Nike Borzov Interview - Scandal still sells well. Rejoice together with Nike Borzov Old songs in a new way - a hot topic

Sometimes they return... It would seem that his name has been forgotten. The driven "Horse" was shot, and "Riding the Star" Nike took off into worlds parallel to success and glory. Recorded in the heroes of yesterday - period. And he suddenly took it and got out of the eight-year underground. Yes, even with the fresh album "IZNUTRN", which is already called the musical discovery of the year.

Interviewed by Dmitry Tulchinsky

“They wrote on the Internet that I died of an overdose”

- And immediately a question on the forehead: Nike, where have you been for the last eight years?
- Almost everything that I have been doing for the last eight years, I have described in my car film, which is called "Observer" - it will be released along with the disc as an appendix to the disc. But in principle, he became interested in theater, played in Grymov's play Nirvana. Then he took up all sorts of psychedelic projects, trance: he produced, wrote the soundtrack for an audiobook. He revived his group "Infection" - which, however, three years later he "buried" again ...

- In general, things were overwhelming. But you know how it is with us: there is no person on TV - it means that he does not exist at all.
- I believe that the main thing is a sense of self-perception. If for yourself you are not lost in space, then, in general, everything is in order. And on TV, by the way, from time to time I still appeared, and my songs were played on the radio.

But it is clear that compared to 2000, when you were named performer of the year, this is heaven and earth. That's why I got the impression: there was Nike Borzov, but all of them came out.
- Hmm, I even read somewhere on the Internet that he died of an overdose.

- Well, quite a logical version.
- In fact, you just need to remember the years 2002-2003, and what we had in the country. The "Star Factory" began, and immediately the rock musicians went to the third, tenth, fiftieth plan. Programs where you could come and play a live concert have practically disappeared. The whole space was filled with cheap pop singers singing to the “plywood”, which, moreover, was promoted by Channel One every day.

So you, I think, then just had a real super chance with that pop music to merge together, to become a full-fledged pop character.
- Maybe this is one of the main reasons why I went into the shadows. I did not want to be a pop artist, yet I do not perceive my music as something massive. The songs "Horse", "Three Words", "Day Like Day" were rather an exception in this regard ...

- Pretty pop songs, in general.
Let's just say they're small. I like to talk about complex things in a conditionally simple language.

I immediately remember: “My name is Vova, just Vova ...” And then Vladimir Vladimirovich had just taken office.
- I think this song will be a super hit again in a couple of years. Maybe even the anthem of Russia.

- At one time, I remember, the deputies even arranged parliamentary hearings about this song.
- Yes, they spent three hours of their precious time on the analysis of an absolutely empty problem. The song was accused of promoting prostitution, sex... Wow! What a nightmare! .. That is, it turns out that I sang about such things that no one had even guessed before. And the song sounded - and suddenly everyone knew about it. I then went to the Duma, through the secretary handed the speaker an invitation to my concert. I don’t know if he came or not, but, they say, there were some deputies in the hall.

- Went down in history, one might say. From the people of show business, in my opinion, the Duma took apart only you and Sobchak.
- And they generally like to engage in all sorts of nonsense, not related to the progress of the country or to improving the standard of living of citizens. Perhaps the analysis of my song has become a kind of bright spot for the deputies against the background of their everyday dullness. They also need some kind of show inside the boring corridors of power. And the youth, again, should be involved in parliamentary hearings.

"I didn't want to live by the rules of show business"

- "Horse" also gave rise to a series of scandals. True, it did not become a hit ...
- Yes, I included it in the group's album "Infection" in 1996, a year later I rewrote it for my own album "Puzzle". And even then this song began to have some bright stories. Let's say a person puts it on the radio, at his own discretion - and he gets fired for it. Then "Horse" became the anthem of all Moscow drug dealers. That is, she immediately began to jump specifically. And in 2000 there was a certain explosion - they began to twist it just everywhere.

