect any serious touring in 2021-2022, for any artists. One of our biggest dreams is to tour in the U.S. as soon as we possibly can. Hopefully, the tour life will be back for all of us,” she says with aspiration. While tour plans may be on hold, OMNIMAR has a full slate of projects to keep them busy until then. “We’re going to release several more music videos for songs from Darkpop, we’ll be doing several cover versions of world-famous pop songs, as well as several more acoustic versions of our most popular songs. Also, we have material half ready for future singles,” Maria informs.

If OMNIMAR can’t get out on the road to entertain the fans, she has something to say to them, “There are not enough words in my head to say just how thankful we are for the overwhelming and growing support from people all over the world! Just don’t let the circumstances of our time get you down. We are strong together and we should do anything possible to share more beauty and the positive energy of art.”

Darkpop is available on all digital platforms or order a physical copy from darkTunes. Follow OMNIMAR on Facebook and Instagram.