We sit down with esteemed Russian melodic DJ, producer and Reverse Festival founder Chertkovski to discuss his latest single ’Soul Valley’ forthcoming on SE:VER. We learn more about the artist, his influences, his life in Bali and most importantly his sound…
How are you, what’s good and bad in your world?
Hi yes all is well, I don’t like to divide things into black and white! Life is a constant change from bad to good and vice versa so we live and grow
What is life in Bali like?
Life here is more measured and you get more time to educate yourself.
Every day starts with a tasty breakfast – it’s already a ritual
But the other side of the island paradise is the very heavy traffic jams, the huge number of tourists and the overheated local market that pricing is built out of the head
How much of a scene is there? any good parties, labels, DJs?
The market here is well developed with a lot of good artists and parties, I even get the feeling that there are more promo teams than necessary.
In the last couple of months there have been artists like you Rufus Du Sol, Black Coffee, Jamie Jones, Meduza, Fisher, Jan Blomquist, Oliver Koletzki etc.
Even Anjuna Deep did their show case together with Ben Bohmer
I think there is more supply of cool parties than demand for them haha
How much does its culture and weather inspire the music you make?
Local culture has no influence on my work, but a lot of interesting encounters with interesting artists who influence on me!
And it is much easier to work in a European climate, as sometimes the head boils in this heat and thinking becomes more difficult I prefer to work in a cold confined space
What’s the inspiration for the new soul valley tune? what’s the aim with it?
For the last half year and so far I’ve been looking for a new sound and keep experimenting in the genre finding new things.
The plan was to release this track a few months later, but a lot of people have been writing and asking for it and I’ve decided to do it now.
Another amazing work is “Internal Voice”
MY album “Odissea” will be released via Natura Viva on 20 feb 2023 (Beatport) and 17 march 2023 (worldwide).
What gear do you use to make your music and does that matter to you?
The basis is just a laptop, I think that’s enough now, but I also use live instruments in some compositions
Tell us about Reverse Festival and why you founded it?
“Reverse” It’s a community and non-standard approach to events. From the selection of locations and artists to the concept of combining nature with new technologies, accompanied by quality electronic music
And I created it for the idea of community and to show people the highest quality of events and ideas that inspired me.
And already the first event I spent on the highest observation deck in Europe 354 metres above the ground from sunset to sunrise!
It was amazing!
Whats the vibe and aim with it?
Unfortunately it’s hard to put it into words and not all events were recorded on video, but you can watch the video of our first event on YouTube
Chertkovski and VS20 at the Oko tower rooftop by SE:VER channel
Also many videos on our IG reverse.festival
Now I think I will soon launch a music label under this brand
What else have you got coming up?
The next event is likely to take place on March 10 in Dubai, but I can’t give you all the details yet
What hopes and goals do you have for 2023?
Already around 10 singles have been created for 2023
Now I look at their development strategy and there will be a strong emphasis on music career and touring of course I want to get a strong management so I do not do it all by myself haha
I also plan to change my country of residence, I’m a bit fed up with living here for 5 years.
Also hope to bring you some interesting collaborations, tracks and shows this year
And I want my personal life to be private, so I will not share it here, maybe later I’ll change my views! But for now, happiness loves silence.
Chertkovski single “Soul Valley” out now on SE:VER
Grab it here
Follow:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chertkovski/?hl=en
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/chertkovski