- Normal pop story - strike while the iron is hot. And you?..
- And I did not want to live by the rules of show business. Yes, I have never been in show business, I was engaged in the creativity that gives me pleasure. If someone else likes it, great. But first of all, I do it in order to get high myself and surprise myself.

It looks like an answer. Many, as they are called, "downed pilots" say they did not want to play by the rules of showbiz. But, I am sure, none of them would refuse to continue their success.
- I agree that the majority would not refuse. But I'm not in the majority.

- You did not like the popularity? Recognition, a sea of ​​fans, autographs?
- No, it's all very nice. In terms of the fact that you do not need, firstly, to explain nothing to anyone: you come, and everything is already clear to everyone. Anywhere: be it a store or a record company. But there are also disadvantages, and they follow from the same advantages. Relatively speaking, people think they know everything about you. And the mass consciousness begins to dictate to you: who you should be, how you should act. If you follow his lead, then in most cases you turn into some kind of comic book, a caricature of yourself. I wasn't ready for this.

- Or maybe star fever is it all to blame?
- I had it. But not at that time, but at the age of 13-15. That's when I had a real megalomania. A video recording of one concert of those times has been preserved, now I am reviewing it - well, Billy Idol is practically. When this so-called popularity happened, my friends were a bit shocked. And already at the age of 13 I understood that this would happen to me, and it was only a matter of time.

- Moreover, I don’t understand: how was it possible after the stadiums to go back to the semi-underground punk?
- I didn't go into punk. My daughter was born in 2003, for example. Is it punk?

- So I think that there must be more compelling reasons for going into the shadows.
Yes, my daughter was born. And this is really something like that, when you begin to feel divine. And to deal with all this fuss - cockroach, rat - I was already somehow disgusted. For the last three years I have been recording my new solo record, and it, unlike the previous ones, turned out to be very bright. Suddenly I wanted light. I wanted people to stop being animals. I wanted to show them that in addition to sex, food and television, there are many more interesting things. And the whole world real world is within ourselves. And if a person does not develop his world, does not make it bright, if he is always depressed, in this “horse” state and drives his cart with the illusory happiness “cocaine”, and takes a steam bath from this, and does an unloved thing, then he becomes an animal. That is, I wanted to change this world at least a little, to contribute to the treasury of the bright.

"Now I'm rushing without drugs and alcohol"

It's all wonderful. But ten years have passed, life is now fast. We could forget who Nike Borzov is. And who to change then?
- I'm not at all worried about this topic: "forgotten - not forgotten." Only ten years have passed, it is not so much, nobody has forgotten anything. And another ten years will pass, I'm sure, and at the discos of the 2000s (like the discos of the 80s and 90s), everyone will again sing “Horse”, “Three Words” and “Riding a Star”.

Are you prone to depression yourself?
- I have depression. But I find my charm in this state, sometimes I even prolong it on purpose. I am different at this moment, I can write something completely different from what I write in a positive and reckless mood. But I did not have depression due to the fact that they began to forget about me. On the contrary, when it started, I began to refuse interviews, stopped going to some events. I just wanted to move away from all this and look at the situation as if from the outside. To what happened to me, to what is happening in general. And it gave me the opportunity to write a very deep record, which is now out. She is actually very important to me. A job that I'm really proud of.

- And what about all these rumors about an overdose - not from scratch?
- By the way, they wrote that I died from a heroin overdose, but in fact I never used heroin. In general, I am not a big fan of talking about this, but I can say that now there is no alcohol or drugs in my life. At some point, I realized: I have all this inside, I learned to call any state naturally and on their own. And then I realized that I really regret something. That is, in principle, in life I do not regret anything, everything was as it should have been. But this is what I really regret. I'm really sorry that at one time I pumped all this into myself. But now I am absolutely clean, there are no waves of narcotic and alcoholic ones, which, even after the “tie”, cover a person for many years. All this ended long ago, and now I'm just as really rushing without drugs and alcohol.

