Ernesto Shut up(born on April 24, 1989, Voronezh). After graduating from high school, Romashchenko entered Voronezh State University at the Faculty of Philology. There he completed his master's degree. During his student years he took part in the KVN game. Even then he had a penchant for something non-standard. So, the team in which he played was called “Cat Mom”. Here Dima was not a particularly creative player, so he was not given important roles. Although he composed and recorded a song about the team. In short, things didn’t work out for him in KVN, and no further advancement took place.
He begins to seriously compose poems and post them on the Internet. Many people liked it. In 2010, Dima takes part in a poetry competition, but loses to his KVN teammate Irina Chesnokova.
In his youth, in order to stay afloat, he worked in all sorts of jobs. Before his appearance on Versus, Romashchenko wrote poetry on Hip-Hop.ru, and also got involved in rap and rap battles.
Childhood and adolescence Greetings to guests and regular readers of the site website. So, hip-hop artist, poet, video blogger Dmitry Romashchenko, better known under the pseudonym Ernesto Shut Up, first saw the light of day on April 24, 1989 in the Russian city of Voronezh.
Our hero studied at the gymnasium named after. Koltsova. During his school years, Dima was an active and cheerful boy. As a youth, he was fond of football and listened to music, he especially liked rock and rap. The teenager’s acquaintance with the latter genre occurred in the 7th grade, when he heard the composition “Heartless” from the foreign group Black Attack. As Ernesto recalls, he was very impressed by how the song successfully mixed classics, pathos and a low voice. It was after this that Romashchenko was imbued with the desire to become that “cool dude” and sound like what he heard. "Limp Bizkit" and "Linkin Park" were also the future artist's favorite bands when he was a schoolboy. Later, the young man was attracted to creativity and Loc Dog. These performers, according to Dmitry, were not afraid of experiments and brought a new sound to the musical space.
The teenager wrote his first poems at the age of 14. Ernesto recalls how in the eighth grade he was simply covered with a wave of creativity. He came home from school and wrote down his thoughts on paper, in which even then verbal turns and non-standard lines could be traced. Osip Mandelstam is a poet who influenced the boy with his courage in using Russian speech. The poems of young Ernesto were full of love, civil and philosophical lyrics, which were not without ironic jokes.
Period of study at the university
After school, Dima entered Voronezh State University at the Faculty of Philology (graduated as a master's student). During his studies, the young man played in KVN, the team of guys was called “Cat Mom”.It is worth noting that Ernesto was not at the forefront of the team, but still it was he who composed the song, which was later used as the team’s anthem.
The beginning of a creative path and participation in battles
In 2010, Romashchenko took part in a poetry competition, where he took second place.Next, Dmitry appeared in online battles. “In Da Battle” is the beginning of the artist’s creative path, although he did not manage to get far in this project in the standings. The next online word competition Ernesto took part in was called "Freestyle 3". Here the guy made more progress, although he didn’t reach the finals. In general, Dmitry has a positive attitude towards battles, since he does not take all insults to heart. The deadlines and scope of delivery are also a plus for the contractor, because this, to some extent, disciplines and prevents the creative process from stretching out. Also, with the help of rap battles, according to the musician, there is a rethinking of personal development. And after such competitions it becomes easier to approach songwriting.
Closer to his twentieth birthday, Dmitry is inspired by the idea of setting his poems to music - this seemed to him a rather interesting experiment. Together with a friend, he realized his idea, and already the first track received approving reviews from Ernesto’s friends and colleagues. After this, the artist began to develop further in this direction. The young man, together with Alexander Loginov (Logonaut - a member of the synth-rock band from Voronezh "Bad Bad Roxanne") creates the group "Russian Computer Graphics", in which the guys begin to record new musical works.
December 31, 2013 is probably a turning point in Dmitry’s life - he applies to participate in the first season of the rap project “Versus: Fresh Blood”.
Ernesto's application for the 1st season of "Versus: Fresh Blood" (2013)
As the artist himself admits, with the help of such events he discovers new facets of creativity. Because of such “brain unloading,” where the primary goal is to insult and humiliate an opponent, Dmitry manages to look at things that were previously “closed to creative improvement” from a new angle.
Ernesto Shut Up during the battle with Mytee Dee (2015)
In the tournament, Ernesto reaches the finals, where he is defeated by the rapper. For most viewers, this was an extremely unexpected turn, since this couple had previously met with each other, and Dmitry won there. And if we talk about a general view of all the performer’s performances this season, many predicted that it would be his victory.
Fresh Blood finale - Ernesto Shut Up vs Alphavite (2015)
Having lost, Romashchenko takes a break for himself, after which he continues to work hard, gaining good experience from the battle and a considerable number of new listeners.
The same Kolya, Lodoss, Niggarex, Zoo In Space, Ilya Mirny are the rivals with whom Ernesto Shut Up fought on various battle platforms. It should be noted that in most fights Dmitry emerged victorious, but there were also losses.
Ernesto in the battle against Gnoyny (2016)
The performer is very fluent in English, so it’s not that difficult for him to follow foreign battle sites. "King of the Dot Entertainment" is Dmitry's favorite league, which was founded in Toronto (Canada) in 2008. Chilla Jones, Charlie Clips, Conceited, Arsonal are Ernesto's favorite battle bands. In their speeches, they focus on metaphors and turns of phrase, which are appreciated by the audience of the project. This is precisely what attracts Dmitry, who always wants to surprise his listener with a new semantic construction that is both deep and understandable.
Musical creativity
In September 2014, the group "Russian Computer Graphics" released the album "Loud Domestic Music". While working on this release, the guys set the goal of rethinking the boundaries of genres and introducing a new sound into Russian music. The record contains 9 songs in which interesting melodies are intertwined with the originality of Ernesto's lyrics.On October 6, 2015, the premiere of the 10-track release “Per hustle ad astra” took place. The album turned out to be quite hip-hop in style; in the songs you can notice a fresh sound and the presence of many interesting turns of phrase.
Ernesto Shut Up - Different feat. Logonaut (2015)
“Vandalism of Dali” is the artist’s second album in a year, released on November 9, 2015. The release has similar features to the "Spoken Word" genre, because... in the compositions the main emphasis on the textual component of the songs is clearly visible. Of course, one should not neglect the melodic part of the release - the music here harmoniously fits into the text and Dmitry’s voice.
July 2016 is marked by the release of the EP “Deservedly Thoughtful”. The record incorporates the same experimental sound of songs in which the artist, in a pleasant voice, presents his thoughts to the listener in unusually interesting verbal constructions.
In February 2017, Ernesto expanded his discography with another mini-album of 5 compositions, “In the Evenings of Light Stadiums.” The young man's voice is accompanied by light music - all together creating a harmonious sound that will appeal to both romantic natures and those who simply like to reflect on various topics.
