200 Km/h in The Wrong Lane - Background and Development

Background and Development

Prior to becoming t.A.T.u. Yulia and Lena had auditioned as members of Neposedy, a group produced by Ivan Shapolavov and his business partner Alexander Voitinskyi. Shapolavov has said the two girls stood out from the rest of the those that auditioned; however, 14-year old Katina was initially the only one chosen for the band. She sang "It Must Have Been Love" by Swedish pop duo Roxette and later recorded a demo release of "Yugoslavia" for the "1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia". When both Lena and Julia were casted for the group (under the name 'Taty'), the began to record their first record. Then, in 1999 the group released "200 Po Vstrechnoy", which became successful in Poland and Russia. While the album was in development, their producer Alexander Voitinskyi left the production, leaving the album unreleased. However, Shapolavov later signed Elena Kiper as the new co-producer and co-writer for the album.

With the success, Shapovalov decided to sign the group to Interscope and its parent Universal Music Group at the headquarters in Russia. After this, the group decided to called themselves "Tatu". However, an Australian rock band also produced under the name, thus the band later used upper and lower cased letters to distance themselves from the other musicians. t.A.T.u. released their first Russian album under the name "Тату", which is short phrase for Та любит Ту (Ta lyubit Tu)", meaning "this girl loves that girl".

The group started recording the album in Trevor Horn's home studio in London, England and having some recording sessions in Los Angeles, California. When the group were signed and ready for recording, both Yulia and Lena felt it was easy to understand English language. Julia stated that Martin helped her with punctuation, while Lena was speaking English before production off the album.

It was great I think he was involved in some translations because we wanted to keep the meaning of the songs, and to keep the structure specifics. I think that Martin is a little bit of a fan of t.A.T.u, so he was really trying hard to make us big everywhere! We had an opportunity to work with great producer, it was valuable experience. I am talking about Trevor Horn. And in general, just imagine: Two girls are coming from Russia, which is another world compared to the USA, working with a high class producers and writers and management. Everybody is so professional. Working with Martin and Interscope in general brought us to an absolutely different level.

—Lena Katina on about her contribution towards Martin Kierszenbaum and Trevor Horn.

While the album was in development, their producer Alexander Voitinskyi left the production, leaving the album unreleased. However, Shapolavov later signed Elena Kiper as the new co-producer and co-writer for the album. Although recording and releasing a sophomore debut album, the band completed their first ever single for release "Ya Soshla S Uma" (Translated: I've Lost My Mind). It was released at the start of 2000.

When the group were signed and ready for recording, both Yulia and Lena felt it was easy to understand English language. Julia stated that Martin helped her with Punctuation, while Lena was speaking English before production off the album. The group recorded in Los Angeles, California and producer Trevor Horn's home studio in London, England. During the times recording in studio's, Julia consistently lost her voice.