- Really now at all not a drop? Because - can end badly?
- No, at some point I began to drink calmly, without fanaticism, so to speak. To wake up in the trunk of a car - this was no longer the case. It so happened that last time I drank when we celebrated the first long-distance tour in the 20-year history of the Infection group. In 2006, we went to Yekaterinburg to the Ural Rock festival, were headliners there. I remember that from the hall where they performed, they left in a minibus, behind us was a full bus of girls. We arrive at the restaurant, and the frenzy begins: everyone is cool, really cool atmosphere around. I think it should also be noted. I ordered an ear, 50 grams. I drink, I eat. And I understand that I was not inserted at all. I take another 50 - no effect. I drink the third fifty dollars. And I immediately get a hangover. That's when I realized that - that's it, I already drank my dose. Apparently, the cork has already surfaced, as in that old joke. Since then, I have not drank alcohol at all.

But they might think: a person “tied up” - and inspiration disappeared. After all, both Kurt Cobain, whom you played with Grymov, and Jim Morrison composed while high.
I don't know about Cobain and Morrison, I didn't hang out with them. And how it was there, no one knows.

- As for Morrison, I'm judging from Stone's film.
- I understand. But this is propaganda, in fact - Stone is generally a commissioned director. As for inspiration, I certainly don’t draw it from drugs, one hundred percent. And giving up on them is by no means the reason I stopped composing. In general, it happens in my life: I don’t write anything for a long time, and then all of a sudden, I can’t stop. I only write when I feel like it. And I can’t write a song just so that popularity doesn’t turn sour. I tried, it doesn't work...

Recipes for every day

Recipes from all over the world

From that to this shore

Nike Borzov and an almost space odyssey for the musician's work in all its manifestations.

Songwriter and performer Nike Borzov is a welcome guest in Krasnodar. Yes, and he seems to like it here: he was with concerts twice last year, one of which was as part of the 45 Years in Space tour, and is planning the next one in the fall of 2018. In anticipation of the speech, we talked about the taste for creativity on the earthly and cosmic scales.

About the tour name

“Space is a complex and huge structure. No one even notices whether we exist or not. Our history, merits and achievements, regalia and orders do not matter. But at the same time, life itself is made up of seemingly insignificant little things. So for me, space is the harmony of everything around. Therefore, I decided to designate such a complex concept as a big tour, in which I played the best of what was written throughout my life.

It is believed that the cosmos is infinite, but it has a beginning. Let's talk about the beginning of your story. Parents shared the hippie culture, my mother was fond of spiritual practices, my father was a musician. It's like that?

Yes, there was always some kind of holiday at home, everything was colorful, bright colors, the music was strange, not the one that sounded on TV then. But there were, of course, downsides to this. I remember as a child in Once again sat in such a company, I wildly wanted to see the continuation of the cartoon in the program " Good night, kids ”, and the TV was in the room where the party was going on. It was so noisy and smoky that I couldn't watch the cartoon. I still remember that moment and others like it. But overall it was fun. And creative people gathered: artists, sculptors, musicians. There were especially many of the latter because of the parents' addiction to music.

Which instrument did you master first?

Acoustic guitar. I liked the sound. Mom told me that I still couldn’t walk, but I was already plucking the strings of my father’s guitar. He crawled up, laid his ear on the soundboard and strummed "mi-si-sol-re-la-mi." This vibration was mesmerizing. Until now, when I play the guitar, I often put my head to it - to listen. I like how the body and the instrument resonate: ideas and energies intertwine, creating something organic.

The famous song "Horse" was written by Nike in 1993, recorded in 1997, and in 2000 glorified the author throughout the country, literally made a representative of the mainstream out of the underground performer.

When did you feel like a musician?

I don't celebrate those things. I prefer to think that music has always been with me and I am always in music. This is the natural state.

Nike Borzov was a member of the musical groups Mutant Beavers, Killer Honda, Gravitational Singularity.
In 2003, he played the role of Kurt Cobain in Yuri Grymov's Nirvana. He narrated Hunter S. Thompson's book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and composed the soundtrack for it.

