An interview with KLUtCh

We stumbled across KLUtCh's myspace a while ago and were intrigued by his small videos. It turns out that Denis, aka KLUtCh, is a multimedia artist with an already long history of creation, and a great guy on top of it all. From St.Petersburg through Paris to this here blog, here's our conversation with KLUtCh.

Please tell us (in any order) : who you are, what you're trying to do, why, what you're actually doing, why, and who you'd like to become.

My name is Denis Popyrin, better known as Denis KLUtCh or simply KLUtCh ("key" in Russian ). I was born in St.Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) in 1978. I'm a musician/composer and visual artist/vj and a little bit of a writer. In music and visual design I came from the demoscene in 1996.

From 1992 to 1994 I produced sounds and graphics for ZX-Spectrum demos and game loaders. I did graphics at ZX-Spectrum and did it by hands, using a joystik to recreate my favourite pictures "pixel by pixel". It was like a competition - who would recreate the coolest pictures without using a scanner.

When demomaking started to bore me, I started spending more time learning and creating music and visuals directly.

In 1995 I got an AMIGA computer. It was amazing! For the first time I could record 4-track music. Later, I got my first professional synthesiser, an AlesisQS6. So KLUtCh as a character was born in 1997.

Straightaway, something inside me starting to say very agressively that I wanted to be a musician, a writer, a photographer, a video artist.

The following album by KLUtCh was "8 bit freehand beat", where I published the best of what I did and wrote in 2001, using my texts for the first time for the design of the CD sleeve.

I got a a lot of positive feedback from listeners and readers, especially listeners around the world and especially about the track "Strochnik".

And I again I told myself - I wish to be and I shall be one of the most interesting persons of this and the next century. And if I become successful I will help the people who are not understood or accepted in society. I think a lot of people who reach success forget about what they wanted at the start. You need to make it by yourself, but there must be support from people like you. I believe in this.

And sometime rises the main question: - I really don't need all this! Who needs my existence or anything I do here?

But each time, a short while after having thought all this, I go back and make music and visuals.

Do you draw inspiration from artists who don't work in your branch, and if so: who, and why/how?

In video they are - Chris Cunningham, Aronofsky Darren, David Fincher and Lynch as directors – These people create exciting pictures, I am very much inspired by them. But at that moment I am more a VJ than a director. The main things I love in their videos - ideas, well shot & edited, the emotional contents of the pictures and a lot of technical things as well. Cunningham's "FLEX" is my favourite. "Fight Club" by Fincher is another favourite.

In literature : Ayn Rand (Alisa Rosenbaum) , Philip K Dick, - Stanislav Lem, , G. Garrisson.

In music: - R.D.James, Mouse on Mars.... I didn't know these people when I started to write music, but I feel connected to them.

Any specific audience or public you want to reach? why?

I really want my creativity to influence all manner of audiences and publics.

Today I have 10 albums out. They are all different in terms of ideas and sound realisation. But..

All my music and videos are me. The Musical tracks of each successive album continue a certain idea of a previous album. It is my life, my feelings, my fears and desires, it is a sculpture of my essence and it is like a fractal. People can share something of it, I know.

What's your biggest fear regarding your artistic work?

I don't think about my work only. I think about culture and art as a whole.

I am very afraid of censorship and a possible attack by the powers that be on freedom of expression.

Does your art relate to any political, social or spiritual conceptions you may have?

The hard question. Really. At that moment I can't fully answer on this question in the English language. I think my art and music convey more of my personal feelings than political or social conceptions. Mostly, my art is just Me.

And one thing is true - most independent music & art are freedom itself.

In spite of all the compromises made necessary by this our modern world, would you say that you are faithful to yourself?

YES. I know what i say.

More music by KLUtCh: http://www.discogs.com/artist/KLUtCh