By Jimmy Steinfeldt
LaQuinta, CA (The Hollywood Times) 10/24/2025
Jimmy Steinfeldt (JS): Congratulations on your new album Labyrinthine Rose. Tell me about the title track.
Marina V (MV): Sometimes song titles just happen. I was just taking a walk one day. Life is just a beautiful mix and includes the most difficult times too. It’s about the insane complexity of this life.
JS: I love the flower on your arm.
MV: It’s actually a drawing that I draw about once a week. I draw it with a tattoo eyeliner.
JS: I like how you put the chords of each song next to the song titles on the album.
MV: Yes, on the back cover I put the key of each song. I did that for myself to help me organize my songs in my xel files. I liked it so I kept it for the album artwork.
JS: Some of the songs that are especially meaningful to you?
MV: “Labyrinthine Rose” is a theme that encompasses the whole album. From life’s highs to the lows. The album has to do with some life changing events that happened to me. First, I became a mom and I made a music video of my daughter and me walking on the beach. I just put the camera on the sand, pressed record and we walked on the beach like we always do. I went from being a touring musician doing 100 shows a year for twenty years to being at home by choice.
Another song so meaningful to me is “Particles In The Air”. During the pandemic my dad died and I wasn’t able to go back to Russia to help and be there with my brother. Recording this song helped me a bit with closure.
JS: I love the song.
MV: Thank you. It’s a key song for me. That period of my dad passing and my daughter being born changed me and made me grow and appreciate so many more things.
JS: Two songs that I especially enjoyed are “Shine Again (It Gets Better)” and “My Impossible”.
MV: “Shine Again” is a song for myself. I have dealt with depression sometimes over the years and this is a song that is like an anthem that helps me get up and keep going. There will be another day and the sun will shine again. Originally I released it as “It Gets Better” but I decided I wanted shine in the title so here the song is on my new album.
The song “My Impossible” is about how life is so crazy and yet can bring you unpredictable gifts. I came to this country at age fifteen and by chance won a scholarship. 100,000 people competed for that but I was among the very few who got to come here and that changed my life. I would have never been able to pursue my music career. I had written songs since I was a kid in Russia but things were so difficult there that I could have never dreamed to have a music career. Now I’m living in California, by the coast, the ocean. I have a husband who writes songs with me. I have a beautiful daughter. I do what I love for a living. It’s like an impossible dream come true. We got to film the video for the song at the Brady Bunch house! That was pretty special.
JS: You have a wonderful Russian-Ukrainian song on the album.
MV: That is the one song I did not write. It was a hit in the early 80s in the Soviet Union. I used to sing this song a lot when I was a kid. I’m from Russia but my family comes from Russia and Ukraine. When the war started I was devastated since I have family in both countries. I reconnected with my cousin in Odessa and she reminded me that I used to sing this song when I was little.
I looked up the song and found that it was sung by a Ukrainian artist and written by a Russian husband and wife songwriting duo. Hearing it again I started to cry. The lyrics say there’s hope in my heart and my heart will carry the love and hope for the world. That is so beautiful and it could not be more fitting for this horrendous war.
JS: On this album you worked with some musicians I’ve photographed over the years. Bruce Kulick and David Ellefson.
MV: They are renown rock/metal musicians. I’ve known them for about twenty years. Bruce has played on some of my songs before but not in a heavy-metal capacity. This was a special song “Symphony & Metal”. When Nick and I wrote it we thought it would be cool to have real symphonic and metal elements. I’m so honored to have them on the track. They’ve known each other for years but they’ve never recorded together so this was fun for them as well. We are doing a music video for it now.
JS: Where did you record the songs on this album?
MV: I recorded my parts in my home studio. Then I sent it to my producer Steve Horner who is amazing. He does all the orchestral arrangements and he plays bass and guitar and drums. Bruce and David did their parts in their home studios. The world has changed. This was not possible when I started my career. Finally, when I heard Bruce and David’s parts I was inspired to recut my vocal to match their level of energy.
JS: Tellme about working with Nick Baker. I guess you see him a lot!
MV: Yes Jimmy for 25 years. Our daughter is six now. Nick and I toured all over the world. He played drums on “Symphony & Metal”. He also wrote a few of the songs with me on this album. While I was working on this record he was taking care of our daughter. He’s amazing.
JS: The official release is tomorrow Oct 24!
MV: I’m very emotional about it. It has been a long time in the making. The final song I decided on for the album was the song for my dad. I did it in one take recording it to my phone. I couldn’t bring myself to record it in the studio then tweak it and edit it. It stands on its own as it is.
JS: It sounds great.
MV: That song was the final piece of the puzzle to complete the album. This is a great chapter ending to this part of my life. I’m very proud of this album. It is such an accomplishment. A lot of work goes into an album and this album for sure. Musicians, producer, designers, photographers and my fans who sponsored the whole thing. My fans sponsor all my albums. I simply want people to hear it. That’s the biggest challenge today. Breaking through the noise and getting the world to know that this music exists. So thanks Jimmy for getting the word out.
JS: Well Marina, it’s been 21 years since I photographed you at Club Lingerie. What’s next for you?
MV: In a couple weeks I will release a Russian rendition of Kylie Minogue’s song “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”. I did it for Nicole Kidman’s TV show Nine Perfect Strangers which she produced and stars in. I’m also writing children’s music now. I’ve written over 200 songs for the YouTube channel for kids. I also launched a new channel called Violet & Mikey Kids Songs for little kids. I released today a new song with animation called “Happy Halloween” on this channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9YjcE-MaGo
Marina V Website https://www.marinav.com/
Video for title track https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCOj55oer7E