There was a time when you disappeared from TV screens for 8 years. Not every artist can afford such a break, and then return and become popular again. What's the secret?

Maybe because I write beautiful songs? (Laughs.)

Definitely. And still?

That I didn't disappear. I was not on TV and radio, but I mastered the Internet, which was not popular among musicians in the 2000s. He was busy with projects that had a distant relation to commerce or the mainstream. Can this be considered extinction? In a sense, yes. How to leave and then return, while maintaining popularity? I don't know. Apparently, it is necessary to write high-quality compositions. And this is what I do, even when I work in a “psychedelic trance” that seems to be unusual for me, according to the majority.

About bins and barrels

“In the 1980s, I wrote in several notebooks on
96 sheets of his career, discography, songs literally by year, up to 2000. Each album was between 8 and 20 songs if a double LP was planned. I sometimes remember something from there and even think about collecting a collection of songs written before the 1990s. It's like a notebook with recipes that you collect in order to cook something later. From the same period - the acoustic album "Dialogue with the Wall", I did not post it anywhere. Maybe when I'm gone, they'll find it and publish it."

Was it a temporary hobby?

There is nothing permanent and eternal in space: no projects, no people. If the project is fascinating, then you don’t think about time, you just enjoy the moment. In general, I live in the present. Sometimes I make plans, I fantasize. I perceive the past as a certain chain of connected events. I have a lot of threads with the past. Often in similar situations I turn to myself as I once was, and already from the height of past years and experience I draw conclusions. But still, I like to live here and now.

“Now the maximum time is spent on recording a new album. I hope to please them at the end of this year or at the beginning of next. In parallel with the recording of finished songs, I am writing new ones, but there is no definite concept yet. Everything can change every moment. As long as it is a constructor.

What project do you consider the most significant in your career?

Solo creativity. It started before Infection and other bands, most of which are for fun. It's like, say, when you eat healthy food or go on a diet, and then you eat something wildly unhealthy, but just a little bit. Projects are all different, unlike what I do as solo artist. And that makes it even more interesting.

At the age of 14, in 1986, Nike Borzov created musical group"Infection", which was known as the first thrash-punk project in the Soviet Union.

Variety is necessary - as in nutrition, so as not to become boring. Or like business trips, when you start to miss the people you left. But, I admit, 8 years is too long a pause. I will not repeat.

11 studio albums Nike Borzov has been out since 1992. The most recent release is "Acid God" in 2018.

By the way, we were surprised to learn recently that you took part in culinary programs on TV. What is your relationship with food?

Very warm. We love each other. Nutrition is important. You are what and how you eat. This law works.

What are your fondest memories of food?

About my grandmother's dumplings. They were amazing. After she died, I don’t eat dumplings, because I didn’t meet such a taste again and didn’t get such a buzz from this dish. Also tangerines and, perhaps, Soviet chewing gum - coffee, orange, mint. We chipped in with friends and bought one pack for several people. Sometimes they got half of each, sometimes a whole.

How are your taste preferences reflected in the rider?

There are registered simple rules adequate for the musician's health. Frequent moving, changing food and water - the body is in a certain stress because of this. That's why proper nutrition is part of the contract. On tour, we have everything in order with food. We don’t eat complex meals, we don’t eat at eateries, we don’t have snacks on the go.

But it certainly wasn't always like that. What was the food like in the period of youth, the peak of popularity and protracted tours?

Yes, not always. About 20 years ago, during a tour, he could have been completely left without dinner. The organizers of the festivals in which I participated happened to disappear immediately after the performance. Yes, and then they didn’t think much about healthy eating.

I used to have a tradition: coming to St. Petersburg, eat shawarma at the station. There was a stall that sold the best shawarma in town. Ate it every time there while touring. And then sat down on the hodgepodge.

And once, in the same St. Petersburg, where I came just to visit friends, I overate it. That's literally to the wildest heartburn. After that, I don't eat hodgepodge anymore.