Favorite music and books
Atmosphere, Kendrick Lamar, Blue October, Muse, Roots Manuva, Tech N9NE, Bike for Three! - what is available in Dima’s player. In addition to the mentioned, the Russian group “Affinage” occupies a separate place for Ernesto Shut Up, since he believes that they take Russian folklore as a basis and “survive” a new sound from it, which, of course, appeals to the performer, who has a positive attitude towards various kinds of experiments in music.
Leo Tolstoy "Resurrection", Victor Pelevin "S.N.U.F.F.", Stanislav Lem "Fiasco", George Orwell "1984", Cervantes "Don Quixote" are Dmitry's favorite books. In addition to the above-mentioned works, the artist advises fans to read Sergei Gandlevsky, Artem Novichenkov, Dmitry Vodennikov, Vera Polzkova.
It is known that Romashchenko is engaged in journalism, and even after moving to St. Petersburg he did not stop collaborating with the Voronezh publication.
Dmitry Romashchenko - video blogger
Dmitry has his own channel on YouTube, where he publishes his thoughts on various events in video format, shares his opinions on books he has read or films he has watched. In any case, Ernesto’s stories are very easy to watch, because they contain a light touch of humor with which the performer approaches the creation of many of his creations.
Still from Ernesto’s video “Overcome Shyness” (2017)
Personal life
As for his personal life, there is no information about this part of the artist’s life. In some interviews, in response to compliments about his voice, Ernesto replied that many girls fell in love with him precisely because of Dmitry’s pleasant sound and delivered speech. Of course, the performer is not deprived of attention from the female part of the population because of his charisma and charm.Ernesto Shut up now
Ernesto Shut Up is a musical performer who, thanks to his talent, pleases fans with interesting, creative material. The artist’s activities and occupation are not limited to releasing songs: he also writes and reads his poems, participates in rap events, maintains his own blog on YouTube, etc. In the fall of 2017, Ernesto, after a long lull in battles, successfully performed with Mighty Dee in a team verbal competition to the beats against and Fallen MC, and also at the beginning of 2018, Romashchenko appeared at “140 BPM” in the battle with the Dictator.
In the first half of March, Dmitry presented the studio album "Bioshotovik", which consists of 11 diverse compositions - from personal, lyrical to funny, danceable. The famous calligrapher Pokras Lampas contributed to the cover of the release.
Ernesto Shut Up - I'm from Moscow (2018)
We can safely say that Dmitry is a multifaceted personality. He is not going to stop there and is constantly looking for new interesting ideas that can surprise many fans.
Preview:
: instagram.com/dimok_zatknites (Official page on Instagram)
: vk.com/id736131 (Official page on VKontakte); Photo by Masha Zemlyanukhina
: instagram.com/morozovaphotoarh (photo from Varya Morozova)
Stills from videos (including music videos) of Ernesto Shut Up, the official Versus channel and 140 BPM Battle from YouTube
Personal archive of Dmitry Romashchenko
Ernesto Shut up- charismatic finalist of the Versus Fresh Blood league, by occupation - toastmaster, although also Ernesto Shut up often characterizes himself as a “poet and musician.” The hero of our story comes from Voronezh. Viewers of "Versus" remembered the unusual manner of presentation, where rude humor was combined with complex word games, and references to Russian rap coexisted with references to classics of world literature. However, he was beaten by such heavyweights of rhyming duels as Alphavite.
Parallel to battle career Ernesto Shut up is actively involved in musical creativity, both solo and as part of the RKG (Russian Computer Graphics) group. We wrote about the latter last year, when the album “Loud Domestic Music” was released. In an interview Ernesto Shut up spoke about his love for poetry and hip-hop, the problems of Russian battle rap and what the production of “Eugene Onegin” and the battle “Versus” have in common.
Ernesto Shut up Fresh Blood expressed the following thoughts about the ending:
It was quite a multi-layered event. I arrived in St. Petersburg in the morning, slept with a friend, and went there. the mood was fighting, but not to say that it was anything special. He came late, and it seemed that he didn’t have any special mood either. But as soon as we started to battle, I saw that he was so much more energetic than me - and it was discouraging. I fought him in December, he is a rather difficult opponent from a psychological point of view, but it was not difficult for me. And in the finals he knocked me down very powerfully.
I was also struck by the deathly silence in the second and third rounds - this was new to me. I can’t say that the text for this battle is much worse. I stumbled a couple of times, but I had already brought everything to automaticity. And then there is deathly silence. And emotionally I was broken. If I lost, but at the same time I knew that in terms of emotions it was at the level of the battle with, I would be calm. And so, not very pleasant.
Was it like this - you see a person and from the very beginning you understand that it will be difficult with him?
Probably, all the difficulty always began within the battle. Appetite comes with eating, but here the understanding of who your opponent is comes during the fight. At one time I was surprised by That Same Kolya, of course. I wasn't ready for this. It was hard because I didn’t know how to react. I didn’t understand then, I didn’t look at what they were doing in the West, how they behaved. This is a whole aesthetics: it has its own rules, its own advice, its own general points. I was discouraged: he continues to read about the nose - and it’s funny. No matter what I do, it will still remain in the shadows. He had a concept that was compelling.
How did you prepare for the battle? And did the preparation change as the action progressed?
There were no fundamental changes - unfortunately, probably. Because Alphavite brought it out with this development. He had a late reveal, but I revealed all the tricks at the initial stages. For me, everything happened according to the same model: I find out who my opponent is and start writing. I write and write and write, but I have always been fixated on the world of words. He relied on linguistic work: name, name of city, group - juggling with this. Standard humor, which was very appealing at first, a disregard for the opponent’s girlfriend. The preparation ended with me gathering my friends, reading it all to them - and they gave me ratings in an online document. I probably should have spent more time online, digging for something...
Did you focus on Western or our battles?
Ours were inspiring at first. Then I gave up on them, and I became very interested in the aesthetics of Western battles. I was very focused on her, and in a sense it ruined me. Western battle rappers may not change their style radically - and this is equally well appreciated by people. I decided that it would work for me too, but no, people are tired of it. Although in general, it was a useful experience: I was improving my English, trying to understand what they were saying there, without subtitles. This basically helped me for self-development.
But look: you are standing in front of a person whom you are seeing for the first time - and you need to insult him. How do you explain to yourself why you need this?
You understand what the paradox is and what, perhaps, is the minus of the Fresh Blood project. We all got to know each other very quickly. I knew everyone - well, except Redo - already at the battle with Mirny. We became friends, and the opposite problem appeared: you already know the person. And I personally saw in many of the guys - kindred spirits, that’s a loud word - but just dudes who are very close to me. And now you are impressed by the person, you like him, but you must not break down, not squeeze him. It was simpler: I talked to the person and I know that he won’t whip me. I perceived it as theater: you come, “turn on” and do it. The actor playing Onegin kills Lensky on stage, and then goes to drink beer with him. It's about the same here.
