After leaving school, Alexey went to study in the regional center, in Samara. He entered the river technical school, and now he remembers this time with warmth:
There were other teachers who, despite their venerable age, made fun of them like young ones. This period in my life was the best, because I made great friends.
At home, they regularly played fresh hits, and Alexei began to take music with interest, at first he just listened, and then bought a guitar and began to compose himself, even managed to earn extra money at a disco as a DJ. His tastes were Led Zeppelin, AC / DC, Def Leppard, Foreigner, The Cult, Metallica and others in the same vein. He is still a fan of the work of Jimmy Page and Hendrix.
After graduating from technical school in 1991, he entered the Samara State Technical University - as Alexei himself recalls, "my mother influenced." He graduated from it in 1996 with a degree in systems engineer.
He worked at the Europe-plus radio station in Samara, hosted the program "Nursery from Potekhin". In Togliatti, he created the Uncle Ray and Company group together with Sergei Zhukov. It was the beginning of a big future called Hands Up! But so far, these were only hopes that could not even bring income. To make some money, the duo held a series of discos in Tbilisi.
Then they returned to Moscow and began working at the recording studio "Bavian Records", creating arrangements for other groups for the right to simultaneously record songs for their own. By that time, a new name had been chosen - "Hands Up!".
With the involvement of a professional producer, the music business began to develop. The group became incredibly popular after the release of the first album "Breathe Evenly", and the musicians began to travel on tour around the country and abroad. Since then, countless concerts have been held, many songs have been written. The hands have been awarded many awards. After the group was closed in 2006, Alexey has been producing young performers such as Superboys, J Well (ex-member of the Discomafia group). During the period 2006-2008, 3 collections of Potexinstyle dance music were released, combining many young performers and hits of famous groups such as Demo, Turbomod, Plank, etc. -vocalist gr. Turbomod Vladimir Luchnikov and ex-member of gr. Own Ruslana Achkinadze. In 2007, Alessandro Materazzo, a former participant of the DOM-2 TV show, was invited to the TREK & Blues group, who toured with them in the summer of 2008 in southern Russia. Alexey has a hobby: he loves old, antiques. Loves the book "Twelve Chairs" and is ready to re-read it endlessly. Alexey admits that he has always been a joker by nature and loves humor and practical jokes.
Alexei Potekhin has an older brother Andrey Potekhin, a former member of gr. Turbo-fashion, Boys, Revoлvers. Today Andrey is the manager and organizer of the performances of the new project of Alexey TREK & Blues. Alexey invited many Samara musicians to produce. Mark Melnik, Handsome, his projects.
In the late 1990s. Hands Up have become one of the most successful and popular pop groups. While music critics branded simple songs and accused their performers of vulgarity and lack of taste, Sergei Zhukov and Alexei Potekhin gathered stadiums and forced tens of thousands of fans to dance.
In 2006, the collective disbanded, but Sergei Zhukov still performs solo, using the same group name. The former popularity of "Hands Up" is no longer, but at concerts there are still many young people dancing to the well-known hits "Student", "My Baby", "And He Kisses You", "Other Lips", etc. 
Group * Hands up * 
The leaders and founders of the group Sergei Zhukov and Alexei Potekhin met in 1993, when both worked at the Europe Plus radio station. Samara ". They decided to create their own music band, and a year later “Uncle Ray and Company” was the most popular group in Samara and Togliatti. But this scale quickly ceased to satisfy their needs, and in 1995 they moved to Moscow. Sergey Zhukov always calls this year the beginning of his musical career in an interview, since it was then that they started serious work to promote their songs. 
Group * Hands up *
At first nothing worked - without the support of the producer it was impossible to attract attention in the capital, and only rich women “over 50” were called in to help them for certain services. They found another way: on pirate cassettes with the music of famous performers, they added three of their songs at the end. Soon, hits from all the stalls began to sound in the markets, which were remembered from the first note. Once they were heard by producer Andrei Malikov and offered cooperation to Zhukov and Potekhin. Since then, a meteoric rise in their musical career... The group got the name "Hands up" and released the first songs "Baby" and "Student", which very quickly became mega-hits.