Shawarma is most often called shawarma
in St. Petersburg. In fact, this is the same dish. The classics of Arabic cuisine are meat (preferably chicken, lamb or beef), vegetables and sauce wrapped in thin pita bread. But the options can be different: vegetarian, mushroom, sweet, such as fruit or with chocolate paste. Experiments are possible not only with the filling - instead thin lavash maybe pita. Closest "relatives": Turkish doner, Mexican enchilada, Greek gyro.

As opposed to fast food, the philosophy of a healthy, varied and wholesome diet is closer to me today. And for that I have to thank my wife. For ten years now, a balanced healthy diet has been a part of my life. She was amazingly easy to set up and implement, so now it comes naturally to me.

“Everywhere I go, I eat tomato soup with vegetable broth. In general, I often become a fan of certain dishes for a while. As once - shawarma and hodgepodge. Today it's tomato soup.

Cold tomato soup gazpacho, as part of the Spanish culinary tradition, perfectly saturates a hot summer day and at the same time quenches thirst. With a simple base and easy cooking people like to experiment with this dish in professional and home kitchens. Red gazpacho began to be prepared only a couple of centuries ago, when tomatoes appeared in Europe. For a classic tomato soup, stale bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, vinegar, salt, olive oil and herbs are used.

Is the passion for healthy food part of going from a bad guy to a good guy? Kefir and smoothies do not fit into the image of a rock musician. Or is this stereotype outdated?

I've always been a good guy (laughs). I tried, at least. And in time I realized that I did not want to die young at all. No one needs experiments on themselves, which can end badly. It is important to learn from the mistakes of others, not just your own. For me, the fashion for alcohol and other rock and roll stereotypes are now uninteresting and outdated, in my opinion.

Is there a concept today« Russian rock» ? At least your name is often associated with it.

Yes, he is. The radio station "Nashe Radio" plays Russian rock today. But I would not talk about what he is, so as not to offend anyone. Do I associate myself with him? Well, except from the position: I'm Russian and I play rock music.

Music perfectly conveys feelings. Can food do it? Which of the dishes embodies passion for you, what is tenderness, and what is weakness?

Complex issue. Weakness, probably fast food. Sometimes you want, and you succumb to weakness. Well, fast food is different, of course. For example, in Greece there is not at all haute cuisine, but I like their appetizers, tzatziki, bread - delicious, and this is a weakness, yes.

Passion is when a dish in a restaurant looks so that you understand: the cook who prepared it is the same artist, musician as you are. Recently we were in Ufa and after the performance we had dinner in a restaurant. Each dish there was like a work of art - both in taste and in design. We almost ate our fingers, and then asked the chef to come out to us to thank us. This food is passion. And tenderness is what my wife cooks.

Eat favorite place or traditions associated with family dinner? Where do you like to dine with your wife?

When it comes to restaurants, we are constantly looking for new places, asking friends for recommendations, looking and reading reviews, or passing by and deciding where to go now or some time later. And at home, as a rule, we eat together only once - for lunch or dinner. More often to meet at the table schedule does not allow. Sometimes, I eat on the go, there is such a sin.

Has your passion for products with miraculous properties touched you?

Yes, it happens on our menu. My wife is a fan of these useful troubles. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't even know they existed.

Excellent physical form Is it a genetic gift or the result of effort?

Both. And the genetics are good, and you still have to make an effort. First of all, of course, you need to think about what and how much you eat.

In modern gastronomy there is a concept« comfort food» (comfort food). Simple and familiar food to cheer up, something that always pleases. Do you have one? Please share the recipe.

Yes, I have. Take a zucchini, half, for example. And a lot of greens - parsley, dill, onion to taste. Garlic clove. You cut all this arbitrarily and throw it into a blender, pour a liter of kefir there. Salt, pepper - not much. And bring to a homogeneous mass. Smoothie or garden smoothie, whatever you want to call it. And it invigorates, and you don’t feel like eating for a long time after it, and you can drink a lot. Doesn't load. Perfect for breakfast or even for dinner. In any season.

It can be just for your music.

