Current comment. About the musical project "Neuromonk Feofan". Neuromonk Feofan does not give interviews. - Which one? — Who weaves them for you? Neuromonk Feofan who really is

— How do people in small cities like Lipetsk perceive your music?

Feofan: That's the best! Just due to the fact that the city is provincial, usually companies come to performances in which everyone knows each other, so they behave more openly and relaxed. So often in small towns everything happens more energetically. There is a feeling of some kind of great community or something.

Lipetsk is already the fifth city in which you will present your new album. Did you remember anything from concerts in other cities?

Feofan: Every city has something different. In Voronezh, for example, there were double round dances. It was very crowded in Tula. There were a lot of people, but the site was not very big. There was a very frantic slam there. Everyone was jumping there, and it looked very epic.

Nicodemus: In Bryansk, for example, it was very family-like. It's a very low stage and the audience was actually right in front of us.

Feofan: We went to the gym there.

- Weren’t you afraid that you would be discovered?

Feofan: Oh well, people are still adequate. Nobody needs this.

I read that in Bryansk the concert was on the verge of failure due to calls from anonymous people who strongly recommended canceling it.

Feofan: I'll explain now. In fact, there was just a small problem with the organizers, and the concert was simply postponed to another day. But there were no such things there. We don’t have any offensive or provoking texts. Everything is very good.

In your interview with Yuri Dudu, you said that you respect the work of such a performer as Big Russian Boss. When he performed with us in Lipetsk, mostly schoolchildren came to the concert. Can you roughly outline the image of your fan?

Feofan: As for Big Russian Boss, we are for any creativity. We are for maximum diversity and lack of boundaries in creativity. The main thing is that Nikodim just sings less (laughs).

Nicodemus: I’m trying to sing, everything is torn from my soul.

Feofan: Once he starts singing, he can’t be stopped. Well, I'm just kidding, of course. As for fans, there is a very wide spectrum. We had a woman, she was 62 years old, she danced in front of the stage the entire concert. I don't know where she gets so much strength. They came in three generations - grandson, mother and grandmother. Even small children like it, but they are unlikely to come to our performances. Shouldn't they be transported in wheelchairs?!

- YoursDudu's interview will soon gain three million views . Do you somehow monitor comments on social networks, follow what fans write?

Feofan: I sometimes answer on VKontakte when people ask me something. Nikodim has his own official VKontakte page.

Nicodemus: People write, I try to answer everyone. Mostly they write about musical issues, there are a lot of reviews, everyone likes it. So add yourself and write.

- Won’t the Bear start a page?

Feofan: Yes, he’s a clubfoot.

Nicodemus: He ate the computer.

Surely, you have heard such groups as “Nevid”, “Arkona”, “Butterfly Temple”. Was there a desire to do something similar, to “heavier” your music?

Feofan: Well, it already exists, what's the point of doing something that already happened. We go our own way, our own way and develop in this. For example, we added the Bear.

Feofan: Now turn down the Bear.

Nicodemus: Add protein. You can also make a fish song. We will add animals.

- In your opinion, can folklore and traditional culture live in the postmodern era? And in what form?

Feofan: In the postmodern era, everything can live in any form. This is not the invention of something new, but a combination of the old, so anything can be born. And if you move into post-postmodernity, then there is even more variability and some things created at different poles.

There is a video of your clips being shown to foreigners. They are all delighted, everyone really likes it. Do you think that your work will take root in the minds of foreigners as a stereotype about Russian culture?

Feofan: They have such diversity there that it’s unlikely. There are, of course, groups that “beat” according to stereotypes. For example, Little Big. They are wonderful guys, we know them. They just have pure banter. The same "Arkona" is very popular abroad, for example. Due to the fact that there is such diversity, it is therefore unlikely that they will focus on one thing and build their opinion on the basis of the creativity of one group.

- Fans write that your new album is more serious.

Nicodemus: It's all because the Bear started singing.

Feofan: The album is called “Dance. Sing". That is, there is a more dancing part, and there is one where you can sing along a lot, there are a lot of words, they are very melodic. If you remove the second part, you will get a playful, dancing album; if you remove the first part, you will get a calm album. They could easily be divided into two.

Nicodemus: The main thing is not to mix up the parts and not sing dances or dance songs (laughs).

Feofan: In the future, we will probably release a heavier, tougher version of “Dance,” because within the framework of one album it would be strange for the parts to be very different. They follow a common pattern. So, perhaps, we will release dance songs separately, but with a heavier sound. We are working on this now.

You have probably heard about such a performer as Hieromonk Photius (winner of the show “The Voice”). By the way, he will come to us in a month with a concert. Have you often found yourself confused?

Feofan: Not so often, but more than I would like. Of course, we don’t intersect with him at all, absolutely. There are people who confuse them, but this is all because of the similarity in names only.