Group founders and leaders * Hands up * 
Sergey Zhukov 
Group founders and leaders * Hands up *
Since 1997, the group has been actively touring the country, and then abroad, performing at dance music festivals. Thanks to the huge number of albums sold in the following year, "Hands Up" became multiple owners of silver, gold and one platinum disc. In 1999, the group won the annual award of the Russian recording industry in several nominations at once: Russian Radio Hit, Album of the Year, Golden Gramophone and Best Love Song.
Sergey Zhukov and Alexey Potekhin 
Sergey Zhukov
However, for a long time, Zhukov and Potekhin did not receive anything except public recognition and love letters from the girls. They lived in a rented apartment and dressed in the market. Most of the profits were taken by the producer. Then Zhukov and Potekhin decided to go on an independent voyage. They terminated their contract and became an independent group. So many people gathered at their concerts that people often demolished barriers and crippled each other in a crush. Popularity turned out to be a different side for them: obsessed female fans sent them poisoned food and letters written in blood, several girls committed suicide, at concerts they demolished chairs and stands, trampled each other. Artists could not appear on the streets, they had to often change phone numbers and hide from the pursuit of female fans. To get out unscathed after the concert, they often had to change into the uniform of "OMON" and run out with them in helmets and masks.
Group * Hands up * 
Alexey Potekhin 
Alexey Potekhin and Sergey Zhukov
By 2001, the band members were tired of the frenzied concert schedule, the harassment of the female fans, and each other. In the early 2000s, their popularity began to decline, although albums continued to be released with enviable regularity. The producers had a certain strategy, which for some time remained quite effective: “Within the framework of the“ Hands up ”group, it was required to clearly fulfill a certain super task. Every May, when school was over, we had to release an album so that people would take it with them on vacation - to the south, to their dacha. It was dance music that created the mood for summer. And I confess that we were experienced psychologists, we specially thought about what topic to write the lyrics on so that the song would become popular. "
Concert in Moscow, October 2011
In 2005, the 13th album "Hands up" was released. In the same year the group broke up, but Sergei Zhukov continued to record solo songs, released the album "In Search of Tenderness" and shot several videos. Alexey Potekhin started producing, and Sergei Zhukov is still gathering halls on the wave of the popularity of music in the 1990s.
Alexey Evgenievich Potekhin. Born on April 15, 1972 in Novokuibyshevsk Samara region... Russian musician, radio host, producer. Ex-member of the "Hands Up!"
The elder brother is Andrey Potekhin.
Everyone in the family loved music, to which with early years Alexey also joined.
He was engaged in art school and basketball section.
He learned to play the guitar, composed songs, worked as a DJ in discos. At that time he was into hard rock - Led Zeppelin, AC / DC, Def Leppard, Foreigner, The Cult, Metallica.
After graduation high school went to study in Samara at the river technical school, which he graduated in 1991.
He was a presenter at the Europa-Plus radio station in Samara, where he broadcast "Nursery from Potekhin". There on the radio in 1993 he met with.
In December 1994 they moved to Togliatti, where they tried to record songs in the studio. At the same time, they regularly go to Samara to air the Europe Plus radio.
In Togliatti, together with Sergei Zhukov, he created the "Uncle Ray and Company" group.
In May 1995, they find themselves in Moscow. We worked as DJs at the Moscow radio station "Rocks", then held a series of discos in Tbilisi.
At the end of 1995, the musicians transmitted a cassette with several songs to radio "Maximum" and signed: "This music will make you raise your hands up." The cassette fell into the hands of the presenters Olga Maksimova and Konstantin Mikhailov, who put the song “ Good morning"And announced:" Young group "Hands up!" ". Since then, the group has stuck with this name - "Hands up!".
Then producer Andrei Malikov became interested in the group, concerts and tours began.
