A Real Jedi's Day Off

There's one place where I relax, but it's secret, closed off… although, in principle, I can tell you about it. This club is called "Gazgolder", it was opened only for the Moscow bohemia and is now considered the best club in Moscow. After a year of operation, they still don't let ordinary people in, all while creating a huge buzz around it. People are dying to get in there, it's always packed, and the music, the decor, and the design there are beyond any comparison — not with Leto, not with Zima, not with First. Because there's a special atmosphere there, old famous characters, loads of stars, representatives of the art crowd, artists, musicians, the best DJs play there. Actually, I work there. And every day there is different. On Wednesdays we gather as a big crowd and watch intellectual cinema on a big screen; on Thursdays — concerts by all sorts of bands, electronic and live; and on Fridays — the sold-out day, a disco and all that, foreign DJs come. It's not commerce there, it's glamorous underground, since "Gazgolder" is owned by very rich and all-powerful people. Such a whirl goes on, everything snowballs — nobody is chasing monetary goals, but everyone is still interested and everyone wants to get in there. The face control is the harshest, it's impossible to pass if you're not on the list or they don't know you by face! Whoever you are, nothing will work. Those are the club's rules. In "Gazgolder" my closest friends gather, everyone knows each other, it's a community of like-minded people in different fields — fashion, design, music, artists, sculptors. At Gazgolder I don't keep track of the music, I'm indifferent to it, I'm busy with other things there while I'm not working — flirting, women, this and that, unwinding.

I really like "Garazh", because it has a peculiar atmosphere, one that makes you want to stand at the bar, have a drink and chat with friends. I think it's the best after-party, the best post-club spot, one that welcomes you nicely with music, and the staff there is very friendly. I love "Garazh" because the guys from "Comedy Club" go there, with whom we have a fantastic time; besides that, Grad, Perets, and Dan work there — my friends work there! I try to go to "Garazh" at the first opportunity, but right now I have a lot of touring and I'm rarely in Moscow. After I play a club, I try to swing by "Garazh", meet up with friends, swap impressions of who was where, and in general, blah-blah-blah. We're always glad to see each other half-alive after the club — in short, we meet up to drink, joke around, shout, yell, go wild and jump about like goats. "Garazh" is a café, the way "12 Chairs" used to be, I think, back in the 60s. It was a very famous bar, they filmed famous sketches there… Spartak Mishulin… and so on. Well, and quite a lot of young guys and girls go to "Garazh", whom we get to know; you can meet club dancers there, say, our "Celebrities" also end up at "Garazh". The atmosphere there is terribly positive. And I'm not afraid to call "Garazh", against the backdrop of the huge number of new stylish, modern bars opening in the center of Moscow, an old-timer's place that is still frequented, still relevant. And it's one of the first ones on the club map of any party-goer. I don't mean the hyper-oligarchs, who maybe don't even know "Garazh" exists; I just want to say that this place is very popular and relevant despite its "age". I'm saying a lot about "Garazh"… there are other interesting places too — I was recently at Bar Number One, sometimes I go to 30/7. Although there's a large number of clueless foreigners there and… this foreign vibe dominates. I don't much like that atmosphere, because all around it's this ooaa-eeu-aee-ua, this American language. And getting back to my time off, I want to say that as a professional, working in a club and resting are completely different things for me. Well, if you look at it from Oblomov's point of view, then of course it's more pleasant for me to rest in a club when the people around me are also resting. And "Garazh" is exactly that kind of easygoing place, where young and old are all having a good time.

My favorite place to sit with friends is the Dj café Mio. It has excellent cuisine, it's always quiet and calm, and I feel very good there. The very atmosphere is conducive to relaxing and chatting. When we come there — we do nothing, and that's exactly what resting from the constant bustle, the clubs, the parties, the tours, the flights is all about. A couple of times a week I drop by Mio (on non-club days) and there you can meet good acquaintances, sit, have a chat. I also enjoy listening to music when a good DJ comes; I'm a music lover, all in all. And if not at a club, when it's resting at home, then we usually gather at a friend's place on Tverskaya — he has turntables at home — or we watch football with him on a big screen, some Champions League matches. Sometimes we play Sony Playstation… or show off musical new finds: who got what and where.