Nicodemus: It's probably just some kind of inattention.

Feofan: Well, that's good. This speaks of diversity and the fact that there are so many different groups and performers that there are even small overlaps.

- A post recently appeared on Pikabu about how a guy decided to please his believing parents and buy a ticket to Photius. But I made a mistake and bought a ticket to your concert. My father was delighted, but my mother didn’t really understand.

Feofan: So my father is a very modern person, he is ready for everything new, he is open, and my mother is also a great guy. She probably cooks delicious soup.

Would you like to record a song in Old Church Slavonic? In the comments on YouTube they write that you were offered this, but you seemed to refuse.

Feofan: Who writes? We have not received such offers. If you go out into the street and say: “Offer,” then people, of course, will begin to do it very actively. But we physically cannot do everything that is proposed. What we like is what we do. If we just sat in the studio all the time, then we would have so many options... But we don’t always sit in the studio, now there’s a concert, a tour. Then I don’t have enough strength for anything.

- You have a very busy schedule, many concerts as part of the tour. How do you cope with this, how do you rest?

Feofan: It’s not easy at all, there are constant regime failures, physically it’s hard. If we just stood on stage like statues, then that would be one thing, but we are moving actively. Physically it is not easy, you need to be prepared. We are constantly recuperating. We need to do everything in parallel.

Nicodemus: During the tour, everything happens.

Feofan: You should, for example, go for a massage or go to the sauna.

Nicodemus: Put the vertebrae in place after transport.

The next city on the tour is Kyiv. How are you feeling before this concert? Do you think that they will be able to calmly and adequately accept a group with such a traditional Russian orientation?

Feofan: I think it will be cool. All our friends who were there say that the audience there is very good, everyone is very cheerful. Of course, if someone wants to do something, to account for money, then there is nothing we can do about it. But I think that this is unlikely to happen. All people are adequate. This will be our first time in Kyiv. We were in Minsk, in Belarus, and it was generally very cool there. We were also near Minsk at a festival. By the way, there were Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Russians there. We performed there absolutely normally, despite the fact that there were Ukrainian nationalists there. That is, of course, there are some incidents. The people who come to our performances are all very reasonable and sensible; there are, of course, those who behave strangely, but there are only a few of them.

Your group is associated with Slavic, Old Russian culture. How interested are you in all of this in life? Or is this also just an image to a greater extent? Some groups playing in Slavic themes are, for example, directly connected with Rodnoverie and Slavic paganism in real life.

Feofan: This topic is interesting to me. If I didn't know anything about it, where would it come from?! I wonder what it looked like. We visited all the fortresses that exist in the Leningrad region. It’s interesting to delve into some beliefs. Don't even know. Maybe Nicodemus on the sly?!

Nicodemus: And I love all sorts of old instruments and music. Tunes, tunes. There are some very cool things about the art of music if you dig around.

Feofan: I'm crazy about choral singing. Especially “The Wide Steppe”, but not performed by Cossack choirs... This gives me goosebumps, at these moments I really want to sit there (shows the pose of a sage). And all the tunes, they are very nimble and fast, they also sound very cool.

Photo © Evgeniy Petrushansky

Nobody knows the name or face of this man, although he gives concerts and has already written two albums: “There is drama in the soul, bright Rus' in the heart” and “Great are the forces of good.” The first impression from listening to the ancient Russian drama of the neuromonk Feofan may be a feeling of irony. And the very name of the project is “Neuromonk Feofan”, and the name of the first album (“ There is drama in the soul, bright Rus' in the heart"), and the texts themselves may partly lead to such an impression. However, we would be greatly mistaken if we see in the project “Neuromonk Feofan” only irony over Russian religiosity, leavened patriotism and Russian life in general. There is, perhaps, the least irony here.

We will be greatly mistaken if we see in the project “Neuromonk Feofan” only irony over Russian religiosity, leavened patriotism and Russian life in general

What is here then, if not irony? 

- you ask me, insightful reader. I believe that here we are dealing with very good work with the soil, with the material, which is why the project of the neuromonk Feofan turns out to be so original. Indeed, if I’m not mistaken, something like this has never appeared in our music before. Working with the soil, with native material is what our musical field has long needed. What do I mean by working with the soil? For example, if I do, say, rap, and at the same time I want my rap to be original, not like Western, authentic, then I must put original meanings into it, I must imbue it with the philosophy of my father’s land, the juices of my native land. Naturally, I also have to work on the form. However, if we look at our national music today, which is Russian rap, we will see that rap made, say, in the city of Chita is not fundamentally different from rap made, for example, in the city of Voronezh. Why is that? Yes, because there are the same themes, the same meanings, plots, problems, and even the beat was made by the same beatmaker... As a result, we have what we have, namely the overproduction of the same type of gray rap, imitative and extremely unoriginal, but at the same time confident in its incredibly originality.

