OL
moscow
And so begins a song of the wind
Итак, начинается песня о ветре
Vladimir Lugovskoy (1926)
Oleg Buyanov began to study electronic music seriously at the age of sixteen. In time, though, his initial enthusiasm for psychedelia would pass and––with a new, short moniker of OL––he would begin to work in the slower genres of minimal techno and deep house. These more adult efforts would lead to publications in Russia, Spain, and Germany. He has, over the years, become one of the more recognizable names in Russian electronica, influential both as a performer and event planner.
Considering that long-term commitment to digital creativity, he has been an ardent supporter of the web’s influence, no matter the enormous competition online. “Personally, I think the internet makes things increasingly simple. Information is disseminated so quickly. Let’s say you write a track in South Africa: it can become popular really quickly in North America. Globalization has been a huge influence [on what happens here]. Borders are increasingly erased leading, among other things, to the improved attention our post-Soviet scene gets from Western media nowadays.”
Even on the occasions when, for example, OL has been involved in physical sales at vinyl marts, international awareness is evident among foreigners. “We might have a whole box full of Russian vinyl and it’ll be equally appealing to both foreigners and our guys.”
Worldwide operations online cost nothing, but performing music two blocks away is impossible. “It really upsets me that rents in Moscow are so high, all decent [and empty] venues are prohibitively pricey. That’s why local clubs must bend over backwards to cover the rent. They all need to find a way out of the status quo.”
The market demands eclecticism and a middlebrow aesthetic. “You can’t develop anything conceptually, since working in a single style is practically impossible. You either have to do sponsored events––or something that’s totally uninteresting. Plenty of venues die that way, struggling with horrendous rent––before they even manage to define a signature sound.”
No wonder the web is so appealing.