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MIGZ 2009: Vikhornov
Интервью · 23.06.2009
By Маргарита Аминева
Another participant in the international festival of contemporary music and media art MIGZ is Dmitry Vikhornov, a Moscow electronic musician whose performances are built on a mix of IDM and minimal techno with inclusions of lyrical themes, sometimes Russian folk ones. In 1997 Mitya began playing in the group Pork Roll and writing music for it. In 1998 the group received the "Golden Ptuch" award as the best electronic project of the year...
44100Hz: You've tried many styles: art-rock, jazz, ethnic music, noise experiments and even industrial. Is there a genre you can't stand?
Vikhornov: All genres are good, take your pick. It depends on what I'm doing at a given moment. There's a purely professional attitude to musical genres. I don't like it when a certain musical trend exists and all 100,000 musicians start making only that kind of music, never stepping outside the bounds of the genre. I love it when there's innovation and experimentation in music. That could be, for example, combining several styles in a single piece of music.
44100Hz: You wanted to write music for film. Did you manage to? Why is that interesting to you?
Vikhornov: I did, I worked with several directors. I'm interested in expressing myself beyond traditional composing. Writing music for films or other creative projects is, after all, not quite a standard form of work for a musician. For example, I wrote music for circus shows and did the sound design for the installation of an interactive design project for students of the LCC (London College of Communication). And that was especially cool.
44100Hz: At MIGZ you're performing with Jan Kalnberzin. Are you preparing something special?
Vikhornov: Not really — Jan and I don't particularly prepare for performances at all; we'll decide right there on stage what we'll show people. Actually, Jan and I have been working as a creative duo for a long time and usually we work out our performances quite thoroughly and precisely, so it's usually more of a single, unified show. At MIGZ we'll show something interesting, but I don't really want to get specific right now — let's keep it shrouded in mystery! You could fantasise with adjectives: cosmic, crackling, incredible and unearthly, but you won't believe it anyway, will you?!
44100Hz: At one time you left music and went into business, then returned to creative work again. Was that a forced measure?
Vikhornov: A real musician never has any forced measures that would make him stop creating. I didn't leave music, I just began to promote outwardly other things that also interested me at that moment. I cut down the number of performances, but I experimented and composed no less for it — it just wasn't reaching the outside world.
44100Hz: What creative period are you going through right now?
Vikhornov: I'm busy creating several interactive music projects. I'd like to take my work beyond concert performances and move rather into an exhibition-and-installation environment.
44100Hz: Your latest musical discovery?
Vikhornov: The advert for the new line of PHILIPS televisions — it's just stunning!
26 June, 35MM (CUBE)
Vikhornov (RU)
visuals Jan Kalnberzin
www.myspace.com/vikhornov→