Alphavite and I got along very well - I spent the night with him in Moscow when I went on tour. The problem was how to come up with anger. He succeeded, he came up with the idea, but I lacked motivation. Such a story.
What did you listen to in your youth? How did you start listening to hip-hop?
Hip-hop has been an undercurrent throughout life. I learned about it in the sixth grade. A classmate came up to me and asked: “Are you a rapper or a skin?” - “I fucking know what it is” - “Well, rappers listen to rap, but skinnies don’t like them.” And I was a quiet home boy, I needed to understand what rap was, because I only heard Decl. A classmate gave me an Eminem cassette. And a couple of days later, at a bus stop, I heard the Black Attack song “Heartless”. It had so much swag from this dark-skinned guy. Powerful sample from “Professional”, cool voices. I was very impressed.
In 6-7 grade and fell in love with hip-hop. This is the year 2000, 2001. I could only buy cassettes, and then only once every six months. I didn’t have MTV, I had to set up the antenna. And then everything was layered. On bezrybe and Disco Crash was hip-hop. Then Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit appeared. Hip-hop has always been an undercurrent that accompanies changing tastes in the rest of music. Throughout my life I moved from indie rock to indietronica.
There was a moment of fascination with Russian hip-hop in 2007-2008, I followed Loc-Dog and Noize MC at hip-hop.ru battles. SD was good back then. This was his golden time when he was on the bat properly.
Now hip-hop is quite active in my country. But I'm not into fashionable rap. I try not to fall out because it is important. I like white not very popular. I really love the band Atmosphere, the label Rhymesayers. Roots Manuva, Redman. I like Tech N9ne, he stands apart in the hip-hop game. I love such outcasts. Love Bike for Three! No one I talk to about hip-hop knows who I'm talking about. Freshblood's people are the same. I liked the new Kendrick. I didn't like the first album, but this is a very brave album. I don't understand Drake at all. I don't understand why they love him. “Started from the Bottom” is cool, the rest - I don’t understand what’s going on there. Hip-hop has always been and will be, but it has always followed its own line, I try to look for some individual characters.
How did your passion for poetry begin?
At first everything was simple: poetry was initially my door to self-awareness and my first serious hobby. Which calmly went and went and went, and then flared up again at about 13 years old and never faded away. Poetry first appeared at the age of five, I composed some stupid things on the go: “Nikolai, Nikolai, get off the tram, it’s his birthday, the jam is evaporating,” - my first poem at the age of five, some kind of abstract one. Since childhood, my brain has been working on some kind of juggling with words. I liked it, I wanted to somehow touch it, imagine it, put it next to it. It always stuck on some reflexive level.
There was poetry in childhood, but it’s not serious, because in childhood you don’t do anything seriously. And when the age of such self-determination began, it was already about 13 years old. When you begin to understand: “I’m a boy, this is a woman. I fell in love - the woman rejected me”, “Who am I in this world?”, these are the questions. This hit me in 8th grade, 13-14 years old. Then I wrote constantly, there was some kind of therapy. He came home from school and sat down to write, it was such half-poetry, half-rap. There were big problems with the rhythm, I just laid out everything I had.
So it appeared, it existed and indirectly coexisted with hip-hop. Closer to 20 years old, I realized that I had to try to combine creativity with some kind of beats. Moreover, take the same Dolphin, who in essence writes poetry to the beat. I made the first track with a fellow musician and received several positive reviews. And it went on and on, and gradually more and more hip-hop was mixed into it. And it became more interesting to move towards hip-hop. Because it's more complicated and it sounds more interesting. When you just wrote down a verse, it looks okay, but it’s not as listenable as more musical things. I can’t sing, so I can’t sing my poems like Thom Yorke. If I could, maybe I would exhaust everything. But I can’t sing, all that remains is reading. At first it was crooked, but now it looks more appropriate. Hope.
Do you see yourself further in battles?
There is no desire to fight without a fee now. And I wouldn’t say that there is a desire to quickly go out to battle with someone. Because all this was very exhausting, five battles in six months is tough for a person who has just started doing this. I want to fight, I see myself in this, but it would be good at the beginning of next year, not earlier.
We need to think about a new concept, because my concept failed.
Where will battle rap go in Russia?
I would like to believe that, following the example of Western battles, we will have some kind of club, where two large cord microphones will hang in the center of the hall, which will amplify our voice, and we will announce to a crowd of 200-300 people what we think of each other . And these people will also pay. And everyone will be fine. And “Versus” will have some money. Because while this is a closed event, it’s cool, but why not monetize everything.
I see what's happening in the West, and it's very cool. The attention is increasing, the fees are growing, the whole movement is very popular. And it’s cool to do it there. This is at least shameless. And I hope everything will develop for us too.
The problem in Russia is the small audience, motherfuckers. A very young audience, that is. They are young and they don’t understand anything at all. They just find it funny that the boys insult each other in every possible way. They don’t care about sophistication, everything that is rude and vulgar comes into play. In the West, the audience is older, and they come to listen to more cool word games, which often don’t work in our country. I had to put dirt in my battles, because if I made just a word game, nothing would work. In the end, nothing helped at all. The audience is very young. I want her to grow. If it grows up, it will become interesting to a wider circle of people, not just schoolchildren.
For this to happen, the participants in the battle must be informed and savvy in how this is done. Take the “Word” battle, where the average level is lower than in Freshblood. But I really like that they moved from the theme of the banal “I-your-chick-*ball” to some stories and word games. In this regard, they are great, and I want to believe that the level of intricacy will increase. If this happens, everything will be fine. And if not, the ending will be sad. You can't get far on dicks and tits.
I was very impressed by the semi-finals of Alphavite and Redo, unlike ours with Lodoss. There is no shame in showing it not only to schoolchildren, but also to some interested linguist.
In one of your early songs you had lines about working as a teacher of Russian language and literature. How long have you worked at school?
This was not a job, but a mandatory teaching practice for a philology student. This didn’t last long, about two months in the spring, and in the fall I returned to that class again. It was interesting, it was a certain challenge. Everything went quite well. I managed to position myself correctly: there was no familiarity, there was keen interest. There was a good gymnasium, a humanities class, so there were no particular difficulties. I don’t plan to return yet: it requires immersion.
What are you doing now, besides music?
I work part-time as a journalist for a local publication. I write about crime, I really like it. The same battles: you come and someone kills someone. You're rewriting all this.
Sometimes I host some events, but less and less lately. I don't always enjoy it. But when I write about crime, I like it. Such a calm, almost meditative activity. You sit down, automatically change cases, word order, think about something of your own, all this has been brought to automaticity.
