Semantic hallucinations disintegrated. Sergei Bobunets: “I lived with the feeling of the end of the world! You have a song “Sweet Cheerful Life”: “I made the word love a bargaining chip

Musician Sergei Bobunets has been free swimming for a year now. In 2017, he disbanded the team with which he spent his entire adult life. Before the concert in St. Petersburg, Sergei spoke about throwing, his solo album and the feeling of complete loss.

“What I feared most in my life happened,” the creator of “Meaning Hallucinations” honestly admitted in an interview with “78.”

According to the musician, he spent his entire life with the same people, and never understood how he could perform with session musicians.

I have a friend, Yulia Chicherina, her line-up often changes: the musicians cannot get along with her,” shared Sergei Bobunets. - Her fighting spirit is usually not in resonance with others. I was always surprised by her and asked: “How can you, Julia, go on stage with people who just heard your songs yesterday?” And now it turns out that now every concert for me is a completely separate story. All the people are from different groups, all superstars, but every time you go out and realize that it’s like your first time.

The group “Semantic Hallucinations” appeared in Yekaterinburg in 1989. This was the last rock group officially accepted into the Sverdlovsk rock club - the club soon ceased to exist, and the team of Sergei Bobunts, in fact, put an end to its history.

The musician himself, when creating the group, was impossibly young. And it was “Meaning hallucinations” that made up his entire life for a quarter of a century, minus the last year.

Understand, I was a little boy, I was 15 years old when I got into this bullshit called “Semantic hallucinations,” Bobunets emotionally shares with reporters. - And I lived with the team all the time, interacted with a bunch of people all the time! At some point I just wanted to feel like myself, to take personal responsibility without talking about whether it was a good phrase or not. Whatever I write, I wrote it, and it’s an amazing feeling!

The ex-leader of “Semantic Hallucinations” has previously admitted that living under such a name for 26 years is too hard. Now a new stage has come in his life, the “fluid” team of the new project “Sergei Bobunets” is on stage, and new sensations, although they frighten the musician, are very much to his liking.

It’s cynical, cruel, it’s painful, very painful, but the very feeling that you’re just doing what you want is very cool,” admitted Sergei.

On Wednesday, April 11, Sergei Bobunets presented his new and first exclusively solo album “Everything is Normal” in St. Petersburg. The musician talked about how he works in a fickle team and why new sensations are so good, even though they are scary.

It's actually a big shock. But it’s clear that it works,” Sergei shared his impressions of working with session musicians. - It is clear from the Moscow concerts that the audience appreciated such an avalanche of emotions.

“An avalanche of emotions” among musicians is precisely what comes from working in a new band, Bobunets said:

When people gather in a new project, their eyes light up, they simply burn with napalm!

All the musicians of the new project collaborate with other groups, and each time the project comes together as if for the first time:

I don’t have a lineup yet, except for the original one: a bass guitarist who miraculously appeared from Sochi, and drummer Zhenya Nikulin. The whole team gets together specially every time. It’s clear that we rehearse, they know the material, but the fact is that every time it’s a specially assembled lineup. For them, perhaps this is a normal process, but for me it is a shock.

At the same time, the musician noted that in fact, after the collapse of “Semantic Hallucinations”, nothing fundamentally changed. According to him, in recent years he created all the group’s material together with the band’s drummer:

The last albums were recorded by drummer Zhenya Nikulin and me together. Therefore, people can argue that before the songs were better, the trees were taller, and the sound was better, but, in fact, nothing has changed - because the way we did everything together, we continue to do it together.

However, after the dissolution of the group, the musician had a really hard time.

I spent the last year wandering all over the country, all over the world,” said Sergei. “I don’t think I’ve really calmed down yet.” I just ran and ran... I ran away from myself. I had the feeling that there was no one else in Yekaterinburg, the city that created me. Of course, people remained there, and they love me, but I had the feeling that I had lost my roots, lost everything.

Sergei found himself in January 2018, very far from his native Urals.

Goa saves everyone,” the musician shared. - In January, sitting on the ocean shore, I realized: that’s it, stop. We return home, record an album, and that’s it. Live like a person, be a person!

True, part of the material, which was initially prepared for Sergei’s personal project back in 2015, had to be given to “Semantic Hallucinations.”

I had to merge a few songs that I had already done for solo material: “The Last Confession” and “The Beast 2”. Just so that the group has a point in history,” the musician explained.

At the same time, the feeling of “losing everything” helped with the new material.

