Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: I am originally from Moscow, Russia, but as the war started I am a nomad – never supported the Russian government and didn’t feel safe staying there anymore. I started writing music when I was 14 – it was my dream back then but I got very discouraged by the lack of support from people around me telling me to get proper education and a job… Everything changed when I experienced my major depressive episode during the 2020 COVID lockdown – I was diagnosed with PTSD earlier on and was technically unable to cry. The only thing thathelped me express my emotions safely was music. I started writing every day and realized – okay, this helped me, maybe it can help someone else.
Q: Did you have any formal training, or are you self-taught?
A: No formal training – a university or anything – but I have worked a lot with private tutors and took up a great Ableton course by Maskeliade school
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences?
A: Taylor Swift! That very naïve and country-music version of Taylor. My love for songs with storytelling started back then. But my biggest musical influences were Florence and the Machine, Adele and Lana del Ray.
Q: You have just released your new single ‘So Few of Us’. Is there a story behind it?
A: I wrote the verse of this song 3 years ago when I was volunteering in a human rights organization in Moscow – I felt deep burnout and in addition to that read about gay people’s torture in Chechnya (a region in Russia). That felt so horrible. And I finished this song in April – experiencing grief upon the War in Ukraine. None of my friends supported this war or Putin – but everyone around us pretends that we are a minority – which I genuinely believe is not true. That’s where the name comes from So few of Us – there are actually so many wonderful people who share your values – please, don’t forget that there is always a feeling of hope.
Q: Can we expect a new EP or even an album from you in the near future?
A: I am going to release another single called Ribbons in my Hair – it is about non-violent forms of protest against anything (your government actions, capitalism, global warming or whatever you feel is relatable), Russian and Belorussian political prisoners and anyone who fights something in a very creative way. In late autumn I am planning to release an EP called Friends – it’s about friendships that stopped being friendships or stopped existing at all..
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
A: I write about liberation, freedom, healthy personal boundaries, feeling of hope and overcoming mental struggle. My sound is very experimental indie-pop, sometimes kind of cinematic, sometimes a bit folky and as my listeners tell me very inspiring.
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: Definitely! My music started as a way of therapy and self-help, and now it is my second full-time job, haha. As an independent artist, I am learning a lot and I am incredibly grateful to myself for starting my career in music, despite all the financial and mental difficulties at first. I believe success is a feeling of pride that you can experience by looking at your past self. I am already very proud.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: It is always a feeling, an emotion or a thought that is too big not to start singing about it. I turn on my voice recorder and start improvising – then start looking for chord progressions, write down the lyrics, re-listen to what I have already recorded and allow myself to dive into this idea. What do I want to say? Why? Why does it bother me? What feelings are these? Is there a solution?
After I am done with the lyrics, I usually record my song using a metronome and send it to the music producer (or do not send it if I want to produce it myself). I always have a picture in my head, the instruments, tempo, references and even an album cover.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: In my life – PTSD. In my career – impostor syndrome, but if it wasn’t for my PTSD and depression, my career in music wouldn’t happen. As for the impostor syndrome – I got a tattoo saying I am a musician – it’s my deliberately “non-perfect” handwriting – a constant reminder to keep going and to never doubt myself.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: Allowing myself to do what I really want – is my biggest accomplishment.