Sometimes it turns out to take part in a reading project. We have the Voronezh Chamber Theatre, which is very open and experimental. The directors of this theater organized readings: when the play is not played, but read. People sit on chairs and read by role. There was a mix of professional actors and amateurs. It was very interesting.
You started touring. Is this the merit of “Versus”?
I would not say that the audience is solely the merit of “Versus”. I would have gone anyway, there would just be fewer people.
Where do you see yourself in the coming year?
I see myself as a person who will tour and try to do something of his own in the space of Russian hip-hop. Because after “Versus” I apparently finally fell into it. Even though I am very different, I think there will be some assimilation.
Have you ever wanted to get out of the pit of Russian hip-hop?
No. Russian hip-hop is a metaphysical pit, there is no bottom or top. This is not even a hole, but space. Another thing is who you are in it: a predator or plankton?
I will stay in this style and move forward. Create new things, write poetry, do hip-hop, do RKG, fight next year. So far it’s only a little bit, but it’s possible to earn money. If someone offers something, we'll see. I mean labels. No matter how people say that this is commerce, they don’t like the artists - interest from the outside is always pleasant. For me, this is not an end in itself - they will call you, they will call you, no, no. There are people around who help, that's enough.
Ernesto Shut up: making your tongue a tool
Dmitry Romashchenko, better known as Ernesto Shut Up– an unusually versatile and certainly talented person. He manages to combine in himself a poet who famously twists verbal laces, a hip-hop artist with an unconventional sound, and a battle rapper who demolishes his opponents without pity, principles or morals. In addition, Ernesto maintains a video blog and actively gives concerts in different cities, including Krasnodar.
Most Popular Ernesto Shut up purchased “Versus: Fresh Blood” on the battlefields - an acapella rap battle, an analogue of the Krasnodar Slovo. The artist has established himself with an approach that is atypical for a battle: a powerful reading was replaced by a confident poetic recitation. Ernesto confidently reached the final and only suffered a disappointing defeat there.
In musical creativity, Dmitry is no less productive: he has several albums to his credit, both solo and as part of his group “Russian Computer Graphics”. The last one came out this fall, and another one is in preparation.
Dima arrived in the southern capital together with his partner Alexander “Logonaut” Loginov. There were two very busy days left before the concert, but Ernesto spent time with us both before and after the performance. The result was a lively and somewhat chaotic conversation.
Bochka: Krasnodar is the third city that you and Logonaut visited as part of your autumn tour. What are your impressions of the first concerts?
Dmitry Romashchenko: Overall, very cool. I liked Minsk, it was great, quite a lot of people came. Usually I perform with Alexander, a member of Russian Computer Graphics, aka Logonaut, aka a beatmaker who is gaining popularity, I hope... But in Kyiv I had to perform alone. For the first time in my life, I connected a sound card and set up the equipment, although I’m usually not very good with technology. But everything worked out.
Why didn't Sasha go?
He didn’t have a passport, but to Ukraine – or to Ukraine? – as of recently, there’s no other way to get there from our side.
What are your impressions of Krasnodar?
I'm very glad to be back here. I visited here for the first time in 2009 as part of the KVN team “Cat Mom”. We played in the central Krasnodar league. Then I came here in 2010 on some business. Amazing city. One of my top three favorites along with my native Voronezh and St. Petersburg. As for the public, 50–70 people came. It was tougher in Minsk, but overall I’m happy. It was cool when the crowd chanted our names at the end.
Why did you decide to leave KVN?
I was never a particularly creative player, so I never got important roles. Even my opponents didn’t recognize me. It happens that before a game you come up to a group of people and say: “Ehehehey, how are you, how’s life? Good luck!" And they will look at you as if you are abnormal, and will ask who you are and what you are doing behind the scenes. In short, in “Cat Mom” I eked out a miserable existence in the shadow of Chesnokova and Panina.
And immediately changed activities?
Almost. I wrote poetry back in school, and then, in 2009 in Krasnodar, I composed a song about our team, our game. I wrote it down, then I thought: why not try to write down my poems? And so it went. I recorded it and posted it online. Many people said it was cool.
Atmospheric audio accompaniment can be considered the key to high-quality sound of poetry. Do you write music for your works yourself?
I tried it. Not good. I pick up melodies suddenly. Sometimes I’m sitting, listening to something new, and suddenly I want to speak out to it. In general, I try to get away from other people's music. Musician friends help me write my own, mainly Sasha Logonavt.
By the way, about him. Alexander accompanies you on tour, is responsible for the music, and is your partner in the RKG. What is the difference between your sound as “Russian Computer Graphics” and the duet “Ernesto – Logonaut”?
You see, RKG is the sound of a washing machine in the kitchen of a rented apartment. This is Ice Cube, who attended the Sociology Faculty party. This is an attempt to rethink the boundaries of genres and transfer them to the contour map of Russian music. And Ernie and Logo are all of the above plus the rest.
Is it easy to write in a way that doesn’t sound stale, sounds new, and at the same time reflects you as a creative person?
Here everything is a little different... I really love words, I love language, manipulating it, for me this is probably the most interesting thing in life: delving into language, feeling for it, taming it, making it a tool. First of all, this interest encourages creativity. Self-expression is already the second, third plan.
Where does this love for language come from?
It so happened that I graduated from the philology department with a master's degree.
Was it not interesting to follow the path of your education?
Why... My love for language is reflected in my work in the Voronezh publication. I wrote there in the “crime” section. Even now, having moved to St. Petersburg, I continue to work there remotely. I devote 4 hours a day to journalism - this is my fixation, I like it because it is working with language.
Is this your main source of income?
Rather, stable. Now the main income comes from concerts.
Did you regret that you entered the philology department?
Not at all, but lately I’ve been thinking that I would be very interested in biology. Evolution, the origin of life, species... This interests me a lot now and is even reflected in my creativity.
Let's get back to rap and battles. Do you know any Krasnodar performers?
Two days before the concert I managed to talk to someone. Ruslan 13/47 is a great guy, we are planning a battle with him soon. We will vigorously portray aggression on stage. Anton Hyde is an interesting person, but he seemed somewhat closed to me. Sergey PLC left a positive impression and suggested a cool eatery on Krasnoarmeyskaya.
I wonder what a performer like you even listens to?
Now hip-hop is quite active in my country. But I'm not into fashionable rap. I try not to fall out because it is important. I love white, not very popular: the group Atmosphere, the Rhymesayers label. Roots Manuva, Redman. I like Tech N9ne, he stands apart in hip-hop. I love such renegades. I liked the new Kendrick. In general, I listen to a lot of things. For example, the Moscow group Oqjav is very impressive.
You and Logonaut have perhaps the most intense concert program among young performers. It must be difficult to maintain such a schedule?
You quickly get used to it, you begin to treat it like everyday work. Very interesting, eventful, cool, great workdays.