For the first time, I trusted my intuition. I had an amazing story: I told people how a person feels who has lost everything, whom everyone looks at with suspicion, and how he passes through all the links of this battery,” said Sergei.

It was still not possible to part with the team of “Meaning Hallucinations” exclusively tenderly and with love, admitted Sergei. Although, of course, the musicians maintained adequate relations:

When this happens, it seems to me that to say that we are parting as friends would still be a lie. The sediment remains. I think they all don't like me.

But the musicians themselves’ lives and creative paths are going well.

Kolya Rotov is an actor, his project has not been closed, he performs and hosts a morning show on the radio. The keyboard player and guitarist have a project with a girl, so musical and beautiful. Everything is in order,” Bobunets said.

And despite the fact that the new sensations of the ex-leader of “Semantic Hallucinations” are frightening, and he himself feels quite lonely without the team with whom he spent almost his entire life, he is now ready to fully invest in the new project. Sergei said that now for him every concert is like a special project for which musicians specially gather. And he promised that he would make new music “with pleasure and honestly.”

The group “Semantic Hallucinations” has been consistently among the headliners of the domestic rock scene for many years, regularly rotating on radio stations and performing at major festivals.

In addition, the leader of the group, Sergei Bobunets, is promoting the unusual project “Rotoff,” which became famous on the Internet thanks to the song “Basque is not a goat.”

Now the musicians of “Meaning Hallucinations” are preparing to release a new album, intriguing fans with talk that the record is chamber and dark. The correspondent of “Show Business News NEWSmusic.ru” met with Sergei Bobunets in order to understand why the group became close to the motifs of darkness, and at the same time talk about the end of the world, modern show business and the Russian Cossacks.

“You can make music without money”

I’ll start with your new project “Rotoff”. You said that he has nothing to do with show business, but at the same time you are the producer of this project. Isn't the producer the one who makes the business?

My role is precisely to strictly adhere to the boundaries of the genre and not go beyond the limits of accessible art. This applies to both budget and arrangements. On the one hand, everything should be done extremely simply, and on the other, with technical excellence. The idea must be expressed in simple, understandable language, which is why the style that Kolya came up with is called “pop underground”: pop because it’s accessible, and underground because Kolya is a master of taking a song off the air with one word.

This project is being done without the hope that it will have any ethereal life. That is, we decided to go on an experiment and show people, using the example of the Rotoff project, that you can make music without money. Over the past year, Kolya had one song on the soundtrack of the film “Love in the City 2”, he performed at almost all summer festivals, and it was clear how people fell in love with this man. Kolya is a very bright showman.

Well, “Rotoff” has a serious support in the form of “Semantic Hallucinations,” but do you think that young groups that do not have this support can really achieve something without money and connections?

Yes, here we, of course, make a little use of the opportunity that we have and help Kolya with his tours. It is clear that the song with which he shot, “Basque is not a goat,” was also so successful because Gorshok participated in its recording, who did not even suspect that everything would turn out this way. We didn't even suspect it ourselves. We were just joking at that moment. But, nevertheless, basically Kolya is perceived as a separate project from the “Meaning Hallucinations” group, as a project of a completely different pole. Now it has become clear that it’s time to separate our pages, Kolya needs to start his own blogs, his own accounts on social networks. We were able to allow ourselves to record a very dark album, and we gave all the positivity to Kolya. It happened by accident, but it turned out very well. It’s always a pleasure to go on stage after Kolya, because the audience is completely warmed up.

As for young bands, I think they can achieve something without money. And there are many examples of this: for example, Peter Nalich. We want to show that you don’t have to spend money on expensive studios or expensive videos. The point is in the idea. Nowadays, the number of views of amateur videos is much greater than the views of professional videos. People are more interested in watching what people like them do, in watching what they could do themselves.

Now there is an opinion that there are too many young bands and guitars should be sold like weapons, under license. Do you agree?

Good wording. This happens not only in our country, thanks to the fact that the Internet has made information accessible. Previously, you could tell what came out this week and what was good and what was not. Nowadays, even professionals who only engage in getting acquainted with new musical releases admit that they do not have time to listen to everything. Therefore, there are no big heroes and bright characters. They are simply difficult to notice. The volume of information is so great that every musician now lives in his own small garden. But I think this is just a phase, and soon everything will be fine again.

“Our new album will help many people”

Your new album turns out to be dark. I read that it was written by candlelight. So you prefer live lighting to electric?