Yes. For something fun. Try Riding a Star, Three Words, or Day Like Day. Must like it.

Website: www.naikborzov.com

Prepared by Irina Dibizheva

rock cult: After recording the Zanoza album, you did not release solo works for 8 years. Did you experience new sensations when creating the album From the Inside?

Nike Borzov: Not really. But I decided to try a new studio for myself, and I liked it. I recorded three records there: From within 2010 Everywhere And Nowhere 2014 and Molecule 2016. And the break was really big, because I had to understand what I want to do next and how I want to do it. Plus, I had many other things to do: my daughter was born, I played in the theater, voiced audio books.

In a word, it was an underground period. I created projects that did not fit into the mainstream space of the zero years with endless Star Factories and other trash. But as soon as I realized that nothing good is happening and no one makes good music, I decided to record an album From within, which, by and large, also became a cult.

rock cult: You were one of the few rock musicians in Russia who were shown on MTV. But then MTV became narrow-profile and began to show, as you put it earlier, thrash, then it ceased to be at all music television and became the Pyatnitsa TV channel. No nostalgia for the old days?

Nike: We are now using the example of the MTV channel to trace the history of our country: how over these 16 years we have come to eternal Friday. Everyone does not care about everything, if only to get tired and not think about anything. In our country, the people are shaken up so that seventy percent are ready to rush into battle at a run. Well, after they finish their beer, of course. And there is no nostalgia for MTV, however, there is a lack of music channels that would play normal music. But I don't watch TV and didn't watch it then. I remember once in the 80s and 90s I watched foreign MTV. There they put something beautiful. The whole night they played underground - Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, and the next time they played black metal for the whole evening. There was a place on the air different music. And now we get either silicone tits or sugary boys with some kind of meatball baubles. And that's it. Turn on any music channel- there are only f[homosexual] sy.

rock cult: Maybe it's because now everything has turned into low-grade pop?

Nike: Well, I say - f[homosexual] sy.

rock cult: Some people like to remember that rock is protest music. Do you think that all rock musicians are destined to lead an adventurous lifestyle and shove anything into themselves - from pills to moonshine?

Nike: This is conditionally the same thing that the child should spin karmic knots your parents. That is, parents hang on their children everything that they could not realize in their lives, and the child does not live his own life. I think this is wrong. And rock today is absolutely toothless. Listening to this all the time, I came up with the idea to record a social rock album that I released this year with the band Infection. A disc about what is happening now in society and what we have come to due to our frivolity. Sharp, beautiful and musical - here you are, not toothless rock.

rock cult: If you perceive Infection as your first group, judging by your solo work, can we say that you have become much calmer?

Nike: Infection is not my first group. This is Wikipedia celebrating 30 years of my creative activity. You can trust her, I don't care. Before the Infection, I had one romantic-necrophilic story that lasted for God knows how many years. In '84 I made an acoustic album Dialogue with the wall. I even have recordings of my concerts before the Infection, but I have not posted them anywhere yet. However, the entries are very funny. It is possible that there are even hits among them.

rock cult: In some review it was also said that the same notorious Horse was composed in the Infection format, then rewritten and re-recorded for a solo project.

Nike: I just inserted it into the Infection album, and before that it had been in drafts for three years, and I didn’t even pay attention to it. This song was written somewhere in 1993, the first time it was released on the anniversary album in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Infection group. I recorded it alone, played all the instruments myself. The album is called Pick Up Your Bitch. And when Horse began to play in St. Petersburg on the radio, I realized that the song is cool. Many friends said that it was necessary to insert it into a solo album, and I was just recording an album Puzzle and decided to make a more acoustic version, which started playing on all the radio stations. And in 2000, I re-recorded it in the form in which the country knows it.

rock cult: And what provoked such creativity, which is presented in the Infection? Is this an attempt to be like your badass idols, or did you mean something?