Do you think you have already achieved some success?
Perhaps yes. For a very long time, my mother did not understand and did not accept this activity; she said that I was doing nonsense. But in April there was a concert in Voronezh, I called my mother, she saw that 200 people had come. She said I was great. Some people laugh that I am so proud of these 200 people. But I believe that not everyone can gather 200 people around him (or 70, as in Krasnodar) and sell something to them for an hour and a half. Also, take the money, and then sell them the books.
What are you going to do after the tour?
I want to photograph blogs, there is an opportunity to get involved in an interesting project, I’m interested in doing something in between stand-up and blogging. Hip-hop and poetry are not going anywhere. Now, probably, RKG will be a priority; we will record new material and post it one at a time.
Finally: three places where you always want to return.
Petrogradka in St. Petersburg, Rashpilevskaya in Krasnodar and the village of Shuberskoye (not far from Voronezh. – Ed.).
Ernesto shut up interview
An in-depth conversation with Ernesto Shut Up about Nabokov, football, poetry, stand-up and, of course, Versus battles.
Today you had the first concert of your autumn tour. How's the initiative?
Ernesto: The first concert of the tour is quite different from what will happen - today I performed alone, usually I perform with Alexander, a member of “rkg”, aka Logonaut, aka a beatmaker, gaining popularity, I hope. Today I was alone, for the first time in my life I connected a sound system, although I’m usually not very good with technology - but today I had to. I’m happy, everything worked out for me, I didn’t lose my voice, I performed “GO/\OS” well for the encore.
This is already a standard question for you about Versus. Do you consider participating in this battle a turning point in your career?
Ernesto: I really love words, I really love language, manipulating it, for me this is probably the most interesting thing in life, delving into language - groping for it, taming it, making it so that it is your tool, your comrade, and not just some kind of reference book where you get words to express emotions. And Versus is one of the unusual ways of dealing with language, a way to look at language, at versification differently, because in the end it is also versification, just with different meters, sometimes without meter at all, there are just rhymes, there are special meters - for me This is a very interesting experience working with language. This is the first.
Secondly, it’s an interesting challenge for yourself, because a Versus battle is a duel where you appear not only as a person who delves into the language. You also need psychological stability, you are an improvisational fighter, because you must be able to react to barbs, freestyle, do a re-battle, as they say on the Western stage. This is a multifaceted experiment, and, of course, I don’t deny at all that Versus is watched a lot, it’s a good way to show yourself to the audience. Yes, most of this audience is small and stupid, but there are also interesting people there who stay with me and listen to my work.
Since you mentioned the Western scene, which league do you like and who would you recommend paying attention to?
Ernesto: I won’t say anything new here - I really love KOTD, because after all, URL, with all its orthodoxy, is a very specific league, there are a lot of black battlers who pay little attention to language and linguistic games, they try more to delve into personal moments, using flow and aggression is not very interesting, especially since their accent is not entirely understandable. That’s why I love KOTD, where words, metaphors, diagrams, and verbal balancing act are always at a premium.
My favorites are Charlie Clips, Arsonal, Chilla Jones, Conceited, Dizaster, Illmaculate. 100 bullets is another forgotten character, a dark-skinned man who is accused of being too white.
In the West, many battle rappers play the same tricks year after year, but here many explain your loss in the Fresh Blood finals, it turned out monotonous, they say.
Ernesto: Yes, that’s also the case, but it seems to me that in many ways I lost because I was psychologically broken. It was unexpected - Alphavite was good, he wanted to win more than me, we already communicated quite well at that time, and I was not able to cultivate significant aggression towards him before the battle, but he did. He really transformed, started putting pressure on me, and I was a little confused. The crowd liked him better that day.
I don't deny that I did the same. The problem here isn't that I did the same thing, the problem is that Alphavite didn't do the same thing.
How are you preparing for the battle? How long does it take to write a text?
Ernesto: It doesn’t make sense to talk about this while I was in Fresh Blood, because they gave as much as they gave, sometimes a month, sometimes a little less. Now I’m preparing for a battle with 13/47, there will be more time, the battle will probably be at the end of December. It used to be that I was already on the train adding some lines, rewriting my dictaphone recordings. I write, write, write, then I glance at the text, see what’s missing: not enough jokes - I’m adding jokes, not enough flow - I’m adding tricks with the flow, not enough personal stuff - I’m also rummaging through the biography. And, of course, I try to let my homemates check everything out.
Tell us about your move from Voronezh to St. Petersburg. Did you change jobs?
Ernesto: I needed people, there are a lot of interesting people in Voronezh, but a large number of such people are concentrated in the capitals. I don’t like Moscow because of the pace, the architecture, the number of non-Russian people, let’s put it this way. There is less of this in St. Petersburg; all non-Russians in St. Petersburg are much more educated. This is how I normally relate to representatives of any nationality, but in Moscow you can come across ill-mannered visitors, in St. Petersburg this is less so, there, for example, all the bus drivers are representatives of the Middle East, and they are all good, sympathetic guys.
Moving to another city is a challenge, responsibility, and adrenaline. I need this, I don’t like to stay in one place. St. Petersburg is a big city. And often your city is the main source of your popularity, because your friends bring their friends. All this is growing like a snowball. Previously, people visited me most in Voronezh, now, I hope, it will be St. Petersburg. Anyway, in Voronezh I lived in a wretched Khrushchev apartment building, now I have a little money, and we are renting a good four-room apartment - far from the metro, but a nice area, with a park and a lake, it’s cool there, now I’m less tormented by doubts about the paths that I have chosen in life.
In Voronezh, I worked part-time at the Chizhov Gallery newspaper, now I’m just working remotely. I devote 4 hours a day to journalism, this is my fixation, I like it because it is working with language.
Is this your main source of income?
Ernesto: Not the main one, but stable, thank God, now there are often concerts, and yet the main income comes from them.
Regarding your chosen path, you told from the stage today how you turned on Yu.G.’s mother. How did she react to you deciding to rap?
Ernesto: Mom didn’t understand or accept me for a very long time, and complained that I was doing nonsense. But on April 24 there was a concert in Voronezh, I called my mother, she saw that people had come, that there were 200 people.
Someone laughs that I am so proud of my 200 people. But for me this is a good result. You have to start somewhere, not everyone can gather 200 people around them and sell them something for an hour and a half. Also take the money, and then sell them the books.
Books, damn it! Mom saw that people were walking around, listening, that it was not just like that, she said that I was great. True, he still continues to hint - they say, you moved to St. Petersburg, maybe you will find a solid job after all? But this is more for formality. And my dad, I must say, initially reacted with acceptance, after the concert he said that it was better to listen to me live.
And where did this very path begin?