I repeat that in no case should the work of the neuromonk Feofan be perceived as irony or as mockery of the Russian Orthodox way of life. This is precisely a project (yes, albeit a commercial one, but where would we be without it nowadays?) that works with authentic material and, moreover, works with it brilliantly! Anyone who saw here the irony of Russian Orthodoxy and patriotism simply did not understand anything.

Every word of the album “Great are the forces of good” is very kind, warm, bright, friendly, and the whole album comes out like this

Some may be offended by the phrase “Old Russian dram”. Well, this is where the irony comes in. Moreover, the irony is rather about drama as a genre. Because the neuromonk Feofan also gives the word “dram” some additional meanings. This very ancient Russian drama is also ironic because, as those meticulous about defining the label have already noticed, oh - cross it out! 

- That is, the genre, music critics, this is not drama at all, but simply electropop with folk elements. So be it, it doesn't change the matter. Let’s also say a few words about the latest album by the neuromonk Feofan “ Great are the forces of good

" I can’t resist and say on my own that the album is wonderful! And I’ll add: very wonderful!

“A lot of dirty, useless words,” Feofan sings. We can say with confidence that there is not a single such useless word in the neuromonk’s album. Every word of the album is very kind, warm, bright, friendly, and the whole album comes out like that. The album, in essence, tells the story of how Feofan, together with his friends Medved and Nikodim, leave the noisy city behind (the song “Come with Me”) and go to the village to play ancient Russian drama and have fun. Actually, they don’t need anything else, except that they would like us to have fun with them, so they invite us with them.

An album about friendship, about fun, about kindness, about love for nature. About the fact that the forces of good are great! And although the neuromonk never seems to utter the word God or the word Church in the album, and in interviews, as they say, he fundamentally refuses to talk about religion, nevertheless, the very mood of the album — bright, kind — cannot be perceived only in a secular way. And the very appeal to the topic of Russian monasticism and Russian life in general speaks for itself. Even if this appeal is only at the level of attributes, the attributes themselves still have value for the listener. However, neuromonasticism can also be perceived as modern holy foolishness, who knows!... The holy fool does not explain to us the dogmas and nuances of this or that theology, but he speaks to us in other ways! (compare the neuromonk Feofan with the St. Petersburg rap holy fool MC Repent, whom you can quite by chance meet on the streets of the northern capital and listen to his Orthodox freestyle).

In any case, it is obvious that the album is strong for its bright and kind mood, first of all, and not for its thought. Neuromonk sees only goodness around and invites everyone to have fun on such a wonderful occasion. It really is true that “all is pure to the pure”! And when there is only negativity, anger and lies around us, how important it is to remember the light of genuine, simple human goodness!

That’s why we thank neuromonk Theophan for this message!

Lubomud Andrey

In 2015, a video clip for the song “Trample” spread across the Internet. Its performer was a certain Neuromonk Feofan. "Who is this really?" - netizens asked each other. However, there was no accompanying information. Two years have passed, and the musical project is still continuing its work. Who is Neuromonk Feofan really and what is he famous for?

Compound

It is known that behind the pseudonym there is not one, but at least two people. This is the soloist and DJ Nikodim. The first is a tall guy with a fake beard. In public, he always appears in a robe resembling a schema, with patterns along the edging and in bast shoes. His face is hidden by a hood, and in his hands he usually holds a staff in which a laser pointer is hidden. Neuromonk Feofan sings songs with a characteristic voice and the use of Slavic words and outdated words. The musical project comes from St. Petersburg.

Story

Who is this really - Neuromonk Feofan? The group still maintains anonymity from the intrusive media. But, despite this, the Afisha magazine managed to lift the veil a little and interview DJ Nikodim, the second member of the group. He talked about himself and the history of the creation of the group. Nicodemus has a higher education. For a long time he studied music professionally. And when he met Feofan (who is a self-taught musician), he told him many interesting things. The guys became friends based on common interests.

Feofan was actively recording songs even before the formation of the group (since about 2008). The idea to join forces into an original musical project arose during a walk in the forest.

Style

The uniqueness of the new group's style was not only in its stylization of Russian folk festivals, but also in the combination of the balalaika with drum and bass (electronic music). The lyrics of the songs of the group “Neuromonk Feofan” depict the life of Ancient Rus', Russian nature and peasant labor, and they are not without irony. This makes the perception of creativity easy and interesting.

Criticism

Who is this really - Neuromonk Feofan? Critics of the group's work puzzled their brains for a long time and painfully. But they were not interested in the true names of the participants, but in what they wanted to say with their songs. So, he called the guys “Orthodox atheists” and “believing Komsomol members.” But it was a positive assessment. The leader of the Leningrad group approved the style and creativity in general of the newly minted artists, as well as their active activities on social networks.

