Aku-Aku - Aku-Aku (2014)

The main material was recorded in St. Petersburg in April 2014 at the Toch-v-Toch studio. The studio session lasted about three hours, including equipment setup. Everything was recorded live, without overdubs. It was important to capture the sound "here and now." Interestingly, up until the recording session, Roma and I hadn't played together for about 5 months, as I had been traveling for solo performances in different cities. Nevertheless, the album turned out atmospheric and very vibrant. It sounds somewhat shamanistic, "chthonic," at times lyrical, and in some places, it has a subtle groove.

Artem Vodomirov (Intelligent-P) worked on the sound of the main part of the album, and Igor Izhinsky (Protogroup) spent a lot of time working on additional material. We also involved Lena Nosova, a vocalist from the St. Petersburg collective "Vetervsem," and the talented singer Papua. Eddie (Monolok) greatly contributed with his guitar playing. We recorded the track "True Green" together with him and Sasha Vinogradova in May in Moscow at RBMA. Besides playing the hang solo, I also played drums for that track, while Eddie took care of all the arrangements, and he did a brilliant job, as we think. The release concludes with a track by a young producer from the city of Zapolyarny, Marq M. I sent him several layers played on the Spb-pantam and cajon from Kharkiv. That's how the track "Arctic Coast" was born. Initially, I planned it as a cover of one of Telefon Tel Aviv's compositions, but Marq heard the music in his own way.

The entire album is our experience of interacting with the surrounding world on different levels of existence: thinking, doing and not doing, feeling, and imagining. It's our love for all living things, which we try to transmit and express through sound.

The album is beautifully crowned with art by Bioniq and design by Timur Repin, which perfectly continues its mood.