Ernesto: I lived for a long time without really imagining what the future was, without making plans, and at some point, while playing in KVN in 2009, I composed a song about our team. About our game in Krasnodar, it was a remake of Lock Dog’s track “Loves the Sky” - I remade it and decided to record it. I wrote it down, and then I thought - why not try to write down my poems? And so I recorded a few things, for example, “I know, I can’t hide” on the beat of Atmosphere, and threw it onto the network. Many people said it was cool.
In 2011 there was an attempt to go to InDaBattle. I didn’t pass, then I took the track to the “Free Style-3” battle, and went quite far there. That's how it all started.
During the writing process, do you immediately understand what will happen – a song or a poem?
Ernesto: More often than not, the topic I choose dictates the form. If it is something more specific, more gravitating towards stand-up themes, some specific everyday things, then it will be hip-hop. If it is something more sensual, discussing some eternal themes, then it is most likely a poem. But there are, of course, exceptions.
Do you ever have any fears that you will give out your best punches in battles, and not “consolidate” them in poems and songs?
Ernesto: No, of course, I'm not afraid of that. At battles, I almost never talk about eternal topics. Battle is always focused, highly specialized texts; there is almost no philosophy there.
I remember Louis C.K., a foreign stand-up comedian, said that he traveled with the same material in all cities, kept his favorite jokes all the time, came, read - and nothing worked. And then one day, by lucky chance, he met George Carlin, the legendary comedian, and asked: “George, what to do, what’s the secret?”
George replied, “Every year on December 31st, I put all the old material on the table, and I know that next year I will only go with the new one. I know that by February 1, for the first concert, I need new material, I will not use anything from the old one.” Therefore, it’s cool when you can put something interesting into a battle, rhymes, some other things, not drag it into a track, but challenge yourself and then come up with something even cooler for the song. Alphavite, for example, its tracks and battles very often coincide, I decided that I would not have such intersections.
By the way, about Alphavite - you said that towards the end you were already friends, and do you still keep in touch with anyone from Fresh Blood?
Ernesto: Yes, I keep in touch with Niggarex. He is a very interesting guy with quite radical opinions on many issues; we always have something to talk about and argue about. Alphavite is a very interesting person looking for something new. It is much deeper than many people think about it. It grows, improves, moves away from a collection of individual phrases and rhymes to some kind of plots, and it’s interesting for me to watch its development. I'm sure he'll go far. Ilya Mirny has now moved to St. Petersburg, we will also see him often. He's bold in his hip-hop. I like what he does. I think he can go far too, it’s interesting to listen to him.
In a joint track with Alphavite you mention Nabokov - which of Nabokov’s periods is closer to you, why?
Ernesto: I don’t really like the American Nabokov, I love the Russian-speaking one, he has more simplicity, purity, openness, naivety, which he himself later for some reason did not perceive, and then wrote, in my opinion, to Whitman that “I am re-reading “Feat” “I feel like I’m digging through actual vomit.”
I don’t know, for me “Feat” is a wonderful work, subtle, intelligent, unsolved by many, and without a clear answer. “Feat” and “Defense of Luzhin” are two of my favorite novels.
Since we are talking about the journey, about Nabokov, he ended his journey in Switzerland, living in a hotel. How would you like to see the end of your journey - both creative and life?
Ernesto: It’s not so important to me how it will be, it’s more important for me to live longer to see more, because the time is very interesting. I’m probably similar here to Bunin, who before his death wrote in his diary that it’s a shame that you’re leaving now - and there’s so much more to come!
He died in 1953, television was already appearing, as far as I understand, progress was crazy, and Bunin was born in 1870: plow, plow, peasants were just starting to get together. Therefore, the most important thing for me is to live longer, to see more, to see where progress will lead. I hope we don't kill ourselves. It is very interesting to see how we will navigate outer space, because I am very interested in the topic “Are we alone in the Universe?”
And which version are you leaning towards?
Ernesto: I think that we are not alone, but I am afraid that those who are with us in the Universe have developed too much, and we simply cannot understand them, we do not master their technology. It’s not that I strongly believe in the arrival of aliens, but I don’t rule it out, let’s put it that way. It is in this regard that I would be ridiculed by my beloved Richard Dawkins, but I accept the possibility of alien intelligence. Perhaps in some form incomprehensible to us, as was Lem’s in “Fiasco.”
If not for the Faculty of Philology, what faculty's diploma could warm you up?
Ernesto: Now I understand that I would have gone to biology. I would delve into evolution, the origin of life, species. This is really occupying my mind right now.
Which classic of Russian literature would you grab by the lapels and why?
Ernesto: Probably Gubanova, though he’s not a classic. He would say: “Lenya, stop drinking, you still have so much to write!”
In “Intelligence with Fists” you say that for a joke about Ukraine you can punch someone from the elbow. We are now in Kyiv, a couple of hundred meters from the place where the revolution took place - tell us, how do you feel about what happened?
Ernesto: Yes, I won’t say anything new. Initially, when I found out about this, I thought, what a great protest movement, they can achieve something, show that “we exist.” And then, when it became clear that this was all being done for money, done by the West, it became not so fun. I will answer with a classic phrase: “Revolutions are made by romantics, and rogues enjoy their fruits.”
Choose a Lada: the gray one - a cozy small hall with little income, or the eggplant - huge venues, crazy money, popularity among the shirnarmass?
Ernesto: I think eggplant, because from there you can always jump into the gray one, but the other way around, it won’t work.
Why do you think Timati doesn’t jump over?
Ernesto: I don’t know, maybe he loves money more than me or the same L"One, who, for example, takes and releases “Avtolyubitel”: a commercially non-fiction album, but just a cool album, with simple, understandable hip-hop, stylish , Kachov - not “elbows". Timati, despite the fact that he is not devoid of some talent, is very mercantile, or something. Although no, mercantile is probably a rude word, I can’t say that I have any negative feelings towards him Timati is more materialistic than L"One or me, for example. He wants to get the most out of life, collect as much money as possible, and naturally, you will collect more money in Russia if you sing about eggplant, and not about divine flow, like the same ATL.
Football clearly plays an important role in your life - you mention Maradona’s hand, Iniesta’s through balls, and Roberto Carlos sells your books on VK - who do you root for, who do you sympathize with?
Ernesto: I have recently become less interested in football. To value time more, I didn’t really root for anyone before, because I can’t seriously sympathize with a non-Russian team, and in general in modern football I can’t sympathize with any team, because there is such a turnover of personnel - coaches, players. Before you know it, half the lineup has already changed, and what should you root for – the colors?
You can understand people who supported Manchester United when Alex Ferguson was there; I root for individuals. I love Francesco Totti, so I kind of sympathize with Roma. I like Cristiano Ronaldo. I think he is a brilliant footballer. I like his attitude towards himself, his perfectionism in everything.
Are you with Real Madrid in El Clasico?
