Far From Moscow about Etapp Kyle
Originally published at Electronica. You can comment here or there.
It’s useful to compare that stance with the career of Ukrainian producer Etapp Kyle (Sergey Kushnir), who is from the city of Chernivtsi, in the southwestern corner of the country. Although blessed nowadays with the flattering reputation of a nationally significant culture center, Chernivtsi has seen awful destruction in the past, most recently during WWII. The toil and travail required to counter real-world suffering with the cherished dreams of a «Little Vienna,» as the city is now known, have been great. It takes decades to heal wartime scars with creative enterprise.
At the forefront of today’s dance music in Chernivtsi, celebrating hedonism and inclusiveness, is Etapp Kyle. Recognized not only at home, but also in Moscow and Berlin, he has even been referred to by Ukrainian webzines as the «one great hope» for national techno. He just created one of the remixes for Unbroken Dub’s «Rain EP» (on Electronica) that we showcased a couple of days ago, and so we’re continuing a focus upon the same recording with a few words about one of its contributors.
Speaking this month to a domestic publication, Kushnir recalled that he had first encountered techno - and other related styles - in a club environment. «I was hooked on the very same evening… DJ-ing would become an incredibly useful profession for me, in that it helped me form my own musical tastes and understand [eventually] that I wanted to compose, too.» As he starts to catalog several years of hard work, beginning with the first flash of realization, we see a situation develop similar to that of Thallus. In other words, tough times and commitment both help to generate the elusive, «volatile» patterns of inspiration… which in turn fuel further effort.
These two young men - in very different cities - are evidently unwilling to rely upon the visits of a Muse whilst stretched out on the sofa.
As Thallus talks of architectural and sonic fragments, made «whole» through concerted labor, so Kushnir describes the result of his conscious perseverance in equally indefinite terms: deliberate zeal creates imprecise pleasures. «I can’t really describe it. The only thing I can say is that I’m attracted to so-called ‘mysteries’ in music. I mean the [sudden] feeling that you’ve not yet tried everything - and so you want to try again… and again.» A final, conclusive resting place is never reached. Thankfully.
Given that the greatest reward of focused energy is some vague, unclear epiphany(!), Etapp Kyle’s long-term and professional goals are defined with some difficulty. Much discipline and focus is required, but the result will - and should be! - uncertain, as a guarantor of surprise. «I’ve got loads of creative plans - and I’m working on bringing them to fruition. Nonetheless, I don’t want to run ahead of myself [and make predictions].»
Track «Limitless» by Etapp Kyle for free downloads!
Text by David MacFadyen, Professor and Chair of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literature at the University of California, Los Angeles, has created the only English-language site dedicated to new music from Russia.