Other music critics also noted the freshness and originality of the combination of Russian folk motifs and electronic dance music. They compared the St. Petersburg musical project with the already widely known “MC Vspyshkin” and “Ivan Kupala”. According to experts, the group focuses on the visual component, and the musical part is unpretentious, too simple.

Journalist of the Zvuki.ru portal Victoria Bazoeva dedicated a short article to the group, where she positively assessed the level of stylization of the group. However, she expressed doubts about the mixing of modern words and historicisms and the good perception of this by connoisseurs of historical reconstruction.

On the question of who it really is, “Neuromonk Feofan,” many agreed that the group represents the direction of conceptual postmodernism. Although her work is in many ways opposed to the activities of apologists of modern art, for example, Vladimir Sorokin.

Albums

The group has three albums in total. The first “There is drama in the soul, and bright Rus' in the heart” was presented in 2015. According to the musicians themselves, it was the first attempt to combine Russian song, balalaika, the breadth of the Russian soul and the direction of drum and bass. The experiment was a success. The album consisted of 17 tracks, which were positively assessed by music observer Alexey Mazhaev (InterMedia). The word "dram" was often used in the lyrics. However, this did not stop the critic from defining the group's style as electropop with folk elements. The album clearly conveys the propaganda of cultural revival and the accompanying irony about it. The original themes of the compositions about the Old Russian Olympic Games and open airs do not let you get bored.

The second collection, “Great are the forces of good,” was released in 2016. No less success awaited him. Within two weeks, the album entered the iTunes chart as one of the most frequently listened to. Neuromonk Feofan did not change his sound. However, some critics did not appreciate such dedication to style. For example, Stanislav Sorochinsky, a REF News blogger, called the sound of the new record predictable and monotonous. And Alexey Mazhaev, in a review of the album, expressed the opinion that the performer becomes hostage to one image, which has no development. In addition, some tracks (for example, “I’m dancing everywhere”), in their sound, are closer not to drum and bass, but to Soviet music. Critics also noted the lack of a clear style of the collection. Every now and then you can feel the influence of Russian rock and folk.

The second album included 9 compositions. The last of them - “Stepson of the Rules” - is reminiscent in style of the work of the “Technology” group.

At the beginning of 2017, Neuromonk Feofan released his third album “Dance. Sing,” which was immediately highlighted by Stanislav Sorochinsky. According to him, the collection “sounds like one big song.” Although the team’s task now is not to surprise listeners (“the bicycle has already been invented by them”), but to entertain people working hard in stuffy offices.

Six compositions became the group's singles. From the last album, this list included the tracks “And Now the Bear Sings” and “Old Russian Soul”.

Video clips

The group has only shot two videos so far. The first one, for the song “Trample,” received almost seven million views on the YouTube channel. The second video clip, “The hut is shaking,” is less popular. Today it has only collected about two million views.

In the videos, the musician traditionally, as on stage, appears in his stage schema. Who he really is, Neuromonk Feofan, and what his name is in everyday life, it’s impossible to understand. And comments from fans and simply curious users remain unanswered.

When asked why he doesn’t reveal himself, the musician himself answers simply. Neuromonk Feofan is the image with which the style and creativity of the group is associated. Its acceptance and approval should not be associated with the identity of the true performer.

Concerts

The beginning of 2015 was significant for the group. After all, her debut album was released then. A concert tour was dedicated to this event. The tour took place in cities of Russia and Belarus. The program had the original name “Yadren Zador”, and the collection entered the “golden ten” of iTunes.

Also, the group “Neuromonk Feofan” took part in the festivals “Kubana”, “Invasion”, VK Fest, “Wild Mint” and “Epic Coast”.

Today, musicians often perform in joint concerts with other stars: Basta, Marcel, Noize MC, etc.

• The wife of Neuromonk Feofan danced in a bear costume in the video “The Hut Is Shaking.” Her name is unknown.
• In 2016, a musical project from St. Petersburg received the status of a popular Internet meme.
• A year after the release of his debut album, the Yandex. Music service recognized Neuromonk Feofan as an independent artist of the year.
• At a concert in Moscow, one of the fans apparently decided to reveal to everyone who he really is - Neuromonk Feofan. During the mass dancing and fun, he reached out to the musician and wanted to pull off his hood. However, he was stopped in time.
• On September 19, 2017, the mysterious performer of the group gave an interview to Yuri Dudu. The conversation turned out to be very frank for the artist. He talked about how his work began. How did the idea of ​​combining balalaika and drum and bass come about? But, most importantly, the artist answered the question that torments all his fans: “Who is he really - Neuromonk Feofan, what’s his name?” The musician called the name “Oleg” without any hesitation. He also said that he is 30 years old, he grew up in Kupchino (St. Petersburg) and graduated from the State University of Aerospace Instrumentation with honors.