Ilo Toerkell: Hi Minona Volandova, you are a producer and musician releasing music under the moniker “Men Seni Suyemin“. Why did you choose that name?
Minona Volandova: It seems to me that there is a lot of love and gratitude in me. It seems to me that I have a very rich musical life. Translated from Kazakh, the name of my project is translated as “I love you”. Probably this means that I love everything beautiful that happens to me, and the most important thing is that there is music in my life, I am pleased to know that I know exactly what I love. And this is also dedicated to my aunt, she was a very good person and I wanted something beautiful to be born in her memory.
What kind of music were you exposed to while growing up? How has that influenced your music today?
As a child, I listened to pop music and rap, but I really came to myself when I fell in love with punk rock. One of the most important bands of my youth was the Sex Pistols. Then for many years, I listened to Indie Rock and Britpop. The most important band of my whole life is Blur, the artistic way of Damon Albarn is my guiding star. In recent years, I listen more to techno and electronic music, I really love the music of the musician Mujuice.
You are a classically trained guitarist, yet on the record moves away from that and is more experimental and electronic. When did you get into electronic music and producing?
When I learned to play the guitar, initially these were classical guitar pieces and I just adore them, I am happy that I managed to graduate from music college, where we were taught jazz guitar. It so happened that my development in music gradually came to electronic sound, I think that most likely this is the variety of music that I listened to, inspired by the work of such musicians as mujuice Chemical Brazers, Gorillaz. It seems to me that many electronic musicians have gone through this path in the past being both punks and classical guitarists, probably this is the desire to learn new things. My time in St. Petersburg also expanded my understanding of music. I made the transition from Indie to electronic music and listened to a variety of DJs and events, which inspired me to create a beautiful event in my hometown.
A Tribute to My City
Your music merges this type of production with an appreciation for your Kazakh roots growing up Semey, a place with great cultural significance. Are there any traditional sounds that have shaped the record and you as an artist?
Several tracks in my work have references to the poems of Kazakh poets. This is a tribute to my city. the most famous poets, and philosophers were born in my city.
“Dark Waves” is connected to regional folklore and ancient songs from the Bryansk region, if I understood correctly. Can you tell me more about what inspired the song?
The song is a collaboration with the singer Kristina Li, whom I have known for a long time. The moment of the track creation, perhaps she felt my music exactly like that, she wanted to choose these words. Initially, when there was only one music, I imagined that girls were dancing in a circle to it, and perhaps this inspired her, later the picture from my head turned into a video. Thanks for this to the director Kristina Snegina and the entire film crew.
Bringing Home the First Rave Ever
On Instagram you recently shared that you were able to organize the first rave party in your hometown, Semey. What was the experience like? What challenges did you come across along the way?
In September, I fulfilled my long-standing dream: I managed to gather a team of enthusiasts and together we held the first electronic music festival in our city. There were a lot of worries; for example, we did not know how many like-minded people we had in the city since no one had held a Rave in my hometown before. We could have initially made some small events, but we put in colossal efforts like Instagram design and attracting local DJs and DJs from nearby cities. We assembled a stage in a factory—this is a historical place in the city, a very beautiful location. The idea was not to do something small, but to make a cultural event with a performance, and art installations, so that creative people of our city could express themselves on a beautiful stage.
We had a very creative stage; we put the DJ console on a cart made of bricks. There were a lot of creative moments and joy from the fact that I do this with like-minded people. Many thanks to the director of the factory Serikbek Shaimardanov, a patriot of the city, a man who supported his homie (me), my team Katya, Polina, Gena, Maxim, Sasha, Dasha. And in the big cities of our country, promoters of cool festivals supported us with a kind word, because to make a rave in a city where nothing like this has happened is important in general for music.
Thriving on Hope
How do you hope the music scene in Semey will develop?
Our historical city is the place where the Kazakh intelligentsia was born—many poets, writers and thinkers—and it seems to me that wonderful people live in our city. I believe that they will inspire and try to make rave parties themselves.
Your songs have a pervasive message of hope even in times of darkness. What gives you hope?
In recent years, we have been living in a world where many sad events happen. But along with this, there are also wonderful moments of happiness in life. It is for the sake of moments of simple human happiness that I want to hope for the best. Sometimes even an album by my favorite musician can inspire me with the idea that I am not living my life in vain. Hope is an important component of life.
Believe is out now via 2MR. Stay up to date with Men Seni Suyemin via her Instagram.