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Kazantip. The Prezident's Dreams
Интервью · 03.07.2006
By Iovik
Very soon the filming of the reality show Kazantip 14 will begin. For many years now the most global summer festival of Russia and Ukraine has taken place across the Crimean expanses, drawing thousands of happy clubbers in search of the merging of day with night, the sea with the sun, music with the soul. 44100Hz met with the reality show's director — who doubles as the president of the Republic of Kazantip — Nikita Marshunok, and talked about his dreams and creative plans for the future...
The concept of Kazantip 2006 is aspiration towards the sky and the construction of the Great Kazantip Tower. Is there an architectural blueprint, and how much will a square metre cost?
You can already touch the project with your hands and easily get lost in the labyrinths of the lower floors. Construction of the stairway to heaven will continue for a few more years, but even now, without false modesty, one can state that this is the most ambitious dancefloor in the world. I haven't yet thought about selling square metres of the dancefloor — let them go to the most steadfast.
Are yellow suitcases no longer in fashion?
Yellow isn't very current this season; right now the national fashion is dominated by the polka-dot trend.
How do you personally get to Kazantip?
Since I live nearby, I sometimes walk, but more often I ride over the Popovka gullies in my little armoured car.
Is there any data on the growth of the Republic's GDP?
By some measures we're ahead of the whole planet. For instance, in the number of happy and vibrant people per capita, or, say, we take pride in having the lowest content of assholes. And the Republic's GDP grows in proportion to the extraction of Happyness out of anything and everything. Any fool can be happy for some reason, but only the great people of Kazantip can be happy for no reason at all. By the way, according to a new theory by prime minister kto_nado, GDP means 'the Great Inner Rightness'. And our GDP — in the sense that we're moving in the right direction, i.e. forward, upward and towards the dream — is also steadily growing.
How many stages will there be at Z006, and which headliners have already been declassified?
With enormous effort I'm holding back the growth in the number of dancefloors, and there will be no more than ten of them. Surprising people with big names isn't our style, but this season the usual lineup of top Russian DJs will be diluted by Timo Maas, Lexy & K-Paul, Hardfloor, Atomic Hooligan, Kompakt (Frank Martiniq, Martin Scharrenbroich, Jan Eric Kaiser), Ben Lost, Hardy Hard, and various other hotshots.
Which artists would you like to hear at Kazantip?
I'd be delighted to see, in our village of contrasts, someone like Underworld or Depeche Mode.
You've undoubtedly been to European summer festivals and to Ibiza. In your view, what are the main differences in mentality between European and Russian fans of electronic music?
I travel a lot in autumn and winter, but I've never once been to a single festival. Nor to Ibiza, either. I wouldn't want to fall under the influence of stereotypes and copy the world's experience; I prefer to develop from my own personal feelings. If we're talking about mentality, then it's obvious that Slavs party far harder.
Do you personally have any vivid musical memories from any of the Kazantips?
There are performers who play on 3-4 turntables, but I'll never forget how DJ Grad in 1998 played virtuosically on just one (there wasn't a second). It was also really cool at the Atomic Reactor ('99), when after Incognito's closing track the whole crowd went on for another half an hour drumming out the rhythm with bits of scrap metal on the walls and structures of the Turbine Hall. No one knew yet that it was the very last track ever to sound within those walls.
Nikita, you're clearly a great idealist and probably carry in your head a plan of the perfect Kazantip. How much does reality spoil it?
The surrounding Crimean-village reality — goats, geese, dusty country roads — doesn't, in my view, spoil the overall picture much; rather, it contrasts flatteringly with the majestic columns of our Colosseum, Stonehenge and the Triumphal Arch in honour of the victory of Good over Reason.
You have a wonderful bag with Fun Chum lettering that you clearly treasure. Tell us where it came from?
I have a whole collection of idiotic accessories made from various kinds of packaging and the waste products of civilization. They're the creations of talented Filipino freaks, and I usually take them along to the most serious negotiations.
This year there was supposed to be a competition for a Kazantip anthem. Did anyone win?
The main selection criterion was getting goosebumps while listening to a track. Over six months I had to listen to about a hundred compositions, but the goosebumps never came.
Does the prezident have a radio set?
I don't listen to the radio.
Tell us about the Kazantip parliament — what it is, who's part of it, and how much it influences the president?
After numerous experiments I dissolved the Z-Parliament — or rather, transformed it into a think tank, the League of Reason. This centre generates various projects that we rarely use, but it gives us a unique opportunity to monitor the public consciousness and manipulate it a little.
Do you dream of bringing back the unfinished nuclear reactor as an arena for Z-parties?
In theory we could return to the Reactor. But right now it's easier for me to build one in Popovka than to teleport the Great and lazy people of Kazantip into the past.
How do you envision Kazantip in 2016?
Ten years ago I was asked similar questions too. Today, from the height of the Great Kazantip Tower, I can see things that weren't even dreamed of back then. If you don't rein in your imagination, then in 2016 we'll finally achieve world domination by peaceful means, according to my theory. Or, at the very worst, a dictatorship of Happyness over most of the planet's territory.
And finally, the main (mercenary) question: how much will the viZas for 2006 cost?
In any case the sum is laughable and incomparable with the whole complex of sensations you'll get in return. Take all the money you have and deny yourself nothing. I think it wouldn't hurt to suggest that our dear readers dig around on www.kazantipa.net before setting off. See you in a few days!
Crimea, the village of Popovka (near Yevpatoria), the Black Sea coast, from 15 July to 26 August