This is due to the fact that I worked mainly at night, and it was more comfortable for me to do it by candlelight. In general, I like to have a lot of them in the house. When friends come to visit me, dozens of candles burn. They give off real warmth. And this atmosphere that was in my office (and everything is very laconic there and there are only three colors - white, black and red) was transmitted to the songs. We tried to maintain the feeling of a small room and a person left alone with himself. This is an album for individual listening. The album is not gloomy, but dark. It is about a person who is in a crisis situation, on the verge of death: somewhere he understands that death is inevitable and tries to treat this with humor; somewhere he goes towards it deliberately; somewhere he simply accepts it and tries to save not himself, but his loved ones.

- So you think that in the dark a person can take off all his masks and be himself?

Great wording! I think it would be interesting to do a survey on who does what in the dark. Yes, this idea about masks is correct. This explains that the album is very laconic, there is nothing superfluous in it, there are no unnecessary topics. It happens that people write on our website that such and such a song saved a life, helped in a difficult moment. And I think this album will help a lot of people too.

- We already have one group that also loves darkness, candles... I’m talking about “Kukryniksy”.

They have a completely different story. For us, these are simply sensations that a person actually experiences without putting on a black robe. This is human darkness. This can be compared to the feeling when you watch some kind of arthouse film, in which there is no action, no dinosaurs, but there is an extremely simple picture, and it is this that incredibly hooks you.

- Was there any thought then to make the album acoustic?

And it’s practically acoustic anyway. There is very little electricity in it in the form in which we are accustomed to perceive it. This is a chamber album.

- Did you have to rethink many themes and ideas while working on the new album?

About the Khimki forest, you mean? (laughs). I rethought my whole life. Every person has a moment when he looks back, compares his present self with his past self and realizes how much wiser and more experienced he has become. This happened to me too.

“We are shocked by the picture in the new video”

You shot a new video in which you showed a very beautiful Earth on its last day...

Yes, very beautiful. We were shocked by the picture. In some places it is reminiscent of the film House of Flying Daggers.

Should the musicians play in the videos? Or should the musician sing, and all the dramaturgy should be given to professional actors?

In our latest video there are actors, but they are not visible: they are wearing gas masks and chemical protective suits. In general, music videos are small films, and filming them is hard work. To make the clip catchy, you need to do a lot beyond human capabilities. In the video “Reason Will Someday Win,” the actress had to be doused with ice water. Or rather, according to the plot it was gasoline, but our director limited himself to water. She was only in her nightgown, and it was incredibly cold. We stood wrapped in jackets, our teeth chattering from the cold, and she had to not only endure, but also play with different emotions. And there are many such examples. Our first feat was on the set of the “Stars 3000” video. We then decided to jump with a parachute, after which we thought that such things should be trusted to professionals. In our last video, the actors had to run a lot. Can you imagine what it’s like to run around in gas masks? It's incredibly difficult.

In our latest video there are actors, but they are not visible: they are wearing gas masks and chemical protection suits

Is this desire to show the beautiful death of the earth your attitude towards death in general? So you believe that death can be beautiful?

The video is about the last two people on earth who also die. It's just a story with a sad ending.

-Have you ever thought about what you could do today if you knew for sure that tomorrow was the end of the world?

I lived with this feeling for a long time. Lived for today. But I think that all this talk about the end of the world, preparation for it, is so that a person begins to at least think that it is time to spend more time with his family, looking away from the TV; thinking about calling mom, having time to do something really important...

You became famous thanks to your participation in the recording of the soundtrack to the film “Brother”. Are you currently following what is happening in modern cinema?

Of course, I watch movies, I love movies, but I’ve stopped going to cinemas now. However, my son recently bet with me that I would have to go with him to some movie.

“Show business needs fresh air”

In one of your interviews, you said that at the beginning of your creative career, show business was more honest and better, because it was built on friendly relations, but now that is gone. But didn't this help people become more professional?

Yes, maybe it helped... But it used to be that, for example, the entire manufacturing company went with Yulia Chicherina to buy clothes, or to see a stylist, or to solve family problems. When Misha Kozyrev worked at Our Radio, even if the group did not have a 100% hit, he still sat down, listened to the entire album and eventually chose a song. He was sure that the group’s on-air life should continue, even if something didn’t work out this time. There was some kind of personal interest, many of the producers constantly hung out at the concerts of young bands. It was good form. It seems to me that now everything is returning to this again, because it is impossible to stew in the same thing for ten years and everyone understands that fresh names and fresh air are needed.