Group "Hands up!" she recorded the song "Baby", which became popular, then the hit "Student" was released. The songs "Baby" and "Student" are in the top ten of the "Russian Radio" charts "Russkaya Gorka". In the spring and summer of 1997, video clips were shot for these songs. A session vocalist Elizaveta Rodnyanskaya, a member of the Melissa group, was found to record the female parts.
In 1998, the band received six silver medals, three gold medals and one platinum disc for a huge number of copies sold. In 1999, the group won three diplomas at once for the second annual prize of the Russian recording industry.
In 1999, the album "Without Brakes" was released, which sold 12,000,000 copies.
Their songs "My baby", "Forgive", "Ay yay yay girl", "Alyoshka", "Thought", "Kind, gentle, affectionate", "Little girls", "He kisses you", "Go away" became hits , "Omut".
Hands up - Ay yay yay girl
In the late 1990s, the collective created its own music label "Dancing Men" ("B-Funky Productions"), which began producing pop groups "Turbomoda", "Boys", "Revoles", "Shark", singer Murphy.
In 2006, the group "Hands Up!" broke up. Alexei Potekhin said about the reasons for his departure: “Everyone is asking me why I left Hands Up!” I’ll answer you: because we all became adults, but Sergey did not think so, he felt comfortable. He is comfortable now. I always wanted fame, but I didn't. "
He admitted that although their songs were sung by the whole country, he did not earn much money: "The most interesting thing is that of all the two hundred and thirty songs that we wrote, everyone was interested only in the simplest." La-la-la-la, all day I I hum "- we became famous on such songs. Every girl in the country had cassettes of" Hands Up! ", but this did not affect our financial situation in any way."
After the collapse of the group "Hands Up!" in 2006, Alexei Potekhin, together with his friend Vladimir Luchnikov, created a project called "Raise Your Hands Up"... With the team, he began to tour. Released a collection of dance music Potexinstyle-3.
Alexey also started producing young performers such as Superboys, J Well (ex-member of the "Discomafia" group). During the period 2006-2008, 3 collections of dance music Potexinstyle were released, combining many young performers and hits of famous groups such as Demo, Turbomoda, Plank, etc.
Then Alexey took up the TREC & Blues project, in which he invited the ex-vocalist of the Turbomoda group Vladimir Luchnikov and the ex-member of the Svoi group Ruslan Achkinadze. In 2007, the former participant of the TV show Dom-2 Alessandro Materazzo, who toured with them in the summer of 2008 in the south of Russia, was invited to the TREK & Blues group.
In 2013, the artist and his wife presented a new track "Summer-Winter" as part of the Russian internet television (PeoplestarTV) project.
In 2014, the presentation of his solo album entitled "I Can't Otherwise" took place at the Arena Moscow club.
In 2016, at a concert dedicated to the twentieth anniversary of the group "Hands Up!" Potekhin and Zhukov were reunited on stage again. However, their communication never resumed.
For the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Alexei Potekhin wrote a song for Buranovskiye Babushki.
Collaborates with a company that produces textile products.
The growth of Alexei Potekhin: 182 centimeters.
Personal life of Alexei Potekhin:
He was married twice.
First wife - Irina Tomilova, dancer of the group "Hands Up!" They got married on April 13, 2002. Divorced in 2004.
The second wife is Elena Potekhina, a veterinarian by profession, but works as a stylist. They got married on September 12, 2009.
Alexey Potekhin with his wife Elena and daughter Maria
Alexey loves antiques that he collects.
Discography of Alexey Potekhin:
2011 - Leo Scorpio
2014 - I cannot do otherwise
Recently the group "Hands Up!" won the MUZ-TV award in the nomination "Best Song of the Fifteen Years". The award for the song "My Baby" was taken by Sergei Zhukov, who appeared on the stage without Alexei Potekhin. But once the guys were inseparable.
ON THIS TOPIC
The journalists contacted the former member of the collective and found out why he is no longer visible. “Yes, I quit show business for a while, but I haven't stopped playing music,” Potekhin said. “I recently wrote a song for Buranovskiye Babushki. It will be timed to coincide with the World Cup.”
