— Tell us more about the song “Tavern.” Who is the author of the words and music? Did you participate in the creation of the composition?
— A cheerful song in the Irish style. “Smeshariki” will give you a better answer about the authors (regular authors of the “Smeshariki” project are composers Marina Landa and Sergei Vasiliev. – “socialbites.ca”). I love Irish music, so I agreed to participate in the project.
— What were your thoughts when you met the song? Did you make any adjustments during this process?
— I took part as an actor in this project. Actually, that’s why I was invited. I don’t really like to interfere with other writers’ concepts. If it hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t have confirmed my participation.
— Did you need to prepare for this project in any way?
– This is an easy song, there was no need to prepare at all. I arrived at the studio and did it within the allotted time. There was even enough time to perform in different voices to choose which style was more suitable.
— Does this song have the qualities that would make it an independent hit?
— I think the main task of this composition is to give color to the cartoon about Smesharikov, the main brain of the studio. It looks great with the video.
— You have already worked with the Ricky Group of Companies and recorded the soundtrack for the cartoon Finnick. Why are you interested in such a collaboration?
– Children are our future. Educational and instructive animated series make our world a better place.
— Do you watch cartoons?
— I also enjoy 3D graphics and create my own cartoons. They can be seen on my pages on Zen, VKontakte and YouTube. When my daughters were little, I watched many modern cartoons against my will and I know some of them by heart.
— What projects have you created as an artist?
— I created a hand-drawn video for the song “Forester”. He later moved to 3D, creating the cartoons “Sons of the Sewer” and “Horrors of an Abandoned House”. Later, he made videos for the songs “Bira-bira-bira” and “Bear” in the same format. And this is far from the end. I’m always drawing because I have many projects that involve drawing. Now KnyaZz’s “Pay for the Jester!” I finished the design of the new album, which will be called . A book containing all my drawings and drawings from my childhood to the present was recently published. It’s called “The Jester’s Fairytale World.”
— Do you have a favorite among Russian and foreign cartoons?
— My favorite Soviet cartoon, both in my childhood and now, is “The Secret of the Third Planet”. I’ve seen all of Shrek. About 15 years ago, I became interested in foreign 3D films, albeit for a short time. One of them was about a kid who really wanted to see Santa Claus. On New Year’s Eve, he bought a ticket for the New Year’s Express. I won’t say more to avoid spoilers.
— Have you and your children watched “Smeshariki”?
— Unfortunately, when my daughters were children, I was not very aware of what was happening in Smeshariki, we watched other series.
— When you got acquainted with the content of “Smeshariki”, did you realize that it is much deeper than a children’s cartoon?
– This is completely clear. But I don’t think children’s cartoons are something that should be superficial. As a rule, such cartoons are created by people who understand their responsibility to educate the younger generation. And they often want to add value to them. Moreover, by raising children, we also raise ourselves.
— What creative plans do you have for the near future?
— I’m working hard on next year’s concert screens. In 2024, the band KnyaZz will have big stadium concerts and I want there to be a lot of visualizations; Thus, for the audience, the concert will not only be music, but also a journey into worlds.
— This year the work of “The King and the Clown” experienced a new wave of popularity. Looking back, how would you summarize the results of the series, exhibition and other events? Did you expect such a big response and response from young people?
“I’m very happy with what happened.” Before the series, I was constantly thinking: how can we convey our fairy tale to children and young people? After all, they haven’t yet learned to seek out their own music, and if their parents don’t listen to rock, then they may only know us by hearsay, or not at all. The series managed to steal every home. My soul is at peace now. Children learned about us, which means they have a choice.
— In your opinion, what is the state of Russian rock now? Why don’t new bands emerge that are comparable to “KiSh” in terms of energy and audience perception? Or do we not know these and for some reason they do not go beyond a narrow audience?
“Maybe these are questions I can’t find answers to.” I can only speculate on this, but there are more questions. I’ve heard from my foreign colleagues that their countries have the same problem with rock. Perhaps due to the universal accessibility and development of the digital world, people are overfed and it is more difficult to fool them. There is less demand for rock music and therefore fewer artists. The writers have no ideas or creativity. In short, I don’t know…
— Do you often have to fight with artists who illegally perform the songs “The King and the Jester”?
“I don’t want to be the controller of my creativity.” We have a lawyer for this.
— Do you encounter imitators? What do you think of artists who perform in a similar style and copy your look? Or has the bicycle already been invented and it is impossible to come up with something completely new?
– This path is not clear to me. I was a fan of creating something of my own to surprise the public, but the most important thing was to live in my own world. And if there was no such enthusiasm, I didn’t see the point of going on stage. On the other hand, if our world becomes so interesting and important for many that they want to build their path in a similar direction, I do not see anything wrong. We have created a culture and this culture has now become public knowledge. But still, in terms of creativity and self-revelation in this, I do not understand such artists.
—Do you remember anything new you discovered in your creativity lately?
— I improved my vocals thanks to continuous concert practice. Songs that used to be difficult are no longer a problem. We have changed our approach to working on new musical material and the listener will see this when our new album is released. I am developing my skills in 3D graphics and have big plans in this direction for both concert visualization and video creation.
— In August, Mikhail Gorshenev could have turned 50. Knowing his character, do you think he would like the show?
“I can’t answer for anyone else.” People can be unpredictable in their evaluations. One thing I know for sure is that we couldn’t even imagine something like this before. I should also add that he felt the urge to share his tragedy, his struggle with the “dark evil,” with the world. An attentive viewer caught this fight in the series. It is important that it is more or less possible to show his values and anarchist ideas. Now there are tons of materials about him for those who want to study his personality in more detail. The internet stores everything.