Ernesto: Now, surprisingly, probably more for Real. I was with Barça for a long time, but then I became disillusioned with Messi. I was a fan of his for a long time, then he became too pragmatic, and Ronaldo regained his luster. This is how I acted a little like a glorifier. In fact, in El Clasico, I'm for whoever I bet money on.
Don't you play yourself?
Ernesto: I play, but rarely. I am a goalkeeper, I love to stand on the goal, I stood well as a child, but my mother forbade me to go to football. Maybe it was not in vain, maybe she foresaw that there are more interesting activities in which you can invest your life, and football will remain a hobby.
I noticed that we have a mutual friend on VK - Svidrigailov from “Satan Bakes Pancakes.” Tell me, who would you recommend to read among modern poets?
Ernesto: Sergey Gandlevsky - I definitely recommend it! Dmitry Vodennikov, a wonderful poet, despite the fact that sometimes he writes about love for men, it is still interesting to read him, including these lines. Plus, he doesn't always write about men, so don't worry.
There is such a poet - Artyom Novichenkov, my good friend, he works as a teacher in a Moscow school, although he now writes more prose, but he also has good poetry. I have a good attitude towards Vera Polozkova, she has interesting texts, about an apple, for example - very powerful! I have a good attitude towards the work of the same Svimdrigailov. I like the way he writes.
It would be a crime not to ask you about your favorite books.
Ernesto: Lem “Fiasco”, Tolstoy “Resurrection”, Pelevin “S.N.U.F.F.”, Orwell “1984”, Cervantes “Don Quixote”.
Well, and the obligatory question about plans.
Ernesto: I want to film blogs now, there is an opportunity to get involved in an interesting project, I’m interested in doing something in between stand-up and blogging. Well, of course, hip-hop and poetry are not going anywhere. Now, probably, “rkg” will be the priority; we will record new material and post it track by track.
TNR managed to talk with the participant of Versus: Fresh Blood, taking place as part of the Versus Main Event on May 9 in Novosibirsk, Ernesto Shut Up (known in the world as Dmitry Romashchenko), who told us about his impressions of Novosibirsk, a trip on the subway, Siberian girls and talked about immediate creative plans.
Dmitry Romashchenko began his difficult creative path at the age of 5, as he himself says. He “felt the need to rhyme in the middle of a boring February kindergarten day.”
“Nikolai, Nikolai, get out of the tram,
It’s his birthday, the jam is evaporating.”
And after the publication of his first poem in the “humor” section of the kindergarten newspaper, Dmitry harbored resentment and a creative lull ensued. Time passed, he grew up, continuing to practice his childhood pranks. By the age of 14, the development of continuous creativity began, in which the author tried to oppose himself to society. His tastes changed from Pushkin to Brodsky, and then Bunin’s prose came to the fore. If the “sun of Russian poetry” gave birth to a frantic desire to write in Dmitry, then the “Russian emigrant” was able to greatly influence his style, and the “countryman from Voronezh” added figurativeness to his style.
At the end of 2013, the organizers of Versus Battle announced the “Fresh Blood” competition, designed to identify talented but still unknown MCs. The number of video applications was huge and the organizers even decided to open an entire league called Versus: Fresh Blood for promising MCs. Thus, any person had the opportunity to show his skills, but few succeeded, including Ernesto Shut Up. For many, Ernesto’s style was discovered not thanks to a video application, but only in a battle with Same Kolya, after which the peculiar reading and “boiling water of metaphors” of the well-read Voronezh poet were able to distinguish him from the general heap of newcomers, ensuring his entry into the 1st round of the Fresh Blood league and a trip to Novosibirsk.
TNR: 5 months have already passed since your participation in Versus: Fresh Blood in Novosibirsk. What opinion did the city leave behind?
Ernesto: At times the city looks like Voronezh. At times - to Moscow.
TNR: Was this your first trip to Novosibirsk?
Ernesto: Yes.
TNR: How do you like the Rock City club?
Ernesto: Not a bad place.
TNR: Did you take a ride on the metro? Upset or not surprised?
Ernesto: The metro is quite pleasant. The age of passengers is significantly lower than in the capital's subways.
TNR: What is your opinion about Siberian girls? Are they different from the girls in the capital or your native Voronezh?
Ernesto: For some reason there are few truly beautiful girls. I hope I wasn't just walking there. Or maybe this is not a story, and there really are very beautiful girls in Voronezh.
TNR: How are people in general? Would you like to live in Siberia?
Ernesto: People are mostly good, but I haven’t seen much. I wouldn’t want to live, but I’d be glad to visit. Hello Lekha!
TNR: What interesting things could you tell TNR readers about from your Siberian trip?
Ernesto: I met my neighbor on the plane at Carls Junior. He is an Orthodox Jew and I begged him for a kosher certificate from his custom airline lunch.
TNR: And now a little about creativity. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?
Ernesto: One of these days the album of my side project - Russian Computer Graphics - will be released. The sampler is already online: vk.com/russian_computers.
TNR: One last thing. Do you consider yourself a rapper or a poet? Can rappers be called modern poets?
Ernesto: I feel like Frank Sinatra. One individual must be named. Trying to define a large number of people with one term is invariably vulgar.
In the meantime, heating has not yet been provided in Novosibirsk, we can only turn up Ernesto’s volume and warm ourselves with a strong literary brew from Voronezh.
Returning one summer from my favorite rooftop, looking through new letters, I discovered a message with an audio recording on one of the social networks. She turned it on and froze. Just now I was folding a paper airplane on the roof, photographing it against the backdrop of the sunset and imagining a melody that could sound here and now. And then she came. And I heard this melody. And not just a melody. A little story. A conversation with its author for your attention.
- Hello. Tell us, when and how did you start writing?
- I started talking. Compose in your mind. At the age of 5, I felt the need to rhyme in the middle of a boring February kindergarten day.
- Then there was a pause due to resentment for the publication of this poem in the “humor” section in the kindergarten wall newspaper. My parents’ neat poems were published in the “poems” section, but I was thrown off Olympus, out of nowhere. And then, at the age of 6, around the day of Tupac’s death, in the morning, after watching a program about Pushkin in the evening, he wrote a long poem “Once upon a time there was a cat and a master.”
- Treating me with humor is about me, because I just spoke with irony. I love it when it needs to be explained.
- What or who do you laugh at most often?
- Over stupidity. This does not mean that all the stupidity that I laugh at exists outside of me. It happens in me too.
- What happened after the long poem? How did your parents feel about your creativity?
- Mom smiled, felt proud, and told her friends what a talented son she had. And then I grew up and don’t let her look at my manuscripts.
- What are you afraid of?
- Rapprochement. Attempts to penetrate my inner world, to analyze me. At this point in my life I am quite distant from my mother. In addition, there are so many realities in my poetry that have nothing to do with my biography.