Nike: I didn't want to say anything at all. It was always a joke. My mother loves literature very much, Pushkin is her favorite poet. And all his shameful lyrics were very well known to me since childhood. In my family, no one limited himself to such vocabulary, and at one point my friends and I were very carried away by this shameful lyrics. Sanya Laertsky with his Hairy Glass cursed, Letov and Civil defense Same. I thought it was cool. So we were on crooked guitars and wrote Infection albums on a tape recorder. Just like that, for nothing. We recorded an album, listened to it a couple of times, gave it to a couple of friends to listen to, and recorded the next one right on the same reel.

rock cult: IN Lately the Russian underground scene is gaining momentum. Do you associate yourself with them?

Nike: Yes, I do not associate myself with anyone. I don't like subcultures, and I don't take part in them. But I like to watch it. It's cool that a neo-psychedelic wave is coming out and that these guys are into music. modern trends which I also like. There, of course, while everything is ripped off from other artists and there is nothing of their own, but I am sure that even from those groups that we called hipsters, something interesting and original will appear. For example, Blur's first album is recorded in a typical Manchester wave style. But their next work changed history. Album 13 I consider the culmination of Blur, for example. In the West, this is a common occurrence, but in our country this is a rarity. But I am sure that sooner or later something original and unique will grow out of our underground, standing on its own planet.

rock cult: Philosophical question: our solar system moves in an infinite universe, but what will happen if it reaches the edge of reality at full speed? solar system ricochet, or be destroyed?

Nike: Yes, in a collision, everything will end, so it's pointless to think about it at all. It, of course, can bounce like a ball according to some laws of physics, but the laws of physics that we know only work within our planet. As soon as we fly into the atmosphere, immediately time slows down. It loses all meaning and ceases to be linear. We perceive only a tiny part of reality, and it is more multidimensional than what our ten percent of the brain allows us to realize.

rock cult: If you follow this logic, then in order to know the whole of reality, you should not judge by your own standards and consider yourself the center of the universe?

Nike: And everyone is satisfied with this model of behavior.

rock cult: How do you feel in a society where such a model of behavior is considered the norm and everyone judges themselves by their own worldview?

Nike: Critical attacks in my direction are very funny. But lately they haven’t accused me of anything, because I chewed everything for everyone a long time ago and put it in my mouth. I can say that I went against myself and began to explain my texts, which I have never done and will not do in the future. Explaining the meaning of the lyrics of the song is stupid - anyway, everyone perceives it to the extent of their depravity. Everyone perceives this world as it is. But in principle, there is no peace, but there is chaos. And the main task of man is to organize chaos in his own galaxy. If you look at it, then each person is his own universe, god and devil, and no one is to blame for anything. It is impossible to achieve order in chaos, you can only dissolve in it. Becoming a part of chaos, you subjugate it to yourself, and that's it. Although, it's hard to even comprehend.

rock cult: Do you remember the moment when you first started writing songs?

Nike: I've been doing art since I couldn't speak yet. I just sang, because I love music very much, and it has always been. As a child, I loved The Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, Velvet Underground - by the way, one of my favorite bands so far. When I began to speak, I gave out some phrases in verse. And when he learned to write, he began to write texts. So I don't remember exactly when I started making music. But Infection is already youthful madness and maximalism, given that all our songs were about sex, boobs, violence, women in a drunken state. I took any fantasy, brought it to the point of absurdity, and it became the song of the group Infection. This is still happening, by the way. IN solo work everything is different, there is a different concept, the texts are built differently and experienced differently.

rock cult: Infection is not a particularly deep and spiritually meaningful material?

Nike: It's as if I came to visit, and everyone is dying there, and I fit into the team. But I know that this will end, I will go home, where my solo work is already. Infection is a hell of a party where people get burned to death. This is such a breather. As soon as the material accumulates, we record an album. This may happen once every ten years, or maybe once every two years.

rock cult: Is it some kind of psychotherapy?

Nike: There are songs that cannot be reflected in my solo work. But in order not to kill them, but to give them life, I do all sorts of projects.

rock cult: And what inspired your solo work?

