Having heard him once, you will remember him forever. A unique voice, words and music that cannot fail to find its listener, so every day there are more and more of them. Sergey Asafatov is a talented singer and multi-instrumentalist, a man whose life story surprises and inspires. Deeply about music and culture in our interview:
Serhiy, we are glad to see you in Ternopil. We know that today you joined the charity event in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine “Bunkernyk LIVE”. What are your impressions of the city?
– I have been to Ternopil twice, but this time the city opened up to me from a completely different side. Everything is different when you don’t just come, play, jump on the train and leave, but have the opportunity to get to know the city, live here for a while to feel the area. Now I just get great pleasure from the city, the people and all the moments in general. The mission of this visit is very important – a charity event. This is definitely timely, and our defenders need help not only from the point of view of replenishing combat equipment, but also as evidence that the people and the army are united.
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Every creative person has a unique story of how they got into their craft. How did you get into music and why did you decide to dedicate your life to it?
– I’m still getting to know you (smiles). I was 6 years old when I first heard a brass band. Hearing this music, I burst into tears of happiness. I think it was then that I realized that I wanted to learn how it all worked. Up until that point, I had listened to music and heard each instrument separately, but I didn’t know what it was called and how it all fit together. In the orphanage, I made a drum out of pens, and to make a guitar, I took a board and stretched the “strings”. There were no people, no information, and the opportunity only appeared at the age of 18, when I entered a music school. Since then, I have learned a lot, so to speak, against everything!
How to start developing in music?
– Every person has different starts. I had my own start, in which there were thousands of failures and a lot of losses. There is no universal recipe. Yes, you can do a lot for money – record an album, shoot an unrealistic video clip, but if there is no life, energy, that magic that touches people, then everything you do is in vain. That is, the quality of the recording plays absolutely no role here, you can record on a dictaphone, play on the cheapest guitar, but if there is magic, then it touches people’s souls. Music is my motivation to wake up in the morning. If it weren’t difficult, I would have lived in such poverty almost all my time and I would have invested everything I earned in music, I would have bought strings with my last money, because I know that for me this is the most important thing.
I really want to make music that is not affected by time. When I listen to music, I sometimes cry, I just cry, and I understand people who write to me about their emotions. I am grateful to them for this and I am very happy that my music helps me get through difficult moments, inspires and resonates.
You are a multi-instrumentalist, so how many instruments have you mastered so far?
– Since I was studying at a music school, life gave me a wonderful chance to learn to play the double bass and get into the whirlpool of classical music. I mastered the double bass in a year, and in my second year I was accepted into the philharmonic orchestra and the theater. At the same time, I studied other instruments: domra, violin, cello, bandura, all wind instruments. I tried everything for the first time, and it turned out as if I already knew how to do it. Of course, there is a huge amount of work behind this, at 6 am I was already practicing and playing in the corridors of the school, and the classes themselves began at 9 am. But then I had the feeling that I had entered a personal paradise. Everything was interesting to me. I had dreamed of learning music for so many years that even now, when I pick up a musical instrument, I learn and discover in a new way.
How long does it take to write a song?
– In different ways. One song can take 3 years to write, and another 3 days. There are songs that you write for a week or a month, and all the girls leave me. It’s hard to love musicians. I feel like someone is guiding me, I can get up in the middle of the night and start working.
The process of creating a song is like cooking in the kitchen. Everything is at hand, there is a flute, here a drum, there a guitar, sometimes you can “cook” it right away, and sometimes you are missing something. You go around thinking, “trying” and feel what needs to be added. I don’t want to make “musical fast food”, for one summer, I want something eternal.
Think back to your most memorable performance. How would you describe the emotions you felt at that time?
– Every concert is the brightest, because I am constantly improving something. I had a lot of concerts, and in general I was flawless, I played wherever possible. Free of charge, for travel, for food, I didn’t care, as long as I could bring my music to people. Probably, my brightest concert is still ahead, I dream about it.
So you were on different shows, what did they give you? Did you have a strategy?
– I didn’t even think about it, all I had was the desire to bring my music to the masses. If life gives me a chance, I always use it. It’s like 10 kopecks lying around, I’ll always pick them up, I’ll never pass by. Even if they’re in a swamp, and suddenly you can find 100 dollars there. If you don’t pick up 10 kopecks, you’ll miss 100 dollars. I don’t shy away from moments, for me every opportunity is like a sign from above. For example, I dreamed of recording my songs in a studio, but I didn’t have the financial means. And then, while walking, I came across a poster about a street musician competition with a prize fund of 10,000 hryvnias. I decided to take part and won, actually I invested all this winnings in a studio recording. So my participation in the show was a coincidence, before I thought that no one needed me there. We were leaving rehearsals one day, and the X-factor auditions were taking place in Vinnytsia, so we stopped by to take a look. We tried and passed. I knew that after the competition, producers in fur coats wouldn’t pick me up in a white limousine. I take everything as an experience and don’t regret anything, not even The Bachelor (laughs).
A full-scale invasion began, how did you calm yourself down?
– I wrote music. I live in Borshchagovka and was there all this time. I fell asleep with headphones on so as not to hear the explosions. I realized how fragile life is, that in one moment everything can be taken away from you. I was going through a very difficult time, so I had a worrying suitcase, I put all my music in an old laptop, a microphone, a sound card and my guitar there, I don’t need anything else. All these things and other little things, I keep them, because stories are connected with them.
You’re doing a lot of charity gigs now. What’s the difference between concerts in peacetime and now?
– There is no difference for me. I celebrated the New Year twice with the military at the front. Recently, Mirzoyan and I were in Irpen at a military unit where the occupiers were. I was incredibly worried, I get worried before every concert anyway, but here it was just off scale. I understood that some of those people were going to the front, and for some it could be the last concert. I saw those eyes full of all the events, but I thank God that with my creativity I can pull them out of that reality for at least a moment and see smiles on their faces.
How do you see Ukrainian music in the future?
– I generally see Ukraine as happy and prosperous. I look at our people, and they are crazy in a good way. Once in March I was driving in a car and turned on the radio, one radio station, a second, a third and everywhere only Ukrainian music was playing, I thought to myself “My God, have I really lived to the moment when Ukrainian music is heard everywhere?”.
Maybe you are preparing something completely new for your fans and can open the curtain for our readers?
– I dream of a concert with a symphony orchestra.
When I started dreaming about it, fate itself began to give me people. That’s how I met Taras Demchyshyn and now it’s our common dream.
On Instagram, I liked a video with the conductor, and a week later he wrote to me with a proposal that I was afraid to even dream about. My first thoughts were: “but this is not possible”, “no one even knows me”, “you didn’t have 5 hryvnias in your pocket, to buy yourself bread”, but I decided that fate was once again throwing me an opportunity that I must definitely agree to. Taras is currently working as a conductor of the national symphony orchestra in Japan and offered to create scores for my songs, and I know how much work it takes. Imagine, he wanted to do it for free! I hear my music with an orchestra, Taras hears my music with an orchestra, we really want to do it. And now you can hear these bright arrangements at my concerts.
It’s important to have a dream, because it’s the most valuable thing, because money is emptiness, you can live in such wealth, but in such misery, not knowing why you wake up.
Are you a happy person?
I am happy even when I have nothing to eat. I am happy that I have the opportunity to do what I love. And you also need to be grateful for everything and share this gratitude, because you yourself sow those seeds, and then they will sprout.
Spoke – Tetyana Panchenko
Generation Ukraine Forever