The artist did not talk about his former colleague. “Everyone asks me why I left“ Hands Up! ”I’ll answer you: because we all became adults, but Sergei did not think so, he was comfortable. He is comfortable now. He always wanted fame, but I didn’t.” - Alexey threw up his hands.
Apparently, the musicians do not maintain relations after the collapse of the collective. "Do we communicate? Ask him. Although you are unlikely to get through to him. He is a VIP," the performer replied evasively.
If Zhukov continues to lead an active social life and occasionally appear in the news (for example, in connection with a sensational one), then Potekhin the sharks of the pen have managed to forget. "To be honest, I am very surprised that you wanted to interview me. I have not been popular for a long time. I surf the Internet - there is silence. Nobody writes. Although I am ready to answer everyone!" - the site "Interlocutor" quotes the artist.
Alexey admitted that although the whole country sang his compositions, he did not enrich himself. "The most interesting thing is that of all the two hundred and thirty songs that we wrote, everyone was interested only in the simplest." La-la-la-la, I sing all day "- we became famous on such songs. Every girl in the country had cassettes." Hands Up! ", But this did not affect our financial situation in any way," Potekhin complained.
According to a former member of the Ruki Verkh! Group, all the money went to other people. "Our producers had everything. They had apartments, cars, wives. We had nothing. If you ask how much Andrey Cherkasov, who led us, and the ARS-Records company earned on us, I will answer you: one hundred and forty million rubles. Be sure to write about it! " - asked the artist.
Alexey Potekhin left the duo and disappeared from the sight of fans, colleagues and music critics. What happened to the artist?
Lead singer of the group "Hands up!" Sergey Zhukov is still popular, his name is on hearing. But the second member of the duet - Alexei Potekhin - has become almost invisible to fans of Russian show business.
The portal site found out what the idol of the 90s looks like now, about which the girls sighed in vain.
It is possible that you don’t remember Potekhin at all. If on the runway he still flashed in the videos, then later more and more often he remained behind the scenes. Alyoshka was Zhukov's shadow.
Zhukov played the role of a hero, and Potekhin the antihero
Still from the clip "Baby" (1997)In 1997, the Hands Up! released two videos for two hits: "Baby", with which the guys broke into music channels, and "Student".
Still from the clip "Student" (1997) Actually, these are the only videos in which Potekhin can be seen ...
Then Alexey was pushed into the background. And this is taking into account the fact that even at the first he got the role of antiheroes: either he is a student who took the girl Seregin away, then the guy with whom the girl has fun while Zhukov is serving in the army. In general, the images are not pleasant.
Zhukov pushed Potekhin into the background
In 1998, music channels began to broadcast a video for the song "Little Moya". The composition fell in love with the Russians back in 1995, but the video was recorded only three years later. Potekhin flashes in it a couple of times: the main attention is focused on Zhukov.
A similar story is repeated in the music video for the song "Alyoshka". It looks more than strange. The text tells about the confrontation between Alyoshka and Seryozha, but in fact they only show Seryozha ...
And yet we were able to catch one shot with Alyoshka. Look what Potekhin was like in 2000: a natural brunette turned into a dyed blonde.
Still from the clip "Alyoshka" (2000) Breakup of the group
Alexei was not visible in the videos, at concerts he also stood behind Zhukov.
According to the already established tradition, in the video for the super hit "I'm 18 already" more attention is paid to strippers than to the second member of the duet. Although you can see that Potekhin managed to become red-haired ...
The only thing that united these guys in a group was joint photographs on albums. But in 2006, this came to an end: Seryozhka drove Alyoshka away.
Sergei Zhukov and Alexey Potekhin a year before the breakup of the group Potekhin was 30 years old when he had to start from scratch. He tried to produce artists and bands, but they were not successful. Now 46-year-old Alexey has created a new duet "Raise your hands up".
The soloist is a man very similar to Sergei Zhukov ... Does it look like an attempt to return to the past?
Well, Potekhin himself no longer experiments with appearance: he remains a brunette. The physical form of the musician (especially when compared with Zhukov) is beyond praise!