Nike: Definitely not by society and not by social upheavals. Rather, it is about my experiences and things less real than what Infection sings about. I don't like life writing.

rock cult: Looking back, do you feel a change in yourself?

Nike: Yes and no. In some ways I have remained the same, and nothing has changed at all, but in some ways I have really changed my views. But I don't want to go into details. It is important to keep what was with you from the very beginning and not to lose, but to transform the accumulated experience into practical knowledge for yourself modern. When you forget your roots, you have no future.

On December 12, the Red Stars Club hosted a concert-presentation of the new double album “Nike Borzov. Favorites ”, which includes the most beloved hits of the musician in the entire history of his work. Together with Nike, they played and summed up the outgoing year "Horses": Vladimir "Korney" Kornienko and Ilya Shapovalov - famous guitarists, on the keys - Sergey Kharchenko, drummer Evgeny Bordan and the permanent bassist of the band - John Shchigol played the bass guitar.

For many, it is familiar from his hits, which thundered in the early 2000s and caused a public outcry - "Little Horse" and "Three Words". Hooligan songs were censored, which aroused public interest even more. But, in addition to these tracks, the work of Nike Borzov is full of noteworthy and talented things, and the album "The Chosen One", released on December 12, the compositions for which were selected by the listeners themselves, is a confirmation of this. So, the musician's fans had an additional incentive and interest to come to the concert, because they themselves had a direct hand in the creation of this record.

“...concert-presentation of the new double album “Nike Borzov. Favorites»»

That evening, the concert was attended mainly by a young audience, for some Nike's songs are associated with childhood memories, for others - early youth. In addition, a couple of times completely children flashed in front of me (it is not known whether their parents brought them or vice versa, the kids dragged their moms and dads to the performance). The program of the evening promised to be entertaining, in addition to the concert itself, there was a drawing of gifts, a sale of a new album, as well as an autograph session with Nike, which the presenter who went on stage happily announced.

After the introductory part, the musicians themselves finally appeared, who were greeted with shouts of “Nike, you are the best!” and thunderous applause. It was interesting for me not only to hear the artist's songs live, but also, having talked with him during the show, to see what he would be like on stage.
In person, Nike gives the impression of being serious, but at the same time common man which is definitely captivating. As for the demeanor during the performance, I liked the lightness and relaxation and at the same time the energy that was felt in the musician. At these moments, Iggy Pop was remembered.

I can say one thing for sure, having visited a concert, heard the songs and lived them together with the musicians, you begin to perceive the artists themselves in a different way and discover their work in a new way. The same “Horse”, which used to sound from every iron, I seemed to hear for the first time and again appreciated the words, meaning and humor of this song. Nike's compositions are generally distinguished by the penetration of texts and music. These are not only "choral, dance" tracks, but also lyrical songs about love, life and death.

The further the concert went on, the more the audience warmed up, and the microphone set was already falling on the stage, and glasses were clinking in the hall. The guards also had to work: they drove away the people, who were coming closer and closer to the stage and demolishing the barrier, they took away the strange young man, with dances passed between the audience to the musicians, and they broke up the fight of the guys, who, apparently, did not share the place.

The audience was even more impressed when the guitarist stepped off the stage and climbed over the railings to join them. I think after that in social networks there were a lot of selfies with the musician. And when, after the final chords, Nike handed the drumsticks to the crowd, emotions began to go off scale (it's good that at least there were no fights here).

On this note, Nike Borzov ended his concert and, to prolonged applause, left the stage, so that later, after a short break, he would sign autographs for everyone.

"Nike's compositions are generally distinguished by the penetration of texts and music"

Name Nike Borzov exploded in the mid 90s. His hits "Horse", "Three Words", "Riding a Star" sounded everywhere. But the musician himself does not want to remember those times. For several years, he completely abandoned the stage and devoted himself entirely to raising his daughter Victoria. Now Borzov is recording new records, but he no longer strives for the top lines of the charts. “I am an unformatted performer who is out of time,” the singer smiles

Photo: Vanya Berezkin