- So you are ready to work in conditions where there are few professionals, but there are many friends?

I am sure that if a person wants to learn, he will learn everything. Here's an example: we have a friend who lives in Egypt, and he wrote a musical, humorous. We tell him: this is a cartoon series. He thought: “Yes? And who will draw it? We answered: “There is no one but you.” The man sat down and simply studied special computer programs for six months and was able to master it all. For me, the most important quality in people is flexibility and communication skills. If you feel that you can always come to an agreement with a person, then you will be comfortable working with him.

At the “20 Years Without Cinema” festival, just like ten years ago, you covered the song “Mom, we are all seriously ill.” Why is this song so dear to you?

Ten years ago we took part in the recording of a tribute to “Kinoproba”, but we were removed from the concert itself due to a conflict with Real Records, so we were not able to play it then. We are now performing this song at concerts, with the blessing of Georgy Kasparyan. It is felt by us, we are confident in every note. At “20 Years Without Cinema” it was painful for us to listen to some covers at this concert.

- You were accepted into the Cossacks not so long ago. Tell us how it happened.

This is what news turns out to hook people. For some reason they always react more vividly to them than to news about the album. We performed in the city of Timashevsk in the Krasnodar Territory, and we were received very well there. The administration gave us a basket full of food as a symbol of well-being. There were fruits, bread, sausages, cheese, wine, vodka. The mayor of Timashevsk came out and handed me a cloak, a hat, and a mace. I was very moved. When I brought everything to the airport to pack, the man who works there packed it with indescribable tenderness and love. It is clear that people treat this symbol with trepidation.

- It seems to me that the Cossack ideology is somehow close to fate: courage, freedom, rebellion.

Yes, but the question is, is all this present in the current Cossacks, and even in the current fate? I would send an SMS to many rockers with the word “courage” so that it would at least just sound in them.

At the box office - “About Rock” by Evgeny Grigoriev - one of the best documentaries of the year. A funny and sad story about young Ekaterinburg musicians looks like a succinct statement about a “confused generation” stuck between the past and the future. The film won the Grand Prix of the documentary competition at the Omsk “Movement” and a special prize at the “Window to Europe” festival in Vyborg.

In 2011, director Evgeny Grigoriev decided to make a film about the modern rock scene of Yekaterinburg, once one of the capitals of Russian rock. An open talent competition was announced especially for the film, designed to identify the most promising groups. The jury consisted entirely of rock music dinosaurs, including Vladimir Shakhrin (“Chaif”) and Sergei Bobunets (“Meaning Hallucinations”). But then everything didn’t go as planned. Actually, the disaster of the original plan is the main plot line of the film.

MORE ON THE TOPIC

Hundreds of rock bands from all over the Urals responded to the documentary filmmakers' call. Seeing the video messages sent, the film operator fled from filming. His successors, when it came time for live tryouts, simply put in earplugs. Over the course of several days, about 300 groups performed before the jury. Accompanied by a guitar and button accordion, a shaman's tambourine and a violin, young and not so young people sang, roared or read out their songs about spring, the sun or the “mirror of the soul”. Against this background, a cute band of schoolgirls singing about the severity of breakups seemed like a breath of fresh air.

With each song, the eyes of Alexander Pantykin, “the grandfather of Ural rock,” widened in horror. A mixture of bewilderment and melancholy froze on the face of Sergei Bobunets. “Rock is all about sex. But they don’t have it! They are young people - why isn’t he here?” - Shakhrin was amazed during the break. Alexei Glazatov, then the program director of Nashe Radio, did not fuss and frankly said that he did not see a future for young Russian rock. Further, the laconic caption said that the day after the auditions, financing for the film was suspended. And that was just the beginning.

Based on the results of discussions, the jury chose three “indisputable” groups out of three hundred - Cosmic Latte, “Joe Himself” and “Town of Chekists”. Since no new sponsors were expected in the near future, the director handed out cameras purchased on credit to the musicians and offered to film themselves for now. This “for now” lasted for years. Finally, the money appeared (crowdfunding and the Ministry of Culture helped), the operator returned, but by that time a dark streak had come in the life of each of the groups. The film about the ascent to the rock Olympus turned into a chronicle of the collapse of illusions.