- These are two different names for the same person.
- What are the differences between one and the other?
- Different letters in different order.
- Which of them is a poet: Dima or Ernesto?
- Names cannot be poets. Unless the author made them heroes of books. But I have not read works in which the hero had a name. Not to mention the fact that this name was Dima or Ernesto.
- OK. Why do you need two names?
- So as not to limit yourself.
- About youth, by and large.
- Nostalgia?
- Mid.
-Who sees or hears a new poem first after you?
- Good people who are interested in my work. They are always different. But usually these are not close friends, but guys who follow Ernesto Shut Up. Unless my colleague at work, sitting to my left, Yura Gutsulyak, YEARS OF TRAINING, can see immediately immediately after writing, since I often create in my free moments at the workplace. But he also most often sees through a subscription.
-Who is your toughest critic?
- If we talk about poetry, then unfortunately, most often I do it myself. If we talk about hip-hop, then Shchetinka Shad and Nikita Menimo talk about the matter.
- This is unlikely, because my work is related to, as one guy blurted out during an interview, text generation, so creative hunger does not bother me during the work process. But if by chance, while coming up with a slogan for a cleaning product, I discover a metaphor in the language, then yes, I can stop. By the way, at work, in the process of relaxed thinking about some text, the idea of the verse “my girlfriend is United Russia” was born. The inspiration chart is a mystery to me.
- Which of your creations do you like best?
- Perhaps it’s a “uniRos girl”.
-What time of year is closer to you?
- It depends. In 2010, I liked all of August and January.
- When you write, do you aim for rhyme?
- One way or another - yes. “Rhyme alarm bells” beckon one way or another. But rather, the phrase is important to me. I carefully construct it and squeeze it into poetic size. When the size fits a “sad double-glazed window”, “hundreds of unspoken words” or something larger and unhurried - this is the most interesting thing.
- Your weapon is a metaphor?
- Yes. Although it depends on who you aim at.
- Name three places that are warmest and where you always want to return.
- I feel warm in St. Petersburg on Petrogradka, in Krasnodar on Rashpilevskaya and in the village of Shuberskoye.
I really love several cities: St. Petersburg, Krasnodar, Voronezh.
- Can love be measured?
- Yes. The number of impressions.
- What event in your life collected the greatest number of impressions?
- Probably the last school spring, 2006.
- Oh yeah. Thank you.
- Did you fall in love with him?
- Yes.
- And they confessed? Often?
- It happened several times.
- Women don’t like you at all, or is there still nowhere to go?/from a poem by Ernesto/
They love it, of course. Please do not equate the lyrical hero of my poems with me. You can put an approximately equal sign, like a wavy one.
- Ernesto isn’t a hero either?Ernesto is a hero-lover.
- Don't you think there are too many of you?
- Thank God there are a lot of me.
- How did you come up with the idea of putting poetry on audio?
The idea came to me in my soul, I began to rhythmically read “I know I can’t hide...” and realized that it sounds interesting to the sound of water.
- How do you choose melodies for poems? Have you tried writing music yourself?
- I tried to write it myself. Not good. I pick it up suddenly. I’m sitting, listening to something new, and suddenly I want to speak out while listening to this music. Sometimes the words are familiar, from your own composition. In general, I try to get away from other people’s music, I force my musician friends to write, Sasha from Bad Bad Roxanne, Mitya from Inoplanetyaneukrali.
- Opposite you is Dima, 15 years old. What would you say or wish for him?
The best, most interesting and useful things begin where the comfort zone ends. Try, make mistakes, demand, speak up, take steps, look like an idiot, but stop being gray. And it doesn’t matter what last name this Dima has for 15 years. This may not be Dima at all. Exclusive about this:
- Do you limit yourself in anything?
- In food. Especially at night. In alcohol. And, unfortunately, time to sleep. I also don’t watch TV series on principle, and out of the corner of my eye I notice the terrifying determination of some acquaintances to watch 3 seasons of a cool series in a week.
-What do people miss?
- Periodic preventative shutdowns of social networks.
- To be able to communicate live?
- So that we don’t waste time on nonsense.
- Why then periodic? You need to turn it off completely.
- Why at all? This is a convenient way to communicate. Wrote by Ernesto in the dialog box
- If I gave you three words with which to express yourself, these words would be...
-
to me
few
three
- Earn millions.
- Is money more important than an interesting activity?
- I just do interesting things. But the money is not yet paid in millions. It turns out smaller there. And so - yes, they are more important from the point of view that if you have them, money, then interesting activities and work will not escape you. But on the contrary - it’s hard.
- When was the last time you wrote letters?
- In July. To the girl Yulia from Yekaterinburg. Real, paper.
- Why are you ashamed?
- For other people's awkward jokes. I remember the guy from “Triod and Diode” made an unfunny, but very pointed joke in front of Putin, and he didn’t even smile in response. I was very ashamed of him. From time to time, absent-mindedness manifests itself, of course, without my knowledge, which can lead to people being offended by me.
- Do you often hurt people?
- People know better. But you can’t bring them together right away, you can’t interview them.
- I think no. I try not to be one, that's for sure. Although I like to be insolent. Polite insolence is my key to abstract locks hanging on people.
- What will you answer if they ask you “who are you?”
- I am a filmstrip. But that’s if they ask me pretentiously. And if at the FSB checkpoint, then I’ll tell you your full name there.
- If you had the ability to stop time, what moment in your life would you stop?
Can I stop it just once?
- Of course, one. Do you think this is often given to the common man?- I would stop the moment when, in the 11th grade, I received a message from Nina in ICQ: “Dimochka, I miss you so much.” Well, I myself would have frozen in it, inside the moment, and the feeling that visited me then, let it stick, like a song sticks in Winamp when you play it from a flash drive, and pull out the flash drive.
- Were you in love with her?
- I think yes.
- Is it easy to love a woman?
- Well, it’s easier than writing a diploma. So far this has been the case for me.
Very related activities. I like to surprise.
- You're chasing two birds with one stone, right?
- Yeah
-Are you performing? Do you organize poetry evenings?
Yes, I organized it in Voronezh, in my home building at Voronezh State University. Friends and teacher Sergei Grigorievich Onishko helped with the organization. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us today. Thanks to him. There will be more evenings and parties in the near future.
- What is the atmosphere like there? Who comes to listen?
- Interesting people come. The atmosphere of Russia in the 2010s.
- What does your mood depend on?
- From the presence of people nearby. Preferably adequate. If they are there, there will be a good mood, an exchange of energy. If I'm alone, I might get sad. In public - not for long, alone - I can do it for a long time.
- Do you want fame or recognition?
- Both.
- Ernesto Shut up is striving for something. What is this?
- Hat-trick in the World Cup final. Such is the metaphor.
Ernesto Shut up
