Date of birth: 17/03/1988
Place of birth: Moscow, USSR
Musical Equipment:
[guitars] - Washburn CP2003, Washburn EC29, Ibanez RG570, Ibanez RG7421; Dimarzio / SD pickups.
[effects] - Morley Bad Horsie, SD Pickup Booster, MXR Phase 90, Boss DD2, Digitech Digi-delay
[amp] - Mesa/Boogie DC-10 into 4×12 cab with Celestion V30’s
Previous Bands:
A few, but ‘As of Today’ being the only one worthy of note.
Musical Influences:
Anathema, Enslaved, Opeth, My Dying Bride, Agalloch, Drudkh, Emperor, Dissection, Keep of Kalessin, Pantheist, Devin Townsend, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Carcass, Death, Katatonia, Orphaned Land, Steve Vai, Cacophony, Meshuggah, Symphony X, Bathory, S Rachmaninov
Personal experiences that influence you musically:
Suffering, depression, philosophical implications of everyday life
How and when did you get involved with music:
I have found music interesting for as long as I could remember. I took up the electric guitar at the age of 12, taking lessons from a blues/rock guitarist for 4 years. I was partly motivated to do so by hearing that a close friend far away had taken guitar up. Soon, I began taking music very seriously and had been trying to form bands as soon as I could play several chords and a few scales. With time, my musical interests progressed and deepened, and I took up an opportunity to study piano with a concert pianist of my family’s acquaintance. Study of philosophy has given me inspiration and desire to escape from temporal reality into the timeless world of concepts and self-expression.
Describe your musical ethos:
Exploring the contrast between light and dark, beautiful and ugly… I try to unleash the power of an orchestra through the versatility of the electric guitar.
Favourite films:
Apocalypse Now, Cinema Paradiso, The Godfather, Il Postino, Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Withnail & I, Talk to Her
Favourite books:
Thus Spake Zarathustra – Nietzsche, Crime and Punishment – Dostoevskiy, Arc de Triumphe - Remarque, Master and Margarita - Bulgakov, On the Suffering of the World - Schopenhauer, 1984 - Orwell
Favourite quotes:
“Morality is herd instinct in the individual.” – Nietzsche
“We feel and know that we are eternal.” - Spinoza
“Only the dead have seen the end of the war.” - Plato
Other life interests:
Girlfriend, family, dog, philosophy and most other forms of art
Favourite country: The island of Corsica in France
Favourite food: Russian, Italian, Chinese
In 10 years’ time you will be:In possession of fewer answers and of many more questions