And it’s now difficult to even imagine a more successful picture of young rock music. You won’t envy these Ural boys and girls. They grew up while their fellow countrymen "Agatha Christie" and "Meaning Hallucinations" were thundering across the country. The guys grew up and picked up guitars themselves, but it turned out that no one needed this music anymore. Depressed heroes wander to the rehearsal past the posters (where their aged idols share advertising space with Stas Mikhailov and Oxxxymiron), stubbornly refusing to admit the obvious: rock has ceased to be the soundtrack of the era.

By the way, the director does not separate himself from the “confused generation”. Grigoriev dilutes the episodes of other people's failures with footage of sleeping spectators from the premiere of his previous film. As for his latest work, it does not face such a fate. “About Rock” is a movie that can be safely recommended to anyone. Beginner musicians - first of all.

This talented group was lucky enough to become famous after their single “Forever Young” was included in the list of soundtracks for Alexei Balabanov’s sensational film “Brother 2”, which was released on big screens in 2000, although by that time “Semantic Hallucinations” existed for more than 10 years.

After that, Sergei Bobunets, together with his team, began to release one hit after another (just look at “Why trample on my love”, “Stars 3000” and “Reason will someday win”), so it’s not surprising that the news about the end of the group’s career caused a great resonance among the public, leaving them scratching their heads as to why “Meaning Hallucinations” broke up. Fans learned that the group “Semantic Hallucinations” had broken up directly from the lips of Sergei Bobunts himself, who on December 29, 2015 stated that the group in this composition would stop its creative path in 2017 and that the next year would be a certain stage of preparation for the finals.

It is noteworthy that the official announcement of the breakup was posted on Bobunets’ personal channel on the YouTube video hosting site, despite the fact that the recording was made on the banks of the Shartash River in Sergei’s native Yekaterinburg. As for the official reason for this event, the leader of the rock band joked that he felt like a kind of captain Vrungel, who claimed that whatever you call a ship, so it will sail, referring to the fact that the 26-year journey under the name “Semantic Hallucinations” further becomes impossible. A little later, another popular Ural rock performer, Vadim Samoilov (one of the founders of the Agatha Christie group), who at one time contributed to the formation of “Meaning Hallucinations”, helping Sergei Bobunts, also spoke out about this.

Thus, the odious rocker admitted that he is not at all sad about the collapse of the group “Semantic Hallucinations,” citing the fact that the guys simply want renewal and further work in their new status as independent creative units.

However, as stated in December 2015, in 2016 Sergei Bobunets continued his creative activity with the same composition, as a result of which their final song entitled “The Last Confession” was broadcast on “Our Radio”. It is noteworthy that Bobunets and the team began writing it during their tour of the Far East, which greatly impressed the musicians, because for the first time they were given a unique opportunity to see with their own eyes the vast expanses of the Motherland not from the window of an airplane (then the group traveled more than 2 thousand kilometers by car). Sergei himself admitted that this song is a kind of manifestation of gratitude to all those people who met him on his creative path over the long 26 years.

In the same year (December 16, 2016), a presentation of the group’s new and concurrently final album took place, which the guys called “Hard Times Songs.” In fact, this anniversary album (10 in a row) became a collection, which, in addition to new songs, included the most popular old ones, as well as some especially talented cover versions, in the opinion of the group. It is noteworthy that the album itself was deliberately divided into two parts, the first of which was dedicated to the group itself, and the second to the solo work of Sergei Bobunts, as a kind of foundation for the future. Naturally, fans of the group took this information as a sign that the Bobunts case would still be continued, albeit in a slightly different format.

As for the last concert with the previous lineup, it took place on Old New Year’s Eve on January 13, 2017. It is noteworthy that it took place as part of a popular rock festival, which on the occasion of the holiday was called “Old New Rock” by the organizers.

Today, practically nothing is known about the further creative plans of Sergei Bobunts, Konstantin Lekomtsev, Nikolai Rotov and Maxim Mitenkov, however, fans of “Hallucinations” do not lose hope that they will still see performances by their favorite musicians.

August 26, 2017, 5:10 AM

Sergei Bobunets: “The phrase that Russian rock is dying is just a cliché”

Despite a sore throat, the creator of the legendary group “Semantic Hallucinations” Sergei Bobunets spoke at the Army 2017 forum. After the concert, the musician held an impromptu autograph session. People's love for the cultivator of “eternal youth” is so strong that fans began to treat Sergei. Inhalipt injections were done while uttering heartfelt words: “Thank you, bro!” The artist has not given interviews for a year now, but he made an exception for EAN.

- How did you end up among tanks and guns?

Accidentally. They just suggested. The musicians and I performed absolutely free, I just wanted to support our guys.

- Have you examined the equipment yourself? How do you like our army?

The Russian army protects human values. I like this position. In Russia we have a soul, an ideological spirit. We maintain balance. We can be accused of anything, but someone must be like our army - shirtless guys who will stand up for the disadvantaged.

- Let's continue the topic. I know that you have friends in the famous group of military pilots “Swifts”. Will there be new songs about flying?

Last year I recorded a song with Yulia Chicherina called “You Can Fly.” It seemed to me that the image of pilots is like that of guitarists and musicians in the spirit of “Look at my Gibson.” I
I assumed that pilots had the same story as we do with guitars. That they are proud of their planes. What they fly on. And one pilot told me that he sent our song to all the girls he knew and they liked it. As they say, the song has arrived.

I can give other good examples. Our city has sponsored submarines, in particular, “Verkhoturye” and “Ekaterinburg”. This is our nuclear shield. We were there with the musicians. Absolutely incredible people serve there. They are all already third generation submariners. They don't just get there.

Fate constantly brings me together with completely transcendental people, for whom heroism exists as usual and does not have any aura. “If I’m lucky, I can still serve my Motherland,” they say. Inspiring them somehow with your songs is worth a lot.

- We have rockers who go to play concerts in Syria. Do you have this in your plans?

The musicians and I were in the DPR, and I think we’ll end up in Syria. I am in favor of playing a concert in this country. This is our memory and what the country will stand on in the future. It is a great honor to support those who are making our history today.

- How do you generally feel about the fact that our troops ended up there?

All our country's decisions may seem controversial. But from a political point of view, we always got involved for those whom no one else got involved with.

- You haven’t given an interview to anyone for a year. Why?

I didn't see the point. All the questions revolved around the same thing. They only asked about the “Meaning Hallucinations” group. Nothing was revealed in the journalists' questions that could be truly interesting. And by and large, I didn’t see that these communications worked in a positive way. Our conversation today is a different matter.

- You have a song “Sweet Cheerful Life”: “I made the word love a bargaining chip. I lied in the interview..."

It's sarcasm. People think that all musicians are cynical and have everything for sale. In fact, it's the opposite. You can't write a song to sell or write a hit on purpose. You just write songs. Just the way you do it. And it is a mistake to perceive creativity as something that is done for money.

- Was there a lot of speculation about the conflict in “Semantic Hallucinations”?

Yes. Exactly. Although at first the journalists said that the conversation would not be about this. But in the end it all came down to the situation around the group.

- You recently said that energy is the main thing and we need it to come out. How can young groups do this?

You need to be honest with yourself, bear internal responsibility for your every action. That is, truly understand what you are doing. Don't try to be opportunistic. Find your own path, have your own idea, your own goal. Your message, your life position and be one hundred percent honest.

We musicians deal with emotions, not sell goods. People either like it or don't like it. And only then is it monetized. And that's normal, by the way. But for this you need to be one hundred percent honest.

- There is an opinion that Russian rock is dying again. Recently, Kurara leader Oleg Yagodin told me this. Do you agree?

It's just a cliché. Although I think that soon everything will return to the bard's song. When a person with a guitar and nothing more is simply important. And technology allows us to make different arrangements now. And it will come out beautifully.

Everything will eventually return to the words: “A poet in Russia is more than a poet.” I am one of Vladislav Krapivin’s Caravelites...

- Do you communicate with a famous writer? Are you visiting?

Yes. True, very rarely. He's old now, and there's no need to burden him. That's why he remains a symbol for me. You know, I’ve been living in Sevastopol for the last year. There I accidentally found a collection of Krapivin’s stories about Sevastopol. The Caravelians had an excellent oath: “I will fight injustice without waiting for anyone else to do it.”

- You are prohibited from entering Ukraine. When you found out about this, how did you feel?

The first thing I did was look to see who else was on this list. Imagine, my cousin was there. This list contains all his details. Even your home address, right down to your apartment. This excited me. As for myself, I’ll answer this way: I was surprised that they didn’t bring it in earlier.

- What are your plans? Are there any festivals you'll be appearing at soon?

I want to take a break now. Travel more, experience ordinary human joys. I need a reboot. I want to approach future creativity more conceptually. I've always liked this approach.
Wait for the time, don’t get overwhelmed and start creating with new ideas and plans.